I saw a new Fiat 500 in a nice light moss green today, and it reminded me of something I keep hearing about Fiat. Every time anyone points out a Fiat, or mentions the car company Fiat, someone invariable says: "Fiat stands for 'Fix It Again, Tony'." I guess this must be their slogan or something, because everybody seems to know it so well. (<I'm kidding.) But you know, this saying might not reflect so badly on Fiat, so much as it could indicate something else entirely.
The statement: "Fix it again, Tony", is kind of rude, isn't it? I mean, they don't even say "please", so it ends up sounding like the person is simply ordering Tony to fix their car, doesn't it? (They probably don't even thank Tony when they pick up the car either, I'll bet!) Well, perhaps Tony doesn't enjoy being bossed around like that, so maybe he does an intentionally crappy job in "fixing" the car, so it breaks down a lot. And so maybe it's not shoddy construction, nor unreliability, so much as it's the fact that these cars tend to get driven around by people who are rude to their mechanics. Could that be it, and might that explain this expression in another way?
So, just to be on the safe side, whenever your Fiat breaks down, or requires service, try being extra polite to your auto mechanic, and be sure to say "please" and "thank you". You might find that the cars are pretty well-made and reliable after all. And just to encourage people to be polite to their auto mechanics (and hopefully get better service done on their cars, thus eliminating this stigma), perhaps Fiat would be smart to change their name to Fiapt, which could stand for: "Fix it again, please, Tony."
Or else, maybe you should just consider taking your car to a mechanic who is not named Tony. Perhaps if your mechanic has a different name, you won't have to ask for it to be fixed so much. (No offense, Tony! I'm sure you're doing your best!)
