The Fiat 500 is a neat car. Despite Fiat’s “fix it again tony” reputation, I was set to buy the convertible until I realized that I will soon be transferred to a city where a a Fiat  dealership doesn’t exist, and I would have had to drive 160 miles to the nearest “salon” for service. NOT A GOOD IDEA, especially given their reputation for mechanical failure If Chrysler/Fiat wants to promote this car, they should remove the exclusivity that they’re attempting to associate with it, and they should allow all their existing Chrysler dealerships to sell and maintain the vehicle. They can initially train 3 service techs per dealership for this purpose. It’s no wonder Chrysler/Fiat isn’t selling Fiat 500′s., and I suspect things will not improve until they make sales/service more accessible to their potential customers.

The new Scion iQ is another intriguing small car, bigger than a smart but smaller than a 500, but Car and Driver really hated its transmission.  The real challenge for all of these, especially in St. Lous, is the “why?” part of the equation.  We have few on-street parking areas where you need a tiny car to squeeze into a space, and nearly all of our off-street spaces are full size ones.  Plus, these tiny cars don’t get nearly as good gas mileage as other, larger cars, like the Prius, Golf & Jetta diesels and even a Hyundai Elantra.  Or you can buy a used car for a lot less and afford to pay more for gas (and less for taxes and insurance).

I think the key here is can I go in, get a test drive, and buy one?  Yes = dealership, I don’t care if I have to get it fixed in Creve Coeur. 

If I can come in and look at three cars in the storefront, but have to head out to the county to drive and/or buy then it is not a dealership.

Mini’s initial set-up was a sales showroom on Ladue in Clayton with a separate parts and maintenance just down the street.  But I looked, test drove, purchased and left the location on Ladue with my car.

Rick I don’t think you’ll be seeing anything “Fiat” downtown anytime soon, unless it is a simple storefront which displays a few of its 500s. Fiat is going to have a hard time surviving. Only 20,000 units were sold the first year. (Don’t forget that Edsel sold 63,000 units their first year, and two years later they were history.) Unless Fiat seriously addresses their reliability issues and changes their marketing strategies, the USA version of Fiat will live on only in a select few’s memories.

@Brian: The reliability issues I’m referring to are problems that have follewed Fiat for several years. These issues earned them the “fix it again, tony” reputation. These issues also forced them out of the American market until recently. I’m not saying that Fiats are unreliable. But Fiat hasn’t proven yet that they can build a reliable vehicle. Chrysler’s reputation is questionable, and when they joint-venture with Fiat, the platform gets a bit shakey. I agree that Fiat should have sent to the US all  the vehicles that offer 60-70 MPG, but they didn’t!  And if you want a 500, you’ll forgive their oversight and buy the car. I was willing to take a chance and purchase a 500 until I learned that I’m getting transferred to a city 160 miles to the nearest “salon”, in New Orleans. I don’t want to be stranded with a broken down Fiat in my driveway, wondering how I’m going to get it to New Orleans for service!