75,000 Mile Review of the Fiat/Abarth 124 Spider

We recently hit 75,000 miles in our Fiat 125 Spider Classica. If you are thinking about buying one, here are the thoughts and advice of a long term owner.... PS: We also own an Abarth 124 Spider with 40K miles on it.

[@carlosbonilla1637]

As an ND owner, big thumbs up on your 124. 👍.. I grew up with Fiats and my dream car was always a 124 Abarth… styling wise, the 124 is beautiful.. congrats! 👍

[@DropTopTees]

thank you

[@williambayliss2367]

Love your enthusiasm. I own a 2018 124 Spider, Lusso, Bronze and manual trans. Not nearly the miles you have on yours. From the great white north (WI). A big problem I have is when I walk away in a parking lot I have to stop and look back at least twice. And that leaves me open to have to talk about the car with other people. Oh by the way I still wear your T's

[@DropTopTees]

Thank you! We bought Itsy thinking we would have a fun car. We never anticipated liking her so much, we bought another so we each have one!

[@guitarenigma]

Thanks, really enjoyed this. The first new car I ever owned was a 1979 Fiat Spider 2000!

[@DropTopTees]

They are beautiful cars!

[@drmcf1]

I bought a 2018 earlier this year. Put 13K on it since April. Love it.

[@DropTopTees]

Awesome!

[@lesleyh2007]

I have been waiting for your next video. It has been worth the wait. I love your enthusiasm for the Fiat 124 Spider. I share that feeling. My Spider isn’t just the best car I have driven but by far the car that gives the most fun when driven especially with the 6 speed manual tranny. I have never driven a Spider automatic though. I whole heartedly agree that when you drive the Spider you get engaged by lots of people who either can’t make out what it is but love the look. Or I have been approached by quite a few who surprise me by knowing the car and then tell me they owned the original Fiat 124 and how they loved that car. Immediately they want to know how my car compares for driving plus for ownership. They often say that the new Spider is obviously more reliable. I know you have covered about every topic on our cars (very much appreciated) but keep your videos coming. Thanks from BC, Canada for your update today.

[@DropTopTees]

That is who knows what it is: people who drove a vintage 124.

[@lesleyh2007]

@@DropTopTees I drove one back in the early 70s. A girl I knew owned one. Not the reason I dated her but definitely a bonus feature. I can remember I liked her car….a lot however I don’t recall a lot about it. If I had owned it and had more knowledge and experience with the car my memories would be clearer. I thought at the time she was cool but her car was even cooler. I was about 19-20 years old then so that was a special time.

[@DropTopTees]

@@lesleyh2007 The vintage 124s and early Mustangs were the first cars that caught my eye when I was growing up. When they announced the modern in 2016, I had to get one :)

[@davidjungbauer-i7e]

I had to part with my 2017 Abarth 124. Still miss it a lot, one of the most fun cars I ever owned. I agree with your opinion about being willing to talk to strangers about the car and the value.

[@mikegibbs210]

See my entry for the boot button intermittently working on the forum website , easy fix . Thanks for the great videos .

[@DropTopTees]

Which forum? 124.org?

[@mikegibbs210]

124 spider org , entry is Bootlid not opening . Good Luck

[@chrisf1874]

Great to hear how few problems you've had. Love my 124 Lusso. What state of tune is your Classica?

[@DropTopTees]

Stage 2 tune

[@chrisf1874]

@@DropTopTees Thinking of just stage 1 and a cat back exhaust for mine but don't want to worry about reliability. I've only got less than 30k miles on mine. BTW in Europe the handbook recommends a timing belt at six years so I had my 2017 car done in January.

[@DropTopTees]

@@chrisf1874 I think you don't have to worry about reliability until you start messing with internals or a large turbo. The turbo upgrades seem to have a high rate of failure after several years - just the turbo - not the engine.

[@weege001]

im almost at 40k, its my daily driver.. and it still rocks.

[@lacorsanostra]

Do a review of the Abarth next, pretty please.

[@DropTopTees]

Not a bad idea. Since we own both, I could compare.

[@spasserwagen]

What is the size of the boot opening (length and width)? And the depth? (I wonder if my luggage will fit if I get one)

[@DropTopTees]

The opening is approximately 34.5" x 15" with a depth of about 15". However, it is not a perfect rectangle. The corners are rounded a lot. At the bottom, the cargo area is ~42"x22". We bought a 3 piece luggage set made specifically for the trunks of MX-5 NDs and 124s.

[@spasserwagen]

@@DropTopTees thx for your time and helpfull info

[@bradmiskulin]

Have you changed the timing belt yet? Great videos!

[@DropTopTees]

Timing belt is scheduled service at 240,000 miles.

[@MikeKeller]

@@DropTopTees holy moly! 240K???

[@DropTopTees]

@@MikeKeller Yep! And the accessory is something like 120K or so

[@Crisheight]

Going on 35k miles in ATX as well with no issues. I've been looking at lusso spoiler/sideskirts, what brand are yours from? I feel like the ARP front splitter just doesn't look the best on the lusso trim vs the abarth it's intended for.

[@DropTopTees]

My spoiler is from a company in Germany called ZYMEXX. They call this spoiler is called the Stelvio on their site. My side skirts are made by Feroce Carbon and sold by 500Madness. Here is the link to the side skirts: 500madness.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=300012835&tracking=dtt

[@Crisheight]

@@DropTopTees Thanks for the info and the videos. I changed all my brakes using your video as a guide.

[@MikeKeller]

There's a lot out there, but an awful lot of them are automatic transmissions. I just don't understand that.

[@DropTopTees]

Far more Americans drive automatics than do Euros.

[@mikegibbs210]

I am in the UK and chose the auto because stop /start city traffic is a real pain in the left knee . The car is still the best and most reliable I have had so far

[@MikeKeller]

@@DropTopTees yeah, and they're selling them and making it hard to find the stick shifts amongst all the noise. For instance, on Facebook Marketplace, it takes three clicks to determine "that's not a stick."