If you’re the sort of person who loves buying new-to-you toys, now’s not a bad time to buy a cheap car before the potential effects of tariffs have a chance to be felt in the car market. However, what do you buy? While cheap cars have returned since 2020, it feels like some of the pickings are getting worse. Well, if you’re looking for a reasonably priced daily driver that’ll never be boring, what about a Fiat 500 Abarth?
Sure, it’s not the fastest, roomiest, most economical, or most practical car you can buy for the money, but it’s a great commuter that’s overflowing with character, a hot hatch with a weird driving position that doesn’t feel like you’re driving a barstool. In short, it’s a riot, and you can now pick one up for cheap.
What Are We Looking At?
It’s hard to believe it’s been 18 years since Fiat decided to revive the retro style of the classic 500, but time flies. The recipe was simple: Chop down a Fiat Panda, drape it in retro-cute bodywork and trim, and sell it as a reasonably priced but fashion-forward small car. Unsurprisingly, the new 500 was such a hit, it picked up more than 20 awards, sold more than 2.5 million units, and is actually still being made in Algeria.
Of course, hot hatchbacks are a time-honored tradition, so Fiat’s Abarth subsidiary quickly took a shining to the car, turbocharging Fiat’s 1.4-liter inline-four, fitting sport suspension, and adding all the racy cosmetics you’d want. In Esseesse trim, it made a stout 160 horsepower, and that’s the tune it would carry across the Atlantic for 2012, so long as you hit the sport button to unlock the full potential of this adorable sport compact.
As you’d expect, once the press got its hands on the U.S.-spec 500 Abarth, they adored it. Although it didn’t serve up neck-snapping acceleration—figure a zero-to-60 mph dash just under the seven-second mark—or huge refinement, Fiat’s pocket rocket offered all the sensations and involvement you’d want in a hot hatch. In the words of Car And Driver:
Despite a pronounced forward weight bias—64/36 front to rear, according to Fiat—the Abarth attacks corners like a terrier working a roomful of rats, and cornering can be managed with the throttle. A little feathering puts the front wheels precisely on the apex, and with the traction control completely shut down (there are three levels of intervention), it’s not difficult to induce some easily managed oversteer.
Oh, and did I mention that not only did the 500 Abarth have actual steering feedback, its soundtrack was positively riotous? The blat from the free-flowing exhaust setup gave it immense personality, even when you weren’t on the ragged edge. It’s a machine that makes the commute entertaining, and now you can pick one up for cheap.
How Much Are We Talking?
While late low-mileage examples in rare colors, especially convertible models, still pull solid prices, early examples are now downright cheap. Take a look at this red-on-black 2013 example that just sold on Cars & Bids for a mere $6,000 with 104,200 miles on the clock. Okay, it might have a hit on its Carfax, but it’s also a southern car with regular service history, so it should be a fine daily driver.
Want a more loaded model? This 2013 Fiat 500 Abarth sold on Cars & Bids in February for a reasonable $7,100, and it’s loaded. I’m talking the forged white alloy wheels, the red leather interior, the sunroof, the Beats audio system. Alright, so this example does have some mods like a CEA short shifter and an aftermarket Android-based head unit, the body’s not cosmetically perfect, and there’s some pretty serious carpet wear under the floor mat, but with a clean Carfax, a reasonable 104,800 miles on the clock, it seems worth a punt, yeah?
Oh, and if you don’t want to wait for the right auction to pop up, you’ll likely be able to get a 500 Abarth even cheaper from the used car classifieds. This 2012 model’s up for sale in Florida for a mere $4,900, and while it may have 111,865 miles on the clock and be missing its center caps, it also has a clean Carfax.
What Can Possibly Go Wrong With A Fiat 500 Abarth?
North American examples of the Fiat 500 Abarth used something called the MultiAir system, which uses oil pressure to control timing and lift, and that system has a cheap filter that should ideally be changed every 60,000 miles as a preventative measure. For examples hovering around 100,000 miles with plenty of oil changes under their belt, changing this filter screen ASAP might be good enough. However, if basic maintenance is neglected, the Multiair system can become a headache with debris in the oil wreaking havoc. Also, the stock diverter valves are a bit fragile, so owners tend to upgrade to the GFB DV+ diverter valve for between $140 and $160 in parts.
