I watched the most recent Motorweek last night. One segment was a long term test update on the 2020 Fiat 500x. They’ve had it for 9 months and someone on their staff drives it every day. They love it and say it has been very reliable. Amazing! Well, I’m surprised anyway. Maybe Fiat isn’t as bad as we’ve been led to believe. I haven’t looked at the Consumer Reports ranking method lately, but a few years ago, their worst category had more than 4% problems. That’s a lot higher than 2%, but it’s still a 96% success rate. They also mentioned on the show that the Dodge small 6-cyl diesel is a well regarded engine. Is FCA better than we thought?
Perhaps, but still best to trade in at the end of the 36/36000 warranty.
even a blind squirrel finds an acorn sometimes
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I think that this is more theoretical than realistic.
It might be different in other parts of The US, but in my neck of the woods–where foreign cars abound–all of the Fiat dealerships have taken-down their Fiat signs.
They may still be servicing Fiats, but there are no Fiats in the showroom or in their lot so it appears that they are no longer selling them. The dealership closest to my house still has its Alfa-Romeo sign posted, but the Fiat sign was removed months ago.
I disagree. Motorweek tells you what they think, whether it’s good or bad news. On the same show they did I a first drive test of a 2021 Buick Encore GX. They liked the extra room of the GX compared to the slightly smaller Encore. They did not like how slow it is, taking a full 8 seconds to go from 0 to 60.
How the world has changed! A 1983 Z28 that did 0-60 in 10 seconds was considered FAST! Makes me chuckle when an 8 second car is labled slow today.
The world certainly has changed. The third car they reported on last night was the 2021 Porsche 911 Targa. 0 to 60 in 4 seconds, and they said it was slow. For a 2021 911, of course.
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Both Motortrend and Autoblog have given the 500X good long term reviews but i’m still skeptical of Fiat, one of our two nearby dealers only takes Fiat’s when forced to since it came with the Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Ram franchise. Their lone Fiat stickers for $29,000, before you bargain them down.
The world is certainly changing, Fiat’s are getting postive reviews while i know 2 new Kia Soul owner’s who’ve gone through the buyback process in the last few months. One’s getting a EV Niro but the other’s now drivng a Nissan Rogue. We’ll see how those hold up.
Even cars that are crazy unreliable are not 100% unreliable.
Buy it, keep it until the warranty is up, then decide.
You misinterpreted my intent. Yes, I agree that Motorweek is a credible source of information, but if somebody can’t find a dealership w/in a reasonable distance, then their hope of buying one is likely not realistic.
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At any rate, I’ll take a look at the employee sites once in a while and on a different model from FCA, the comment was the first 20,000 miles are fine but after that expect trouble.
FWIW, Dodge and Kia (!) tied for 1st place in the 2020 JD Power Initial Quality ranking. Having said that, I wouldn’t buy a Fiat since it appears the brand is going nowhere in the US market. But the Jeep Renegade is based on the same platform as the 500X and I believe it’s made in the same factory
The manufactures have to pay a very large fee to put that award rating in their ads . So I and others really don’t have much confidence in a JD Powers award.
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+1
J.D. Power is similar to the Better Business Bureau in that they are both “pay to play” operations, wherein good ratings are… purchased.
I’ve had a very dim view of Fiat since the time many years ago when a multi-line dealer I worked for took on a Fiat franchise. Every one of us mechanics said no, no, hxxx no. They did it anyway with the assurance it would boost the company dramatically.
Two weeks later when the first 2 transports of new Fiats was unloaded management was ecstatic. A few hours later not so ecstatic when they found out from the paperwork that every one of those new cars was actually now 2 model years old.
New fall models were appearing on the market and the Fiats (badged as Pininfarinas and Bertones, Spyders and X19s respectively) preceded the past year models.
Parts chain? There was none. It was zero. Warranty reimbursement? Also zero.
Yup!
The Subaru dealership in my town started out as a multi-line dealership, handing Fiat, as well as Saab and Subaru. The older guys there talk about having to strip parts from unsold new Fiats in order to perform warranty work on other cars. The lag time for Fiat parts, according to them, was measured in MONTHS.
Anyway… In the just-released Consumer Reports Buying Guide, these are their comments on the 2021 Fiat 500X:
Highs:
Maneuverability, upscale features
Lows:
Reliability, ride, transmission, noise, idle vibration, touchy brake pedal, visibility, front seat comfort
(Is that ALL?? 
)
Well, at least it is easy to stick it in the last bay and let it sit until parts come in 
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I knew a young woman in the early 1980s who owned a Fiat.
She only drove it in the city.
She would sometimes take a seemingly circuitous route to her destination, and another friend asked her why.
She made sure to not be more than a couple blocks away from a service station for when it conked out!
She also had a knack for choosing unreliable boyfriends.
I think Fiat is doing something bad with this. I think it is too big to be a small car. Who wants a big small car? Keep it simple, Stupid, that’s what I would say