I'm considering buying the 2012 Cabriolet POP (here in my hometown, New York City).
I'm an old motorhead, and for years I've known about Fiat's reputation for poor quality and unreliability . . . all I want to know is, is there any reason to think that Fiat now makes good cars? Is the company under new management? If so, for how long? What has the European press had to say about recent-year models? Are there statistics or owner-supplied stats on average repair costs relative to other manufacturers, or does any company rate Fiat against other worldwide manufacturers on the basis of reliability? Has the company made respected advances in automotive engineering?
If there's any chance that it's the same old company, I won't buy, period.
References to articles, any level of technicality, will be welcomed )
~ beauj

Well common rail diesel was a Fiat invention. The new multiAir engine technology is quite frankly mind bogglingly advanced compared to the old system of belts and camshafts. The last CEO of Fiat has been moved from Fiat to Chrysler to sort them out.

The Fiat Panda is one of the most reliable cars made in Europe.
Every single aspect of Fiat has been much improved on since the dark old days. but nobody stays still in the motor industry except for Morgan so you would hope they have.

When you say POP Cabriolet, I presume you mean a 500. If so, then I can give you my own experience, not of a 500 but of a Panda. I'm not sure where the US market 500s will be built but my Panda is built at Tyczy in Poland on the same production line as the 500.

I don't do a tremendous annual mileage but since new in March 2005 it has covered 65,000 miles. Since I bought it new I have fitted the following:

2 sets of tyres, 2 sets of front pads, 1 set of rear brake shoes, 2 pairs of front wiper blades, 1 rear wiper blade, 1 handbrake cable.

There have been no mechanical failures and the only parts that have been replaced have been so-called wear items.

There is a new Panda due here next year and I think I'll be replacing mine with a new one. I really need 4 doors so the 500 is a bit of a non-starter for me. Having said that, most parts in the Panda can also be found in the 500 and even the floorpan is a shortened version of the Panda.

I can't say the car will be trouble free, simply because a friend's Mercedes E240 has caused him no end of problems over the last 3 years and another has a VW Golf which is the bane of his life. But, if you get as good a service from your FIAT as I have with mine then you'll be well pleased.

If you go ahead and buy it be sure to keep in touch and let us know how you're getting on.

US 500s are built in Mexico.

I have a Taylor acoustic guitar made in Mexico and that's brilliant, although it does smell a little of chilli.

I think that if the design and engineering is good enough then the only thing that needs to be sorted out is the motivation of the staff. I have an Epiphone hollow body electric guitar made in South Korea and according to a friend who owns a Gibson ES335 which is the US made version of the Epi says the ES is better (in terms of sound) than the Korean made model, but not £1,000 better.

So with CAD/CAM design and production even poorly educated workers can produce top quality goods.

Fiat has come a long way in the past ten years but there's still a lot of progress to be made by European major brand standards.

The 500 has always gotten rave reviews in the French car magazines that I read. Not just for style but for assembly quality and interior fit and finish. The new Panda looks to be a nice improvement over the present one in all respects. The Punto 3 Evo has a much improved interior over the Punto 3 Grande. It will get another facelift for the 2012 model year as the Evo's style was often seen as a step backwards from the Grande's. THe new Doblo van is a marked improvement over the original one.

My new Qubo was built in Turkey and seems to be pretty solid. The interior fittings are of better quality than those in my 2005 Idea.

Slowly but surely, Fiat is getting to be quality-wise to the middle of the major brand pack in Europe, let's say Renault, Peugeot/Citroën, Ford and Opel. Most of the mechanicals are anywhere from above average to excellent.

I can't comment on the quality of assembly at the Mexican plant so have a look at the 500 (USA) Forum. There have been a few glitches, which is not surprising for any new model.

I don't think you'll have any serious problems with a new 500 in the USA other than a small (at the moment) dealer network and parts being in short supply for a while longer.

Good Luck!!!
.

i've always been a big fan of the FIAT brand, so obviously my opinion may well be biased but many years ago i was a mechanic for a local village garage and at 17, i bought a panda. The car to buy was either a fiesta mk2 or a peugeot 205 ...... NEVER a fiat "i thought you been in the trade long enough to know to stay away from fiats!!" was what one of the guys said to me, or "it'll rust away by this time next year!".... yet we hardly every got any in for repairs just your normal servicing?

my mk 1 panda had a 1000cc aluminum ohc engine which gave about 50bhp but compared to the fiesta which had a 1.1 ohv engine that ran on coal, it was a much more modern refined unit? and we always (like once a fortnight ) failed a mk2 fiesta for some sort of rust like sills or suspension tops? many years laters i drifted away from fiats and tried a mk1 KA and was shocked at how poor it was put together? mis mached panels, cheap shiney plastic dashboard, noisey, choppy ride and a rusty hole in the tailgate - it was only 5 years old when i sold it?..... all from the company that everyone raves about? the mighty ford.i missed my old seicento so much after that!

i have't to admit they were never perfect, some of the fiats from the 80's and 70's tended to have really bad interiors and even worse gearboxes ( although i never had one fail on me?) but they have always been a forward thinking company -the twin cam of the late sixties was the firts of its kind in a small saloon car, the x-19 pioneerd the small mid-engined sports car (a ful 10 years before toyota did with the MR2) the strada (rimto) was the first car in europe (or the world?) to be assembled intrierly by robots.... which fiat also made, and thier diesel engines are second to none.

so i guess in my opinion beauj, all those horror stories you hear about fiats are well and truley in the past and in any case, a company as big as fiat can not surive these days if they started making cars that rusted away after two years and broke down at every corner? go get yourself a fiat and join the revolution