Fiat 500L problems (2012–2022)

All 3 engines of the Fiat 500L that we have documented have high or critical severity faults: the 1.3 Multijet, the 1.6 and 2.0 MultiJet II and the 1.4 T-Jet. None has a «Buy» verdict; the safest option is the 1.4 T-Jet, with a «With caution» verdict. Outside the engine, the information on the Fiat 500L comes from owner reports on fiches-auto.fr (suspension, steering and infotainment) and from a 2024 KBA recall for a wrong total mileage display on 2021-2022 units. We have found no European safety recalls that support the suspension or steering faults.

Among the 3 engines we have documented, none has a «Buy» verdict; the safest option is the 1.4 T-Jet, with a «With caution» verdict. We have not found reports documenting widespread faults specific to this first series without MultiAir, but it shares its turbocharger and block with the later series: the reliability pages we consulted for models with this engine (including the Fiat Tipo, which uses the non-MultiAir version) repeatedly document turbo wear and oil consumption. It is worth checking the service history before buying.^[1][2][3]

Outside the engine, the information on the Fiat 500L comes from owner reports on fiches-auto.fr (suspension, steering and infotainment) and from a 2024 KBA recall for a wrong total mileage display on 2021-2022 units. We have found no European safety recalls that support the suspension or steering faults. The most important documented faults are: steering rack failure on the Fiat 500L (steering, high severity), premature wear of ball joints and shock absorbers on the Fiat 500L (suspension, medium severity), uconnect infotainment and radio faults on the Fiat 500L (electrical system, low severity) and wrong total mileage on the instrument cluster caused by an engine ECU software error (electronics and infotainment, low severity).^[4][5][6]

The most important by severity and frequency, on the engines we have documented, are: timing chain stretch and tensioner failure (1.3 Multijet, critical severity), incomplete particulate filter regenerations and oil dilution (1.3 Multijet, high severity), saturated diesel particulate filter (DPF) from incomplete regenerations (1.6 and 2.0 MultiJet II, high severity), premature turbocharger failure or wear (1.4 T-Jet, high severity) and early tensioner wear and risk of timing belt failure (1.6 and 2.0 MultiJet II, critical severity).

According to our rating by year, the best are 2019, 2018, 2017 and 3 other years with the same rating (6.9/10); the worst rated is 2012 (6.1/10). Each year's rating counts only the engines sold that year and the faults that affect those units: open each year to see what changes.

Yes: we have documented one campaign for the Fiat 500L, such as total mileage shown incorrectly (engine ECU) (2024). Check with your VIN at the official service centre whether yours has been done.^[6]