Hi there,

We are thinking of upgrading my wife's 500 to a 500X. We have seen a car and hopefully going to view it this weekend but have a few questions before doing so;

The car is a March 2016 (16-Plate) 1.6 Multijet Cross with 22k miles.

Firstly, is there anything that we should look out for that is a common fault or problem?

Secondly, should this model and year come with a space saver spare wheel? as the video we have been sent only shows a can of tyre inflator.

Also if there is anything else that we should know before viewing then that would be great!

Many Thanks.

My wife has a Cross Plus MJ. Sorry not home currently but I don't think there is a spare.
Many an FCA product these days uses a can of 'get-me-home' gel/type stuff - cheaper for Fiat unfortunately.
The only issues we have had with ours was the AC needed a regas - but probably as it had sat around in a showroom for a while so check that - also definately check the rear boot handle/release. Its the rubber grip covered sensor to open the boot. We had ours replaced under warranty as it was very loose and almost coming away. Its a common problem with early cars - they have since upgraded the retainer clips apparently. All the cars we looked at at car supermarkets had that broken. Also if its an ex-rental car it will not have access to Uconnect Live - Fiats live services application. As per this forum its not actually very good but worth having - you need to contact Fiat to get it enabled though it does not cost anything. Aside from that we've been pleased with our car which replaced her old Fiat Sedici.

You can get live services enabled if it's an ex rental car. And there's an update that has ironed out some of the live bugs like the annoying speed camera warnings.

There are various things you need to look out for and this car doesn't seem to be immune from its share of build quality problems and electrical gremlins. There's a thread on here somewhere that started to build a list. However it seems that the main problem with the 500Xs are the dealers. If you have a reasonable one, getting stuff fixed should be fine. If you have my dealer, you won't be fine.

Amen to checking the boot "button" - it was loose on my 65 plate Lounge when I bought it last year, and when the dealer fixed it I got the impression that they had changed plenty. No problems since with that or anything else.
My car has a space-saver spare, but has the higher boot floor - when you fold the rear seatbacks they are flush with the boot floor. Some variants have a deeper boot but there is no room for a spare.
Be sure that a diesel suits your motoring, they don't like lots of short runs. There's one report on Honest John's feedback of a 500x multijet destroying its engine by running uncontrollably due to fuel in the sump oil. This can happen on modern diesels if they are frequently switched off while they are actively regenerating the DPF.

TrevC said:

Amen to checking the boot "button" - it was loose on my 65 plate Lounge when I bought it last year, and when the dealer fixed it I got the impression that they had changed plenty. No problems since with that or anything else.
My car has a space-saver spare, but has the higher boot floor - when you fold the rear seatbacks they are flush with the boot floor. Some variants have a deeper boot but there is no room for a spare.
Be sure that a diesel suits your motoring, they don't like lots of short runs. There's one report on Honest John's feedback of a 500x multijet destroying its engine by running uncontrollably due to fuel in the sump oil. This can happen on modern diesels if they are frequently switched off while they are actively regenerating the DPF.

Click to expand...

The latter bit with regeneration I guess Stop / Start adds to this!? Or does DPF regeneration override Stop/Start!?
Oh I found this had happened in the last week as well, it’s booked in for other issues so add to the list!!

Agreed, my boot release cover ended up on the car park floor, replaced under warranty without problem, but about a 10 day wait while the got the part from Italy. I have the adjustable boot floor with a space-saver spare wheel, idiotic combination as the wheel prevents the floor being in the lower position. Overall I love it, although mine is 2.0 MJ not the 1.6

I've no idea, Alex, although you would hope it was one of the parameters considered by the s/s system.
On page 62 of my handbook, it describes a DPF Cleaning warning light, and advises that the engine is not switched off when this is illuminated. That's actually pretty good, more than many manufacturers provide.

Alex4x4 said:

The latter bit with regeneration I guess Stop / Start adds to this!? Or does DPF regeneration override Stop/Start!?
Oh I found this had happened in the last week as well, it’s booked in for other issues so add to the list!!
View attachment 190732

Click to expand...

After the first year or so I turned Stop/Start off permanently. The effect on the battery and starter motor wasn't worth the saved fuel.

What is the photo of please Alex?

Alanw47 said:

After the first year or so I turned Stop/Start off permanently. The effect on the battery and starter motor wasn't worth the saved fuel.

What is the photo of please Alex?

