Trying out a Fiat 500 for the day

To change the subject a bit from gardening I'll tell you about this cute little car I got to drive today!

My car had to go in for a service and Andre had planned to go diving so we talked the guy at the garage into loaning me a car for the day. Andre asked a few questions about the Fiat500 parked outside and when it came to fetching me a car to loan the guy said he'd see if he can get me a Fiat.

Andre's been talking about these little cars for a while now and I've never really liked the look of them too much. It was just another small little bubble car.

Unfortunately for Andre I was the one put on the insurance to drive the car since he had to go diving and I had to take the car back later today. So he couldn't drive it, but instead enjoyed telling me to go faster!

It's a really cool little car and that's not a word I use often. It was such fun to drive and I didn't want to give it back! It has a huge (as huge as can be for such a compact car) sun roof so it's nice and light inside.

It has a small boot (American: trunk) and you could probably fit a week's grocery shopping in there I suppose. I wouldn't see it as a family car. But then it could be more of a family car than my two seater! So it does at least have back seats and space for (not too long) legs in the back. 

The front was really spacious. I loved the dashboard. Really funky!

AND it tells me when to change gears! I loved it! If only it would actually tell me out loud so I could keep my eyes on the road more, but that would drive Andre totally mad I know. You can't see it so clearly on the picture below as we live in a bit of a bumpy road area but it says "shift" with an up arrow (click to enlarge). It also tells me when to shift down. (I know, naughty taking pictures while driving, but I was going slow and did it quickly and thought you might not believe me otherwise.)

Besides telling me when to shift (gear) up and down it also shows the date and temperature which is handy as well as which radio station you're listening to. It has all the necessary buttons on the steering wheel plus air con and electric windows. A "City" button makes steering even lighter and has "Stop start" which switches the car off at intersections once you take it out of gear and take your foot off the clutch. It switches back on right away when you step back on the clutch. Would have been good in Switzerland where everyone switches off while waiting at traffic lights.

Only £30 a year for road tax compared to the £260 I paid the other day for my car. And this little diesel model gets around 55 miles to the gallon (Andre and my car both get around 30 mpg) similar apparently to what the Prius gets which I still like even though Andre says it can't be called a car. (The Fiat500 is not a hybrid.)

I had a fun Saturday driving around in it. Especially since once we got home from the garage we realised we left the house keys in my car and had to drive all the way back again!