Fiat 500

That’s right, I now drive a Fiat 500 Sport. And yes, I sold the BMW. Before you cast me off as a nutcase, give me a moment to explain. I always like to defend my own actions and elaborate on what my thought processes are. Relating back to the subject matter touched upon in this post, I began to question my reasoning for owning the BMW. It wasn’t considered a very high-end or expensive car (of the caliber of M3’s, for example), nor was it cheap. It was positioned in that awkward middle ground. As nice as the BMW was, I honestly couldn’t care less what kind of status, if any, it brought me.

Since I couldn’t quite justify owning the BMW, I decided I had my fun and ended up selling it. My intent was to embrace the philosophy of less being more, and “downsized” to a Fiat 500. This was my first time shopping for a brand new car. I checked out a few other makes, but in the end, the quirkiness and practicality of the Fiat won me over. Granted it’s a tiny car and severely underpowered, but at least it’s still stick shift and surprisingly fun to drive. A great get-in-and-go car and I’m enjoying it. Having a car with a big engine is only enablement to drive like a total asshole. Which can be a good thing, but is mostly bad. This little Fiat gets 30/38 MPG… versus the 19-20 MPG I was averaging with the BMW.

Another change is the fact that I’m locked in with this car… I’m on a 36 month lease with it so I’ll have to hold my habit of changing cars all the time. In the past 6 or so years, I’ve been through 9 cars. This will be a welcomed change of pace.

How small is small with this car? Well, I now wish I didn’t get a Sunroof because my head is literally at the ceiling even with the seat all the way down. You can still cram in 2 people in the rear, albeit uncomfortably. This 2+2 seating arrangement comes at the sacrifice of luggage space, which is just big enough to fit a 330mm Nardi Steering wheel.

In case you’re suspecting, I’m not quite as shameless as you think… I didn’t step down to this Fiat without also taking a step up somewhere else. What’s lurking in the garage is my surprise.