Ciao, Yaris!

[SailDesign]

Originally Posted by Jabro

SailDesign, mind posting some pics? The Fiat 500 is one of those cars where when I first saw it, I thought it was hideous, but it has grown on me to the point where I think it looks pretty sweet. I've always been biased towards small cars though, the smaller the better. If I could be driving a BMW Isetta around I would be.

Manual or Automatic? Please say you got a manual....

Manual. I may be an old Phart, but my inner 15-year-old hates automatics...

Pics should be attached. The car was not clean - something about having snow the day after purchase just seems to get them covered in crud.

[Jabro]

Originally Posted by SailDesign

Manual. I may be an old Phart, but my inner 15-year-old hates automatics...

Awesome! Thanks for the pics, I know you won't be disappointed.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by SailDesign

my inner 15-year-old hates automatics

^^^^^ This

[auxmike]

These cars are REAL nice build quality inside and out. They are smaller than the Yaris and look real sharp going down the highway. Unfortunately there appears to be only one studio in my county so I'd be stuck with them only unless I want to travel far for the next dealer. I think the dodge dart shares the same engine as the 500 and the engines are US built. The cars I examined at the local fiat place were made in mexico...
Price starts at 15.5k with the 5 speed. Power windows etc. Are standard equipment.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by auxmike

These cars are REAL nice build quality inside and out. They are smaller than the Yaris and look real sharp going down the highway. Unfortunately there appears to be only one studio in my county so I'd be stuck with them only unless I want to travel far for the next dealer. I think the dodge dart shares the same engine as the 500 and the engines are US built. The cars I examined at the local fiat place were made in mexico...
Price starts at 15.5k with the 5 speed. Power windows etc. Are standard equipment.

This post piqued my curiosity, namely re the engine source...so I did a few searches. Yes, the engine is built in Michigan by Chrysler LLC. That's all I needed to know. If we had a federal government that cared more about the rule of law than selective political expediency, then the bondholders wouldn't have been left out in the cold while sixty percent of the equity (in what became Chrysler LLC) was handed to the UAW pension fund. The 500 could be twice as reliable as a Yaris, get 70 miles to the gallon combined, and cost $10,000....if it still had an engine from that source I wouldn't buy it just for that reason.

P.S. I would consider a Ford, if everything about the vehicle fit my parameters, but not a vehicle From GM or Chrysler because of the bailouts/bondholders left out in the cold....and the engine being shared with a 'sister' company (at least in this case)...no...too much...too close.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

This post piqued my curiosity, namely re the engine source...so I did a few searches. Yes, the engine is built in Michigan by Chrysler LLC. That's all I needed to know. If we had a federal government that cared more about the rule of law than selective political expediency, then the bondholders wouldn't have been left out in the cold while sixty percent of the equity (in what became Chrysler LLC) was handed to the UAW pension fund. The 500 could be twice as reliable as a Yaris, get 70 miles to the gallon combined, and cost $10,000....if it still had an engine from that source I wouldn't buy it just for that reason.

P.S. I would consider a Ford, if everything about the vehicle fit my parameters, but not a vehicle From GM or Chrysler because of the bailouts/bondholders left out in the cold....and the engine being shared with a 'sister' company (at least in this case)...no...too much...too close.

Feeling this way = not without a heavy heart. I have a fondness for selected Corvettes -- especially the '63 with the split rear window.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

especially the '63 with the split rear window.

I stopped at Barnes and Noble tonight about 40 minutes before they closed and happened (among other mags) to thumb through the March 2013 issue of Corvette Magazine. On the back page a 'posed' picture of two '63 Corvettes and one, *sigh*, was a Classic Silver split window Coupe (to me, the holy grail of Corvettes....my next door neighbor had one when I was a little kid). I thumbed through the rest of this issue and found (on pages 62 and 63), *gulp*, the beginning of an article entitled "The Icon". Spread over these two pages is a crystal clear picture of a Daytona Blue '63 split window Coupe (with New York plates) driving down a road in a bucolic setting. The rest of the picture, other than the Corvette, is a motion blur.....a little bit of heaven.

[jcboy]

WHY?!! oh well.

[fnkngrv]

I am just kind of curious as to why the trade in especially at 6 years? Why not keep the Yaris and still get the Fiat?

[SailDesign]

Originally Posted by fnkngrv

I am just kind of curious as to why the trade in especially at 6 years? Why not keep the Yaris and still get the Fiat?

I'm not rich enough. Simple.
Why would I want both, anyway? I don't have room to store both, and they are so close in fun factor that there is no condition that would favor one over the other.

This thing is superb in the twisties, much better suspension than the Yaris, and just plain fun. No regrets.

[fnkngrv]

Originally Posted by SailDesign

I'm not rich enough. Simple.
Why would I want both, anyway? I don't have room to store both, and they are so close in fun factor that there is no condition that would favor one over the other.

This thing is superb in the twisties, much better suspension than the Yaris, and just plain fun. No regrets.

Guess I made some assumptions that after 6+ years you would have had the Yaris paid off and then it would just be maintenance, insurance, etc. Didn't honestly think that "richness" would be a factor although I am stunned how much vehicles are holding their supposed value anyway these days. Personally even though I love my Yaris you wouldn't catch me paying what the book value is on a 2007 still 6 + years later. I was pretty floored when my dad paid over $25k for a 2008 Acadia this passed summer. I could think of plenty of reasons to have both, but that is just me.

[thebarber]

Originally Posted by SailDesign

I'm not rich enough. Simple.
Why would I want both, anyway? I don't have room to store both, and they are so close in fun factor that there is no condition that would favor one over the other.

This thing is superb in the twisties, much better suspension than the Yaris, and just plain fun. No regrets.

I just would have thought some lowering springs or even coilover would be cheaper than a new car..? I guess you're rich enough for more car payments..

[SailDesign]

Originally Posted by thebarber

I just would have thought some lowering springs or even coilover would be cheaper than a new car..? I guess you're rich enough for more car payments..

Yeah - but I've been lusting after the Fiat for years now. I guess if I can't have a new girlfriend, I'll just have the new car. It's amazing how much happier the wife is with that. :evil grin:

[fnkngrv]

Originally Posted by SailDesign

I guess if I can't have a new girlfriend, I'll just have the new car. It's amazing how much happier the wife is with that. :evil grin:

[jayeh]

Watch out for speed bumps!

http://www.reddit.com/r/Justrolledin...hen_you_hit_a/

[thebarber]

LOL. Good enough for me.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by SailDesign

Well, I loved my Yarises for 6 years, but the times they are a'changin' and the Fiat was calling my name.

Did the cost of your insurance increase with the Fiat? Yarisworld member DMZ just posted a link from an insurance website (with IIHS results) that lists the 5 most dangerous cars as rated by the IIHS, and the Fiat 500 is #1.

[SailDesign]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

Did the cost of your insurance increase with the Fiat? Yarisworld member DMZ just posted a link from an insurance website (with IIHS results) that lists the 5 most dangerous cars as rated by the IIHS, and the Fiat 500 is #1.

Actually, my insurance went down, because the FIAT has ESC, which the 2009 Yaris doesn't. That site with it's story of the Fiat being the most unsafe is actually listing the picks for most unsafe "to be a passenger in". apparently, it's a Fox News (Faux News) story, paid for by mfrs of big chunky SUVs designed to make people buy bigger cars. An "info-mercial" in print. The 500 in fact gets a 5-star safety rating from IIHS, but "insurer.com" tries to cover that fact by sounding like IIHS themselves, which they aren't.