QOTD: Would you buy a FIAT?

Jstas

This:



Goes on sale late 3rd quarter this year. It will be the first FIAT on sale here in something like 2 decades. It's essentially a Fiat Panda with retro styling to make it look like a 500.

I think it looks spectacular! But that's beside the point. FIAT has a reputation in this country and it is about as deserved as it can get. Fix It Again, Tony! plays to a stereotype but the stereotype is true. They were regarded as junk, albeit pretty junk!

Same kinda goes for Alfa Romeo. Pretty but also pretty crappy.

Needless to say, Alfa, now part of the FIAT conglomerate, will be selling a similar version of the FIAT 500/Panda called the MiTo. Here is a shot of the equally pretty MiTo but it's a GTA version which is similar to the Fiat 500 Abarth that will also go on sale here next year.



So, needless to say, it's quite obvious that these companies are not what they once were. But given reputations earned from the past, would you buy a FIAT in September?



Me? Yeah, I'm thinkin' about the 500 but I'm gonna wait to see what the turbocharged variant will be lik in June of 2011.

That is unless Alfa makes good on it's promise to bring the Brera over here. Then I will be torn. Might have to buy both!

The Brera:

concealer404

Sure why not?


If people can buy domestic after the crap they put out for years, and can accept that what they're making now is better, then why not Fiat?

The main difference for me is that despite their shortcomings (a lot of them a BIT exaggerated) i even like old Fiats and Alfas.

Face

Fix It Again Tony!

RuSsMaN

I would.

I've owned a Brava and a Spider 750 (802cc rear engine/rear drive/manual choke!). Both were super reliable and fun to drive.

bobman1235

That deserved reputation is from 20 years ago - has it improved? I'm honestly asking.

The Audi's of the 1980's were a laughing stock in America too, but if I had the coin I wouldn't hesitate to buy anything from the Audi lineup of 2009/2010, so an old reputation doesn't mean much 30 years later.

Face

bobman1235 wrote: »

That deserved reputation is from 20 years ago - has it improved? I'm honestly asking.

The Audi's of the 1980's were a laughing stock in America too, but if I had the coin I wouldn't hesitate to buy anything from the Audi lineup of 2009/2010, so an old reputation doesn't mean much 30 years later.

Just look at Hyundai.

hearingimpared

Looks dangerous. Especially on a highway at high speed next to a semi.

concealer404

bobman1235 wrote: »

That deserved reputation is from 20 years ago - has it improved? I'm honestly asking.

The Audi's of the 1980's were a laughing stock in America too, but if I had the coin I wouldn't hesitate to buy anything from the Audi lineup of 2009/2010, so an old reputation doesn't mean much 30 years later.

I think the reputation is from a bit longer ago than that.... Fiat hasn't been here in a LOOOOONNGGGG time.

But i think Alfa was around into the 90s? Don't really know, haven't followed them as much.

Top Gear likes new Fiats, if that means anything to you. Honestly, because i'm irresponsible like that, i don't really worry about reliability. If it breaks, i'll fix it, but i won't worry about it until/if it does.

Jstas

bobman1235 wrote: »

That deserved reputation is from 20 years ago - has it improved? I'm honestly asking.

The Audi's of the 1980's were a laughing stock in America too, but if I had the coin I wouldn't hesitate to buy anything from the Audi lineup of 2009/2010, so an old reputation doesn't mean much 30 years later.

That's cause Audi is over-priced Volkswagen now.

As far as if FIAT has improved, I dunno. They treated the North American market different than the rest of the world. So FIATS elsewhere cannot be compared to FIATs in NA very easily. Besides, they didn't bail on the U.S. because they sucked. They bailed on the U.S. because emissions and crash standards got too tight for them to compete and profit.

My only experience with FIAT was pulling the wheels off an X19 in a junkyard to see if they would fit on a Chevette. The answer was no, they won't.

concealer404

Jstas wrote: »

That's cause Audi is over-priced Volkswagen now.

As far as if FIAT has improved, I dunno. They treated the North American market different than the rest of the world. So FIATS elsewhere cannot be compared to FIATs in NA very easily. Besides, they didn't bail on the U.S. because they sucked. They bailed on the U.S. because emissions and crash standards got too tight for them to compete and profit.