Still, aside from those caveats, these cars appear to be largely good. The two main failure points relate to interior door handles and the wiring to the hatch. The latter can be repaired with quality crimp connectors, while the former isn’t a huge deal. In addition, difficulty filling up with gas can be fixed by gently hitting the fuel pump assembly with a hammer. Like any turbocharged car, boost leaks can develop over time, but turbocharger failure seems rare, and the five-speed manual transmission appears to be quite reliable. If you’re okay with iffy interior bits, then a well-maintained Fiat 500 Abarth shouldn’t be much harder to run than a normal car.
Should You Buy A Fiat 500 Abarth?
If you need to carry rear seat passengers on the regular or do a ton of freeway mileage, the size and ride quality of the 500 Abarth probably aren’t for you. However, if neither of those issues are concerns for your use, absolutely, go out and buy one that comes with solid maintenance records. These cars are little balls of fun that hold up surprisingly well, they’ll make you smile, and they’ll offer all the passion of a more expensive Italian performance car on a budget you can actually afford.
Top graphic image: Cars & Bids; Abarth via Amazon
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A few of our 2013 Abarth’s minor details for anyone seriously considering one:
There were space constraints that prevented them from using a 6-speed transmission, so 5-speeds it is. Get used to constantly reaching for another gear when cruising the interstate. Related to that: shifting up into 3rd feels vague, indistinct and is easy to F up when in a hurry.
The scalloped slick leather seats are gorgeous to look at but are lackluster for lateral G’s and uncomfortable: the fixed headrest juts too far forward. I found a pair of normal 500 seats and swapped them out with the original leather units now in storage. The seats were cheap, still have bolster airbags and the fabric is grippy compared to the slick leather. Overall I’m happy with them and any Fiat 500 seat is going to look good.
The driving position is arms extended and legs a bit too close to the dash. Is this typical Italian physiology? Why the F isn’t the steering wheel adjustable for extension?
We have a Fiat Madness ECU that tunes it to significantly higher power levels, perhaps more than 190hp. So far after years of use it seems like a reliable upgrade.
The Beats audio suffers from terrible MP3 file management. If you like to plug in a thumb-drive with 64gb of music and rock out you’ll be sad. Files must all be tagged with id3 metadata, and a specific iteration of id3 otherwise you’ll discover most of what’s on the drive is not findable. A workaround is to use a bluetooth dongle powered by the USB port and plugged into the AUX input, then play files or Spotify from your phone. The Beats Audio also won’t stream music by Bluetooth on stereos prior to 2016. Phone calls only. What a pain!
Oil consumption – the level moves down about 10% every time I check it at fill ups. I attribute this to the prior owner installing an aftermarket K&N air filter, but putting it in askew so it didn’t seat. I drove the car for a year before discovering during an oil change that there was sand in the turbo inlet, trapped in the grime from the egr. I threw that filter away in disgust. Other than the oil consumption I don’t see any other manifestations of damages. Maybe that amount of consumption is normal? Maybe it’s just turbo seals?
5-40 synthetic is required, but what I find for sale at the Big Box stores is for diesel applications. Lately, I’ve been buying the Amazon Basics synthetic oil, which is formulated for gas engines. Some owners insist on using Motul.
If the battery is performing poorly you’ll see a bunch of unrelated errors and it might not allow you to start. Ours checked ok with a volt meter at 13 volts (not a good measurement of cranking amps!) but was still bad. A new battery fixed that.
I installed Continental ProContact tires on the 16″ wheels – which were fantastic tires on our Subaru, and regretted it. The Tire Rack rep tried to talk me out of them and I wish I’d listened. Not good tires for a twitchy, short wheelbase car. Definitely buy Michelin Pilot Sport; hand’s down.
The tachometer looks neat with its circles in circles styling but it’s nigh impossible to see day or night when you really need it.
The rocker panel pieces are notorious for coming unbonded from misplaced lift arms and are a bear to reattach. I lurk over the guys at the tire shops to make sure they don’t lift it incorrectly.
I love/hate the exhaust. Great around town but quite drone-ish on the highway.
The passenger side “tripod” style CV axle crapped out at 100k miles which results in an increasingly bad shudder when accelerating. The axles are extraordinarily expensive and most online venders will ship you the non-Abarth version by mistake as everyone thinks they interchange (they don’t). Only the dealer gets it right by asking for the last 5 of your VIN then charging a staggering amount. You also must grease them with tripod grease, not CV grease. Consensus is to use GKN Tripod Joint Grease.
Put this in your garage STAT. These are future collectibles just like the Honda CRX now is and allows you to have most / all of the fun of driving a VW GTi without the stigma and frustration of owning a GTi: ours has been stone-cold reliable in 115,000 miles of spirited driving.