Click to expand...

Agree it’s a pain in the backside when parking in a Automatic car!!
Boot handle, it was there last week & now this!! Must have fallen off.
As someone said a common occurrence!
I put my jacket in the boot & boot kept on opening n closing!! Solenoid on way out, not sure.
I don’t want to go too off thread or put people off but this is the most quirky car I have owned!!
I hopefully will be getting less issues than I have had!!

Alex4x4 said:

Agree it’s a pain in the backside when parking in a Automatic car!!
Boot handle, it was there last week & now this!! Must have fallen off.
As someone said a common occurrence!
I put my jacket in the boot & boot kept on opening n closing!! Solenoid on way out, not sure.
I don’t want to go too off thread or put people off but this is the most quirky car I have owned!!
I hopefully will be getting less issues than I have had!!

Click to expand...

If it helps, I had all my problems in the first year. Just had 1st MOT, sailed through, no more issues, and still on original front pads and discs. 30k miles and only 10% worn. Astounding. Still on original rear tyres too.

Yes as mentioned I contacted Ciao Fiat and they enabled Live Services - took about two weeks and needed to send them a copy of log book to prove ownership. Not really used it much though TBH but it was the point...........

In my driving i do a lot of short runs and like to keep the start stop switched off as I think recharging the battery (a lot have had issues including myself) helps it.

That said if i do come to a place where i think i'll be waiting for a while (say 1min+) then just beforehand i do press start stop on and it normally activates. As the button is easy to locate on the dash I have no issues with this.

It's a bit strange how I have never encountered any dpf problems, I was forewarned about them on my old 500 1.3mjd diesel (15k miles in 7 years), and again on my 500x 2.0mjd (3000 miles in 9 months). Maybe I just dont do enough short runs for it ever to be an issue, or failing that because it gets a good run once every couple of months and maybe that keeps it clean?

cowabunga said:

In my driving i do a lot of short runs and like to keep the start stop switched off as I think recharging the battery (a lot have had issues including myself) helps it.

That said if i do come to a place where i think i'll be waiting for a while (say 1min+) then just beforehand i do press start stop on and it normally activates. As the button is easy to locate on the dash I have no issues with this.

It's a bit strange how I have never encountered any dpf problems, I was forewarned about them on my old 500 1.3mjd diesel (15k miles in 7 years), and again on my 500x 2.0mjd (3000 miles in 9 months). Maybe I just dont do enough short runs for it ever to be an issue, or failing that because it gets a good run once every couple of months and maybe that keeps it clean?

Click to expand...

I'm just short of 30,000 miles in my 2.0 MJ, and I have never seen the DPF warning light, neither flashing nor constant. However I do most of my mileage at 70mph or thereabouts so maybe that's why.

Alanw47 said:

I'm just short of 30,000 miles in my 2.0 MJ, and I have never seen the DPF warning light, neither flashing nor constant. However I do most of my mileage at 70mph or thereabouts so maybe that's why.

Click to expand...

That 70mph driving is why your mpg is mid-high forties.

Likewise, I have never seen the dpf light on the 500x or the old 500.

Thanks for all the feedback.

In the end we decided not to go for it as when thinking about it more there is no need for us to go for a diesel due to the low annual mileage.

Keeping a lookout for a 1.4 Multiair though!

S-X-I said:

Thanks for all the feedback.

In the end we decided not to go for it as when thinking about it more there is no need for us to go for a diesel due to the low annual mileage.

Keeping a lookout for a 1.4 Multiair though!

Click to expand...

It always amazes me how in general people make the preference for Petrol or Diesel and a lot of the time it's due to low mileage.

I bought a diesel late last August with 11 miles on the clock. At the moment it's on 3,000 miles and I expect to be at 4,000 miles by the end of the first year. Out of that maybe 300-500 miles is going to be heavy traffic, the rest A roads and motorways.

This is low mileage.

However when I bought mine for a fantastic price, if anything a petrol 1.4 would have been about the same price or even more expensive. This is due to supply/ demand, and the mixed messages coming from the government.

So what I'm saying is if diesel is a few grand on the purchase price and your low mileage, then yeah, maybe petrol is the way to go. However if prices are similar (which they can be) diesel is still worth considering. For example a 1.6mjd is low-mid 50's mpg, and a 1.4 MA about 20mpg less. That's one hell of a difference even if your only doing low miles.