After my plane landed in West Palm Beach I had to go to the Budget counter to pick up my “economy” class car. Unfortunately it was a late flight; but fortunately the shuttle bus drove me directly to the near site airport office. I saw Budget’s inventory as the bus was pulling in the lot and noticed a few Fiat 500 Sports. When I got to the counter we started the paperwork and I thought: could it be that the 500 is an economy car and I may possibly get one? I asked him what they had assigned me – it was a Chevy Sonica. Now, not bad for the least expensive rental car, but it is no Fiat. I asked him what it would take to get a Fiat 500. After some sweet talking and a trip to his manager he came back and asked me which color I wanted. He did inform me that the 500 was not classified as an economy car, but in the same class as a Camaro or Mustang – and at this location a Mini.
For future reference I asked how I could guarantee I get a Fiat 500 when I come back. He mentioned that I must call the store location where I am going to rent. Going through Budget corporate will not work. Their website does not even say they have Fiat 500’s or Mini Coopers. He also mentioned that the 500’s and Mini’s are very desirable and can be hard to reserve.
The car was great to drive and absolutely loved it! When I test drove the Fiat 500 for the first time I was at the Milwaukee location (on the northwest side) and the roads there are in terrible condition, frost heaved. The scenery was also depressing – it detracted from the test drive. I had a couple days driving the car on nice roads with beautiful scenery – I really love the car. It has extremely tight, direct steering with a comfortable ride and of course great handling. All the controls were excellent and the interior quality was first rate – even better than current VW’s. The car felt like a short solid brick as nothing flexed or creaked. The car had almost 10, 000 miles on it so if there were going to be creaking, rattles or anything being loose they would be there by now.
What I like about the 500:
1. Short, nimble with extremely tight turning circle.
2. Instrument layout with everything directly above the steering wheel including clock and trip computer. The radio station and the name of the song even read out in the same location.
3. High seating position, comfortable seating. Controls all easy to reach.
4. Fiatisms: All the lights including the headlamps turn off with the ignition key. There is an idiot light telling you that you have your headlamps on (helpful reminder during daylight). I assume there is a low fuel warning light. Great fuel economy. May not have highest horsepower in class but definitely has acceleration even on the highway. That great Italian steering with immediate response.
5. High tech everything – USB connectivity, Bluetooth, satellite radio, all the safety gizmos and computer/electric assists.
6. The wiper-washers – Fiat figured it out! The washers spray with misting the whole window first (completely covered) than the wiper moves, same for both front and back. It works excellent and fast.
7. Steering wheel controls for trip computer, radio and Bluetooth – the tactile buttons for the radio channel and volume are hidden on the backside of the steering wheel.
What I didn’t like:
1. The manual shifter part of the six speed automatic is backwards intuition – shifting it down is actually up shifting and vice versa.
2. The power windows don’t have auto up.
Like the Milwaukee Metro area, there were other Fiat 500’s driving around the West Pam Beach area and I noticed most of them were not rental cars. Many people, like spectators, looking with curiosity giving thumbs ups and OK signs. Sometimes I forgot what I was driving and than reminded when I see people looking at the car and smiling. Just like a collector car, curious people will speed up on the road to look and than hang out in your blind spot for a while watching the car. I expect that in one of my vintage Fiats but didn’t expect it to happen while driving a newer car. The reactions were not as extensive as driving an vintage Fiat 500 or 600. When I used to drive my 1964 Fiat 600 people would try to follow me more and it is not possible to stop at a gas station without answering a bunch questions. I was able to put gas in the rental Fiat without anyone asking me.
