i am opening myself up to criticism , but oh well i don't really give a rats butt so ...... i have been without wheels for 2 1/2 years now , sold my 52 customline and my 95 bird died and was sold , and my 53 is still in parts . there was always a reason why i didn't have any money too buy what i needed to work on my truck ( don't get me wrong i love my wife but i have grown tired of the bull crap ! ) and always money for the house projects etc..... well i have been looking at new and used cars for quite some time , and have always talked myself out of it . i have wandered the local ford dealers lot so many times , they are also a chrysler and fiat and jeep dealer , and between the dain sticker shock and the fact that everything ford makes now is just plain F-UGLY and i don't care for with one exception , front wheel drive i was ready to give up . well i found one of those exceptions on their lot last week and much to my wifes chagrin i bought it . figured if i can't get money too finish my beloved i'd sure as hades get the money to make a payment especially since her van was paid off in april .... what did i buy ??? a fiat 500c convertible . a 2013 and loaded , with low miles for 12.000 . so i noiw own a little bitty mouse car for a beater . it has some peeps pi$$ed off and i love it . so say all the bad ya want but at least ididn't buy anything built or owned by an asian company . i'd rather walk than do that !!!!!!!!!! at least our manufacturers have a good sized piece of the action in europe and no trade restrictions like the asian's have placed on our products .... welp gotta go moving the wife's van out of the garage so that my baby , the 53 ,and the new beater seeing as its a 'vert can reside indoors !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Congrats. The Fiat's are no slouches for sure. I had one pass me a few years back. I thought how fast is he going so I stepped up my speed & final caught him he was running 90 mph. We hit a road construction stop. I got out & talked to the guy. It was a rental & he was going to Reno from Las Vegas. After the stop I never saw him again. It was a 500 Pop 2dr. I think they are cool cars. They are a little small for us but they aren't that expensive & I know they run.
Great commute car I'm sure. I'm with you On the Fords. I personally think if I was to buy a new car I would buy a Hyundai. Asian or not I have rented a couple of them & other than a little more road noise than I thought a new car should have 42 mpg @ 75 mph, comfortable, roomy, plenty of power, we liked it. Plus a nice design.
Again Congrats. Good Choice.

 

No gripes here bro, congrats!!

 

if i was to ever get another car it would be a VW jetta TDI i know people that have them, and if driven like grandma they get upwords of 75 mpg.
one guy regularly get 60 mpg around town driving and 75 on the road with cruise set.

 

Back in 05 a guy I knew bought a new VW wagon TDI with a 5 speed & he was getting 55 mpg. That was ten years ago. Now with diesel being cheaper than gas it would be a real appeal.

 

i personally have a case of automotive racism against asian built or owned car companies , and have been known to speak my mind on it . just cannot get over the trade imbalance between us ( they can build , sell whatever they want ) and we cannot do the same in their countries .... so ...... but european hey no problems . so kermy i'll be polite and keep my thoughts on the houndoggy you mentioned to myself, but i will say whilst getting a divorce from the first wife i needed transportation badly , as my f150 was broken and she got the gt vert stang , the wagon and my bike , and worst of all the kids !! anyway i bought something i could afford . it lasted a very short time when the dain thing blew up on the highway when an external oil feed line broke , it was a huyndai or however you spell it . the vw is cool tjc , but with the price of diesel rising quicker than gasoling i'd have to seriously think about it . i tried to buy my grandma troesch's i think 99 or 2000 beetle from my aunt who ended up with it after she passed . it has just been sitting since what 03 i think , being started and driven very sparingly . it has less than 10,000 miles on it , but she won't part with it . kermy i dunno where you live but here bouts deisel is anywhere from 30 to 60 cents per gallon higher ........ i did ride in a neighbors elantra not to long ago and it did have a nice interior , but it's from you know where , and it's wrong wheel drive . i have liked the fiat 500 since it's rebirth and is the only wrong wheel drive i will personally own . they just have that "retro" vibe that clicks with me . mine has been averaging 34.5 in town and getting around 48-50 on the road , and i must say i'm impressed with it's frugality . now if only i could coax my flathead to get that kinda mileage when / if it's ever back together .... i know the response to that .... downhill in a vacuum it MIGHT ...........