Okay, this will technically be my third car, but it's the first one that I'll have bought myself. Keep an eye out for my 2001 e46 in the $2000 classifieds thread.
I'm looking at getting a used Fiat 500 Abarth, there's a few here in Florida for 8k-10k. I like driving smaller cars as my e30 and e46 would suggest, but I want it to still be fun to drive.
Thoughts? Advice? Know anyone selling a fun, 5 spd hatchback?
Cool! Certainly more exciting than my first car, a Geo Prizm (née Toyota Corolla). I even paid about what you’re looking at paying!
Good choice, they have a great soundtrack.
I had one for a couple of years. It was a riot to drive, and pretty much reliable. Make sure to wait two seconds before shifting into reverse, or you’ll grind the gears. Two things you may want to consider:
1. When test driving, put some effort into adjusting the seat and wheel to make sure you are comfortable in the car. It’s the hardest car to get the seating position right in that I’ve ever owned. Everything had to be adjusted precisely. Whenever I got it back from service, it’d take a while to get it just right.
2. Since you’re in Florida, I’d recommend looking for a hardtop or a cabrio, not the sunroof model. The sunroof shade is perforated, so you can’t fully block the light (and heat) from coming in.
Edit: one more note on the comfort - it wasn’t a good highway car in the between the short wheelbase and the stiff suspension, but it was still comfortable enough to drive from Ohio to the west coast and back in.
In reply to eastsideTim :
Thanks! That's super helpful. I've noticed that about a lot of modern sunroofs. Do they want to fry us poor Floridians?
My advice is beware if your parents ever suggest that they take it for a weekend to go over maintenance items on it. If they do, check the autocross schedules before agreeing to said weekend.
With the AC on, sunroof closed but cardboard thingie open, sunburned the crap outta my poor head! Who knew?
No one said Miata? Good. Highway cruising, the E46, boot scooting around town-ish, Fiat. What is comparable to the 500 in money, comfort and storage ability? Baby SUV?
Dan
Ours wasn’t an Abarth but it was a fun reliable little car. As long as you don’t need to use the back seat often I don’t see why not.
In reply to KatieSuddard :
I'd like to know more about this E46.
In reply to Woody :
It's dead reliable. 5spd, manual transmission. Heated leather seats. Has nice creature comforts.... Probably needs a differential. Definitely needs shocks. Tim and Tom want to take a look under the hood to decide what price I set. I'd love it to go to a forum member so I could see it at events. Its been a great car for the last 5 years.
Rather than go the single-car route (I recommended a newish Fiesta ST or Focus ST), DD#1, who is approximately your age, ended up buying 2 dedicated cars for her first own-car-purchase this spring / summer:
Good luck! I enjoyed the 500 Abarth test drive I took a few years ago. They're fun.
Gotta love those little bull terriers.
There's also the GTI, MazdaSpeed 3 and Cooper S in the price range which could meet your needs.
Wow, I can't believe no one has said GLHS yet? Maybe I always suggest that car to buy because I want to live vicariously through other people.
In reply to KatieSuddard :
Have the same problem down here in Texas. I try to avoid cars that don't have the full pull cover thingy to cover it up completely
Hi, as the handle suggest I am familiar with the car. Almost 59k miles so far and little over 4 years, probably the longest of anyone here.
And I still look forward to driving it. Just recently finally had to make a repair, there was a recall on the steering shaft making a clunk, and also replaced both front axles same time, one kinda bad the other real bad...
But that was the first repair besides regular maintenance so I still call it a win. Recently had a friend make a vinyl "Tony fixed it..."
It's a hoot to drive, the turbo is a little laggy but makes it spirited. Pretty much everything about this car says spirited.
Many autocross events, 4-5 track days. No complaints (I did replace front pads before track days with Hawk 5.0 for safety. Still 8mm left.)
The back seat is pretty much only for people you don't like. For such a small car the blind spots to the rear are significant because the seats are shaped the same as the rear side windows. Turbo a bit laggy, needed a short shift adapter to uh...shorten the throw a little.
That said, I'd buy it all over again. Did I mention I love this car? Any specific questions lemme know. (Go buy one.)
Also, my first weekend I drove it from Dayton Ohio to NC for SCCA convention. No complaints.
I just bought a used Abarth . These little cars are quicker than you might imagine, the upright seating and small size make them seem really fast. The turbo is a little laggy, so far with the traction control off, I have yet to feel any real torque steer, so Fiat must have really gotten the steering just right. Slefan calls them "bull Terriers" I am going to suggest that the little Abarth is also a bit rabid. Don't let it's diminutive size fool you, their bite is as fierce as their bark.
It's full on summer here at the shore right now, which means that nobody even makes it near the speed limit. Getting onto the highway, I got stuck behind a tourist who casually accelerated until they got near the speed limit and then they eased off. Traffic on my left kept me behind him for about a mile. Soon as I was able to pass, I dropped down to third and floored it. The little abarth flew by like he was standing still and I was surprisingly over 90 much faster than I had anticipated.
KatieSuddard said:In reply to Woody :
It's dead reliable. 5spd, manual transmission. Heated leather seats. Has nice creature comforts.... Probably needs a differential. Definitely needs shocks. Tim and Tom want to take a look under the hood to decide what price I set. I'd love it to go to a forum member so I could see it at events. Its been a great car for the last 5 years.
How many doors and how many driven wheels (325i or 325iX)?
Tint (or maybe even vinyl?) guys could probably black out the sunroof. Meant to do it on the V when I brought it in for new tint a couple months ago but totally forgot :/
In reply to madmachine:
Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.
In for more details of said E46 when it comes up for sale
One of my MINI club friends just bought an Abarth. He managed to find one kept in an RV tag trailer and only used when it was too crappy outside to ride a motorcycle. A 2013 that in 5 years has barely 5K miles. So far he likes it, although he still has his MCS (2003 w/ 250K miles).
Side note - I now feel really old hearing you've had that E46 for 5 years... 
If you were already thinking 500 Abarth, is the Fiesta ST also on your radar?
You'll need to log in to post.
