2016 FIAT 500X Easy

The largest, small car… packing big FUN!

The 2016 FIAT 500X Easy, a newcomer to the crossover scene, is fueling Americaâ€™s love for the smaller SUV. Crossovers are a perfect combination of not too big, but not too small. Great fuel efficiency, while offering the ability to shove a Costco-sized shopping trip in the back. The American dream, right?

I did need that convenience when buying groceries for the Labor Day party we were having at my daughter’s house. Her backyard is small, but the community pool area has BBQ grills, playground and covered patio with tables and chairs. No mess in her yard and not too far from her front door.

Even though that oasis of fun is a short walk from her house the kids wanted to take turns riding in the FIAT. I must have driven back and forth 12 times that day. Thank goodness the different stages of car seats were easy to take in and out. There were six children under the age of 10 jumping up and down wanting rides… much like Disneyland.

This fun little car is much more spacious than I expected, with roomy front seats and plenty of head room for the backseat passengers as well. I actually had adults wanting test drives too.

Maintaining the 50-year-old Italian look of the FIAT 500, this enlarged version is sleek and sophisticated with itâ€™s upscale interior and dashboard controls. The dashboard controls were surprisingly user-friendly despite the advanced technological capabilities of this mini powerhouse.

While this car has all the functional qualities I would look for in a crossover, â€œfunâ€ could be the FIAT 500Xâ€™s middle name. I certainly enjoyed zipping around town, maneuvering tight corners with the sporty handling and playing chauffeur to the labor day BBQ group.

Coincidentally, during the time I was testing the 500X Easy, I ran into the Director of Marketing for FIAT for San Francisco when I was in Long Beach for a day! Randomly, we were both at a volleyball tournament, and he kindly gave me a Fiat bag which he said only special people received (hmmm…).

The FIAT is a sharp looking vehicle that was appealing to both children and adults. It is never too young to start letting children be part of a test drive process. However, when two of the older boys said, “Isn’t FIAT the car in that commercial about where a man tosses a blue pill out the window and it goes in to the gas tank and it gets bigger?” ….I said, “go ask your father.”