Just got a Fiat 500 rental, and...

Is there any way to lower the seat? I'm sure this is the absolute cheapest version of the car available, but the driving position is truly horrendous. I feel as if I'm looking eye to eye with lifted pickup drivers.

When I drive the Abarth, I feel like my head is near the ceiling. I do not recall being able to lower it... at least more than it already was. Grab the owner's manual and see what it says. It's been a while since I've driven it.

On the left side of the seat near the front is a handle. Pulling it up raises the seat, pushing it down lowers the seat. I think it pumps moving a little each time but the wife isn't home yet so I can't check.

In reply to Wally:

Thanks. Whoever had it before me set it as high as it could go.

ETA: naturally, the case for the owner's manual was empty, so that was no help. Thanks, Enterprise.

Will wrote: naturally, the case for the owner's manual was empty, so that was no help. Thanks, Enterprise.

a lot of times they are missing and then I see a lot of owners manuals for sale on ebay........every great once in a while the manual is hidden near the spare tire.

Unless Enterprise removed it so it wouldn't get sold on eBay? (I was coming here to pimp the Abarth's pump handle but someone pointed it out already, so I'll just show myself out.....)

That pump handle seems really weird. It also moved the seat back as it lowered, which is why it didn't seem like the answer at first. Anyway, the car was a lot better with the seat as low as it would go.

In reply to Datsun310Guy:

Yeah, particularly for Enterprise - if you're missing something in your rental, check either in the spare tire well or behind the carpet in the trunk. Manuals, remote fobs, etc. are all usually tucked away there. They don't want the stuff stolen or lost, but it needs to stay with the car because it might not always be local.

How is the 500 to put around in? Would you ever buy one?

It's one of the few new cars I'd ever consider buying (used of course )

Hungary Bill wrote: How is the 500 to put around in? Would you ever buy one? It's one of the few new cars I'd ever consider buying (used of course )

It's got some quirks (instrumentation, control layout, etc.) that took a minute to get used to, but weren't bad at all once I figured them out. I didn't much care for the auto trans, but that's easy enough to fix by buying a manual. The steering was pretty good, and the stereo was actually pretty nice. Once I got the seating position figured out, the worst part was that it had a terrible blind spot on the driver's side. The headrest completely blocked the rear quarter window.

Using the blind spot mirror on the drivers side took some getting used to. I would liked the five speed but being the wife's car it wasn't an option.