Vehicle make
FIAT
1,878 NHTSA complaints and 24 safety recalls across 5 models, every figure pulled straight from federal records.
- Complaints
- 1,878
- Recalls
- 24
- Models
- 5
The verdict
FIAT pairs below-average complaint volume with a top-quartile recall record.
- Top 39%
- fewest complaints, US makes
- Top 25%
- fewest recalls, US makes
How does FIAT compare?
FIATFiskerAll makes
Lab-measured rollover risk vs. real-world deaths
FIAT's average NHTSA rollover_risk score (0.147) against its total recorded deaths (0) across all model-years, plotted against 28 other makes. A low lab risk score does not guarantee a low real-world death total, the two metrics diverge across several makes in this dataset.
Rollover risk vs deaths table: FORD, 0.154 avg risk, 77 deaths. CHEVROLET, 0.157 avg risk, 60 deaths. HONDA, 0.131 avg risk, 33 deaths. JEEP, 0.209 avg risk, 22 deaths. HYUNDAI, 0.126 avg risk, 27 deaths. KIA, 0.13 avg risk, 79 deaths. TOYOTA, 0.149 avg risk, 45 deaths. NISSAN, 0.157 avg risk, 33 deaths. DODGE, 0.15 avg risk, 6 deaths. SUBARU, 0.135 avg risk, 5 deaths. GMC, 0.196 avg risk, 9 deaths. RAM, 0.217 avg risk, 17 deaths. VOLKSWAGEN, 0.136 avg risk, 10 deaths. CHRYSLER, 0.123 avg risk, 5 deaths. TESLA, 0.071 avg risk, 79 deaths. MAZDA, 0.136 avg risk, 4 deaths. ACURA, 0.122 avg risk, 4 deaths. BMW, 0.129 avg risk, 2 deaths. CADILLAC, 0.164 avg risk, 4 deaths. BUICK, 0.146 avg risk, 4 deaths. AUDI, 0.127 avg risk, 0 deaths. LINCOLN, 0.151 avg risk, 65 deaths. INFINITI, 0.137 avg risk, 6 deaths. MITSUBISHI, 0.162 avg risk, 1 deaths. FIAT, 0.147 avg risk, 0 deaths. LEXUS, 0.137 avg risk, 5 deaths. VOLVO, 0.144 avg risk, 0 deaths. GENESIS, 0.121 avg risk, 0 deaths. POLESTAR, 0.083 avg risk, 0 deaths.
FIAT models by complaint volume
Top nameplates, all model-years combined
- 500
FIAT 500
1,116 complaints
- 500x 310
FIAT 500x
310 complaints
- 500l 300
FIAT 500l
300 complaints
- 500e 80
FIAT 500e
80 complaints
- 124 Spider 72
FIAT 124 Spider
72 complaints
What this shows Within FIAT's lineup, the 500 carries the most NHTSA complaints. High-volume nameplates accumulate more filings simply because more of them are on the road, drill into a model for its per-year and per-component breakdown.
FIAT is registered with NHTSA as a vehicle manufacturer and carries 1,878 consumer safety complaints across 5 nameplates in the Office of Defects Investigation public database. The brand has been the subject of 24 safety recalls and is currently tied to 1 active or historical federal investigation. Every one of those figures is pulled directly from NHTSA's published datasets, not from owner forums, manufacturer marketing, or third-party reliability surveys, so the numbers you see reflect the same data federal regulators use when they decide whether to escalate a preliminary evaluation into an engineering analysis or a formal defect order.
Model-level volume varies widely inside any automaker's portfolio: best-sellers accumulate complaints simply because more vehicles are on the road, while limited-run trims and discontinued nameplates often carry disproportionately high complaint rates per unit sold. Inside FIAT's lineup, the single highest complaint count sits with the 500 (1,116 filings, model years 2011–2018), followed by 500x and 500l. Use the table below to compare nameplate-by-nameplate counts, then drill into a specific model to see which components dominate and which model years concentrate the crash, fire, and fatality reports.
No open NHTSA investigations are currently tracked against FIAT in this dataset, meaning the Office of Defects Investigation is not, at this moment, reviewing a specific defect allegation for the brand. Recall status, by contrast, is backward-looking: it tells you what the manufacturer has already been compelled to remedy, not what they are being asked to remedy next. Together, complaints, investigations, and recalls form the three-layer early-warning system federal safety regulators have relied on since the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966.
Which FIAT models get the most complaints?
| Model | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 500 | 1,116 |
| 500x | 310 |
| 500l | 300 |
| 500e | 80 |
| 124 Spider | 72 |
NHTSA Investigations
Frequently Asked Questions
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Vehicle Safety Guides
Top FIAT Models
Nationwide makes with similar ODI profiles
Two cross-make peer sets for FIAT. Same-make model lists stay above; these neighborhoods are nearest other makes by published NHTSA totals (complaint floor ≥100, recall floor ≥10).
Similar complaint volume
Nearest makes by total ODI complaints (1,878 here).
Similar recall volume
Nearest makes by recall campaigns (24 here), excluding the complaint-volume set.
Data vintage: August 2026. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Every figure on PlainCars is rendered directly from NHTSA complaint and safety data, no number is typed in by an editor. FIAT counts on this page are computed from the NHTSA rows shown in the linked model records; no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.