The $2,000 car you can't buy (in the US)

[Deja Q]

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveonaCar/2000-dollar-car-coming-to-showrooms.aspx
(Article)



http://moneycentral.msn.com/community/message/thread.asp?board=ConsumerActionForum&threadid=976025
(Message boards - read them drool over another portion of "free trade" that isn't?)

[amandabeech]

1. The thing looks like it wouldn't survive a crash with a Ford Focus

at 30 mph.

No thank you.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

38. I agree. It looks like it won't be able to meet safety standards.

[TheCoxwain]

2. That is more car per $ than any other .. and more scare per drive... :)

[tridim]

3. I want a new Fiat 500

It's certainly more than $2000, but at least it'll be available in America soon.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

6. I drove one of the new-style Puntos about a year ago.

It had the anemic 1.6l engine so it wasn't much for acceleration, but for bombing around the country roads in Tuscany it was a hell of a lot of fun, and the new 500 looks even better. Sure, the glove compartment wouldn't stay shut and the radio required some percussive maintenance, but damn did I look stylish when I was cursing the bastard for stalling and refusing to start again on a 5% grade.

[mwooldri]

8. This car got reviewed on Top Gear.

And they liked it! (the version you got pictured anyway).

[tridim]

19. Saw it. I've loved Fiats since the day I started driving 23 years ago

My first, second and sixth cars were all Fiats. :) I just sold my Spider a few months ago, but only because I don't have a garage.

And BTW, is Top Gear not the best damn car show ever? I love everything about it.

[tech3149]

11. That's just my speed

I was signed on to get one of the new Mini's before they were released. I finally said screw it, my 98 Civic works just fine. If I were in the market for something new, something like the 500 would be on the top of my list.

[madrchsod]

15. top gear had a "review" of that car.....

I WANT ONE !!!! i always wanted the late 50`s early 60`s versions. abarth made one that clocked in at 160 but they could`t get big enough brakes to stop it....

[MineralMan]

30. I had a Fiat 600 back in the mid 60s.

It was a 1959 model, and had an Abarth exhaust system. Not many creature comforts, but it sipped fuel, and was a fine car for buzzing around Santa Barbara at the time. It had a cloth top that slid back to open the entire top of the little sedan up to the sun.

The aftermarket exhaust system made it sound like a little race car, even though it wouldn't outrun anything faster than a moped.

Fun times.



That isn't my car, but you can see all my cars at:

http://www.osomin.com/mycars.htm

[tridim]

31. Haha, I was going to ask if that was you skipping in the background.

:)

[MineralMan]

37. I worried about that...which is why I edited the photo.

I don't skip. Ever. Too hard on old knees.

[Believing Is Art]

4. I like it

It's cute. I'd totally tap that.

[n2doc]

5. ...and frankly I'm glad.

crappy, deathtrap tinbox that would only increase our trade deficit and bring no jobs to the US. If you want a good 2K car look at used ones....

[lithiumbomb]

7. exactly

I realize that some think it's some sort of conspiracy that no one is selling a $2000 car in the US, but that thing doesn't come anywhere close to meeting U.S. safety or emissions standards.

[Stevenmarc]

9. With a 0-60 of 14 seconds and top speed 75mph

and the structural integrity of a soda can it would make for some rather exciting moments getting on a highway with an 18 wheeler coming up behind you.

[tech3149]

24. No offense, but there are more important things than hp and 0-60

I haven't owned anything but subcompacts since the 70's. I used to be a balls to the wall driver. I passed people at 120 on a gravel shoulder(in a turn),had a trooper chase me for 35 miles in his turbo Trans Am, lost local cops when I passed them at 100, avoided an accident when driven off the interstate in a foot of snow at 60mph.

All of these incidents were while driving the El Cheapo Delux car I could afford. I don't worry about my safety against the behemoths that some people choose to drive. What I do is PAY ATTENTION to everything around me that could be a threat. I don't assume that anyone on the road is paying attention or a skilled driver.

Now that the economy has really hit the skids, I hope that the insurance companies start offering serious driver training and rate breaks for those willing to advance their skills. Accidents don't just happen, they are the result of someone not assessing the risks or not having the skill to deal with them.

I wouldn't have a problem driving these vehicles on the roads with anyone in any vehicle, but I'd pray for anyone who made that choice without the skills.

