2013 Abarth 30k miles...

fiatmonkey

fiatmonkey

Tim Hoover
Just hit 30k on the Abarth so thought I should share my opinion of the car thus far.

I have posted almost every "issue" I have had with the car here on xweb so you can keep me honest ;)

The pros:

1 - Fun, fun fun...! A smile on my face every time I take off, hear that sweet exhaust sing and feel the little turbo kick in.

2 - Easy to drive! This car has a "soft" and responsive clutch 5 speed that cruises at 80 MPH with no issue. Generally, I find the car just wants to go 70-80 without trying.

3 - Just enough "gadgets" to make life convenient while in the car but nothing too distracting. Blue-tooth, satellite radio, GPS, cruise control (in a manual? First time for me..!) heated seats (they are leather), tire pressure sensor, ambient temp, etc.

4 - Easy bolt-on performance upgrades are plentiful. I have the go-pedal and ECU piggyback that add adjustable throttle control, torque and HP.

The Cons:

1 - a few too many trips to the service center. I have had 2 clutches replaced due to leaky clutch slave(s), bad 1/2 shaft support bearing, ambient temp sensor failed - twice and replaced. Squeaky seats. Never fully fixed all the way but able to quiet them down some. Broken driver side window motor bracket (window fell out).

2 - Visibility out the rear is not great. I understand it is worse with cabriolet so I can't feel too bad.


So not so bad right? 4 vs 2? For the money that I paid 3 years ago, I think this little car is really nice and I really like it.
 
Nice.

I have vacillated back and forth on these cars. I like the design and with the Turbo/Abarth versions they are a hoot to drive.

Just a trifle too small, though if I were honest with myself the reality is I am almost always alone in my car.

My current Golf which I have had for over 15 years is just coming up on 100k miles. It has been reliable, useful and reasonable over that time with few trips to the dealer. I want a car which I can rely on for the long haul and I have been unsure of the 500 for that duty or if I would want to be driving it in 15 years...

Keep the reports coming!
 
Seats

I had a an issue with the seats of my 2012 500 Convert 5 speed. I loved the car, but the seats sounded like and old armchair. The only other issues I had with it were occasional radio glitches, which I just lived with and attributed to Italian-car personality.
 
Having owned a total of three of these little beasts, I agree with your statements regarding these little gems.

My first 500, a 5 speed Pop hatch, ran flawless during the 16k miles I had her. The only issues that one had was a little delamination of the FIAT badge on the rear hatch, and a clock that ran fast.

The second one, a 500 Sport Turbo, gave me the squeaky seat syndrome you speak of, and the tires wore out fast - all 4 needed replacement at 18k miles. This one saw a total of 20k miles under my helm, before I traded it in for my Abarth Cabrio.

My 2013 Abarth has only 6k miles on her, and as one would think with such low miles, has been mechanically flawless. Cosmetically, I had the passenger side rocker panel pull away from the body, and the drivers seat is starting to squeak, but otherwise, shes as good as new.
 
Sport Button

Only issue so far with my 2013 Abarth with 64K Miles was the shift linkage and the right rear wheel bearing. Did have a squeaky seat but that went away. The one thing that is annoying is the sport button. Every time I start her up I need to press that button….. I don’t think I have ever driven her with the sport option off……..
 
Alex said:
Only issue so far with my 2013 Abarth with 64K Miles was the shift linkage and the right rear wheel bearing. Did have a squeaky seat but that went away. The one thing that is annoying is the sport button. Every time I start her up I need to press that button….. I don’t think I have ever driven her with the sport option off……..
Click to expand...

+1 on the sport button. I often forget to push it and it only activates when the engine is allowed to return to idle speed. So last week there I was accelerating from a light when an older WRX with no muffler starts pulling on me. I responded back with full throttle but without the sport button I only have 12 lbs boost vs. the normal 18psi. Needless to say he walked away from me. Grrr.
 
zonker said:
+1 on the sport button. I often forget to push it and it only activates when the engine is allowed to return to idle speed. So last week there I was accelerating from a light when an older WRX with no muffler starts pulling on me. I responded back with full throttle but without the sport button I only have 12 lbs boost vs. the normal 18psi. Needless to say he walked away from me. Grrr.
Click to expand...

