LMcD said:

Where does the spare tyre go? I currently have a Mazda MX-5 so am no stranger to small boot space, but our spare tyre takes up a lot of ours....

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Under boot carpet - its one of those pram wheel thingies

You could always consider getting a towbar and small trailer. The vast majority of the time I don't need a huge boot, so this makes sense for me at least.

Split seat is standard if you order leather seats. Otherwise I think you can specify it as an option? We have a dog crate on the back seat (18x24) and could get a second on there if we had 2 dogs. With the seats down the boot is pretty roomy for a small car.

juliecully said:

We have a dog crate on the back seat (18x24) and could get a second on there if we had 2 dogs.

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Is that with the seats down julie ...or actually on the rear seat?

....and do you find it easy for the dog to get into it when they have to go in through the front of the car ?

I would just like to say that you can get a whole shopping trolley full in the boot, yes you do have to stack the bags on each other, but you have to do that to fill the trolley up too.

What I do like best is the comedy value of that parcel shelf, when you fold the seats down you have to take out what must be the worlds smallest parcel shelf, makes me laugh every time.

Very practical car, I can get four grown adults in with no problems (other than getting past the seats), that's one of the reasons why I chose one. I would guess it's easier getting in the back of a non-Abarth, due to the bucket seats.

I also have a quite giggle to myself when handling the parcel shelf... its so diddy!

suzey said:

Is that with the seats down julie ...or actually on the rear seat?

....and do you find it easy for the dog to get into it when they have to go in through the front of the car ?

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Yes its on the back seat. Its a folding soft crate (make is croft). I had to put it in by putting it in while it was still folded up, through the back with a seat down, then once it was set up I put it sideways on the seat and put the folded seat back into position. I have threaded a bungee - hooked onto the child seat bar in the boot, over the headrests, through the loops on the crate and then back onto the childseat bar and this stops it sliding about on the seat. Ive put a blanket under it to protect the leather seats!!
Our dog is a border terrier (you have cockers? about the same size?) so not that big. We can lift him into the crate through the side opening panel which is facing forward on the seat, via the front car doors. The crate has openings at the side front and top and my OH has also lifted him in through the top, via the hatchback. The IDEA is that he jumps in on his own. Yeah right. Hes not tha amused so far, having always travelled on my lap in our VW camper!! But it can be done. And you could get 2 in side by side this way.

Thanks Julie ...thats really helpful

If its too big buy a Mini, Ive been told its boot is smaller tha a 500

PlopHole said:

I seem to remember being told the boot has a capacity of 180 litres, but split fold the back seats and it increases to around 550 litres. (Is that right?). I can't really imagine what those figures will actually be in physical space; so personally doesn't give me a real idea. From looking into the boot though, I recon it will easily suit my needs.

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Resurrecting an old thread...

A recent poster is looking to get the 'size' of the load area in a 500 has started a thread on the Abarth side that I thought might be of interest to ye all on the '500' section. Excuse my my brazenness (you're probably going to have to resort to throwing me off the FF ).

I find it hard to believe the 500 is as big as the MINI Clubman...
https://www.fiatforum.com/abarth-500/290379-couple-questions.html

Does anyone have a European sourced load capacity figure for the 500 ?

loveshandbags said:

Resurrecting an old thread...

A recent poster is looking to get the 'size' of the load area in a 500 has started a thread on the Abarth side that I thought might be of interest to ye all on the '500' section. Excuse my my brazenness (you're probably going to have to resort to throwing me off the FF ).

I find it hard to believe the 500 is as big as the MINI Clubman...
https://www.fiatforum.com/abarth-500/290379-couple-questions.html

Does anyone have a European sourced load capacity figure for the 500 ?

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Although I can't directly answer the question, but back last September, the wife and I bought a small chest freezer, about the same size as a slimline dishwasher I suppose. Anyway, the staff at the store we bought it from watched in awe as we carefully slid the chest freezer into the 500 (seats down, obviously!) and closed the hatch with millimetres to spare. Got some satisfaction out of that! Oh and we loaded it up with one of those jumbo '1 ton' builders bags full of garden waste (grass, branches etc) and merrily went off to the tip with the back fully loaded. Such a fun little car with incredible room!

frupi said:

Although I can't directly answer the question, but back last September, the wife and I bought a small chest freezer, about the same size as a slimline dishwasher I suppose. Anyway, the staff at the store we bought it from watched in awe as we carefully slid the chest freezer into the 500 (seats down, obviously!) and closed the hatch with millimetres to spare. Got some satisfaction out of that! Oh and we loaded it up with one of those jumbo '1 ton' builders bags full of garden waste (grass, branches etc) and merrily went off to the tip with the back fully loaded. Such a fun little car with incredible room!

