FIAT 500 REVIEW

List price from £10,160 Lease price from £140 The verdict 7

You won’t find a more desirable small car than the Fiat 500

Fiat's cute 500 has pretty much cornered the market for designer urban cars, thanks to its combination of style and affordability.

It looks as charming on the inside as it does on the outside, while its dinky dimensions combine with light steering to make it feel right at home in the city.

Space

Space for four, but boot is quite small

There’s plenty of leg- and headroom in the front. And two adults will fit in the back as long as the people in front aren’t especially tall.

Sadly, you can’t have the 500 with rear doors unless you go for the much bigger 500L model, so getting people in and out of the back in the first place isn’t as easy as it is in a hyundai i10Hyundai i10 or a five-door VW Up.

The boot is slightly bigger than a mini/mini/">Mini’s and will take a small case or a few bags of shopping. But the i10 and Up are better choices if boot space is a priority. They have more in-car storage than the 500, too.

Comfort

Limited seat and steering wheel adjustment

Some people will struggle to find a comfortable driving position in the 500 because the steering wheel doesn’t adjust for reach and the ratchet lever on the side of the seat base alters only its angle, not its height.

The 500 can also feel bouncy at higher speeds, but its suspension is good at taking the sting out of bumps and potholes around town.

Wind and road noise are pretty well controlled at all times, and as long as you’re not in a hurry, the 1.2-litre petrol engine offers all the performance you'll need.

Dashboard layout

Simple to use and looks great

The 500′s dashboard is painted to match the exterior colour of the car, while mock-Bakelite inserts for the stereo and heater add to the retro charm.

Fortunately, this eye-catching design doesn’t come at the expense of usability because all of the switches and knobs are easy to understand and reach.

True, the interior plastics don’t feel as classy as they look, but then this is a cheap car.

Easy to drive

Makes a fine town car

If you do most of your driving in town you’ll love the 500 because its small size and light steering combine with good all-round visibility to make it easy to manoeuvre and park.

You can specify an automatic gearbox if you go for one of the petrol models, but the diesel is available only as a manual.

Fun to drive

Plenty of grip; steering could be better

The 500 grips well in bends and never feels like it’s lurching around in an uncontrolled way. Unfortunately, its steering feels a bit imprecise on faster roads, making it tricky to judge just how much you need to turn the wheel.

The turbocharged 0.9-litre petrol engine makes a more appealing noise than the 1.2-litre petrol and the diesel, but it sends too much vibration into the car.

Choose one of the 500C models and you get a full-length retracting fabric roof that lets you make the most of the sun.

Reliability

Reasonable, but no more than that

The Fiat 500 was down in mid-table in the 2013 JD Power customer satisfaction survey, finishing 69th out of 116 cars. It was well beaten by the rival citroen ds3 Citroen DS3, but did finish ahead of the Mini, which was back in 73rd.

Like the DS3 and the Mini, the 500 comes with a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty, but the Vauxhall Adam betters it here, getting a 100,000-mile warranty with no time limit.

Fuel economy

Not as good as the official figures suggest

Officially, the Fiat 500 is available with two engines that average more than 70mpg: a turbocharged 0.9-litre petrol and a 1.3-litre diesel. However, in reality, you’ll struggle to get even 40mpg out of the petrol.

The diesel gets much closer to its official figure in real-world conditions – mid-50s are easily achievable in a mix of town and motorway driving.

Alternatively, there’s a 1.2-litre petrol engine that averages mid-40s in the real world, and a 1.4-litre turbo petrol that should be capable of mid-30s.

The economy figures that you can get out of the 1.2-litre petrol and 1.3-litre diesel are comparable with those of rival hatchbacks.

Affordability

Temptingly priced and holds its value well

The 500 is significantly cheaper to buy than the rival Citroen DS3 and Mini, and while you can have a VW Up for less, the difference isn’t huge.

The Up has a bigger advantage over the 500 when you look at insurance rates – something that’s worth bearing in mind if you’re a young driver.

However, the 500’s other running costs are low, and its sheer desirability means you’ll get quite a lot of money back if you decide to sell it on.

Safety

Lots of airbags. Shame stability control costs extra

Like the Mini hatchback, the 500 was awarded the maximum five-star rating when it was crash tested by car safety specialists Euro NCAP. This was under the previous scoring system, which was less stringent than the current one, but we’d still expect the 500 to do well if it were tested again today because it’s stuffed with airbags.

The one big disappointment is that Fiat charges extra for a stability control system that can help you regain control if the car starts to slide. Most rivals get this safety feature as standard.

Standard spec

You don't get much as standard in the cheapest version

The cheapest version of the 500 is the Pop, which comes with a CD player and remote door locking, but little else.

The alternatives are the Lounge and S models, which cost quite a bit more, but bring alloy wheels, air-conditioning, a Bluetooth hands-free phone connection and a USB socket that lets you connect your iPod to the stereo.

The S is the sportier looking of the pair, while the Lounge features extra chrome trim that adds to the 500’s retro appeal.

Fiat also lets 500 buyers choose from numerous alloy wheel designs and offers a range of exterior styling graphics, including race car-style numbers and stripes in the colours of the Italian flag.