2012 Fiat 500 Sport Verdict

Long Term:

Cute, but Looks Aren't Everything

By Emiliana Sandoval | Photos By Motor Trend Staff | From the March 2013 issue of Motor Trend  |  

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Chrysler’s spiffy subcompact Cinquecento came to the U.S. with high hopes, snub-nosing its way into a small-car segment chock full of stylish rides (Juke, Mini, Fiesta, Smart Fortwo). And our long-term 500 was greeted by cautious enthusiasm as well as skepticism left over from the Fix It Again, Tony, days. So how did the 500 fare? It proved itself big on style, short on space and power, and somewhere in the middle on charm and driveability. Lest you immediately dismiss the Fiat as a chick car, know that MT’s resident alpha male Jonny Lieberman spec’d our long-termer. He insisted on the Sport model, which came with a five-speed manual and 16-inch wheels instead of 15s. Photog Julia LaPalme gets credit for the choosing the Chiaro Verde color, a beautiful pale green. (Kudos to style guru Roberto Giolito’s team for the gorgeous palette of 14 available colors, with enticing names like Rame, Rosso, and Argento.) The only add-on was a $ 400 removable TomTom navigation unit. Powerâ€"or lack thereof, if you’re climbing a steep hillâ€"comes from a 1.4-liter inline-four producing 101 hp and 98 lb-ft of torque. We clocked a 9.8-second run from 0 to 60 mph and a 17.3-second quarter mile at 77.4 mph. While it’s no speed demon, it never seems stressed at 80 mph on flat roads, and road and engine noise are surprisingly minimal. There’s understeer around corners, but the 500’s weight and throttle control render it a non-issue. Panic stopping should be avoided, as the butt end wriggles like a minnow. The shifter is touchy between first and second, and lacks refinement overall. I was pretty happy with the Sport button, which made the car feel 20 percent sportier in my unofficial estimation, until I spent a weekend with a turbocharged Abarth. After that, Sport fell short.

The stylish little Fiat brought a smile to the face of everyone who saw it.

I did appreciate the Hill Start Assist, which kicks in on the slightest of grades. Associate online editor Erick Ayapana made great use of it on two trips to San Francisco. And when gas hit more than $ 4 a gallon in SoCal, I gave many thanks for an average 33.0 mpg. Plus, the Fiat is only 139.6 inches long, enabling it to squeeze into the smallest of parking spots. Its cuteness is undeniable, inside and out, and it earned many a thumbs-up from strangers. I love the simple, retro/modern dash design, a nice expression of the Fiat’s Italian genes, and the shiny dash panel matches the exterior paint and doesn’t show fingerprints or smudges. I also love the large, easy-to-read digital tachometer/info dial. It offered all kinds of data, from miles traveled to average mpg to who was calling on the Bluetooth. The portable TomTom nav worked fine, except when it didn’tâ€"a couple of times I neglected to download updates by plugging the unit into my computer, and I once lost map powers mid-trip, with the nav freezing up and refusing to locate meâ€"but its position high on the dash blocked the narrow windshield’s already limited sightline. Don’t get me started on the barstool seats, miniscule sunvisors, and rock-hard headrests. Mechanically, there was nothing for Tony to fix. The 500 got a clean bill of health at a ll three dealer visits, and there was just one recall, for a door strap. The Fiat’s size makes it an ideal city car, but not so great for road trips involving more than one adult passenger, and forget about lugging a lot of luggage. My weekend entourage includes my beefy 6-foot-4 brother-in-law, a sister who will only sit up front and requires a lot of legroom, and a 2-year-old niece with a stroller, which didn’t fit in the 9.5-cubic-foot trunk. So anytime I needed to drive them somewhere more than two hours away, I signed into another car. On a quick trip to Ojai, my mom was wasn’t happy about the back seat legroom and ended up sitting sideways, with her feet on the seat. She’s 5 feet tall. Meanwhile, up front, my sister and I had brought along three beverages, which didn’t fit in the two cupholders. There are more staffers than there are cars in the Motor Trend fleet, and yet the 500 spent a few nights in our garage, unchosen. Chrysler hoped to sell 50,000 Fiats in 2011, but only moved 17,444. Things improved in 2012, with 43,772 500s sold, and high demand for the Abarth. The 500L is coming this year, and there are plans for an electric 500e, a 500-based crossover, and a 500 Zagato. As for me, if I owned a 500, it’d be an Abarth.

Our Car
SERVICE LIFE	12 mo / 20,159 mi
BASE PRICE	$ 18,000
OPTIONS	Customer Preferred Package 21D ($ 400: Nero/Grigio seats, TomTom navigation)
PRICE AS TESTED	$ 18,400
AVG ECON/CO2	33.0 mpg / 0.59 lb/mi
PROBLEM AREAS	None
MAINTENANCE COST	$ 0 (3-oil change, inspection; 1-tire rotation)
NORMAL-WEAR COST	$ 0
3-YEAR RESIDUAL VALUE*	$ 7544
RECALLS	11-104 (door strap bolts)
*Automotive Lease Guide data

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