Dicorse.com has the parts to fix the inner tripod joints on the Abarth without buying a whole CV axle assembly from Fiat/Chrysler. I bought new tripods, boots and grease from Dicorse and installed them on both sides of my 2013 Abarth and it’s working great.
That’s great news, I found nothing like that a year ago when I realized the worsening vibration on acceleration was caused by my dying tripod axle. If it was a dying CV axle you’d hear clicks and pops when turning but our odd tripod axles apparently fail in a way that feels like all the balancing weights fell off the wheels.
I only found the driver’s side repair kit on their site – it was my passenger side axle that failed. Seems odd that it’s not L or R agnostic.
Hopefully my list didn’t sound too much like I was warning people away from Abarths – I still love mine more than ever after eight years of flogging it.
The inner tripod itself, boot, clamps, and grease are the same for R and L. The “cup” (the outer housing) is different L vs R because the right side is built into the jack shaft.
Also: comments like yours are a good example of why I like The Autopian so much.
Some of the materials used of these cars are terrible. My stepdad broke the armrest of his Pop 500 by daring to use it as an armrest. Its made of very thin, chinzy plastic. The radio buttons quickly lost their silk screening. A few of the exterior trim pieces are also loose or now misaligned. It kinda reminds me of an early 70s economy car. So $7500 even for an Abarth seems a bit steep to me when cars made of better parts are also available at that price.
I’m pretty surprised here.
I’ve always liked these, and the sound is unbelievable.
Looking at new ones on the other hand, the build quality was horrid, like panels mis-aligned by 1/4 inch, etc.
My buddy was driving a Dart with the 1.4t multiair, and while he was doing a long commute, he did have to replace the car recently as it was asking for a 3rd engine replacement. He did log many miles in it, but a Corolla or some other boring car would have done those miles on one engine.
These things gave me an impression that the car was unreliable, so I’m happy to hear that these engines don’t seem too bad.
“In addition, difficulty filling up with gas can be fixed by gently hitting the fuel pump assembly with a hammer.”
This is the only thing I’m not getting. Are you saying that while filling up at a pump, one would have to tap the fuel pump with a hammer? Most cars have the pump in the tank, so I’m trying to imagine how you would do this? It sounds like a serious issue.
I have a 2013 Abarth that will be listed on BAT this spring, if they’ll accept it. I just did all the fluids and belts, plus fixed a bunch of stuff.
Personally I was happy paying half that for plain 500 Pop with the NA 1.4 Multi-Air. My wife loves her tiny car. It’s worth noting there are detail differences between the different factories. A lot of English language info is from the UK and applies,to Polish built cars. US market cars are made in Mexico and differ in some ways. The hatch wiring seems less susceptible to failure, but the button in the handle fails. The genius fix involves a Dodge Caravan part from Dorman and a 2.2k Ohm resistor since the Fiat part is the same size but different resistance. The other big one is the Blue & Me module that frequently fails and drains the battery. This is under the glove box in Mexican cars and behind the left rear trim panel in Polish cars.
The exhaust alone on these guys is worth the price of admission – the first time I heard one, it took me a couple looks around to realize that yes, that car was making that noise. It’s just such a ridiculously full-send aggressive sound for such a small car – the definition of “turning the knob to 11”, and I respect the fuck out of them for doing it.
Did you know? The 500 Abarth has no muffler or resonator. From the exhaust ports back, it’s just turbo, catalyst, and a bunch of pipe.
I’ve never heard a 4 cylinder sound that dramatic, or really anything like that.
Honestly, it had me thinking about giving up my STi, just so I could hear that noise daily. Then my STi remembered it’s purpose in life and spun a bearing….
I had a 500 Sport for many years. It wasn’t Abarth fun, but it certainly was fun! I enjoyed that car a lot!
The Mini Cooper S I had before that was even much more fun, though. Oh and the VW GTI before that….
You can get a manual transmission and a turbo charged engine that pops and burps and bangs making good noises? And do some smoky burnouts in the process and rip the E break and have some fun in a short little wheelbase? Yes, these kind of things will be a car of the past. It’s a good deal.
I’ve had mine (2015 5mt) for 3.5 years and about 60k miles. I absolutely love it and wouldn’t choose differently if I could go back and do it again.
I’d like to add, 2012s apparently DID have some turbo issues, all of them will break arm rests, and it’s the EXTERIOR door handle hinge that breaks. There’s moderate issues with the C510 manual transmission, but as it’s the only actually Italian part on the North American Abarths, you almost expect it. (Mine is wonky going into 3rd sometimes and reverse is sometimes questionable, which is THE common issue)
2015+ has an optional auto that gets you a 6th gear and Aisin durability for the sacrifice, which IMO is smart if it were to be a daily driver or get any moderate highway use. 15+ also nets you a nicer digital gauge cluster and 17+ gets you a nicer factory radio. All US 500s 2018+ are Turbo, although that’s the 130 HP one, which is what the Abarth has if you’re not in sport mode.
