Fiat 600 Review & Prices

The Fiat 600 is a bit like a designer handbag you buy because of its stylish looks, but when you get it home you find you can barely fit anything inside. That’s because while the 600’s retro-inspired looks will certainly turn heads, alternatives are much more spacious.

And there are alternatives aplenty, from the chic Renault Captur to the rugged Dacia Duster, smart Volkswagen T-Cross and ultra-efficient Toyota Yaris Cross. You could even consider the bigger, plug-in hybrid MG HS, which isn’t a great leap in price.

Yet while most of those cars look good in their own way, none is quite as funky as the 600. Sure, it’s not as effortlessly cool as the smaller Fiat 500, but it’s not a bad effort and wears its curves well.

That curvy theme continues inside, with a large oval dashboard that, on the base trim, is painted the same shade as the exterior, which works particularly well if you opt for one of the brighter colours. However, there are cheap materials aplenty, and the floppy cover for the central storage bin is just… odd.

Space is pretty good for those in the front though, with plenty of places to store bits and bobs, but that’s where the practicality ends. The rear seats are tight and the boot, at 385 litres is smaller than most alternatives offer. The Captur offers up to a massive 616 litres if you slide the rear seats forward.

The infotainment system has sharp enough graphics, but navigating its menus and finding various settings is unintuitive. You can at least bypass most of this with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which come as standard – and you’ll need to in the base model, because there’s no built-in navigation.

Although Fiat markets the 600 engine as a ‘hybrid’, neither of the two engine choices are a proper self-charging or plug-in unit, so you won’t be cruising around town on electric power watching your MPGs skyrocket. However, it’s very effective at engaging electricity at lower speeds or when decelerating, so it’s relatively efficient – 50mpg is achievable – and smooth to drive around town. If all-electric motoring appeals you might consider the Fiat 600e instead.

The diminutive footprint might not be great for space but it does mean the 600 is a doddle to drive in the city, particularly if you’re stepping up from the smaller 500. The suspension handles bumps well even at higher speeds, meaning motorway trips are nothing to fear. It’s anything but exciting to drive, though.

Although it’s pretty good value for money already, find out how much you could save with Carwow’s Fiat 600 deals, or check out Fiat 600 leasing deals. You can also browse used Fiat 600s or other used Fiats from our network of trusted dealers, and when it’s time to sell your current car, Carwow can help with that, too.

The Fiat 600 is pretty good value; even the higher-specified La Prima model with the more powerful engine comes in at under £30,000. Standard kit includes 17-inch alloy wheels, LED lights all around and keyless go, but that top-spec trim gets adaptive cruise control, semi-autonomous parking, 360-degree cameras, synthetic leather seats and more.

However, if you’re looking to save cash the Renault Captur and Dacia Duster both cost less than the Fiat in their most basic guises. What’s more, you can get proper self-charging hybrid versions starting at the same price as the basic 600, while the all-hybrid Toyota Yaris Cross isn’t much more expensive.

The Fiat 600 is smooth and economical, but it’s pretty dull

In town

The Fiat 600 is ideal for the city, because it’s small and easy to thread down tight streets. And with the electric assistance, stop-start traffic in particular is quiet, with smooth acceleration between red lights. The automatic gearbox is snappy, too, and the light steering is a boon here, while the soft suspension means you barely notice any but the worst potholes.

You don’t get much in the way of assistance kit as standard, but step up to the La Prima model and you get all the goodies. Blind spot monitoring, a 360-degree camera, and even a system that will park the car automatically will all be useful for city drivers.

On the motorway

Small city cars aren’t normally ideal for big motorway drives, but the Fiat 600 actually performs admirably here. Again, the suspension soaks up bumps well so you get some of the refinement of a big car, though there’s quite a bit of wind and road noise.

Power is adequate, but you’ll want the more powerful of the two engines if you spend a lot of time on the motorway. It gets up to speed a bit quicker, though neither engine will make particularly light work of overtakes.

All cars get basic cruise control, but top-spec models come with an adaptive system, which can maintain your speed and distance to the car ahead, as well as making sure you don’t drift out of your lane. The ‘stop and go’ function means the car will crawl in traffic for you, too.

On a twisty road

Although the Fiat 600 soaks up bumpy B-roads nicely for the most part, the light steering and lack of punch from the engines means there’s not much enjoyment to be had. It’s at its best when you relax into a steady drive and don’t ask too much of the tyres in a bend. None of this is strong criticism, though, as none of the 600’s alternatives are particularly exhilarating on a twisty road.

