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2014 Fiat 500L

For every car sold, owners filed about as many complaints about the 2014 500L as about the typical 500L year.

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

2.70 per 1,000

1.0 times this nameplate’s own median

Counted from 26 complaints filed in the first three years, of 183 ever. 95% lower bound 1.66.

Every 500L model yearComplaints per 1,000 sold, first three years
This yearOther yearsTypical year, 2.70

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters. The bar is how many complaints each rate rests on.

Model yearPer 1,000Complaints
20142.7026

Issues owners of the 2014 500L report

Phrases over-represented in these complaints compared with the same component on every other vehicle. Counts are complaints containing the phrase.

Power Train 123 complaints

recalls1512%
transmission warning119%
displayed119%
mechanic who108%

When it breaks

29% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 52,367 miles, from 124 complaints that recorded one).

Failures arrive late and spread out, which looks like wear. Service history matters more than model year here.

What NHTSA did

No NHTSA investigation covers this model year.

That is not a clean bill of health, and not a criticism of the agency: investigations open for many reasons and complaint volume is only one of them.

Questions buyers ask about the 2014 Fiat 500L

Is 2014 a good year or a bad year for the 500L?

For every car sold, owners filed about as many complaints about the 2014 500L as about the typical 500L year. The typical year is the median across its model years.

What problems does the 2014 500L have?

The parts owners named most often in complaints filed to date: Power Train (123), Engine (30), Electrical System (25). The phrases they used are listed above.

Is the 2014 500L reliable?

Complaint records cannot settle that on their own. They count safety problems owners chose to report to the federal government, not every repair. What they do show is how this year compares with the other 500L years: for every car sold, owners filed about as many complaints about the 2014 500L as about the typical 500L year.

What the used-car guides say

No guide we read covers the 500L.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page, each on NHTSA’s own site:

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is checked by hand against its source table, not against an outside figure.