I'm just a bit sick of hearing how utterly awful Fiat are, on a Fiat Forum. Yeah, they need new models and need to do more meaningful updates throughout models lifecycles but it really gets tiresome seeing people actively encourage people to buy other brands at every possible opportunity. There'll be no investment in Fiat at all if people keep doing this, as they'll disappear.
Fair comment re the 500, Fiat have milked it for all its worth, though it's testament to it that it was still selling in such decent numbers up to a couple of years ago, with only one half-decent update. It must still be relatively satisfying to own otherwise you'd have got rid, surely?
This is my issue - the Up! is showing as a 5 star car, when it's highly likely it won't be anymore. Both Up! and Panda had ratings which expired 12 months ago - the Panda has been put through the mill and been re-tested as zero stars, but the Up! gets to carry on with its out of date 5 star rating. If they're going to start re-testing cars they need to be a bit more open about how they're going about it. If they can't retest everything every 5 years for example, perhaps it'd be better to just leave everything with its original rating, rather than making certain makes/models a skapegoat.
Listen, I don’t know exactly why the Up! Hasn’t been retested, like I said, it might be that it’s not long for this world or that a replacement is coming really soon so NCAP testing it would be a waste.
Why should people continue to recommend Fiat products that are no longer competitive? Why would anyone in their right mind recommend or buy a car that is so far behind the times?
Up until about the facelift I was happily recommending the 500 and Panda to people. But since then the competition really have moved forward and it really isn’t the car to buy anymore. Why would I in good faith recommend a new car that is sub par compared to the other cars people could buy? This isn’t just about NCAP ratings either. If I was buying that class of car now, I’d probably grab an Up! GTI. They look great and they’re a hoot to drive, kind of like a newer Panda 100hp.