I am seeking answers from fiat USA. The transmission design for the fiat 500l trekking is unsafe. I have had three transmission since I purchased the vehicle in february 2015. The first transmission broke apart while I was driving the vehicle. The second and third stopped working after clutch overheating, shifting, and communication loss. Fiat placed a fourth transmission in the vehicle and I refuse to continue to drive it. I have been in some dangerous driving situations because of the faulty transmissions. Fiat response "were going to fix your car regardless if you agree with us".
2014 Fiat 500 transmission complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 67, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Fiat pop. Consumer writes in regards to unsuccessful attempts with dealership customer service scheduling and repairs of recall 16v‑302. *ld updated 09/18/2017
Tl* the contact owns a 2014 fiat 500. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign number: 16v302000 (power train); however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Fiat told me the problem related to the pressure plate which is not related to the safety recall that fiat issued to consumer in 2016. Also, the fail symptom is the gear is failed to propulsion when only engine is on but its not when engine is off. Fiat technician deny this cause by the defect of the clutch design. May I have expert to provide the advice on this.
Tl* the contact owns a 2014 fiat 500. When the vehicle was placed into first gear using the clutch, the rpms increased and a burning odor occurred before the vehicle would gain power. When the vehicle was shifted into second gear, it failed to shift properly due to the clutch slipping. The contact took the vehicle to a certified mechanic who diagnosed that the clutch pressure plate and/or disk failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The failure was related to the federal safety agency campaign number: 16v302000 (power train). The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000.
Under cold conditions (25 degrees f) and first startup of the day, when driving vehicle in city driving the vehicle's throttle response will stop working intermittently. The issue typically occurs after starting the vehicle in the morning in sub-freezing temperatures and then driving in 1st and 2nd gear to exit residence and enter traffic. Upon stopping at a stop light or sign, and then proceeding to accelerate, the vehicle's throttle will malfunction and the gas pedal will not respond when pressed. The rpms will drop to about 1300rpms and enter what feels like limp mode momentarily until the gas pedal is pumped a few times and then it will resume accelerating as normal. No error codes are thrown and the local fiat studio cannot get the error to duplicate. This is a safety issue as it typically happens while entering into traffic and the vehicle becomes unresponsive. 2014 fiat 500l trekking with manual transmission. This has happened each winter I have driven the vehicle. Video evidence has been submitted to fiat with no resolution.
Tl* the contact owns a 2014 fiat 500. While driving, the vehicle would shift into the neutral gear and the vehicle would decelerate. The dealer discovered that the automatic transmission failed, but there were no failure codes to verify the specific issue with the automatic transmission. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 26,640.
Tl* the contact owns a 2014 fiat 500. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the transmission failed to shift into first or second gear. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission failed. The actuator clutch release, the clutch pressure plate and the disc were replaced. The contact indicated that approximately 25,000 miles later, the failure reoccurred. The contact also indicated that the vehicle had experienced a head cylinder failure and was repaired. No further information was available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 26,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2014 fiat 500. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign number: 16v302000 (power train). The part to do the repair was not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The VIN was unknown. The contact had not experienced a failure.
Tl* the contact owns a 2014 fiat 500. While driving various speeds, the gears failed to shift or would delay in shifting without warning. When the brake pedal was depressed, the hazard warning lights illuminated and the radio failed. The dealer was unable to duplicate any of the failures. The radio was replaced on two different occasions. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 32,000.
It suddenly loses power. Not the electrical components but as in it will suddenly and with no warning, stop driving. I can be driving down the road and the acceleration will cease to work. There is no sound. The car is running, there aren't any warning lights, no indication at all that something is wrong accept you can push the petal to the floor and the car won't move. Or it will suddenly move very very slowly. The scariest incident was on 11-8-16. I was on old alexandria trnpk trying to cross 2 lanes of traffic on lee hwy to make a left turn and go northbound. When there was a break in traffic, I accelerated to cross the road. As I was crossing the first lane, my car stopped moving. I pressed fractically on the accelerator, mashing it to the floor with no response as I watched the oncoming traffic that I was currently sitting horizontally in front of; hit their breaks and swerve to miss me. I turned the steering wheel to the right as hard as I could and let the car roll over to the side of the road. The tail end of my car was still sitting out in traffic when it rolled to a stop. I put it in park and turned it off then immediately turned it back on. It started with no problem and the accelerator worked as it should. I turned the car around and started back on the road when it happened again. At that point I called a tow truck. It was towed to the dealer where it was purchased less than 2 yrs ago. After 2 days in the shop the dealer mechanic told me that they couldn't say for sure what the problem was but that they thought it might be the clutch. They said that the 2014 fiats with the 'dual clutch' transmissions had so many problems that they did not make any more in 2015. It's a $5k repair that is not covered by my warranty and there is no guarantee that it will fix the problem. Further research turned up that there are thousands of fiat owners with this problem.
Air conditioner electrical fire and transmission not shifting or moving while on idle.
Transmission overheats, causing an alert on the display to place the transmission in neutral then back to drive. Vehicle is unresponsive until this is accomplished and lacks power. /this occured at various speeds from 35 to 5 MPH. According to message boards, this is a known problem. Even received information from the fiat dealer that they were offering special incentives to replace vehicles with this transmission. This was a sales pitch and not an hones offer to correct the problem.
