Fiat 500L: quirky or just ugly?

[AmberPig]

Thinking of swapping my 6 year old Fabia for something else - not the new Fabia launching in January though, I have a long wishlist of features and it doesn't deliver. I'd really like a Mini Countryman, but they're off the top of my price range ( £12k max up to 3 years old). So I had a look at a 500L, not test driven yet, and whilst it seemed solid and ticked the majority of boxes I'm not sure if it's just a bit gimmicky. Opinions please!

I think they're cute

Bloated and ugly.

Ugly

Properly gopping.

silly

On watchdog the other week, the stig was testing them and it wouldn't go up a hill!

Horrible. They've taken a great car and completely ruined it. The Mini Countryman is terrible too. Minis and Fiat 500 are meant to be small cars.

Having seen The Stig try and fail to drive one up a hill (on Watchdog, as knittedslippers says), no way I'd buy one.

Don't like the 500L's at all but each to their own.

The problem they identified on watchdog only applies to standard 500's with a 1.2 litre engine so wouldn't affect the car the OP is looking at.

However, my local mechanic who I trust implicitly says he wouldn't recommend a fiat if it was the last car on earth!

Awful. I love love love the Fiat 500, but the Fiat 500L is a waste.

We had one as a rental for a few days whilst we were down to one car. It was great fun to drive, small and light, but loads of space.

One thing though the rear seatbelt is impinged by car seats, which is a ridiculous design flaw in a family car.

I would have one though.

Love them! Soooo retro

How is the Fiat 500L retro? There's nothing retro about MPVs. The actual 500 I see your point

Now I'm even more unsure; the fact that they're so divisive actually makes me like them more! I am worried about the whole Fiat reliability aspect though as Charlieboo30 said; are there any truly unreliable marques these days though?

I have a fiat 500. I love it
the 500L is an abomination

Madcatgirl
It was great fun to drive, small and light,

Small and light? It weighs about the same as a Focus (due to being a similar size), I personally don't class that as particularly light (anymore).

AmberPig
are there any truly unreliable marques these days though?

No marques are going to have a 100% record across all models, but the likes of Honda, Toyota and Mazda are fairly safe bets.

It felt light, which I suspect is just shit steering linkage. The focus feels much heavier to drive.

Japanese snd German are fairly reliable.

I've had two fiats - a Tipo (yes, I am that old) and a Punto. My mechanic insisted that fiat was an acronym for Fix It Again, Tony. Repairs were expensive and frequent, but I loved them.

I don't like them.

I've had a fiat 500 and a fiat 500 convertible and loved them both loads. I'd have another any day.

But never the 500L. I don't get it. It looks odd. And it just isn't a 500. The whole point of a 500 is it's so little and cute looking.

I have a Mini Countryman & absolutely love it. I hated them before I'd driven one as I was a firm believer that a Mini should be a Mini.

I like how they're a "smaller big car" - higher up so easier to get in & out of but not a massive car so easy to drive/park etc. Also decent boot space as you can move the back seats back & forth

Oh & it's a diesel so economical & only £30 a year road tax