• Hybrid engine isn’t particularly efficient
• No diesel or PHEV available
• Shouldn’t provide too many unexpected costs

The 500X’s single engine is a hybrid, but don’t go expecting rock-bottom running costs as a result. Due to the very mild nature of the electrification, official fuel economy according to WLTP is 49.6mpg – not a dreadful figure, but a way behind the best that Toyota has to offer in the Yaris Cross.

Worse, the engine’s lack of power means you need to accelerate like a priest to make any use of the electric assistance, and as a result if you drive normally the car behaves more or less like a standard petrol.

As a result we’d expect to see around 40mpg in the real world at best.

Official CO2 figures are 129g/km, which once again are just about okay but not up there with the best in class by any stretch. Even the most polluting Toyota Yaris Cross emits just 117g/km.

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Servicing and warranty

Fiat offers just three years of warranty cover, which is less than many rival manufacturers – such as the five years of Hyundai, seven years of Kia and the ten years of a Toyota.

At least servicing should be reasonably priced, with a vast network of Fiat dealers and good aftermarket support via the Mopar network.

Reliability

• No serious horror stories
• Owners’ reviews not concerning
• Just one recall and that’s been fixed

While Italian cars don’t generally have a great reliability reputation, that’s become more myth than reality nowadays, ever since the Fiat 500 went on sale in 2007. The newer 500X has established itself a good record of dependability. There’s been a single recall through the car’s long lifecycle, and the fault with loss of drive will have been fixed by Fiat for free.

Our owners’ reviews show there aren’t any common faults to be concerned about – a few owners report electrical systems have gone wrong but these seem to be isolated incidents. But it’s not all good news, as JD Power’s 2019 Vehicle Dependency Survey concluded that Fiat still has some way to go in terms of satisfaction. It came 23rd out of 24 carmakers, with a reported 173 faults per 100 vehicles.