FIAT Complaints

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 FIAT 500. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH, THE GEAR WAS NOT ABLE TO SHIFT FROM THE FOURTH GEAR. VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE FINGER PLATE ON THE CLUTCH WAS CRACKED AND THE CLUTCH WOULD NOT DISENGAGE. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED BUT THE REMEDY FAILED. THE PART FOR THE REPAIR WAS ORDERED BUT IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THE CLUTCH ASSEMBLY WAS ALREADY CRACKED BEFORE USE. THE PART WAS REORDERED AND THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 95,000.

MY 2012 FIAT IS HAVING STARTER ISSUES. SOMETIMES THE ENGINE JUST CUTS OFF. I TOOK THE CAR IN AND THEY TOLD ME THAT ALL 2012 FIATS RECENTLY SERVICED, ARE HAVING THIS ISSUE. THERE IS NO FIX UNTIL CHRYSLER CREATES A CODE FOR THE SYSTEM. I ASKED HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN GOING ON AND HE SAID 3 MONTHS NOW. SO BASICALLY I HAVE TO DEAL WITH MY CAR BARLEY STARTING AND POSSIBILY CUTTING OFF AND THERE IS NO SOLUTION. THIS COULD BE DANGEROUS AND MAY LEAD TO OTHER DAMAGES. SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE.

PULLED UP TO A STOP LIGHT, DEPRESSED CLUTCH AND SHIFTED TO NEUTRAL. WHEN LIGHT TURNED GREEN, I DEPRESSED THE CLUTCH AND IT LOCKED UP AND WOULD NOT ENGAGE ALLOWING ME TO SHIFT INTO A GEAR. MECHANIC SAID ITS A BENT PRESSURE PLATE AND THE ENTIRE CLUTCH ASSY. NEEDS REPLACED FOR ~$2,000. OBVIOUSLY BENDING OF THE PRESSURE PLATE IS NOT "NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR" AND ITS ALSO VERY RARE TO HAVE A CLUTCH FAIL SO EARLY (20,000 MILES). UNFORTUNATELY FIAT IS SAYING THIS IS A NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR ISSUE AND IS NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. READING THE FORUMS, THIS SEEMS TO BE A VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH MANUAL SHIFT FIATS AND IS A TERRIBLE SAFETY HAZARD (THINK IF THE CLUTCH LOCKED UP AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS PREVENTING SOMEONE FROM SHIFTING OUT OF GEAR). THIS PART SHOULD BE RECALLED AND REPLACED ON ALL MANUAL TRANSMISSION FIATS AND COSTS FULLY COVERED.

THE CAR STOPPED WORKING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY, STARTED TO GIVE ERROR MESSAGES AND TURNED ON ENGINE SERVICE, TRANSMISSION AND PARKING BRAKES LIGHTS. A FEW SECONDS AFTER WE JUST GOT THE MESSAGE: DRIVE MODE UNAVAILABLE AND THE CAR STOPPED. IT WAS REALLY DANGEROUS AND MY FAMILY AND I WERE IN A TERRIBLE RISK OF HAVE A PRETTY BAD ACCIDENT. WE ARE REALLY LUCKY THAT NOTHING HAPPENED TO US, WE COULD DIE THAT NIGHT.

DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD WARNING LIGHTS CYCLED THROUGH FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER INDICATING ISSUES WITH ESC , DTS, A SPROCKET WITH AN EXCLAMATION POINT, A CAR ON ROUGH TERRAIN, THIS CONTINUED AS I TRAVELED DOWN THE ROAD...ALL OF THESE LIGHTS ARE INDICATORS OF ISSUES WITH THE ABS SYSTEM I MOVED TO THE RIGHT LANE STEERING WAS DIFFERENT I WAS TRYING TO GET OFF AT THE NEXT EXIT HOWEVER AS TRAFFIC SLOWED I WAS UNABLE TO STOP MY VEHICLE AND MY BRAKES REACTED DIFFERENTLY WHEN I PUT MY FOOT ON THE BRAKES AND I REAR ENDED THE PERSON IN FRONT OF ME

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2014 FIAT 500. WHILE STOPPED AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT, THE VEHICLE JERKED VIOLENTLY. A MESSAGE APPEARED ON THE DASHBOARD INSTRUCTING THE CONTACT TO PLACE THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTER IN THE NEUTRAL POSITION AND THEN INTO THE DRIVE POSITION. THE CONTACT FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS AND THE ENGINE FAILED WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT ATTEMPTED TO RESTART THE ENGINE MULTIPLE TIMES BEFORE SUCCEEDING. THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT THEN ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS RELUCTANT TO ACCELERATE AND DRIVE SLOWLY. THE CONTACT ALSO NOTICED A BURNING ODOR. THE CONTACT DISCOVERED THAT THE ODOR WAS COMING FROM UNDER THE HOOD. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A DEALER BUT WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 39,000. THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS FOR THE JOLTING. THE DEALER ADVISED THE COMPUTER WAS LEARNING THE DRIVER'S HABITS AND WAS OPERATING AS DESIGNED. AFTER THE FAILURE, THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER AND WAS REPAIRED UNDER WARRANTY. THE MANUFACTURER OFFERED A 60,000 MILE WARRANTY, NO DEDUCTIBLE, FREE OF COST AND $500.00 FOR COMPENSATION. THE CONSUMER WAS DISSATISFIED WITH THE OFFER. UPON RETRIEVING THE VEHICLE THE DEALER ADVISED THE CONSUMER TO PUT THE VEHICLE IN NEUTRAL WHILE AT A STOP, BECAUSE ONE OF THE CLUTCHES SLIGHTLY DRAGS AND WOULD EVENTUALLY BURN UP, WHICH IS WHAT CAUSED THE FAILURE. THE CONSUMER BELIEVED THAT WAS UNACCEPTABLE.*JS

