2012 FIAT 500 — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 393 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: POWER TRAIN (181 complaints · 46.1%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 21
  • Fires 4
  • Injuries 17
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2011 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution POWER TRAIN appears in 181 of 393 owner complaints (46.1%) in this vehicle snapshot. POWER TRAIN: 181 complaints, 46.1% of reports POWER TRAIN 181 · 46.1% · 1 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 34 complaints, 8.7% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 34 · 8.7% · 1 crash reports 2 fire reports ENGINE: 26 complaints, 6.6% of reports ENGINE 26 · 6.6% AIR BAGS: 21 complaints, 5.3% of reports AIR BAGS 21 · 5.3% · 11 crash reports FUEL SYSTEM: 18 complaints, 4.6% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 18 · 4.6% SUSPENSION: 16 complaints, 4.1% of reports SUSPENSION 16 · 4.1% · 1 crash reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 12 complaints, 3.1% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 12 · 3.1% STEERING: 11 complaints, 2.8% of reports STEERING 11 · 2.8% · 1 crash reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 8 complaints, 2.0% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 8 · 2.0% · 2 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 65 complaints, 16.5% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 65 · 16.5% · 4 crash reports 2 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
POWER TRAIN 181 46.1% 1 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 34 8.7% 1 crashes · 2 fires
ENGINE 26 6.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 21 5.3% 11 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 18 4.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 16 4.1% 1 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 12 3.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 11 2.8% 1 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 8 2.0% 2 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 65 16.5% 4 crashes · 2 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Oct 2011. 2011-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2012-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2012-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2012-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2013-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2013-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2013-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2014-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2014-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2014-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2014-Q4: 12 owner reports 12 2015-Q1: 10 owner reports 10 2015-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2015-Q3: 15 owner reports 15 2015-Q4: 16 owner reports 16 2016-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2016-Q2: 15 owner reports 15 2016-Q3: 49 owner reports 49 2016-Q4: 28 owner reports 28 2017-Q1: 20 owner reports 20 2017-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2017-Q3: 12 owner reports 12 2017-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2018-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 2018-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2018-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 2018-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2019-Q1: 13 owner reports 13 2019-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 2019-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 2019-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2020-Q1: 14 owner reports 14 2020-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2020-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2020-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2021-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2021-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2021-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2021-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2022-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2022-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2022-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2022-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2023-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2023-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2023-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2023-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2024-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2024-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2024-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2024-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2025-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2025-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2025-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2026-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Oct 2011 Apr 2026 Investigation EA19001 ● Investigation EA19001
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2011-Q4 Owner reports 4
2012-Q1 Owner reports 3
2012-Q2 Owner reports 1
2012-Q3 Owner reports 3
2012-Q4 Owner reports 1
2013-Q1 Owner reports 4
2013-Q2 Owner reports 4
2013-Q3 Owner reports 5
2013-Q4 Owner reports 5
2014-Q1 Owner reports 7
2014-Q2 Owner reports 7
2014-Q3 Owner reports 5
2014-Q4 Owner reports 12
2015-Q1 Owner reports 10
2015-Q2 Owner reports 5
2015-Q3 Owner reports 15
2015-Q4 Owner reports 16
2016-Q1 Owner reports 8
2016-Q2 Owner reports 15
2016-Q3 Owner reports 49
2016-Q4 Owner reports 28
2017-Q1 Owner reports 20
2017-Q2 Owner reports 8
2017-Q3 Owner reports 12
2017-Q4 Owner reports 6
2018-Q1 Owner reports 9
2018-Q2 Owner reports 5
2018-Q3 Owner reports 10
2018-Q4 Owner reports 4
2019-Q1 Owner reports 13
2019-Q2 Owner reports 9
2019-Q3 Owner reports 9
2019-Q4 Owner reports 8
2020-Q1 Owner reports 14
2020-Q2 Owner reports 7
2020-Q3 Owner reports 4
2020-Q4 Owner reports 7
2021-Q1 Owner reports 5
2021-Q2 Owner reports 2
2021-Q3 Owner reports 3
2021-Q4 Owner reports 2
2022-Q1 Owner reports 3
2022-Q2 Owner reports 2
2022-Q3 Owner reports 2
2022-Q4 Owner reports 2
2023-Q1 Owner reports 2
2023-Q2 Owner reports 2
2023-Q3 Owner reports 2
2023-Q4 Owner reports 2
2024-Q1 Owner reports 2
2024-Q2 Owner reports 2
2024-Q3 Owner reports 3
2024-Q4 Owner reports 1
2025-Q1 Owner reports 1
2025-Q2 Owner reports 1
2025-Q4 Owner reports 1
2026-Q2 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 EA19001
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA records.

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 393 complaints · page 1 of 16

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources