Donebrokeit
Donebrokeit Reader
5/6/11 2:33 p.m.

I was heading to class yesterday and saw what looked like a truck load (10 maybe) of MiTo in red and black on the other side of the beltway. This was on the west side of Baltimore (Maryland) heading north ,or was I seeing things.

http://www.alfaromeo.com/com/cmsen/homepage/pages/home.aspx?outputXml=true&CustomResponse=WebCrawler

Paul B

John Brown
John Brown GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
5/6/11 2:49 p.m.

I have seen them in testing around Chelsea. Ford, Chrysler and GM use I-96, US-127 and I-94 for their drive loops. I sit and watch them out my back porch as often as possible.

integraguy
integraguy Dork
5/6/11 2:52 p.m.

As is the case with many Alfas, I have mixed feelings about this model. I mean, if ALL of Alfa's lineup was overnight available for purchase in the U.S., and I had the financial means to buy any one I wanted...this would be near the bottom of my list, and I really like small cars.

Donebrokeit
Donebrokeit Reader
5/6/11 2:56 p.m.

I was banging around the Alfa site and the car looks nice and has some good engine choices but the car was 20K pounds that would almost be a $40K car !! ( give or take)

Paul B

failboat
failboat Reader
5/6/11 3:14 p.m.

Wouldnt be surprised. I spotted a Fiat 500 in Fairfax VA back in 2009. Michigan manufacturer tags on it, parked in my office parking lot of all places.

Joshua
Joshua Reader
5/6/11 5:14 p.m.

I love the look of the Alfa over the Fiat, I just wish they both came with the Euro options, not the cheapened US packages.

oldeskewltoy
oldeskewltoy Reader
5/6/11 5:22 p.m.
Joshua wrote: I love the look of the Alfa over the Fiat, I just wish they both came to the US

much ado about nothing... all this talk of little lower cost cars... but no one other than Ford has responded

JThw8
JThw8 SuperDork
5/6/11 6:05 p.m.
oldeskewltoy wrote:
Joshua wrote: I love the look of the Alfa over the Fiat, I just wish they both came to the US
much ado about nothing... all this talk of little lower cost cars... but no one other than Ford has responded

Not sure what you mean there, the Fiat 500 is here and for sale now. The MiTo is a good possibility and I'd pony up for one. Smarts have been on sale for a few years now.

Nothing against ford, glad they finally brought us the Festiva but they are far from the only player in the small fuel efficient market.

DeadSkunk
DeadSkunk HalfDork
5/6/11 8:46 p.m.
John Brown wrote: I have seen them in testing around Chelsea. Ford, Chrysler and GM use I-96, US-127 and I-94 for their drive loops. I sit and watch them out my back porch as often as possible.

You living in the Chelsea area now John ?

m4ff3w
m4ff3w GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
5/6/11 9:18 p.m.
Donebrokeit wrote: I was banging around the Alfa site and the car looks nice and has some good engine choices but the car was 20K pounds that would almost be a $40K car !! ( give or take) Paul B

But cars usually come over at a 1:1 $:£ ratio.

integraguy
integraguy Dork
5/7/11 10:57 a.m.

Keep in mind when looking at prices overseas on your favorite car in it's home market...ALL or almost all? countries in the EU charge a VAT that is already added into the price of many new cars. A MiTo that is listed at 12,000 GBP is the equivalent of about $17,000. Subtract the VAT and make a few changes in the specs, and "viola" that car is sold in the U.S. for about$13-$14K.

The MiTo is priced competitively with the Mini in Europe, so that's most likely what the cost of "buy in" will/would be, here.

Donebrokeit
Donebrokeit Reader
5/7/11 11:50 a.m.

I did not know the VAT was added in that way , I thought it would be tacked on at the end.

Paul B

integraguy wrote: Keep in mind when looking at prices overseas on your favorite car in it's home market...ALL or almost all? countries in the EU charge a VAT that is already added into the price of many new cars. A MiTo that is listed at 12,000 GBP is the equivalent of about $17,000. Subtract the VAT and make a few changes in the specs, and "viola" that car is sold in the U.S. for about$13-$14K. The MiTo is priced competitively with the Mini in Europe, so that's most likely what the cost of "buy in" will/would be, here.
alex
alex SuperDork
5/7/11 2:43 p.m.

I was expecting more of this:

integraguy
integraguy Dork
5/8/11 1:46 p.m.

When you look at the prices quoted in European magazines and on the websites for cars in Europe, they add in all fixed costs. In the U.S. they leave out any part of the price that has a variable to it like tax and tag fees and sometimes even destination costs.

4eyes
4eyes HalfDork
5/8/11 7:14 p.m.

I have always liked the Mito over the 500, I would LOVE to see an Abarth version sold here.

John Brown
John Brown GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
5/8/11 7:20 p.m.
DeadSkunk wrote:
John Brown wrote: I have seen them in testing around Chelsea. Ford, Chrysler and GM use I-96, US-127 and I-94 for their drive loops. I sit and watch them out my back porch as often as possible.
You living in the Chelsea area now John ?

No but for a while I was by there once or twice a week, My house in Mason is off US-127.

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