How could I lose 10 mpg in a week of BETTER driving?!

[XYZ]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

FWIW, I took my wife by the local FIAT "salon" (not a saloon!) when they first opened and she fell in love with a little yellow covertible they had sitting on the lot, asking the unanswerable question: "...wouldn't I look cute in this?..." to which I cautiously mumbled "...yes, dear."

"Does this car make me look FAT?"

"Of course not, dear. It's a FIAT."

(Only the "I" is omitted. It's the one in the oval sticker, on the back bumper.)

[Atheria]

My adorable Fiat is seemingly averaging mid 40s right now. I finally was able to talk to a Fiat technician and he said that coasting in neutral with a manual transmission is totally fine as long as I put the car into the appropriate gear when I need to according to speed. Whoop!!

I am looking forward to more coasting and seeing with my next fill up (where I will go back to 91 octane) how high I can get the mpg.

Atheria

[RedDevil]

Originally Posted by XYZ

... And don't forget to call Tony. I'm sure you will need Tony, sooner or later...

So this wisdom comes from... nowhere What do you drive then?


The question remains: Is the Ford Ka a bad car?
No, it gets reasonably good reviews. It looks a bit strange, but it is basically a good car.

Also it is technically the same as the Fiat 500, as it shares the same production line and a lot of the parts.
So the Fiat 500 cannot be worse than the Ford Ka, nor better for that matter. It looks better though.

Point is, you cannot judge all Fiats in one stroke. Fiat made some horrible models and some that were quite good, in their time for the money. Like the original 500.

[XYZ]

Originally Posted by RedDevil

So this wisdom comes from... nowhere What do you drive then?

Neither a FIAT, nor a Ford. As I mentioned, I once owned a FIAT. Once was enough. "Once burned, twice shy."

The question remains: Is the Ford Ka a bad car?
No, it gets reasonably good reviews. It looks a bit strange, but it is basically a good car.

Virtually any new car will not exhibit problems when it is new, or nearly new. If you can't discriminate in choosing one product over another based on your past experiences you would buy literally any car - just to give it a chance. That would be naive. You would possibly be burned again, if you ignored your past experiences with the products of certain manufacturers that were less than satisfactory.

Point is, you cannot judge all Fiats in one stroke. Fiat made some horrible models and some that were quite good, in their time for the money. Like the original 500.

Ah, the nostalgic appeal of the old "cinquecento" <LOL> Yep. It's literally a clown car, as seen and used in circuses decades ago. Either you love it or...

[RedDevil]

Originally Posted by XYZ

Virtually any new car will not exhibit problems when it is new, or nearly new. If you can't discriminate in choosing one product over another based on your past experiences you would buy literally any car - just to give it a chance. That would be naive.

Perhaps so. JD powers and the like do test fairly new cars, as those are the ones on sale now. When a car develops relatively few problems when new compared to its peers, it is likely that that remains so over the years. They test by volume and get data on new cars.
Your past experience is about cars that don't get built any more. (an estiimated guess as you are not really giving much data).

One example.
My parents had 2 Renaults, a Morris and a Daf before they bought a Honda Civic which lasted longer than the rest combined.
Daf and Morris are gone but Renault is still there. My brother in law has one now, and it at 12 years and many miles is still going strong without much ado.
Renaults were really bad, but no more.

One of my friends had a Renault which failed as the valve timing belt broke.
Funny thing is that it was just replaced. But the mechanic was lazy and made room to switch the belts by bending the belt cover cum guide, and did not bend it back properly so the belt failed quite soon after, rubbed to pieces by the cover. Proper procedure is to remove the cover while changing the belt.
The car was good, it was just ruined by a dork.

You still haven't said what you drive now. Why is that, then? Surely nobody would be so impertinent as to make fun of YOUR car?

[Atheria]

U.S. auto sales on target for best rate in six years - Business on NBCNews.com

Fiat sales are up and helping Chrysler! Ha!

I am getting close to needing to finally get gas, and I am hoping for a good mpg number.

Atheria

[gone-ot]

Atheria -- something to remember, BRAND NEW tires have more rolling-resistance than used tires. So, your MPG numbers will be somewhat lower than expected until the tires have been 'broken-in,' typically about 1,000 miles.

[ciderbarrel]

Originally Posted by Atheria

U.S. auto sales on target for best rate in six years - Business on NBCNews.com

Fiat sales are up and helping Chrysler! Ha!

I thought Chrysler was owned by FIAT.

[XYZ]

Originally Posted by ciderbarrel

I thought Chrysler was owned by FIAT.

Essentially it is. Quoted from Wiki:

On May 24, 2011, Fiat paid back $7.6 billion in U.S. and Canadian government loans.[88] On July 21, Fiat bought the Chrysler shares held by the United States Treasury. With the purchase, Chrysler once again became foreign owned; this time Italian car maker Fiat gained majority ownership and control of Chrysler.[89] The United States government’s involvement in the Chrysler bankruptcy cost the U.S. taxpayer $1.3 billion.[89]

I see very few Chryslers or FIATS on the road.

If FIAT gives up on Chrysler, the US government probably won't bail them out (again).

And Lee Iacocca isn't influential any more, or around to make it happen...

[Atheria]

Since Chrysler is doing well and Dodge Ram trucks and Fiats are selling faster and faster, Fiat has no reason to abandon the company.

Thank you to the gentleman who told me about the tires.

Atheria