Fiat 500L (2012 – 2017)

By Jonathan Crouch

Models Covered

5dr small MPV (0.9, 1.4 petrol, 1.3 MultiJet diesel, 1.6 MultiJet diesel [Easy, Pop Star, Lounge, Trekking])

Introduction

The 500L is Fiat’s bold answer to customer and dealer demands for a grown up alternative to the small but so successful, 500. A five-seater compact MPV that doesn’t feel like one, taking care of people and baggage-carrying chores with a practical dash of Italian flair. Here, we look at the original 2014 to 2017-era model as a potential used buy.

The History

Fiat has its own fortune 500, a little family of cars on which present and future hopes of the brand are these days almost exclusively based. The 500 we all think of is the cheeky little three-door citycar that started this model’s retro revolution, but Fiat always felt that this should be merely the starting rung on an ownership ladder designed to be fine for families as well as fashion-conscious urbanistas. A ladder encompassing seven seats and SUVs as well as the model we’re going to look at here, the spacious 500L.

Fiat’s fame of course has traditionally been founded on much smaller cars than this – but back at this car’s launch in 2014, the brand knew that it needed to get better at being bigger if legions of owners of the 500 citycar were not to be lost to other makers as their needs and families grew. And sure enough, on paper, the signs are good. This model claims to be the most space-efficient design in the smallest part of the compact MPV segment and from new was bespokable with the widest and cleverest range of unique accessories.

A compact people carrier, in other words, that you could get passionately practical about. In a Fiat designed to bring a welcome dash of fashion to family motoring. It sold in its original form until 2017, when it was extensively revised.

What To Look For

Our 500L ownership survey revealed more satisfied owners than we expected but there were still a few niggles. As in other Fiats, the auto gearbox doesn’t get very favourable reviews, so try bfore you buy. We also came across issues relating to the radio, the stop start system and even the handbrake. Look out for potential issues with all of these things on your test drive.

Check for upholstery damage caused by child seats in the back, typical supermarket dints and scrapes, slipping clutches on the manual cars and ensure all the electrical functions – which can get surprisingly sophisticated on up-spec models – work as advertised as these can be expensive to fix. The 500L isn't bad on consumables like brake pads and most people should be able to park it without nerfing the extremities.

On The Road

Potential 500L owners will come to this Fiat knowing it to be a more grown-up car than its citycar stablemate. They’ll know that it won’t be quite the same to drive. But that won’t stop some of them being slightly disappointed when that turns out to be true behind the wheel. Little of the responsive, terrier-like handling that marks out a standard little 500 has made it here. Having said that, by the more modest dynamic standards of the small people carrying sector, this Italian entry is an enjoyable enough thing to punt around and what it lacks in agility, it makes up for with more mature virtues.

The ride’s a lot better for a start, still on the firm side for an MPV but smooth enough through city potholes. It’s quieter too. And this car’s much easier to see out of thanks to the higher seating position, the much greater glass area and something that you’ll really appreciate at junctions: a clever A-pillar/front quarterlight design offering the same kind of curved windscreen look that characterised this car’s spiritual predecessor, the Multipla model of the 1950s. It all adds to an urban confidence encouraged by the light lock-to-lock steering. A car you might enjoy on the school run.

If not quite so much pushing on beyond the city limits. Here, you might wish that the steering offered you a little more feedback, a pity because in other respects, this is one of the more dynamically able five-seat mini-MPVs on the market, with well controlled body roll and a range of willing, torquey engines. Well, most of them are willing and torquey anyway. You couldn’t really say that of the entry-level petrol unit, a 95bhp petrol 1.4 that’s one of Fiat’s older efforts and which, thanks to limited pulling power, doesn’t really feel as fast as the performance stats suggest (rest to 62mph in 12.8s on the way to 111mph).

Better then, if possible, to find the funds to stretch to one of the other engine options. Two of these offer you 105bhp – the minority choice 1.6-litre Multijet diesel and the frugal but rather noisy 0.9-litre two cylinder TwinAir petrol unit that’s proved so popular in the 500 citycar. In both cases, 62mph is 11 to 12 seconds away en route to 112mph. Our council though, would in preference be to choose the 85bhp 1.3-litre Multijet diesel. Yes we know, eighty five braked horses don’t sound very many to push along a 1.3-tonne people carrier, a supposition apparently confirmed on paper by a 14.9s 0-62mph time on the way to just 102mph. But with 200Nm of torque, 35% more than the TwinAir petrol unit can muster, this little unit feels perkier than those figures suggest, with a gruff note under acceleration that quietens down on a motorway cruise. And, though its slick-shifting manual gearbox lacks the extra 6th speed offered elsewhere in the range, this is the only 500L engine that can also be had mated to automatic transmission.

Overall

Fun, cheeky and cool, this Fiat claims to suit the sort of people looking for a car to be an extension of their personality: a car that reflects their passion for life. We’re not sure if any compact people carrier can really do all that but of all those available, there’s little doubt that this 500L is the one that gets closest to hitting the mark. To being a sensible family car you can really feel good about.