Space and storage up front is fine, but the rear seats are cramped and the boot is small

Front seat passengers are fairly well catered for in the Fiat 600. Even taller drivers should be able to get comfortable, and while a little more steering wheel and seat adjustment would be nice, it should be fine for most.

The door bins will carry a typical Coke bottle, and it’s neat that you can slide the cup holder divider to cater for different sized containers. Beneath the infotainment screen is a large, covered storage bin, which is useful for chucking anything you want to keep out of sight, and it’s home to a pair of USB slots as well as the 12v socket.

Space in the back seats

Space in the back is less impressive. If you have long legs you will probably find your knees resting on the seat in front, though there’s plenty of headroom at least. Kids will be perfectly happy back here, though fitting three people across the bench is a bit of a squeeze. To be fair, this is a common theme among the 600’s alternatives, though the Duster is pretty roomy in the back.

Child seats will fit, but it can be snug if you have a bulky seat, and the person in front might have to move their seat forward to make space, which can get a bit cosy. Storage is virtually non-existent, though you do get a USB-C slot for those in the back to fight over.

Boot space

The lack of practicality continues in the boot. The Fiat 600 has 385 litres, which is worse than pretty much every other similarly priced SUV, except for the Vauxhall Mokka’s 350 litres.

The Renault Captur is palatial by comparison, at 484 litres as standard. However, the rear seats can be pushed forward to open up a massive 616 litres of space. A Dacia Duster also impresses with 472 litres, while the Volkswagen T-Cross has between 385 and 455 litres, depending on how far you slide the rear seats.

The interior design is funky in places, but there are plenty of cheap materials and the infotainment system is a bit rubbish

Smart and sophisticated the Fiat 600’s interior is not, but in an age of sleek minimalism and screen-heavy cabins it’s actually a breath of fresh air. There’s a large oval-shaped dashboard that’s painted the same colour as the exterior on the basic model, which looks particularly fun in one of the brighter shades, though all La Prima versions come with an ivory interior.

The synthetic leather upholstery of the La Prima model is soft and comfortable for big miles, and both this and entry-level car’s fabric seats have the Fiat logo stitched into them, which creates a fun effect.

However, that’s about where the positivity ends, because there are a lot of cheap plastics to be found inside – again, not uncommon at this price, but the Renault Captur feels posher and the Dacia Duster wears its ruggedness better.

The infotainment system can be incredibly frustrating to use, and you don’t even get navigation built-in as standard. Fortunately that’s not a huge problem, with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto fitted as standard.

The fabric seats of the entry-level 600 are heated in the front, but you need to step up to La Prima for basic luxuries such as electric driver’s seat adjustment and automatic climate control. Top-spec cars get a wireless smartphone charging pad, too.

There are two engine options available in the Fiat 600. Both are based on a 1.2-litre petrol engine with mild hybrid assistance and come with a six-speed automatic gearbox, but you get a choice of 100hp or 136hp.

Official fuel consumption figures are identical for both, at 57.7-58.9mpg. The higher-powered version is the pick of the pair, because it’s no less efficient around town but is better-suited to high speed runs on the motorway or country roads. It’s a bit more expensive to buy, though, at which point you could look at the ultra-efficient Toyota Yaris Cross with its proper hybrid engine, which can easily beat 60mpg in real world driving.

Both engines face low first-year Vehicle Excise Duty charges, but if you’re a company car driver and want to save even more in Benefit-in-Kind, you should consider the all-electric Fiat 600e (or any other similarly priced electric cars, for that matter.)

Although the Fiat 600 has not been safety tested by Euro NCAP, models that share its mechanical underpinnings have not performed particularly well. The Jeep Avenger scored just three stars out of five, while the likes of the Vauxhall Mokka and Peugeot 2008 scored four.

Standard assistance kit includes all the basics, such as lane-keeping and autonomous emergency braking, but you have to step up to the La Prima model to upgrade the basic cruise control to the adaptive system. These models also get blind spot detection as well as a self parking system and 360-degree cameras.

Fiat doesn’t have a fantastic reputation for reliability, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that it came 31st out of 32 manufacturers in the latest Driver Power ownership survey. The Fiat 600 comes with a three-year, unlimited mileage warranty, aligning with the common industry offering, though alternatives such as Dacia and MG offer more.