Skip advert
Advertisement
In-depth reviews

Fiat 500L review - Reliability and Safety

The 500L gets five stars for safety, but our Driver Power reliability rating throws up warning lights

Reliability and Safety rating

4.0

How we review cars
Find your Fiat 500
Compare deals from trusted partners on this car and previous models.
Or are you looking to sell your car?
Value my car
Fast, no-nonsense car selling
Value my car

The Fiat 500L has a five-star Euro NCAP crash test rating and comes with a decent tally of safety features as standard. They include driver, passenger, side and window airbags, plus tyre pressure monitoring and hill-hold. You can also add Fiat’s City brake control low-speed collision mitigation system for £250 if it’s not fitted as standard equipment at your trim level.

Advertisement - Article continues below

The engines and many of the other mechanicals in the 500L are widely used in other Fiat models (such as the standard 500, Panda and Punto), so should prove reliable.

However, while the 500L didn’t feature in our Driver Power 2015 survey, the regular 500 just failed to finish in the top 100 of the survey’s 200 cars – which gives some cause for concern. It was ranked a few places further down the rankings for build quality too.

Fiat’s dealers ranked 24th out of 32 manufacturers, so if you do need to visit one unexpectedly you may find it a little harder to attain satisfaction compared to better performing brands.

Warranty

Like other Fiats, the 500L comes with a three-year/100,000-mile warranty. In the first two years cover is provided regardless of mileage, but the cap comes into play in year three. This is similar to cover provided by most rivals, although VW caps mileage at 60,000 and Kia provides 7 years of warranty cover.

Servicing

There’s no network-wide fixed price servicing scheme advertised for the Fiat 500L, but you should expect to pay around £135 for a minor service and £250 for the full service. This appears to be a little less competitive than some of the plans available from rival manufacturers but Fiat does allow 18,000 miles between services (or annual checks).

Skip advert
Advertisement

New & used car deals

Skoda Kodiaq

Skoda Kodiaq

RRP £38,140Avg. savings £3,019 off RRP*Used from £13,895
Hyundai Tucson

Hyundai Tucson

RRP £29,820Avg. savings £4,435 off RRP*Used from £14,895
Omoda 5

Omoda 5

RRP £25,915Avg. savings £1,882 off RRP*Used from £18,900
Audi A3

Audi A3

RRP £26,295Avg. savings £1,509 off RRP*Used from £13,295
* Average savings are calculated daily based on the best dealer prices on Auto Express vs manufacturer RRP
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

Future of Nissan in the UK: new Gigafactory to power bold EV plans
Future of Nissan in the UK - header with Phil McNamara

Future of Nissan in the UK: new Gigafactory to power bold EV plans

Nissan is about to go from building the Qashqai hybrid to three fresh EVs in the UK over the next three years – all powered by a new gigafactory
Features
19 Apr 2025
New baby Nissan Juke EV on the way to challenge the Dacia Spring
Baby Nissan Juke exclusive image - rear

New baby Nissan Juke EV on the way to challenge the Dacia Spring

Nissan to fast-track development of new battery-powered city car to take on forthcoming Volkswagen ID.1, and our exclusive images preview how it could…
News
18 Apr 2025
Car Deal Alert! Ford Kuga SUV is fun and family-friendly for only £239 a month
Ford Kuga - main image

Car Deal Alert! Ford Kuga SUV is fun and family-friendly for only £239 a month

Ford’s mid-size SUV offers you tons of kit for an affordable monthly payment
News
20 Apr 2025