I wanted an Abarth, but at the time I needed rear seats. I wound up with a Fiat 500L. If you get one like mine with the 6 speed manual transmission, it has the same Abarth engine in the same tune (but no loud pipes). It has been completely reliable and huge fun. The room inside is crazy impressive. It does lack the Abarth chassis upgrades, but it’s still a zingy rev happy turbo drive, and surprisingly athletic on twisty roads.
The 500L struck me as quite homely – until Jason wrote favorably about its odd styling and I reconsidered my opinion. I don’t understand why Fiat sold it alongside the 500X, a similar-sized but quite cohesive and sporty shape with the same drivetrain plus a 2.4l option. I asked Perplexity AI about this and got:
I love our Abarth, but if I needed a larger car the 500X would’ve been high on my list. Sadly they’re now discontinued.
I like these, but buying one for anything other than a city car, which I don’t need, is out of the question after I put a thousand highway miles on a regular 500 rental car and felt aches and pains I had never before felt.
I’ve always wanted a 500 Abarth. Suckers just ooze character, and sound great.
Honestly at these prices if they could just hold on a few more years I’d love to buy one. Probably asking for a lot there though.
Sorry there has never been an awesome abarta Fiat 500 ever built. It might be a capable for the money or a cute medium performance version but certainly not an Awesome Vehicle.
I have my 2013 500c Abarth for sale on FB marketplace right now. 83k miles. The wife wanted something in an automatic, so we’re replacing the Abarth with a Mustang GT convertible.
You guys are making the right decision. The Mustang will be worlds more awesome
It’s, as they say, a spicy meat-a-ball. Dunno that I’d get one but I always smile seeing these things
I repeat: At the Chicago auto show in February the ONLY car that had people actually smiling after sitting in it was the Red Fiat 500e. I drove a gas model in France 4 years ago when I was 6’2″ and 60 pounds heavier than I am now and absolutely loved it. So much that the French Government sent me not 1 but 2 speeding camera tickets. I said both with a big grin…all about the memories
What year and did they have acid, mushrooms, toad licking, or just alcohol to deranged thought
2025, which seems to be the year of actual design by acid swilling toad licking drunken design and so many fucking trucks. Also I would only buy one once the first 10 minutes of off the lot depreciation took hold. My guess about 50%. Still…gotta love the panache and chicness
The Abarth feels like the typical forbidden fruit European market car we never, ever received here in America. Happily we did, and I’ve been dailying one for eight years which still puts a smile on my face for any drive that’s not rush hour stop & go traffic. It’s a shame Americans don’t like tiny, fast cars – and that this retarded administration’s tariffs will surely kill Fiat as a brand here.
So I should suggest to my wife that I get one one now before I no longer can? Dang her rule of sell one, to get the next one.
Sadly, the newest Abarth is back to being the forbidden fruit we don’t get. But the 500e is here and can be leased for what seems like an absurdly small monthly fee of $199 and I’ll bet it’s just as much fun.
At least until Fiat concedes the American market is untenable …
Wow! I can buy an Abarth for less than a(STOP! STOP! DO NOT FEED THE HEADLINE-WRITER TROLLS!)
Whew, that was close.
Great article, by the way. Sounds like a fantastic little car.
My wife always wanted one of these, so we bought one. White/black cabrio with a manual transmission.
I was expecting to think it was too “girly”, too small on the inside, unreliable, uncomfortable on trips, etc.. etc..
It was none of those things. It was one of the best (and most reliable) damn cars we’ve ever owned, and regarding space/comfort? I’m 6’2 and we drove that thing across country when we moved, it was shockingly comfortable. To put it in perspective, I did a lot of driving thousand of miles across the U.S. when I was in my early 20s in other cars (explorers, land rovers, suburbans (square body and GMT400), late 90’s civic, and several Ford econolines and GM Expresses.
I stepped out of the fucking Fiat after that long drive, at a much later age, and suddenly I felt no body pain? Some of the vehicle listed above felt much worse on my body, at a much younger age.
It had two flaws, the radios on pre-2017 models were dumb as fuck. If you wanted something with a screen, you had to do some dash surgery that included cutting in to air ducts. Tried it, it was dumb, and reversed it as best I could. The other flaw is the manual shifter is really not very great from a precision perspective…
We are probably going to pick up another someday, a 2017 or newer.
