Should you buy one?

If you’d asked us this question a decade ago, we would have said yes. But these days, the Fiat 500 just can’t keep pace with the competition. There are newer, better city cars out there (such as the Kia Picanto and Hyundai i10) that offer more practicality, stronger performance and more technology for less money. Albeit without the 500’s enduring style.

The Fiat 500 Electric makes much better sense as a city car than this petrol-powered version, although the EV is also much more expensive. It represents a significant leap forward in terms of its technology, driving experience and refinement. In fact, we like the EV so much, we made it Parkers best small electric car 2023.

Still, the petrol-powered Fiat 500 remains cheap to run and its chic appeal shows no sign of fading – which is the main reason Fiat’s refused to replace it completely. It’s hard to think how the stylists could do a better job second time round. The fun-to-drive Abarth 595 more than makes up for the regular car’s vanilla progress, though as with the electric version, you have to be prepared to pay for the privilege (and there are much more accomplished hot hatches available for the money).

What we like

We like how easy the Fiat 500 is to thread through a busy city and how well its wide glasshouse allows you keep tabs on the surrounding traffic. We also like its hybrid engine; it isn’t exciting for keen drivers, but it’s charming and it delivers good fuel economy.

What we don’t like

The 500’s driving position isn’t comfortable on a long journey and its interior technology feels very dated compared with its rivals. The steering is numb, and there’s plenty of body roll. The tiny boot is a drawback, too, but probably won’t surprise anyone given the car’s overall size.