Fiat 500L Review 2023

Fiat discontinued the 500L in the UK in 2021 so you can only buy used examples, and in some ways it makes more sense as a used purchase.

The mini MPV has gone out of fashion to be replaced by mini SUVs - Fiat has done the same with the 500X taking over - but if you're looking for a small but spacious car with low running costs then it holds some appeal, but there are better alternatives that are better built and more enjoyable to drive.

Unless you intend to cover big mileages each year, we'd suggest sticking with a petrol Fiat 500L. The 1.4-litre is smooth and quiet so would be our choice and there are plenty around on the used market. Avoid the basic Pop models and look for a Pop Star or even better, a Lounge model.

The model range was later simplified to Fiat 500L Urban, City Cross and Cross, with the City Cross representing the best value for money of the three.

Whether it's labelled as a crossover or an MPV, the Fiat 500L remains a good value and practical family car. It's that which means it rivals the likes of the equally style driven Citroen C4 Cactus, the rather more restrained Ford C-MAX and the family friendly Vauxhall Crossland X.

Other Fiat 500L rivals include crossovers like the Suzuki SX4 S-Cross, which like the Fiat majors on value, and the popular Skoda Yeti.

The last of the line Fiat 500Ls came with a 7-inch Uconnect touchscreen system, which is pretty small by modern standards, although it came with a decent selection of features including DAB, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto plus the Mopar Connect system offering remote assistance services.

Earlier Fiat 500L models made do with a 5-inch touchscreen, and both are hampered by the screen size, making it somewhat challenging to hit the right button when on the move.

Inside the Fiat 500L it's clean and functional, with the emphasis on making this family-proof, rather than cutesy like the 500. That means that the interior is much more like the Panda with harder-wearing plastics, though in this case colour is added with bright inserts. 

A big part of the Fiat 500L's appeal is its compact dimensions - it's just 4140mm long and 1780mm wide, but it makes the most of its footprint. There's plenty of flexibility in the rear, where it's possible to slide the seats for extra legroom (or boot space) or fold them forward to create a bigger cargo area. 

Standard boot space is 343 litres, but fold and tumble the seats and there's 1,310 litres on offer. As you'd expect there are plenty of storage bins dotted around the cabin too.

The Fiat 500L feels the small car it is out on the road, and as speeds rise the amount of road, wind and engine noise increase steadily, which means motorway journeys can be a little tiring.

Stick to urban streets and it's less of an issue, but the TwinAir engine is quite vocal and needs to be worked quite hard to lug around a car that's larger and heavier than the little 500. The Fiat 500L diesels are better in this respect, with more torque meaning you don't have to work the engine quite so hard, although you're never in any doubt that there's a diesel thrumming away in front of you.

All the engines in the Fiat 500L are designed for low running costs rather than performance. A 0.9-litre TwinAir petrol with 105PS, a 1.4-litre petrol with 95PS plus diesels, the 1.3-litre MultiJet that develops 85PS and larger 1.6-litre MultiJet with 105PS.

When fitted with the top 1.6 MultiJet diesel, the Fiat 500L gets from 0-62mph in 11.3 seconds and has a top speed of 112mph. In reality, it feels much quicker out of the blocks and pulls sweetly between 1750rpm and 2500rpm. It's no slouch when it comes to overtaking either, though under heavy acceleration its refinement can let it down. Elsewhere it's a different story and while there's still noticeable wind and road noise, it's not intrusive and the 500L cruises well.

Many buyers will be tempted by the petrol-powered Fiat 500L TwinAir. And with good reason: it's cheaper than equivalent 1.6-litre MultiJet and offers better official fuel consumption and emissions. But the 58.9mpg figure should be taken with a pinch of salt if the 500L follows the same pattern as the 500. TwinAir Fiat 500s achieve just 70% of the official economy figure.

We’d advise avoiding the Dualogic automatic gearbox. It’s an automated manual that may improve fuel efficiency - it’s effectively a manual gearbox but with the changes performed by software - but it’s slow-witted and frustrating.

Impressively, the Fiat 500L was awarded the maximum five star Euro NCAP safety rating when it was tested in 2012. Adult occupant safety was rated a very high 94% with child safety 78% and pedestrian safety 65%. It also scored well for safety assist with a 71% rating. That was a good few years ago now, though. 

Fiat's reliability reputation isn't the best, in fact it's actually the worst. The Italian manufacturer came dead last in the HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index, placing 30th out of 30 manufacturers.

The Fiat 500L achieved a reliability rating of 9.00 out of 10, which is below par, but is also better than some other Fiat offerings.

The good news here is that some versions of the Fiat 500L will be very cheap to insure, with the 1.3 MultiJet versions on the Trekking dropping into group 7, and other models with the same engine in group 8. Even the most expensive version to insure falls into group 20, so it shouldn't break the bank.

Post-April 2017 versions of the Fiat 500L all qualify for the standard rate of VED which means you'll be paying £165 a year, but there's money to be saved by choosing a version registered a little earlier.

TwinAir versions registered between 1st March 2001 and 31st March 2017 will cost just £30 a year, while the 1.3 MultiJet versions are only £20 a year. Go for the bigger 1.6-litre diesel of the same age and you'll pay £135, while the 1.4 T-Jet petrol is £220, so pick wisely and you can make big savings. 

Despite Fiat 500L Pop models missing the alloy wheels and air conditioning - essential for resale desirability - they’re otherwise well equipped, including Fiat’s five-inch touchscreen media system, Bluetooth and leather covering for the comically large (and not too comfortable to hold) gear knob.

Move up to a Fiat 500L Pop Star trim and comfort improves by way of cruise control. Plus you get a set of 16-inch alloys, underwhelming as they look in the 500L’s massive arches. Fiat 500L Lounge specification does feel like it has a lot, bumping the air con up to dual-zone climate control, adding rear parking sensors, automatic lights and wipers and a panoramic sunroof that genuinely lifts cabin ambience with natural light.

Fiat 500L Lounge cars also get two small tables for rear seat passengers, which are a nice idea in theory but in reality are too flimsy to be of much real use. There isn’t a mass of interior storage in any version of the 500L either, with no central storage box, quite small door pockets and a shallow glove box.

Fiat sees the 500L Trekking as a model in its own right, but it’s loosely based on the Lounge specification with a couple of notable additions – like low speed automatic braking (optional elsewhere) and a more sophisticated traction control system that alludes to off-road ability. The 17-inch alloys come shod in mud and snow tyres as standard, for the same reason, and the interior fabric is different.

The Fiat 500L Beats version is based on the Trekking, and comes, as you’d expect, with an upgraded stereo – albeit a disappointingly lacklustre one, when a decent sound system is the very least you could expect.