2015 Fiat 500

Hatchback

1.4 Turbo

Manual

3C3CFFFH6FT590443

Rebuilt, Rebuildable & Reconstructed

Bottom Line: Hilariously fun car. Runs great. Custom (or at least, semi-custom) dash. Has a 'Rebuilt Title' and an airbag light on; airbag light is hopefully an easy fix (more on that below, most likely the passenger seat airbag, which is easily accessible). Gets good mileage, for me averages 30-32 mpg's. History. Fun fact, this particular Abarth was never actually sold new. If you look at the Autocheck report, the car was in some kind of 'accident' before it was ever registered. (Test-drive accident on the dealer lot?) I'm the third owner; gentleman I bought the car from bought the car from the original owner, who bought the car at auction. My information, for whatever it's worth, is that the front bumper and passenger side fender were damaged, with damage being on the minor side. Body repairs were done, can't tell the car was ever in an accident, at least I can't. (Minor as the accident probably was, an airbag most likely deployed, and on a new car, that immediately sends it off to the insurance auction...) One thing they didn't put that much attention to was fixing the airbag properly, but more on that below. Driving. I've had the car for about a year, I didn't put that many miles on it, around 7K. Super fun car. If you've never driven an Abarth, well, you'll immediately fall in love with the exhaust note. Amazing sound! Really fun, peppy machine (the engine has a lot of grunt), and even in stock form handles very nicely. Nice, simple clutch and shifter. Good brakes. Mechanicals. Nothing to report, everything as it should be. Bone stock. A/C, brakes, electricals, all work fine. Four new Continental tires (well, around 2K on them), which is the factory tire. Dash. I'm a vintage car guy at heart, so I replaced all the boring black Fiat bits with white ones, and also the red dash cowling in place of the black one. Most of the white dash bits I was able to replace directly, a couple I had to paint matching white (used SEM vinyl paint). In my opinion, dash looks way better, esp. with the very classic looking white steering wheel (which I bought new off of ebay, and no, I don't have the original one). The stock tach has little value (digital, small, sits in the corner, hard to read), so I went old school and added the large, easy-to-read center analog tach. 100% accurate compared with the stock tach (it's guts are digital actually, runs off the OBD plug). Makes a really nice difference in daily driving. Stereo. Original radio was hands down the worst stock radio I'd ever heard, and ditto the interface. Sound-wise, think 80s econo-car. So I replaced the head unit with a simple Kenwood (has Bluetooth, ipod, Pandora, etc); that alone made a huge difference. Stock speakers I found out are actually decent (I think in this car they're Alpines?), can hear the tweeters now. NB: I did use steering wheel control adapters, so the steering wheel volume and track control buttons do still work (of course the stock voice control buttons on the steering wheel no longer function, not that they really did anything before anyway). 'Airbag' (annoying, but I think it'll actually end up being a pretty basic fix.) When I bought the car, no airbag light on. Around a week into my ownership, airbag light popped on. Eventually I calmed down, and lo and behold, after about a week, airbag light went off on its own. And stayed off. So I just forgot about it. Fast forward a year. A Mini falls into my lap (I'm the kind of guy who keeps a car for a year or two, and then moves on), and the Fiat gets parked. After a few weeks of sitting I go to start the Abarth, and of course...the airbag light pops on! Just like it did the last time. (I was completely vexed when the airbag light popped on [just as I was about to list the car!], but upon reflection I realized it was just as well--I don't want to 'fool' anyone, mislead them in any way, I want the buyer to fully understand the airbag issue.) The fix/passenger seat airbag. I don't know anything about airbags, but I did a little research, and poked around the car. Got lucky. Pulled the seat cover back on the passenger side seat, and "Ah-ha!". That was the airbag that was replaced, quite obviously. Wiring looks a bit goofy (see the last picture I posted): you can plainly see some mailing tape, and loose electrical tape. Anyway, I'm no expert (so I didn't touch that goofy wiring, just let it be), but my guess is replace that airbag (ebay has plenty) or just clean up the wiring, or even just replace the seat if that's easier, and the airbag light should go off... (According to what I've read on the Fiat boards, wouldn't even need to go to the shop to reset the airbag light, should reset on it's own.) Misc. Body and paint generally in good shape, but not pristine; scratch etc here and there, call it daily-driver good (please keep in mind, black is very hard to photograph)... A couple of small, easily-repaired dings, one on driver's side quarterpanel, one on passenger door (I tried to photograph them, didn't come out at all)... I fixed some rock chips on the front hood with touch-up paint... I think there's a small rock-chip on the windshield... Wheels are in good shape, hold steady air pressure... Side mirror caps I painted myself, turned out OK... Non-smoker, no pets car... TX 'Rebuilt' title, in hand, in my name... Car is located in Stafford (suburb of Houston) TX... Terms. Please remember this is a used car. I've done my best to describe the car completely (I tend to over-describe, if anything), but who knows, I may have missed something. Please ask questions before bidding/buying! I'll do my best to answer. And of course, please make sure you understand about the rebuilt title and airbag issue. No warranty is given, express or implied. Deposit due within 48 hours, balance due within 7-days, whether car has been picked up or not. Pick up/shipping is buyer's responsibility, but of course I'll try to make myself available... Thanks