Oh good grief, I don't know why we get sucked into this kind of silliness,
but for what it's worth, here's a recap of safety findings on Fiats, which
with a click of a mouse can be compared to other cars:
http://www.safecarguide.com/mak/fiat/idx.htm

Not surprisingly, there are good and poor models of Fiats, as there are of
BMWs, Chevys, etc. No indication that they spontaneously combust, however.
(If you really want to get scared, take a look at Hyundai, Renault and Kia.
They make the Fiat look like an Abrams tank. I bet those drivers have to
carry two fire extinguishers when they enter the region of Italy of which
JAX is king.)

"JAXAshby" wrote in message
...
nope. the FTC sue'd and stopped ALL import of ALL Fiats for sale, and did
so
with the undeniable claim that Fiat were not in fact automobibles.

check the court records if you are so inclinded.

From: "auerbach"
Date: 9/2/2004 12:19 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id:

Remind me not to travel with JAX. I was in Rome for a couple of weeks in
July, during killingly hot weather, and remarkably enough, not a single
vehicle burst into flames. Good thing, too; in Rome's sardine-packed
traffic, the flames would have spread to dozens or hundreds of micro-cars
and scooters.

Given the presence in the USA of Subaru, Hyundai, etc., and the departure
of
Peugeot and other labels, I suspect Fiat's absence from US car showrooms
may
have more to do with the cost of marketing and of meeting highway safety
and
pollution control measures than the FTC's opinion of the vehicle.

"JAXAshby" wrote in message
...
Newer seen a Fiat in fire, in last 50 years, at least here... Do you?

yes. I was there for four days on a business trip and saw five Fiats on
fire.
One caught fire as I walking by within 15 feet of it, and AT LEAST eight
motorists jumped out of their cars -- with fire extinguishers in hand --
to
help the young women put out the fire.

It is illegal to sell Fiats in the USA, because the Federal Trade
Commission
has rules that when someone sells a product here (such as a car) the
consumer
has a reasonable expectation of receiving such a product (such as a car)
and
Fiat makes no product that can be called a "car".