2012 FIAT 500 Complaints

I WAS DRIVING TO WORK ON DALLAS NORTH TOLLWAY CRUISING AT NORMAL HIGHWAY SPEED. I WAS IN 5TH GEAR IN THE FAR LEFT LANE DRIVING AT CONSISTENT SPEED. I HEARD A POP SOUND AND THEN A SOUND AS IF SOMETHING WERE DRAGGING. IT WAS AS IF I HAD RUN OVER A BLOCK OF STYROFOAM IN A SHOPPING CART. IMMEDIATELY MY CAR LOST POWER FOLLOWED BY MESSAGES ON THE HUD: LOW OIL PRESSURE; NO OIL PRESSURE; SEE HANDBOOK. I IMMEDIATELY LET MY FOOT OFF THE PEDALS AND CRUISED TO THE SHOULDER. I SAW OIL OR SOME OTHER FLUID HAD COVERED THE REAR OF MY CAR AND WAS COVERING THE GROUND UNDERNEATH. THE FLUID HAD A REDDISH TINGE TO IT. A PIECE OF METAL APPEARED TO BE HANGING FROM UNDERNEATH THE CAR. OIL WAS EVERYWHERE. [XXX], THE GENERAL MANAGER OF FIAT OF MCKINNEY, TOLD ME THAT THE ENGINE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED BUT THAT IT WOULD NOT BE COVERED BY THE WARRANTY BECAUSE THE MAXIMUM ENGINE "OVER-REV" REACHED A VALUE OF 7300 A TOTAL OF 26 TIMES. FIAT VEHICLES ARE EQUIPPED WITH ENGINE SAFETY FEATURES WHICH LIMIT RPM TO ACCEPTABLE VALUES. I HAVE NEVER REACHED THAT RPM IN THAT VEHICLE. I RECEIVED A COPY OF THE FIAT 500 DIAGNOSTICS CAPTURED USING A WITECH AND IT SHOWS 3 PIECES OF DATA: TOTAL OVER REV COUNTER = 26, MAX ENGINE OVER REV RPM = 7320, TOTAL TIME EXCEEDING MAX ENGINE RPM 0.0 SECONDS. THERE ARE NO TIMES ASSOCIATED WITH THE OVERREV INSTANCES SO THAT ONE COULD DEDUCE THAT AN OVERREV CAUSED THE ENGINE FAILURE. IF IT SAYS THAT THE TOTAL TIME OVER MAX ENGINE RPM IS 0.0 SECONDS, HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE IF IT INDICATED 26 TIMES? SINCE THIS IS VALUED IN TOTAL SECONDS, IF THE TIMES ADDED UP TO 0.0444 - WHICH WOULD BE THE MAXIMUM VALUE POSSIBLE BEFORE ROUNDING UP TO 0.1, THAT MEANS EACH OF THE 26 OVER REV INSTANCES WOULD HAVE LASTED 0.0017 SECONDS. EVEN IF GOING AT 7320 RPM, THE FIAT 500 ENGINE CAN ONLY GO 12.44 REVOLUTIONS IN 0.0017 SECONDS. THERE IS NO WAY THAT IT COULD BE MEASURED THIS ACCURATELY. *TR

I WAS DRIVING DOWN A STREET BY A SCHOOL DOING 20 MPH. WENT TO DOWN SHIFT AND THE CLUTCH LOCKED UP. I COULD NOT PUSH IT TO THE FLOOR. SINCE I COULD NOT PUSH THE CLUTCH DOWN I COULD NOT SHIFT GEARS. I HAVE DRIVEN A CLUTCH FOR OVER 30 YEARS AND NEVER HAD TO REPLACE A CLUTCH. THERE WAS NO WARNING WITH THIS. JUST HAPPENED WITH NO PREVIOUS SLIPPING OR ANY INDICATION SOMETHING WAS GOING BAD WITH THE CLUTCH. *TR

VEHICLE SUSTAINED A CATASTROPHIC CLUTCH FAILURE WHILE BEING DRIVEN AT APPROX 25 MPH RESULTING IN AN INOPERABLE VEHICLE. ADDITIONALLY, THE VEHICLE COULD NOT BE SHIFTED OUT OF 4TH GEAR AS CLUTCH COULD NOT BE ENGAGED. VEHICLE HAD TO BE TURNED OFF AND EMERGENCY BRAKE USED TO GUIDE VEHICLE OFF OF ROAD. VEHICLE TOWED TO DEALER. MANUFACTURE REPLACED PRESSURE PLATE AND CLUTCH. VEHICLE DISPLAYED NO SIGNS OF WORN CLUTCH PRIOR TO INCIDENT. *TR