My only experience with FIAT was pulling the wheels off an X19 in a junkyard to see if they would fit on a Chevette. The answer was no, they won't.

Man... X1/9s were the ****. I would love to have one.

mhmacw

im siding with HI! looks to much like a bowling ball to be comfortable next to a semi!

bobman1235

concealer404 wrote: »

Honestly, because i'm irresponsible like that, i don't really worry about reliability. If it breaks, i'll fix it, but i won't worry about it until/if it does.

It's one thing if it breaks occasionally, but having been through many cars in my younger days that broke down CONSTANTLY, it gets old. I'm pretty handy and don't mind fixing stuff, but I DO mind having to miss work because my car wouldn't start or being stranded in the middle of nowhere because my car died on the highway 30 miles from the nearest exit in the dead of winter. No thanks.

Fireman32

I loved the old Alfa Spyders. I would get one.

BottomFeeder

Nope, not right away. I'd wait a couple/three years for them to establish at least a bit of cred. Then, if they have the RIGHT cred, I consider. But I just got a Mini Cooper S, so that's not going anywhere for quite a while.

heiney9

Yes, especially if some Alfa Romeo's found their way back to the US

The Fiat 124 Spyder and Spyder 2000 were great, fun cars.

They'd have to make something spectacular to unseat my love for the VW GTi.

Polkersince85

I bought my brother's 76 X19 with 55K on it. Drove it for another 80K before it died. Fun driving little car. Never could sling that thing in a curve. It had 90K on the original Pirelli tires. I don't think I would buy one now because of the SUV/Blonde/CellPhone factor. They were hard to see in traffic, worse than a bike.

danger boy

I think Fiat's should be brought back to the US market.. I think the time is right.. with them being small cars and gas prices still pretty high. What were the US Fiat's different than the European ones?

Fiats are very popular some European countries.

Jstas

Since it seems to be a point that will get harped on while missing the point, FIAT pulled out of the U.S. Market in 1983. That was 27 years ago, almost 3 decades. But 20 years ago, FIAT's horrendous reputation was still quite prevalent in the minds of the automotive public.



As for the reputation, it was bad. Much worse than any perceived reputation for the American makes and even the crap that is Hyundai. FIATs were known to break down before they ever even left the dealership lot. They spontaneously combusted and were plagued with critical part failures at in opportune times. Like 55 MPH on a wet highway and the brakes seize up or the lines freeze and the brakes don't work. Or the car gets vapor lock idling at a tollbooth. Or the car doesn't start because it's raining. Roofs leaked, electrical gremlins were an undocumented feature creating an adventure everytime you stuck the key in the ignition and wondered what would happen that day. The radio would play when the left turn signal was engaged but not the right. Wipers would fail or couldn't be used in the rain or the fuse would short out.

Granted, these didn't plague every FIAT. The earlier stuff was pretty well built and reliable. But the company had financial problems starting in the 60's and it started to show in the product. You could find FIATS that were reliable and would last but the ones with problems were more common than was comfortable for most. It made buying a used FIAT a major gamble equivalent to a crap shoot or putting all your chips on black.

Hyundai made junk. Some still think they do. The big 3 had quality control issues. Even Mercedes for a while was churning out garbage. But to meet FIAT's level of ineptitude, you have to look at the British cars of the 70's from Triumph, MG, Austin, Morris, Rover and so on or go to Russia and pick up a Trabant. The reputation is not undeserved. I don't think they could get away with that kind of stuff now and still be in business so I'd imagine they are quite better. But the question remains, are they better enough to take the gamble of buying a FIAT?

bigaudiofanatic

I probably would not.

heiney9

Why do Italians like warm beer???























Because they all own Lucas refrigerator's





Some will get that some won't

H9

jflail2

No way. My dad had a Fiat when we were stationed in England the 1st time, and he LITERALLY worked on that car every weekend. Every single one. It was like a neighborhood project for the local guys. Bring a few 6 packs and watch/help my dad work on the Fiat. He used to say, "Fix it again today, Fix it again tomorrow" (instead of Fix it again Tony.) Not a car I'd own, now or then, unless I was a mechanic and had the patience as well...

Jstas

danger boy wrote: »

What were the US Fiat's different than the European ones?