There is a "mod" for that that madness sells or used to but can't seem to find :(
 
Yes!

30,454 miles on my 2012... I just drove her to my office (104 miles RT) today, the one day a week that I go in and I enjoyed the heck out of it, as always. I've just had one issue: after a week of a warning icon and message flashing at start-up, my passenger-side daytime running light has just crapped out. That's it. No mods on mine, she's unmolested. I've found that sport mode and ESC fully disengaged is enough fun for me. Still have a few thousand miles left on the original tires and the brakes look like they may last for another 30k.

No complaints, I'd buy it all over again. Oh, I lied... I have made one mod, a 595-style shift knob


 
I have an Abarth that is a little monster and I love it. It has the Magneti Morelli adjustable ECU, adjustable sway bars, better springs and shocks, the rear seat delete and much more but still looks stock. It now lives out in Colorado where I get to blast up and down the Rockys with it.

If you think the car is too small, install the rear seat delete. I never used the rear seat and now it can hold a bicycle back there along with lots of other stuff. If you think the car is too top heavy, install adjustable sway bars in the front and rear. The car actually does not have a too high of center of gravity.. If you want more power, most of the ECU kits are easy to install and work well.

The car is great on the track, but lousy as a drag racer... If you read the 500 forums you will find the people who break stuff were all drag racing...

Ed
 
bicycle?

Any pics of a bike in your 500? I'm an avid rider and am going to be looking for a new car in about a year... I'd like to be able to fairly easily fit a bike in the car and I had ruled the 500 out due to size. I just can't imagine it being that easy or a good fit. Appreciate any pictures and input. Thanks!
 
Col Haiku said:
30,454 miles on my 2012... I just drove her to my office (104 miles RT) today, the one day a week that I go in and I enjoyed the heck out of it, as always. I've just had one issue: after a week of a warning icon and message flashing at start-up, my passenger-side daytime running light has just crapped out. That's it. No mods on mine, she's unmolested. I've found that sport mode and ESC fully disengaged is enough fun for me. Still have a few thousand miles left on the original tires and the brakes look like they may last for another 30k.

No complaints, I'd buy it all over again. Oh, I lied... I have made one mod, a 595-style shift knob


Click to expand...

Cool mod :)

30k and brakes have more life? Wow. I am due for brakes now. I have a service plan that pays for pads/discs but not till 36k.
 
Second that...

JimMW said:
Any pics of a bike in your 500? I'm an avid rider and am going to be looking for a new car in about a year... I'd like to be able to fairly easily fit a bike in the car and I had ruled the 500 out due to size. I just can't imagine it being that easy or a good fit. Appreciate any pictures and input. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Would like to see the rear seat-delete too

I have a tow hook thingy on my abarth. Pretty easy install and makes carrying all the bikes around easy.
bikerack.jpg
 
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fiatmonkey said:
Would like to see the rear seat-delete too

I have a tow hook thingy on my abarth. Pretty easy install and makes carrying all the bikes around easy.
bikerack.jpg
Click to expand...

Tim, can you open your trunk with the bike rack on, does the trunk lid clear? And what are your impressions of it? Would you have any concerns with using it for long - few hundred mile - trips?

I see lots of that style on the roads so guess I shouldn't be concerned, but something about them just scares me. For longer trips would prefer to have the bike in the car or on the roof.

Appreciate your impressions, thanks.
 
Over 34,000 on my 2013 Abarth, and very happy with it. Other than autocross I don't really hammer it much, so original brakes are OK but I haven't checked the pads lately. Put in new spark plugs, change the oil by myself, and other than one brake bulb burning out, no real issues.
 
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