2016 FIAT 500X Complaints

I BOUGHT THIS CAR SECOND HAND. 33200 MILES STILL ON THE WARRANTY. AFTER FEW MONTHS, 650 MILES OF USAGE, A WARNING LIGHT FOR FOR THE ENGINE AND "DRIVING MODE UNAVAILABLE" STARTED POPPING UP, SO THIS A PLATE LIGHT WARNING POP UP AS WELL. BROUGHT TO FIAT, THEY SAID IT WAS THE THERMOSTAT WHICH IT WAS THEN CHANGED AND SUPPOSEDLY WOULD FIX THE ISSUE. GOT THE CAR BACK. AFTER FEW DAYS AND 125 MILES MORE AGAIN THE "DRIVE MODE UNAVAILABLE" WARNING POP UP... THEN THE FOUR WHEAL DRIVE UNAVAILABLE POP UP..THERE WAS ALSO A WHEAL WARNING POPPING UP. THEN OUT OF A SUDDEN, ON A TRAFFIC LIGHT THE CAR DIDN'T WANT TO START. I HAD TO TURN OFF THE ENGINE AND TURN BACK ON. ONCE I TURNED THE ENGINE BACK, ALL KINDS OF WARNING SIGNS CAME UP. I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE HOME. THEN THE ENGINE LIGHT WARNING KEPT ON. SO DID THE "DRIVE MODE UNAVAILABLE". BROUGHT THE CAR BACK TO FIAT RIGHT AWAY. THEY SAID THE BATTERY WAS NOT TIED CORRECTLY. WHICH I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT DID HAPPEN AND WHY THEY DID NOT SEE THAT THE FIRST TIME THEY LOOK AT THE CAR. GOING TO PICK UP THE CAR TOMORROW AND HOPE WILL NOT GOING TO HAVE TO REPORT FURTHER ISSUES.

ON 3/30/2019, AFTER A SHORT DRIVE (APPROX. 0.5 MILES), THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE APPEARED ON THE DASHBOARD: 'DRIVE MODE UNAVAILABLE' AND 'SERVICE ENGINE'. THIS WAS ALSO ACCOMPANIED BY WHAT SEEMED TO BE MUCH MORE NOTICEABLE VIBRATION FROM THE WORKING ENGINE AND A SUBTLE SMELL OF SOMETHING BURNING. TOTAL MILEAGE DRIVEN AT THE TIME OF INCIDENT IS 17,284.

I HAVE HAD AT LEAST 5 INCIDENTS SO FAR WITH MY FIAT TURNING COMPLETELY OFF WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD. I HAVE TAKEN IT IN NUMEROUS OF TIMES TO THE DEALER WITH NO LUCK. I HAVE DOCUMENTED EACH AND EVERY TIME MY CAR DECIDES TO SHUT OFF WHILE DRIVING. I FIND MY CAR TO BE A SAFETY HAZARD TO ME AND MY FAMILY AS WELL AS OTHERS. THE DEALERSHIPS SEEM TO NOT KNOW WHY MY FIAT TENDS TO SHUT DOWN WHILE DRIVING. FIRST I HAD ONLY ABOUT 25000 MILES AND IT SHUTS OFF WHILE TURNING IN A 4 WAY INTERSECTION, FIAT PLACE HAD ME TAKE IT IN JUST TO SAY IT NEEDED AN UPDATE. SECOND TIME I STALLED IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD WITH MY CHILDREN INSIDE. CALLED THE DEALER, SAID IT NEEDED AN UPDATE. 3RD TIME HAPPENED WHILE DRIVING IT TO THE DEALERSHIP THE SAME DAY. DEALER HAD IT FOR TWO WEEKS AND SAID IT WAS A NEW UPDATE THAT CAUSED MY FIAT TO TURN OFF COMPLETELY. 4TH TIME HAPPENED WHILE I DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AT 45MPH AND DEALER HAD ME BRING IT IN AND SAID IT WAS CAUSED BY MY KEY FOB BATTERY ( LITERALLY JUST CHANGED THE BATTERIES THE DAY BEFORE). ALL BS FROM THE DEALERS MECHANICS. SO I CALLED FIAT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND THEY TOLD ME I SHOULD NOT BE DRIVING THE VEHICLE AT ALL, I SHOULD RETURN THE CAR TO THE DEALER TO HAVE THEM RUN TEST. THEY HAD IT FOR A MONTH AND SAID IT WAS CAUSED BY MY DRIVING HABITS AND THEY COULD NOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. SO NOW MY FIAT DECIDES TO SHUT OFF WHILE DRIVING 70MPH 49000 MILES ON THE INTERSTATE, THANKFULLY I WAS IN THE SLOW LANE AND WAS ABLE TO COAST TO A SAFE POSITION TO PUT MY CAR IN PARK AND RESTART. THIS HAS BEEN HAPPENING SINCE THE 3RD MONTH OF OWNERSHIP JUNE 2017.

DAYTIMERUNNING LIGHT. BRAKE LIGHT. PARKING LIGHT ALL OUT SAME TIME VEHICLE ONLY HAS 12,000 MILES ON IT.

