2010 fiat 500c

[cubstiva1]

thought this was an interesting looking ride. like the way the top "goes down". lemme know what you think.

http://autos.yahoo.com/auto-shows/geneva_auto_show_2009_slideshow/2009_geneva_autoshow_gallery_3/fiat_500c

[91blufestiva]

Wow, that is actually pretty sweet! Is it in america? I want one!

[JoDan]

yeah... that is interesting on how the top goes down, but that steering wheel emblem is a bit overkill

[cubstiva1]

found this info at the link below

European buyers can order the new 500C with a choice of three powerplants, a 75-bhp 1.3-liter 4-cylinder turbodiesel, a 69-bhp 1.2-liter and a 100-bhp 1.4-liter gasoline engines. If the 500C is exported to the U.S. or built at Chrysler's Toluca, Mexico, assembly plant, expect that it would come with just the 1.4-liter four. A car this small undoubtedly will get excellent fuel economy—somewhere in the 35-mpg neighborhood for the U.S. 500C would not surprise us one bit.

http://autos.yahoo.com/auto-shows/geneva_auto_show_2009/897/2010-Fiat-500C;_ylc=X3oDMTEwcmluOWx2BF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEc2VjA2ZwLXRvZGF5BHNsawNmaWF0

[91blufestiva]

I'll take the diesel please!

[Nerd Racing]

I like it! you would think something that small and new would get better mileage than a festiva.

[Sparky]

I like it a lot.....but I'll wait until we see how reliable they'll be in, oh, say 15-20 years? (like a Festy!)

[CharlieZ]

Yea, we always get short changed with the diesels. I owned a Fiat 500 in the 60s. There is a strong family resemblance.

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

"Fix It Again, Tony!"

There's a reason Fiat isn't selling in the U.S.

I owned a brand new 128 in the 70s. By the time I had 90,000 on it, I was looking at the FIFTH valve job. I sold it to my Italian Mafia mechanics Dino and Laslo in Palo Alto for $200 and bought a 1964 Volvo PV544 with 250K on it which served me well for another 250K.

At 39,000, when it was due for the 2nd valve job, it was fouling plug #3 every hundred miles or so. I'd have to stop to replace the plug before stopping for gas! It turns out that a valve guide had cracked, letting oil into the cylinder. BTW, valve adjustment was done by replacing shims using a special tool only available from Fiat (as were the shims).

It would snap clutch cables about every year. It usually gave you a springy feeling in the clutch pedal when it had about 5 activations left -- time to run some red lights to make it home, or at least to some place safe to replace the cable, which I learned to do in the dark in about 20 minutes.

Wheel bearings were good for about as long as the valves -- 20,000 miles. The rear ones were integral with the hub and cost about $50 -- at a time when whole new cars were about $3K. I paid $2850 for this car brand new in the cardboard box.

I once had a ball joint separate and jam the right front wheel as I pulled off I-93 in MA.

The drivers seat back tilt mechanism was completely worn out mechanically at 50,000 miles.

People were having timing belts snap in the high teens, so Fiat changed the recommended replacement interval to 12,000 miles. You couldn't get the cover off the timing belt with the engine in the car. It turned out to be easiest to lift the car off the engine. Water pumps failed about that often, so you can to get in there anyway to replace them.

My gearbox failed at 13,000 miles, just after the 12,000 mile warranty ran out. The dealer was nice enough to give me a new one free.

The fuel pump (at the tank) failed at about 30,000 as I was driving the Alcan through the Yukon -- I had to go up hills backwards (for gravity feed from the tank to the carb) for the last 1,000 miles or so to reach Anchorage.

At about 50K, the tach started dropping 1,000 rpm when I turned the AM-only radio on.

CV joints were frightfully expensive and lasted about as long as everything else.

There was only 4" ground clearance when loaded. On Artic gravel roads, you couldn't drive in the ruts like everbody else, else you'd take off the fuel and brake lines.

Fiat had some interesting technology back then, like fiber optics in the instrument panel lighting. When it worked, it was a fun car, but overall it was a failure. The only good thing I can say about my experience is that it taught me how to fix cars at an early age.

[BUSTIVA]

I want the Abarth version, it is just sick nasty!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXALDprqcuc

[Lannis]

Fix It Again Tony seems to be a pretty consistent theme with Fiats from the past.

Wonder why Europeans put up with them? You know, American cars generally get a real knock in Europe for being low quality, but every Fiat I've ever been acquainted with has been pretty much as you described. Did Italians actually pull the motor every year to replace cam belts? Why would you do that when you could buy a Chevette and not worry about it?

And here they are again, advertising a pitiful, gas-guzzling 35 MPG against my Festy's 44. When are these guys going to get serious about gas mileage, and sell me a practical 30 horsepower car that will cruise at 60 MPH and get 65 MPG?

I guess gas will have to get really expensive. While gas is a dirt-cheap $1.89 a gallon here, people will just keep driving their Ford Expeditions, I suppose.

Lannis

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

As I recall, when the timing belt snapped on those Fiat 1.1-ish motors, you had pistons smashing into valves. Also, I think the block was steel while the head was aluminum. Think "differerential expansion" problems!

Don't assume the Fiat products sold in Europe were the same as what was offered here. I almost think the 128 was made mostly for the export market.

BTW, gas here in the big city (Anchorage) is $2.35 even though we pump crude out of Cook Inlet next to the airport, and the pipeline terminal at Valdez is only 100 miles away. The local gasoline distributor has a monopoly and socks it to us, but nobody seems to care. When I started up the Festy this morning to drive to work, half the vehicles (mostly SUVs) in the lot were running with nobody in them -- auto-start warmups so their owners don't freeze their butts off in balmy 20-something temps. These bozos burn more gas while they're inside eating Monday's breakfast than I do in a week of commuting.

[festyxfi]

Alaska, Isn't that crazy. it's criminal the waste.

A 49 HP Metro XFi (built 20 years ago) will pull 65MPG.

FX