This Week's Rental - 2014 Fiat 500L

"Mosqvich" (mosqvich) 07/03/2014 at 15:26 • Filed to: Rental Car, Fiat 500L, Trinity site

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This week's travel brought me to the Trinity Site and White Sands Missile Range in a remote part of New Mexico, around 100 miles from Albuquerque. When I arrived at the Albuquerque International Sunport (that's what they call it) and proceeded to Hertz, I noticed dozens of 500Ls waiting to be driven. I typically have to rent in the Focus category per corporate policy. The 500L is in that group, and awaiting me in my slot was the black car you see above. By the way, the Trinity Site is where the original atomic bombs were tested.

Was the car a bomb? Not really. It had pretty good pep, though it has noticeable turbo-lag. It cruised easily at 80 mph down I-25. It felt a lot more powerful than my former 2012 Ford Fiesta SE.

It's an odd looking car. It's sort of endearing, but I vacillate between it being ugly, but maybe in a Steve Buscemi kind of way. He's not really ugly, just quirky looking.

The interior cavernous, at least in height. I felt like a child in it. I'm 5'11", so I'm not short, but I just felt like the little old lady in the Wendy's commercial ordering a hamburger at the drive through.

The interior was so-so. The seats seemed fine until about 50 miles into the trip when my leg started to really have some pain. It's fairly cheap on the inside, the steering wheel is rubber and the seats were a rough polyesterish clothe. The UConnect was brilliant though. Way better than Ford's Sync.

As an around town car, I'm sure it would be just fine. I cannot see myself every buying one, but for a rental it passes muster. As long as I don't have to drive an additional 100 miles in it.

T5Killer > Mosqvich 07/03/2014 at 15:32

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Very cool. Welcome to NM. I'm in Albuquerque. Did you get to check out the The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque?

Mosqvich > T5Killer 07/03/2014 at 15:54

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Not yet. I have an office there, I'll be back in 2 weeks. I'm not sure how tight my calendar is though.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Mosqvich 12/24/2015 at 09:19

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I’m a big FIAT fan, so it’s nice to see somebody reviewing the 500L in an honest way. I much prefer the styling of the 500 or the 500X, but the 500L has grown on me a bit since it launched....it’s not pretty, but it’s got quirkiness going for it to me, like the old FIAT Multipla’s styling.

Glad to see it wasn’t that bad. I don’t know your physical build, but perhaps the seats weren’t comfy to just you....I always find that sort of thing subjective, but still important to consider somewhat.

As for the interior, I’ve not actually experienced one first-hand, but I’m surprised you found it cheap. Not saying it’s lavish, but some reviewers have mentioned that they thought FIAT’s interiors were fairly decent in quality...not amazing, but not bad. :)

Kudos on the write-up! :D