YearsTell

all vehicles · every 500 year · method

Fiat 500 2012

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

1.30 per 1,000

0.9 times this nameplate’s own median · from 61 complaints filed in the first three years, of 396 ever. 95% lower bound 0.97.

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters.

Model yearPer 1,000Complaints
20121.3061
20130.5523
20142.4887
20151.4342

What owners describe

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

Power Train 201 complaints

repair unavailable3015%
unavailable exceeded2814%
confirms2713%
pressure plate2613%
tool confirms2613%
confirms parts2512%

Electrical System 63 complaints

open1016%
causing1016%

Engine 51 complaints

fixed1122%
work1020%
home1020%

When it breaks

32% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 47,700 miles, from 289 complaints that recorded one).

No clear early or late pattern.

What NHTSA did

1 investigation covering this model year, 1 of which list a recall campaign.

Electrical overstress

What owners and forums say

Not built yet. This panel is meant to carry community sentiment beside the filed-complaint data, so the two can be compared. Showing something weaker here would defeat its purpose.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page:

10433468 · 10434217 · 10434222 · 10441958 · 10442004 · 10443976

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 automated checks only, not verified against an external source.