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Fiat 500X (2016) long-term test review

Month 14 running a Fiat 500X: the goodbye. With a full-scale house restoration about to commence I've become (I think) decisive. We've scoured Pinterest, created the world's most complicated Excel spreadsheet, and now I face a nightly bout of quick-fire decision-making.

From beds to bathtubs, tiles to towels, bang, bang, bang I choose (what I think she wants), and our new home takes shape.

Yet despite my newfound conviction when dealing with the design direction of our terraced abode, after 14 months with the Fiat 500X I can't work out whether I'm a fan or not.

Together we've covered nearly 11,000 miles, trekking off to the Isle of Wight, up North to see family and friends, and even meeting up with an original Panda 4x4 in deepest Wales.

We've had dealer experiences both good and bad too, but a verdict? I'm not sure I can make up my mind.

Sometimes I think it's a cool little thing, with nicely swollen wheelarches and the chunky Off-Road Look bodykit's protruding bumpers. And at others it's a blob, especially when I spy another on the road with the slender City Look addenda.

Or there's the engine: 46mpg since it arrived last summer and a decent slug of torque, yet far too much turbo lag before progress begins.

Seats: stylish to look upon, but after any journey that takes us beyond the M25 (likely to a tile warehouse or woodburner showroom) the missus and I have backache.

Sat-nav: clear screen, quick to act, but enter a postcode and it'll display the alphabet when a number inevitably comes next – and, of course, vice versa.

Is my hesitancy to make a call a reflection on this type of vehicle too, the small, faux, 4x4? I mean, technically, they are unnecessary.

And early on in my tenure with the Fiat it was involved in a CAR group test with three other new rivals, the closely related Jeep Renegade, and a Honda HR-V and Mazda CX-3.

And our verdict on each – a middling three stars apiece – highlights that this expanding sector isn't perhaps all it's cracked up to be.

Heck, Vauxhall's rival Mokka outsold all of the above in the UK last year (the tenth best-seller!) and yet it's pretty awful.

How did 45,399 people decide they weren't better off in a Golf? All of them should have been barred from the 'Brexit' vote for lacking sound judgement.

But the fact the Golf, from driving dynamics to interior quality, is objectively better doesn't matter. Subjectively the Mokka and its ilk appeal because, y'know, some people just plain like them.

They're different, so whether it's the higher driving position, the supposed additional safety in a crash, or just straightforward emotional appeal, there are a myriad of reasons not to head to the nearest VW dealer.

Of course, this has been the case since Merc MLs started replacing E-class estates. But with the proliferation of crossovers through the market, now everyone can have one instead of a common-or-garden hatch or saloon.

So much so that I'd give kudos to anyone picking the likes of an A3 over a Q3 or a 5 Touring instead of an X5. Even manufacturers are reverting to the hatch.

Nissan – which started this mass-market craze – has dropped the Qashqai back to the ground to create the Pulsar (but faced with dross like that, I would get a Qashqai) and Fiat has used the oily bits from it and Chrysler's vast parts bin to birth the Tipo, following a two-year hiatus since the Bravo snuffed it.

What does all this mean for the 500X then, and the chance of me crystallizing my thoughts anytime soon? Right. Well. If I had to make a decision. Err… Okay, I quite like it.

I like the higher driving position, the sense of… No, wait, those attributes are common to all these crossovers. Umm…. Okay, objectively the 500X is a reasonable little car. Say six out of ten (or three stars from five in fact).

It's not dull or rubbish or infuriating in some way, but actually alright, almost good, but with no standout attributes like the impeccable interior of an A3.

The Fiat has wormed its way into my affections over the past year or so; I have fond memories in it, of it, of where we went and what we did – and have a soft spot for it because of that.

 If I'm ruthlessly rational I'll tell you to stick with a hatchback, but if I'm honest with myself, I enjoyed life with the 500X. I do like it, and I'll justify that however I can. Eventually.

Month 13 running a Fiat 500X: definitely not an Astra.

The highlight of any summer holiday is hire car roulette: take a punt on the cheapest internet deal and end up with something obscure which isn't sold in the UK and which must have at least one bald tyre.

Except this year, because our party included a baby, so safety first. I paid for an Astra.

Which turned out to be a Nissan Juke. Verdict: the sloping roof means compromised boot space, but it was fun to punt along the mountainous roads of northern Mallorca. Would still have the 500X though.

Month 12 running a Fiat 500X: why it's cheaper for Londoners to drive to Wales for a service. Despite what we'd have you believe, the life of a motoring journalist isn't all excitement and supercars in the south of France.

Which means, each month, when CJ asks us to submit our long-term test report, we're all left scratching our heads over how to appear like we're not just normal blokes who do the school run, commute to work, and get sent out late at night in search of chocolate.

Worse for me, this month I've discovered an app called 'Uber'. You may have heard of it but, just as I refused an internet connection at home until 2012, I'm a late adopter… .

For the uninitiated it allows you to hail a taxi through your phone.

Great invention, but with few reasons to get behind the wheel of the Fiat this month, when I did go to the south of France to drive that supercar (I really did! My life is exciting!!) the 500X stayed at home.

Cheaper to get an 'Uber' to Heathrow than pay for fuel and parking, you see. Result: I can't even write about the drive to the airport on the way to drive the supercar. .

Happily though, the 500X has come to the rescue. A few weeks back it pinged up a warning that the 9000-mile/12-month service was due in 30 days.

Like any typical owner, I ignored it. And again when I next climbed aboard 15 days later. And then the next time the service was overdue. Which was the same day I was ferrying loved ones north for a funeral.

Hardly the time to be worrying about the annual inspection. . Nevertheless, I called the nearest dealer in London, Fiat Marylebone, to get the 500X booked in upon my return.

Yet in the age of instant gratification and on-demand TV I was shocked to find they couldn't actually fit me in for over a week. Which was when I was away on the annual Pulman family holiday to Pembrokeshire.

And once the man on the other end of the line quoted a price north of £400 and started talking about oil changes, something in the deep recesses of my mind reckoned that wasn't what was in the owner's manual, so I made my excuses and said I'd call back.

The funeral overtook proceedings for the next few days, which saw another 1000 miles rung up so, worried the oil was turning to molasses, I called Fiat Marylebone back.

No one was available in the service department, but I was promised a call back ASAP. Meantime, with that Pembrokeshire holiday impending, I called the nearest dealer down there, PMS Cars in Haverfordwest.

Unfortunate name aside, I called on Monday, they asked if I could make it in that week, we agreed to change the pollen filter as I live in London and under the Heathrow flight path, and I was quoted £120. .

And now I'm writing this in their waiting room, with the service complete in under an hour, the work visible through a window, the bill paid totalling just £82.

85, the 500X outside getting a courtesy wash, and wondering whether Fiat Marylebone will ever call back.

Month 11 running a Fiat 500X: car beats train on the Isle of Wight. There have been two trips to the Isle of Wight this month, but only one with the Fiat.

The first, sans 500X, was a train ride to Portsmouth, a catamaran crossing, and a charitable – but chafing – endeavour to walk a marathon to raise cash for the Earl Mountbatten Hospice.

The Fiat entered the fray for the sequel, and without the need to stop in every town to deposit commuters, got me there quicker. Which means I had time to get this nice picture before my mate's wedding.

Month 10 running a Fiat 500X: erratic economy. Last month the 500X sprung a leak in its fuel tank. Or at least it must have to account for the sudden woeful increase in consumption to 34.7mpg.

I might have spent a day at Rockingham Motor Speedway, but I didn't actually take the Fiat on track. And yes, I double-checked the maths. So I literally don't know where the blip has come from.

Especially as this month all is back to normal with it returning nearly 48mpg – and the 500X averaging around 400 miles per tank. Answers on a postcard.

Month 9 running a Fiat 500X: meeting an original Panda 4x4. We motoring journalists love our 'old versus new' comparisons, yet where's the current Panda 4x4 to sit alongside the original in this test? Well, that's not the story here.

Rather, I'm more interested in seeing just how far Fiat has come since it built that iconic four-wheel-drive runabout in the '80s and, by way of comparison, whether the pseudo-4x4 Fiat 500X I drive on a daily basis is all show and no go. .

But a little history first.

The Panda went on sale in 1980, and as was (and is) the Fiat way, offered a cheap, no-frills set of wheels to move the Italian masses, with practical touches such as washable seat covers wrapped up in some rather neat Giorgetto Giugiaro-penned lines.

The Panda 4x4 that followed in 1983 was a bit of an oddity. Who'd want such a small car with four-wheel drive? Actually, anyone who lived within sight of the Alps.

And with everything in the drivetrain from the clutch backwards supplied from across the border by Austrian firm Steyr-Puch, and skinny little 145-section tyres wrapping the four driven wheels, it tackled snow, mud, and whatever else its owners threw at it with absolute aplomb. .

The rest of the Panda range received a substantial overhaul in 1986, but while the Panda 4x4 was treated to some of those enhancements (like the rather useful fully galvanised body…) it made do without the new engines, gearboxes and suspension so the trusted four-wheel drive hardware could be left well alone.

Why change a winning recipe? Whether you were a farmer or a postman or just someone who needed to get around when the weather got grim, the Panda 4x4 was the perfect tool for the job.

These little cars have cult status in the Alps – and appeal further afield – and many still survive today.

Heck, I once went on a launch of an SUV, and our convoy of press cars were led up a rough track into the mountains by a local guide in her Panda 4x4.

Which brings us to this, the Sisley special edition, which is lined up alongside my long-termer in the Brecon Beacons.

Originally launched in 1987 as a limited-run model, the Sisley's popularity meant it soon became a permanent fixture within Fiat's pricelist – though it's still more sought after than regular Panda 4x4s. .

Or if you're more into your fashion (and the Sisley was a collaboration with one of Benetton's clothing companies) then it's all about the white wheels, ribbed seats, and plethora of canoe badges. .

There appear to be two types of Panda 4x4 in the UK: those with a little, ahem, patina, and others, like this one, that are rather too nice to be driven into the countryside.

In fact, Marpol Vehicles in south Wales, who we borrowed this car from, have another Panda 4x4 in stock and having rebuilt it to concours spec won't even let it out when there's a cloud in the sky.

(Would you be surprised to hear that the two brothers who run the company have family roots in northern Italy? They have a rather nice Ferrari 308 GTB up for sale too…).

Essentially then, I could have found and driven a rusty Panda 4x4 and tried to get it stuck in the mud, or taken out a mint one like this for some good, clean fun.

Remember that? Where if you dinged a door you replaced a bit of plastic trim rather than an entire panel? Get out more? Yeah….

Inside I'm equally drawn to odd observations. Like the fact the door is just a door, with a simple oblong piece of trim affixed to the upper half, plus a pocket, handle and window winder screwed straight into the metal.

They do, and I rather like both of them. .

month 8 running a Fiat 500X: This just in - Fiat details quite good.

The sat-nav never seems to put a foot wrong.

Month 5 running a Fiat 500X crossover: niggles and rear-wash gripes.