Owners have filed 185 complaints on the Fiat 500X, covering 2016–2022. The system named most often is Power Train (52 reports). Worst years by volume: 2016, 2017, 2018; cleanest: 2019, 2020, 2022. 3 reports describe a crash, 2 a fire. On average the car was 4.0 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Fiat 500X
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 185 500X complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 52 Read
We had several instances were the car bucks when transmission shifts. Was taken to dealer and updates were made and had no issues until again it has started again. Not all the time but every once in a while. At sunset now but unable to duplicate problem. This is not the first issue we have had. First it was the fuel…
There is an active recall for the power train control module for this car but it is not showing up in the NHTSA list. Https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2018/RCRIT-18V524-1313.pdf identifies the specific recall for the powertrain control module for the Fiat 500X…
I purchased my 2018 Fiat 500X POP used in April 2023 with only 22k miles. This past weekend 12/16 when I would first start my car up and get ready to leave in the mornings after having been parked for the night, my car would start up normal and I could proceed down the street. The minute I apply the break my car would…
Electrical System 41 Read
The contact owned a 2016 fiat 500x. While the vehicle was parked, it caught on fire and exploded. The fire department was called and extinguished the fire. A fire report was filed. The contact also stated that the fire caused structural damage to the home. The night before the fire, the vehicle was driven and the…
De el map sensor. _se pro7edio a reemplazar el map sensor. Codigo volvio a presentarse. Diagnost7co indica que si el codigo vulve reemplazar el throttle. Se pr~cedio . Reemplazar el thrttle de la unidad. Se procedio a correr unidad. Unidad no volvio a presentar condicion. Unidad preparada…
After 10,000 miles these issues started to occur. We were quoted the engine experienced these issues due to the engine burning oil. The car sputters, it is sluggish, while driving it loses power and is slow to pick up or doesn't pick up at all. We slowed down dramatically while doing 60 on the highway.. This could…
Engine 26 Read
2021 Car failed RECALL OIL CONSUMPTION test twice at local dealership. Sept 2021 dealership said replaced a part. Oct 2021, when leaving a gas station car would not start, dashboard was flashing symbols and died, would not start, after 1/2 hr car bucked to house 6 blocks away. Yes car is available for inspection. Feb…
I purchased my vehicle in 2020. I was not aware there was an open recall on this vehicle for an oil consumption issue. The dealer did not tell me and I received no notice from Fiat/Chrysler over the next two years. I began having a problem with the engine cutting out as I was driving down the road without any warning.…
This car in betwen oil changes burn the oil complete. We talk about 4 / 6 months. The first time my wife drive the car and the motor stop in the middle of the street, very dangerus. After aprox. 6 months later before change the oil burn one more time and the motor was empty, no oil. In both cases I add oil in order to…
Steering 9 Read
I have had several warning lights that have come on several different times while in motion and while parked since I purchased my vehicle a few months ago. Service ABS, dynamic steering torque, service electronic parking brake, service hill hold control. The first time these lights came on I took it back to the…
I was making a slow turn in a parking lot and the car turned itself off while driving. The radio remained on and dash lights/gear lights were illuminated but the car was completely unresponsive otherwise. I realized it had turned off so I restarted it & it continued to drive normally. About 50 miles later I was…
My tie rod has bent 2 times now. I have done nothing to it. The first time is that my whole tire fell off when I was driving. The next it just barely not even a year after my tire fell off I was driving in the snow and my drive mode stop working. Once I parked I look at my tire and saw it was cockeyed. I did not hit…
Structure 8 Read
Driver side door handle broken. Started sticking and being hard to pull/open and when open would stick in the out position and not latch shut unless pushed back in. Soon after it broke, suspected handle hinge malfunction, cannot be opened from the outside. Multiple other complaints about door handles on 500’s.…
On january 9th, 2018 I leased a new 2017 fiat 500x from fiat auto gallery van nuys at 5711 van nuys blvd, van nuys, ca 91401. Two weeks later while washing my car for the first time, I noticed some cloudy spots on the car's exterior paint (3 spots) and what appeared to be a burn spot on the left passenger door. I…
When opening the driver side door, you feel a slight drop, it feels as if the door is unhinged. I took it to the dealer and was told that they had addressed it. The door is still doing the same thing. Is this a vehicle issue or could the car have been damaged at the dealer? I have addressed this twice and nothing is…
Air Bags 6 Read
The contact owns a 2016 Fiat 500X. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH through a green light, another vehicle driving through a red light and attempting to make a turn, the front bumper of the contact’s vehicle crashed into the front passenger’s side door. No warning lights were illuminated. The…
My vehicle collided with another vehicle. The other car air bag deployed while the Fiat front busted radiator, number etc damaged but the driver side did not deploy even on impact
The contact owned a 2016 Fiat 500X. The contact stated that while her son was driving at 65 MPH, a trailer crossed into his middle lane which forced the vehicle off the road and into the median. The air bags did not deploy as the other driver fled the scene. The contact stated that her son had sustained frequent…
Vehicle Speed Control 4 Read
On multiple occasions, my 2022 Fiat, while cruising at 55 mph, crests a hill and begins down when the engine increases from 2000 rpm to 4200 rpm and speed increases 9-10 mph almost immediately. A driver is caught unaware and must brake back to the normal speed limit. No other vehicle I’ve driven has done this and no…
My fiat keeps giving transmission errors. I took the car to concord, ca fiat for diagnostics 10/2019 and they were unable to report an issue. They 'reset the computer' and sent us off. Now in 02/2020 I'm still getting error messages and the car locked up in the middle of the road refusing to turn off, shift gears, or…
The vehicle shifts into neutral while driving. This usually happens while I'm 3rd gear and you start to accelerate, then the car shifts into neutral. This situation has accrued while pulling out into traffic and while driving down a highway
Seat Belts 3 Read
The seat belt will not buckle. But shows that it is buckled
Drivers seat belt will not latch anymore
The seat belt are not festering got in my car to get ready to leave and the seat belt would not festering I keep trying to festering and finally did then I left and while I was driving it popped a loose...so I had to pull over and tried to festering it a again it took about 10 minutes before it latch again I had to…
500X years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Air Bags,seat Belts,structure | — | — | |
| 2020 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2019 | Fuel System, Gasoline | — | — | |
| 2018 | Electrical System,engine | — | — | |
| 2017 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 3 | 2 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 99 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.9 |
| Worst single series | 8 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.0 years |
A model average of 1.9 hides a worst series at 8. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the 500X?
By complaint volume, 2016, 2017, 2018 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which 500X years are the cleanest?
2019, 2020, 2022 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Fiat 500X have?
185 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2016–2022. Of those, 3 describe a crash and 2 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.