[Stevenmarc]

28. Sorry but those specs reveal that this car is totally inadequate for American highway driving

The pollution levels that it spits out wouldn't pass US standards, hell if you could get it insured here it would cost as much as the car itself considering it's crashworthyness.

[Terry in Austin]

43. As if "American highway driving" were the 11th Commandment

It's time we questioned the assumption.

[Occam Bandage]

10. And thank God you can't. nt

[OhioChick]

12. Can you imagine getting hit by a semi in "that?" n/t

[tom_paine]

18. At least you'd never know what hit you.

That thing would probably be less protection that wearing a thick coat.

But it'd be quick. SQUISH! and then nothing...

[Iktomiwicasa]

23. And the semi driver

probably wouldn't know he hit anything either.

[frylock]

26. i wouldn't want to get hit by a yugo in that

[jbnow]

35. Any passenger car getting hit by a semi is a big loser nt

[Spider Jerusalem]

40. You'd have to be a moron to drive a car like that on an Interstate.

Not what it's designed for. Getting around in an urban environment, though? Something like that is ideal. Too bad the US has had 60 years of idiots in charge of planning and development, and it's all been car-centred (hence interstate highways, and suburbs).

[SoCalDem]

13. I'd rather have the $5,200 Suzuki Maruti

reminds me of my dearly-departed Toyota Corolla wagon that we loved a LOT...for 23 years (until it finally went to car-heaven)

[TahitiNut]

14. Bodacious Tata!

:silly:

(from "An Officer and A Gentleman")

[madrchsod]

16. unsafe at any speed.....

[tanngrisnir3]

17. Be glad you can't. The safety equipment/rating on it is likely through....

the floor. In this case, Fred Flinstone literally.

[Terry in Austin]

20. Exactly what a modern car should be

Tata brings the automobile into the 21st century. It'll be complete when there's an electric version!

[SoCalDem]

21. Perfect for town use..commuting? maybe not..long vacations? maybe not

but for many people who stay close to home, it;s super:)

[tanngrisnir3]

25. Uh...yeah. No ABS. No airbags. No side/rear crash tests. No stability control

Crumple zones, but they haven't been tested for side or rear. No active head restraints. Rear engine, so all the mass is in the back in case of a wreck. 12" wheels for lousy emergency control.

No thank you.

[Terry in Austin]

42. No heated seats, no CD player, no fuzzy dice

...shoot, what kind of "car" is that?

:facetious icon:

[dysfunctional press]

33. you forgot the sarcasm icon...

some people here can't recognize facetiousness without it- and they'll just think that you're a moran.

[Terry in Austin]

41. Sorry, no sarcasm.

Cars (as we know them) are SO twentieth century. The Automobile is an institution made possible by excess petroleum energy, an era that is coming to a close. Sure, there will be powered vehicles of some sort, but it isn't likely to be the same set-up as now, where everybody owns one, and indeed, where everybody must own one in order to function as a first-class citizen.

Americans and their cars -- sheesh! Want to hit a nerve? Just dis The Automobile, guaranteed panic.

Nobody ever said that paradigm shifts were painless.

:hide:

[jakefrep]

22. ...for good reason.

Wrecks in that car would be a veritable chapati of carnage.

[LanternWaste]

27. Looks safer than the scooter I ride to work...

Looks safer than the scooter I ride to work, and I haven't been crushed yet. It also would keep the elements off me better-- and for the same price.

I imagine the sooner the US subscribes to the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations, the sooner we can get off this horsepower addiction so many of us seem to have...

[anigbrowl]

34. I suspect many commenters have never used a motorcycle

I'd quite like on of these things - 90% of the time I only ever want to zip around town. They have tons of similarly tiny cars in Europe and it hasn't resulted in a big increase in accidents, nobody buys a car like this with the expectation of driving it around like a banshee.

[flvegan]

29. 35 horsepower.

It's like a souped-up lawnmower.

[ProfessorGAC]

39. Well, Pretty Highly Souped Up

I don't have a riding mower or anyting, but geez, my walkbehind is only 7HP. At least this would be 5x my lawn mower.

Isn't this sort of like a small motorcycle output?
GAC

[dysfunctional press]

32. and thank goodness for that.

one more crappy deathtrap that has no business on the roads.

[tammywammy]

36. And there's a good reason for it too. n/t