BRAKES DID NOT ENGAGE THE FIRST TIME IN ORDER TO STOP THE CAR FOR PARKING SPACE. IT HAPPENED AGAIN THE FOLLOWING DAY WHERE I TRIED TO HOLD THE BRAKE PEDAL TO THE FLOOR AND NOTHING!!! I RETRIED AGAIN A SECOND TIME AND TOO LATE CAR WAS HIT TWICE IN THE FRONT DESTROYING WHOLE FRONT END. CAR WAS PURCHASED BRAND NEW. I HAVE CONTACTED FIAT HQ TO FURTHER INVESTIGATE THIS DEADLY SAFETY ISSUE.

ON FEBRUARY 5, 2015 AT 8:40 A.M. WHILE DRIVING SOUTH IN THE HIGH SPEED LANE AT 55 MPH ON HIGHWAY 101 FROM SAN RAFAEL TO SAN FRANCISCO, THERE WAS A TOTAL AND CATASTROPHIC ELECTRICAL FAILURE AND RESULTING ZERO MOTOR POWER OF MY FIAT 500E. I WAS ABLE TO COAST THE CAR TO THE SHOULDER AREA CROSSING FOUR LANES OF TRAFFIC. A FIAT REPAIR TECHNICIAN COINCIDENTALLY APPEARED ON THE SCENE AND OFFERED ASSISTANCE. I INDICATED I WAS UNWILLING TO DRIVE THE CAR ANY FURTHER. HE INSTEAD DROVE THE FIAT 500E AND I DROVE HIS GASOLINE FIAT TO THE DEALER IN SAN FRANCISCO FOR REPAIR. DEALERSHIP INSPECTION AND DIAGNOSIS INDICATED DEFECTIVE EVCU. DEALER REPLACED EVCU. ON MARCH 19, 2015 - EVCU FAILURE AGAIN; UNABLE TO CHANGE GEARS FROM PARK TO DRIVE WITH "NOT READY" AND ALREADY IN DESIRED GEAR MESSAGES. DEALERSHIP DISCOVERED NO FAULT CODE USING SCAN TOOL. ON MAY 26, 2015 SERVICE PROPULSION SYSTEM WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED INDICATING MALFUNCTION WITH PROPULSION SYSTEM. DEALERSHIP INSPECTION REVEALED "CODE INDICATING BATTERY POSITIVE CIRCUIT HIGH RESISTANCE AT B+ TERMINAL AND POSITIVE BATTERY POST AT 0.11 V OK TEST FUSED B+ WITH TEST LIGHT; TEST PIM CASE GROUND HIGH RESISTANCE FROM PIM CASE TO BATTERY GROUND; FAULT OCCURRED ONCE IN SNAPSHOT DATA. PIM SOFTWARE UPDATE AVAILABLE AND SYMPTOM/CONDITION CAN CAUSE PROBLEM; REPROGRAM POWER INVERTER MODULE TO LATEST SOFTWARE." ON JUNE 23, 2015 R20 SAFETY RECALL" AND RED PLUGGED IN INDICATOR ILLUSTRATED MALFUNCTION/INTERRUPTION DURING VEHICLE CHARGING PROCESS VEHICLE UNABLE TO CHARGE TO PRIOR OPTIMUM LEVEL. CAR BROUGHT TO BURLINGAME FIAT DEALERSHIP FOR FLASH EVCU REPROGRAMMING/ UPDATED SOFTWARE. ON JULY 17, 2015 - SERVICE PROPULSION SYSTEM WARNING LIGHT AGAIN APPEARED; UNABLE TO CHANGE GEARS; DISPLAY INDICATED ALREADY IN DESIRED GEAR. ON AUGUST 16, 2015 - ALREADY IN DESIRED GEAR; UNABLE TO CHANGE GEARS

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2014 FIAT 500. WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH, THE TRANSMISSION TEMPERATURE GAUGE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND A VOICE ACTIVATED INDICATING THAT THE CLUTCH WAS OVERHEATING AND WARNED THE CONTACT TO PARK THE VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY. IN ADDITION, THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED IN VARIOUS WEATHER CONDITIONS, THE SHIFT LEVER FAILED TO SHIFT OUT OF THE PARK POSITION. THE FAILURE RECURRED INTERMITTENTLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A DEALER, WHERE IT WAS INSPECTED BUT THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS NOT DETERMINED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 1,045.

THIS IS THE 3RD CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. THE FIRST TIME ABOUT A MONTH AGO, IT CAME ON AND THEY FOUND A LEAK ON A HOSE ATTACHED TO THE A/C. THE 2ND TIME THEY CLAIMED IT WAS A SMALL LEAK IN ONE OF THE AIR LINES. DO THEY REALLY KNOW OR ARE THEY JUST MAKING THIS STUFF UP. VERY FRUSTRATED!! I AM SCHEDULED TO TAKE IT IN LATER THIS WEEK. I WONDER WHAT THEY WILL SAY THIS TIME. THESE CARS ARE LEAKY OR MAYBE I JUST GOT A 2014 LEMON! THANK GOD IT'S UNDER WARRANTY.