you think the base 500 is more apropos?

Instead of the Abarth I would look at a Mini Cooper S. My wife has one and its as much fun, if not more so to drive then the 370z. Its also super easy to work on.

Sorry for all your troubles. I'm with Trips on this. Keep her.

I've seen one of those new fiats in a 5-10 mph front crash and the front was done.

Im pretty sure you get what you're paying for in this case.

Fiat = soda can on wheels.....

:gtfo2: Eric

Have a drink :tiphat:

:icon18: freakin hilarious

Good luck. I'm a big fan of the 500 Abarth. I've yet to drive one but they sound ridiculously good for a 1.4l turbo and the car punches above its weight. I'd be happy to hear your impressions after driving one. It would definitely be an interesting transition.

Talk about unreliable, the Cooper S sure fits that bill! My co worker had an '11 that had more issues than the law allows, it was totaled in Oct 2014. She said she doe not miss it a bit, she replaced it with a 2014 Honda Accord 6spd V6 coupe that she now loves.

I'll take some of that crazy *** tequila you once offered me. Gave me whiplash lol.

I loved my Mini Cooper S 2010. I never had any problems with it and it was a lot of fun to drive...especially filling the gas tank you save a lot, but then again I only owned mine for about a year until I wanted something more and got the Z but I have nothing bad to say about the Mini Cooper S. BMW has a good warranty.

To OP
Stick with the Z and it will take you far though.. just think, now that you got past all the BS which most don't even experience in your position, you should be trouble free for a long time...right?

Yeah, Ive heard that the newer ones are not as good as the 2002-2006. We've got a 2006 and we haven't had any major issues with it other than BMW just replaced the rear hatch for free because I saw some rust on the seam and they have a 12 year rust warranty.

Low brake fluid usually = time to change brake pads. As the pads wear the fluid level in the master cylinder drops... most people just keep topping it off until it comes time to install a nice set of thick, new pads. Then they press the caliper pistons in during install and wonder why brake fluid spews out all over the engine bay.:rofl2:

^
True! In my case it was just low fluid though, as it happened at 5k. I am at 14k now with zero fluid drop and have 7mm left F/B.

How many miles do you have on your car.