AutoUtility currently tracks 14 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2016 Fiat 500. Powertrain & Transmission issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 8 complaints (57.1% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 3 filings cite a crash, 2 report one or more injuries.
- • Total NHTSA Complaints: 14 reports
- • #1 Reported Problem Area: Powertrain & Transmission (8 reports • 57.1% of submitted complaints)
- • Secondary Problem Areas: Brakes & Traction Control (4), Engine & Cooling (3)
- • Crash-Citing Complaints: 3 filings
- • Fire-Citing Complaints: 0 filings
- • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 2 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Most Reported Problems for 2016 Fiat 500
Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records
Powertrain & Transmission
NHTSA records list 2 official safety recall campaigns for this model year involving the same broad component area:
- Campaign #16V302000 POWER TRAIN:MANUAL TRANSMISSION
- Campaign #19E044000 POWER TRAIN:MANUAL TRANSMISSION:FLOOR SHIFT ASSEMBLY
Brakes & Traction Control
Engine & Cooling
Electrical System
Air Bags & Restraints
Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2016 Fiat 500
Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
"El auto se detuvo sin avisar solo ya no quiso acelerar. Me marcó muchas fallas en las cuales les tomé foto, me tuvieron que remolcar y mi hijo se pegó en la cabeza, por suerte nada grave. Pondre las fotos de los códigos que aparecen. Tuve q ser remolcado hasta ahorita la batería sigue en un 47%..."
"The contact owns a 2016 Fiat 500. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the transmission was slipping, and the vehicle lost motive power. No warning light was illuminated. The failure recurred several times. The contact restarted the vehicle and forcefully shifted the transmission into 2nd gear..."
"Passenger side drive axle failed on 2016 500e with only 35650 miles but no longer under warranty. Method of failure: Bolts holding axle to transmission sheered resulting in a loss of power. Car was brought to Orange County Chrysler for repair. Dealer informed me that there was a Chrysler Recall N51..."
"MY VEHICLE WAS T-BONED ON MY DRIVERSIDE DOOR. THE VEHICLE THAT HIT ME WAS GOING 50MPH ACCORDING TO THE POLICE REPORT. I WAS CROSSING THE STREET AT ABOUT 10-15MPH. NOT A SINGLE AIRBAG ENGAGED, SIDE CURTAIN, SEAT, ETC. IT WAS ON A CITY STREET AND THE CAR THAT HIT ME WAS SPEEDING."
"FIAT 500E VEHICLE BRAKING BEHAVIOR IS UNEXPECTEDLY HARD, SUDDEN, OR UNPREDICTABLE UNTIL THE USER USES AN OBD SCAN TOOL WITH APPROPRIATE DIAGNOSTIC SOFTWARE- AND INITIATES BRAKE CONTROLLER SENSOR RE-CALIBRATION. THIS OPTION IS FOUND UNDER THE DIAGNOSTIC MENU UNDER: ABS>RENENERATIVE BRAKE..."
Complaint History for Fiat 500
Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2019)
| Model Year | NHTSA Complaints | Crash Reports | Safety Recalls | Detailed Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 Fiat 500 | 92 | 4 | 4 | View 2015 Problems → |
| 2016 Fiat 500 Current Page | 14 | 3 | 4 | Current |
| 2017 Fiat 500 | 13 | 2 | 2 | View 2017 Problems → |
| 2018 Fiat 500 | 5 | 0 | 2 | View 2018 Problems → |
| 2019 Fiat 500 | 0 | 0 | 2 | View 2019 Problems → |
Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2016 Fiat 500
Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 10 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications
| Vehicle Component / System | Total Complaints | Crash Reports | Fire Reports | Reported Injury Entries | Reported Fatality Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AIR BAGS,STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,AIR BAGS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SUSPENSION,POWER TRAIN,WHEELS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (1)
Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)
Electrical overstress
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation to determine if the failure of airbags to deploy during severe crashes, in certain vehicles, was the result of a safety related defect. During the investigation a complex failure was studied that can result in non-deployment of subject vehicle air bags and other restraint system devices in severe crash events. The subject vehicles may be equipped with an airbag control unit (AC...
The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.
Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.