NOTE: If you own one, do yourself a favor and upgrade the coil packs to the OEM packs that (I think) came on some Alfa models, especially if it’s a manual. You will thank me later for the increase in smoothness from a start, and and overall better driving experience. Swap takes very little time, and the risk couldn’t be lower.
My thoughts exactly, almost to the word. See my long rambling comment on the same subject. Our purchase was also partly based on my wife’s appreciation of their looks.
If you have links on the coil pack swap you’d like to share … :^)
Here’s the link, apparently they are for an Alfa 4C? I don’t remember if I bought it from 500madness or not, but it’s an OEM part, so that’s good enough for me.
OH, one more thing. For some reason, these motors have pretty short spark plug change intervals, I don’t remember the mileage, but it’s less than you think. But it’s also not a hard thing to do.
https://500madness.com/start-shopping/maintenance-service-fiat/fiat-500-ignition-coil-pack-set-alfa-romeo-4c-coils-by-bosch-14l-multi-air-turbo-4383?srsltid=AfmBOoq7UiRySiFAhrtb3SnxrtaoiNuDc1CaRsK7Hm10hoZA1nMRyxsC
Very useful, thanks! My recent replacement of the Iridium spark plugs alone made a very noticeable butt-dyno improvement.
In my completely unbiased opinion, yes – yes, you should.
Came here simply to look for your comment. I knew you would be chiming in.
I’ve always loved these and have even considered getting a convertible one as a weekend toy. I mean when you really think about it it’s not THAT different than having something like a Miata. Yes, I know, RWD or die gang, it’s dynamically inferior. But it’s a small, tossable, impractical, manual car that prioritizes driving joy over all else.
These sound great too as long as you keep the exhaust stock. They fart, bang, crackle, and have a very charismatic exhaust note. I’d encourage anyone who claims there’s no such thing as a good sounding 4 cylinder to give one a go after you give a Hyundai N a go. Turbo 4 poppers get a needlessly bad rep because of their overuse in NPC cars, but the good ones are actually really good.
Anyway I tip my hat to the 500 Abarth. They don’t really make stuff like this anymore. Everyone wants their hot hatches to be subtle and refined in this day and age. I prefer mine to be snarly, charismatic handfuls that are rough around the edges by design. They’re supposed to ride rough, roast their front tires, fart out the exhaust, etc. They’re working class heroes, and that’s why they’re great.
“I mean when you really think about it it’s not THAT different than having something like a Miata”
Did you know there’s ANOTHER Fiat Abarth that’s even MORE like a Miata?
That’s crazy! Maybe it should get a cool nickname. Something like Fiata, perhaps….
I like these and have always wanted one. I considered buying one in 2013 but ended up in a Focus ST instead (which I also loved). I also later owned a Fiesta ST because it was more practical than the Abarth. If it wasn’t for the kiddo I might be tempted to scoop one of these up.
It’s a shame Honda never did a Fit Si.
If I had another garage spot I’d get one of those. There was a sliding soft top version of these too, right? I’d never use the back seat and I bet it sounds even better that way.
“I bet it sounds even better that way.”
The only car I know of that came stock with a “fart can”. A neighbors kid had one a year ago, and you knew whenever he was coming or going. I’m all for affordable, go-cart like fun, but so-so performance, build quality, and sounding like a tool, pass.
You sure it was stock? I drove one when they were new, and they were rorty and had some backfires when coming off the throttle, but it still sounded gloriously Italian.
Not 100%, but have been in traffic with others that sounded the same.
They’re definitely loud but they sound quite good IMO. I’m pretty sure it was more a case of a teenage driver, and their narcissism, that gave you heartburn.
I will say he drove it like he stole it.
I test drove a used Abarth against a brand-new Fiesta ST and ultimately went with the Fiesta because I found the shifter in the Fiat to be weirdly girthy and the center console made it impossible for me to manspread comfortably.
Drove both and also went with a Fiesta ST, partially for the same reason. Not to say that the ST is roomy – my knees still basically rest on the side of the center stack – but the control ergonomics just felt more comfortable. I get in and everything is right where it should be when I go to reach for it. That wasn’t the case on the Abarth (or Subaru BRZ, which was also in contention).
I remember when the local Fiat store was leased a leased slot at the mall across from Talbots with the service work being done at one of the owners other brands. Smart move.
I definitely want one, and they’re not getting any younger/more reliable so no time like the present. Just need to find the room to park it….