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If you're looking for boot space & sheer load carrying capacity in a 500-sized car, the Panda is hard to beat. In practical terms, with the seats up, I can get about twice as much shopping in it as in my 500.

jrkitching said:

If you're looking for boot space & sheer load carrying capacity in a 500-sized car, the Panda is hard to beat. In practical terms, with the seats up, I can get about twice as much shopping in it as in my 500.

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The figure quoted is 775 litres and 206 on the boot
http://carleasingmadesimple.com/bus...anda-hatchback/49867/technical-data/?4810N787

which compares with 550 litres and 185 on the same site for the 500. I was disputing the load capacity figure but not the boot. The MINI gets a figure of 680 litres which seems to be consistent with other figures.

With the links on that thread on the Abarth side is the Fiat500USA site giving an incorrect figure of 30 cubic feet (equivalent to 849 litres) ?

Also I find it hard to believe that you get twice as much shoppiing in your Panda compared with the 500 with the seats up.

loveshandbags said:

Also I find it hard to believe that you get twice as much shoppiing in your Panda compared with the 500 with the seats up.

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Because the space in the Panda is essentially square, it's much more useable. The rake on the 500 means you have to be much more careful how you pack it to avoid bashing the interior of the tailgate when you shut it.

jrkitching said:

Because the space in the Panda is essentially square, it's much more useable. The rake on the 500 means you have to be much more careful how you pack it to avoid bashing the interior of the tailgate when you shut it.

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Since you have both the Panda and the 500 if the seats were dropped which one would have the better load capacity ? Realise that the Panda is more square shaped and the rake would interfere with boxs but it you had a builder's bag full of garden waste it wouldn't matter.

The reason for my interest is that I will be looking to replace the Marea weekend and I often thought of replacing it with a Panda (they're cheap enough) but it would need to have a bigger load capacity than that of the 500.

loveshandbags said:

Since you have both the Panda and the 500 if the seats were dropped which one would have the better load capacity ? Realise that the Panda is more square shaped and the rake would interfere with boxs but it you had a builder's bag full of garden waste it wouldn't matter.

The reason for my interest is that I will be looking to replace the Marea weekend and I often thought of replacing it with a Panda (they're cheap enough) but it would need to have a bigger load capacity than that of the 500.

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The Panda without a doubt. The back window is almost vertical, making it essentially an estate car.

The 500 is quite steeply raked & I don't think your HRW element would last long if you were regularly using one as a skip.

Also, having 4 doors is a huge bonus when lifting stuff in & out with the seats folded, especially if there are two of you. And if you remove the rear seats from the Panda (quick & easy), you've got a small van.

jrkitching said:

The Panda without a doubt. The back window is almost vertical, making it essentially an estate car.

The 500 is quite steeply raked & I don't think your HRW element would last long if you were regularly using one as a skip.

Also, having 4 doors is a huge bonus when lifting stuff in & out with the seats folded, especially if there are two of you. And if you remove the rear seats from the Panda (quick & easy), you've got a small van.

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I wouldn't be using a 500 as a small van (but I did ). The Panda would be a much better workhorse particularly with the build in roof bars.

If you had to hazard a guess at the load capacity on a 500 what figure would you give ?
https://www.fiatforum.com/abarth-500/290379-couple-questions.html?p=2936201

I'm starting to think about replacing my BMW 3 series estate (whioch has to go as my wife hates it) with a new shape Panda. Whatever replaces the BMW has to have (i) five seats and (ii) enough bootspace to deal with a family of 4's suit cases for a fortnight's holiday. This is making me think the Panda might work...

RobinPJ said:

I'm starting to think about replacing my BMW 3 series estate (whioch has to go as my wife hates it) with a new shape Panda. Whatever replaces the BMW has to have (i) five seats and (ii) enough bootspace to deal with a family of 4's suit cases for a fortnight's holiday. This is making me think the Panda might work...

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The current Panda in standard form is only a four seater and is so described on the V5C. To carry five, you need to specify a 5th seat belt as an optional extra when ordering the car, and then you will get a V5C showing it as having five seats.

Carrying five normal-sized folks would still be a challenge & would have similar comfort levels to travelling on First Capital Connect out of St Albans at 8am on a Monday morning. Luggage with 2 adults + 2 kids is possible if you could do the same trip on Easyjet with carry on baggage only...

RobinPJ said:

I'm starting to think about replacing my BMW 3 series estate (whioch has to go as my wife hates it) with a new shape Panda. Whatever replaces the BMW has to have (i) five seats and (ii) enough bootspace to deal with a family of 4's suit cases for a fortnight's holiday. This is making me think the Panda might work...

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Fiat Multipla 1.9 Multijet Eleganza 5dr ?

Never seen the newish ones in the metal so not sure how much boot space they've got.