It wasn't so much different models as it was different standards. In 1974, the U.S. started imposing emissions and crash standards and required foreign companies as well as U.S. companies to meet. Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, Mexico, Africa and even Canada didn't have such things. So the U.S. market cars were down on power and performance and up on weight. They had more electronics, which were clunky and unreliable, to manage the new "Rube Goldberg" level emissions systems.

The American companies riding a massive revenue wave of incredible success from the last 40 years had no problem cobbling together systems to slap on to cars to meet these standards long enough to get something better on the market. Shame they didn't until the 90's. The foreign companies lacking the capital to invest struggled and took the low crash and emissions rating penalties and band-aided cars with kludgey and unreliable systems that caused more problems than they solved. FIAT just did a worse job at it than most.

Rivrrat

One, I wouldn't fit in that little thing. Two, I live in Az where that little thing would fit in the bed of what 50% of us drive.

I'm pretty sure it'll get stuck between the dualies of some ranchers 1 ton, so I'll have to pass.

Knucklehead

Even if I had the million dollars from yesterday's QOD I wouldnt buy it.

heiney9

jflail2 wrote: »

No way. My dad had a Fiat when we were stationed in England the 1st time, and he LITERALLY worked on that car every weekend. Every single one. It was like a neighborhood project for the local guys. Bring a few 6 packs and watch/help my dad work on the Fiat. He used to say, "Fix it again today, Fix it again tomorrow" (instead of Fix it again Tony.) Not a car I'd own, now or then, unless I was a mechanic and had the patience as well...

Penalize an entire car marque for history for some issues 30 years ago. That seems rational.

I'm not going to jump right in and buy one, but if initial reports are decent and I like what they finally offer here in the US, I won;t let the past make the decision for me.

It remains to be seen how "americanized" the models will be that FIAT offers over here.

It always irked me that VW had to add a softer suspension for the NA market vs. what you could get in Europe. The last and current generation cars are much closer to what are offered in Europe in that regard. Every VW I've owned I put a lowered, stiffer suspension on because the stock for NA was too soft for my liking.

I just hope FIAT doesn't water their cars down too much. But, VW did what they did in response to what car buyers in NA prefered so from that POV it was a good move. It just alienated some of the long time buyers who expected a better suspension.

H9

danger boy

well you don't see the Europeans complaining about their Fiats.

maybe in 20+ years things have changed for Fiat.

Seriously, were they any more problematic than an MG? (until you've owned an MG, you haven't had to work on a car before). :eek:

concealer404

bobman1235 wrote: »

It's one thing if it breaks occasionally, but having been through many cars in my younger days that broke down CONSTANTLY, it gets old. I'm pretty handy and don't mind fixing stuff, but I DO mind having to miss work because my car wouldn't start or being stranded in the middle of nowhere because my car died on the highway 30 miles from the nearest exit in the dead of winter. No thanks.

Yeah... i guess that's why i prefer to have 3 fun crapboxes rather than one boring reliable car.

That said, mine are reliable anyways.

I dunno... i guess i wouldn't buy a Fiat to be a boring everyday driver. I'd buy it to have fun.

Polkitup2

It looks like something that would be in front of me on a snowy day here in Minnesota driving 5 miles an hour in the left hand lane. I'd ease my 4x4 Dodge right up behind it, engage 4 wheel drive, and drive right over it.

concealer404

BottomFeeder wrote: »

Nope, not right away. I'd wait a couple/three years for them to establish at least a bit of cred. Then, if they have the RIGHT cred, I consider. But I just got a Mini Cooper S, so that's not going anywhere for quite a while.

They already have their cred.... the 500 has been around for longer than the Mini Cooper S.

It's not getting changed much at all for the US, as far as i know.

concealer404

danger boy wrote: »

well you don't see the Europeans complaining about their Fiats.

maybe in 20+ years things have changed for Fiat.

Seriously, were they any more problematic than an MG? (until you've owned an MG, you haven't had to work on a car before). :eek:

HAHAHAH!!!! No. They weren't worse. At all. An MG is a special kind of hell reserved only for British roadsters. THAT is where Lucas, Prince of Darkness came from, NOT Fiat or Alfa.

heiney9

Fiat and Alfa used Lucas products.............but you're right MG (British Leyland) and Jag, etc. had major issues with Lucas electronics.

Growing up my dad had MG's and Austin Healey's (in the 60's) he raced them and he did work on them alot.