THE OIL PRESSURE SENSOR WARNING LIGHT WOULD RANDOMLY GO ON AND OFF. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALERSHIP THREE TIMES TO REPAIR THE PROBLEM. ON THE THIRD TIME, THE DEALERSHIP SAID THAT IT WAS DUE TO A DAMAGED SHORT BLOCK AND THAT IT WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED. THIS WAS IN OCTOBER 2014 AND THE MILEAGE WAS 52,500 SO MY CAR WAS NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY. THE DEALER QUOTED APPROXIMATELY $5000 FOR THE REPAIR. SHOULDN'T THE WARRANTY COVER THE REPAIR BECAUSE THE PROBLEM BEGAN AT 49,800 MILES? THE FIAT DEALERSHIP DOES NOT AGREE. *TR

I WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY WHEN THE VEHICLE SHUT OFF AND DROPPED SPEED QUICKLY, WAS ADVISED BY THE DEALER THAT IT WAS AN ELECTRICAL SHORTAGE TO THE BATTERY AS THE CAR WAS BRAND NEW. TOOK THE VEHICLE BACK IN FOR REPAIR, AND IT HAS HAPPENED THREE MORE TIMES SINCE THAT OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS. TWO OF THOSE TIMES WERE ALSO ON THE HIGHWAY. THE MOST RECENT WAS LAST MONTH (SEPTEMBER 13, 2014) WHILE MAKING A U-TURN AT A LIGHT IN FRONT OF MOVING TRAFFIC THE CAR COMPLETELY SHUT OFF RIGHT AFTER MY TURN. LUCKILY, I WAS ABLE TO COAST TO THE SIDE AND THE CAR BEHIND ME SAW ME IN TIME TO STOP. *TR

SHORTLY AFTER PURCHASING MY VEHICLE I BEGAN TO HAVE ISSUES WITH A SOFT CLUTCH OR A STUCK CLUTCH. USUALLY WHILE DRIVING AT FREEWAY SPEEDS AND ATTEMPTING TO DOWNSHIFT OR COME TO A STOP THE CLUTCH PEDAL WILL LOSE ALL PRESSURE AND EITHER BECOME STUCK TO THE FLOOR OR NOT OPERATE NORMALLY. UPON STOPPING AND PUMPING THE CLUTCH SOME PRESSURE WILL RETURN AND THE CLUTCH WILL OPERATE ABNORMALLY FOR A SHOT TIME BEFORE RETURNING TO NORMAL FEEL. USUALLY THE CLUTCH WILL GET STUCK TO THE FLOOR AND I WILL BE UNABLE TO PULL THE CAR OUT OF GEAR WHILE DRIVING 50+ MPH. THE FLUID LEVEL IN THE MASTER CYLINDER HAS NEVER FALLEN BELOW NORMAL AND 2 SEPARATE DEALERSHIPS HAVE CHECKED IT MULTIPLE TIMES AND SAID THERE WAS NO FAULT TO BE FOUND BUT I EXPERIENCE THIS PROBLEM ON EITHER A MONTHLY, WEEKLY OR EVEN DAILY BASIS DURING THE WORST EPISODES. THE CAR IS CURRENTLY AT ABOUT 25,000 MILES NOW AND THE PROBLEM REMAINS A CONSTANT ANNOYANCE THAT LEAVES ME FEELING UNSAFE IN OPERATING THE VEHICLE AT TIMES BECAUSE I DO NOT KNOW WHEN OR HOW BAD THE PROBLEM WILL BE. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 FIAT 500. ANOTHER VEHICLE CRASHED INTO THE FRONT END OF THE CONTACT'S. THE AIR BAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE CONTACT'S PROSTHETIC ARM HAD TO BE REPLACED AND A ROTATOR CUFF WAS TORN, WHICH REQUIRED MEDICAL ATTENTION. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED, BUT THE DETAILS OF THE REPAIRS WERE UNKNOWN. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE SPEED WAS UNKNOWN. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 5,000.

THIS OCCURRED ABOUT 6 TIMES ALREADY. WHEN MAKING A LEFT OR RIGHT TURN THE VEHICLE SHUTS OFF AND COASTS UNTIL YOU STOP TO SHUT IT OFF AND TURN BACK ON. THE BATTERY AND OIL PRESSURE LIGHTS COME ON DURING THE COASTING. CAME VERY CLOSE TO BEING HIT TWICE DUE TO THIS PROBLEM, BUT THE DEALER SAY THEY HAVEN'T HEARD ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE. *TR

2012 FIAT 500. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO VEHICLE "GENERIC WARNING LIGHT" ILLUMINATED. *SMD

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 FIAT 500. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE CLUTCH FAILED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE THE TECHNICIAN DIAGNOSED THAT THE CLUTCH WAS BURNED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 24,000. THE VIN WAS UNAVAILABLE.