IN DECEMBER 2018, THE VEHICLE'S CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND A "DRIVE MODE UNAVAILABLE" MESSAGE WAS DISPLAYED ON THE SCREEN. THE LOCAL FIAT DEALERSHIP DIAGNOSED THAT THE COOLING FAN NEEDED REPLACING BECAUSE IT HAD BLOWN A FUSE. IN JANUARY 2018, WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION WITH OUR CHILD IN THE BACK SEAT, THE VEHICLE STALLED AND SUDDENLY TURNED OFF. WE TRIED TURNING THE VEHICLE ON SEVERAL TIMES BUT IT WOULD NOT COME ON. AFTER A FEW MINUTES, THE VEHICLE FINALLY TURNED ON BUT NO WARNING MESSAGES WERE DISPLAYED ON THE SCREEN AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT NEVER CAME ON. THIS VEHICLE IS DRIVEN ON THE HIGHWAY JUST ABOUT EVERY DAY AND MANY TIMES WITH OUR CHILDREN AND WE WERE VERY FORTUNATE THAT THE CAR STALLED ON A RESIDENTIAL STREET AND NOT WHILE ON THE HIGHWAY. WE IMMEDIATELY REPORTED THIS INCIDENT TO FIAT (CASE # 57913062) AND HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO A FIAT DEALERSHIP. THE DEALER DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM AS HAVING A LOW LEVEL OF ENGINE OIL EVEN THOUGH IT HAD BEEN THERE A FEW WEEKS BEFORE AND WENT THROUGH THEIR "MULTI-POINT" INSPECTION. THEY RECOMMENDED AN OIL CHANGE WITH AN ADDITIVE AND A FUEL INJECTION CLEANING WHICH COST US $600. TWO WEEKS LATER, WHILE THE CAR WAS IN MOTION ON THE HIGHWAY, THE CAR STARTED TO SHAKE AS IF IT WAS ABOUT TO STALL, WOULD NOT SPEED PAST 60MPH, AND SMOKE WAS COMING OUT OF THE HOOD. THE SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND A "DRIVE MODE UNAVAILABLE" MESSAGE WAS DISPLAYED ON THE SCREEN. WE TOOK THE FIRST HIGHWAY EXIT AVAILABLE AND PULLED THE VEHICLE OVER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AND CALLED FOR TOWING. WE REPORTED THIS INCIDENT TO FIAT ONCE AGAIN (CASE # 58008152) AND REQUESTED FOR IT TO BE ESCALATED DUE THE FREQUENT INCIDENTS AND OUR CONCERN FOR SAFETY. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO SAME FIAT DEALERSHIP AS BEFORE WHERE THEY DIAGNOSED THE ISSUE AS BEING A BAD IGNITION COIL THAT CAUSED A MISFIRE. WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY RESPONSE FROM FIAT.

WHEN DRIVING ON ANY KIND OF TRAIN, STRAIGHT GROUND OR HILLS, ESPECIALLY WHEN ACCELERATING, THE ENGINE OR TRANSMISSION SLIPS INTO NEUTRAL MODE AND SUDDENLY KICKS BACK INTO DRIVE MODE. THE CAR LUNGES FORWARD AND IT FEELS LIKE THE TRANSMISSION IS SLIPPING. THIS STARTED ABOUT TWO TO THREE MONTHS AGO (NOVEMBER 2018) BUT HAS BECOME SIGNIFICANTLY WORSE OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS. THE CAR HAS 35K MILES, AUTOMATIC 9 SPEED TRANSMISSION. I BOUGHT IT NEW IN JUNE OF 2015. I NOTICED THAT THE IS A RECALL FOR SIMILAR PROBLEMS ON SIMILAR FIATS SINCE NOVEMBER OF 2016, BUT I NEVER RECEIVED ANY KIND OF NOTICE FROM FCA ABOUT THIS.

VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION ON CITY STREET AND VEHICLE TURNED OFF AND CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND SAID DRIVE MODE UNAVAILABLE

MY TIE ROD HAS BENT 2 TIMES NOW. I HAVE DONE NOTHING TO IT. THE FIRST TIME IS THAT MY WHOLE TIRE FELL OFF WHEN I WAS DRIVING. THE NEXT IT JUST BARELY NOT EVEN A YEAR AFTER MY TIRE FELL OFF I WAS DRIVING IN THE SNOW AND MY DRIVE MODE STOP WORKING. ONCE I PARKED I LOOK AT MY TIRE AND SAW IT WAS COCKEYED. I DID NOT HIT ANYTHING. I WAS ONLY GOING MAX 5 MILES AN HOUR. IT HAS BEEN A YEAR FROM HELL WITH MY CAR.

FIAT 500X 2016 TURNS OFF. NO WARNING, WHILE IN MOTION ON A CITY STREET. MULTIPLE TIMES, LOW SPEED (20 MPH) AND HIGHER SPEED (45 MPH). DEALERSHIP TOLD ME IT WAS BECAUSE I NEEDED TO CHANGE MY OIL.

VEHICLE SHIFTS ROUGHLY WHEN IN MOTION, WHEN STARTING OUT AND ALSO WHILE DRIVING. SOMETIMES IT DOES IT WHEN I START TO SLOW DOWN AND THEN SPEED BACK UP. I HAVE NOTIFIED THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT AND THEY SAY THEY CAN'T FIND A PROBLEM.