While in a drive through, smoke began pouring from the hood. Had vehicle inspected , was told this is normal for fiat, and clutch was in process of burning out. This is a 2014 with 20k miles. The fact that a clutch burning out is "normal" at this low of miles is shocking. Now experiencing acetone smell from exhaust, which I am still being told is a sign of the 'normal' clutch burning smell.
"takata recall" I just bought this vehicle may 2016. It has a hybrid manual/automatic transmission. I noticed the past couple week my automatic transmission was acting a little weird. It's shifting right when it's in automatic. It'll stay on the first gear and rev my engine RPM to like 5 o 6, just a few days ago I had a scary incident I was entering the highway my transmission shift down 2 gears and I couldn't accelerate; I drove off the road. Luckily, no one hurts.
Tl* the contact owns a 2014 fiat 500. While driving at low speeds, the accelerator pedal was depressed, but the vehicle failed to accelerate. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was approximately 8,491.
2014 fiat 500. Consumer writes in regards to parts not available to complete manual transmission damaged clutch diaphragm spring recall notice. *smd the consumer stated the trunk latch was faulty and was concerned the that there was no release button in the cab. The consumer requested to be reimbursed for the repairs.*js
Slow engage in changing gears, especially park to drive or park to reverse. Vehicle rpms revving very high, rough gear shift. Car rolling backwards on hills when I release the brake, despite having an automatic transmission. Problem is worse when temperature or vehicle is hot. 4000 miles out of my warranty. Beyond angry. Cannot drive car for fear of damaging transmission. I am being told my vehicle is not covered by the recall, even though I am having the exact same issue as described in the recall.
Tl* the contact owns a 2014 fiat 500l. While the vehicle was in drive and idling, the transmisson clucth started to heat up and smoke. The contact had to turn the vehicle off in order for the failure to stop. The failure recurred on numerious occasions. The vehicle was taken to the dealer twice. On the first visit, the contact was informed that the failure would stop eventually. On the second visit, the dealer advised the contact to place the vehicle in netural to disengage the clutch. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was unknown. The approximate failure mileage was 17,000.
On 01/25/2016 was on i20 driving to work when I started to smell like something was burning then warning lights came on that the car needed to be turned off and that the transmission needed to be serviced, my car had to be towed to dealership. Also the windshield started to crack well for starters my car has been at the dealership since jan. 25,2016 and here it is march 29th of 2016 and they barely called me that it is ready. Well since reading about powertrain recall and reading that my car has had that repaired once already and now repaired for the 2nd time I fear that this is going to be a on going problem and now I fear for my safety. When I spoke with dealership on 03/25/16 I made shop tech aware that the loaner I was using needed a new registration tag and now today my car is ready well that scares me. When I first spokwe with dealership service department it took them almost 4 days to let me know their findings and the way it was explained to me was people just don't know how to drive the 6 cylinder transmission making me feel like it was my fault when this whole time it has been a issue with this model.
It has the euro twin automatic clutch system, and the transmission is very slow to respond. When trying to accelerate the car will sit for a sew seconds before finally going. It has put us in near-accident situation several times. Its hard to speed up to merge on a highway, or get through a round-about. We never know if the car is going to go or just sit there. It has had the software updates done 3 times, and has been reported to fiat. All they tell us is "its working as it should" instead of acknowledging that the system itself is flawed. We do not feel safe driving it through town or even on the highway because it just does not shift gears like a should and we can't trust it.
Tl* the contact owns a 2014 fiat 500l. After driving the vehicle and parking it for approximately ten minutes, the vehicle would not move when it was shifted into reverse. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not included in the federal safety agency campaign number: 14v103000 (power train). The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 36,000. ......updated 04/01/16 *bf the consumer stated the transmission was rebuilt after five weeks. Updated 04/14/16.
While at a stand still in gear at a drive thru, car started smoking heavily. Strong smell of something burning. Took car in to service dept. Was told that this particular model vehicle has been having issues with stop and go traffic. Was told there was nothing they could do. Researched problem and have found out that there seem s to be a lot of issues with the ddct transmission on these cars. Called fiat USA and explained to them the problem and was advised that we had to place the vehicle (automatic transmission) in neutral at every stop and go situation. Dealer checked clutch system on vehicle and advised us that yes there was signs of clutch overheated. Called fiat USA again and advised them of what dealer had said and fiat USA told me that I was responsible because I did not read my owners manual. I read the entire manual, page by page and nowhere in the manual does it state that the vehicle has to be placed in neutral at stop and go situations. Fiat USA refuses to acknowledge that theres seems to be a problem with the clutch system on this model vehicle even though theres a lot post on the topic on the internet
I barely had the car over one year before the clutch goes out without warning prematurely as I've noticed is the case with several other owners. They won't fix it under warranty and word it "wear and tear" to keep from paying for it. It cost me $1200 to fix an almost brand new car. I pulled into a friend's drive and with no warning I heard a pop when I depressed the clutch and it would.no longer move or allow me to shift.
Tl* the contact owns a 2014 fiat 500. The contact stated that the dual clutch system failed to function properly causing the vehicle to be unable to accelerate. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be repaired but the details were unavailable. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 30,000.
In all weather conditions when putting the vehicle drive or reverse the car hesitates and is slow to get into drive/reverse... Even when at a stop sign or a stop light the car is starting to hesitate before properly accelerating.
My previous complaint the federal safety agency # 10790955 was filed prior to fiat diagnosing my 2014 500l. I have been informed that a rear plate in the euro clutch transmission failed causing the the transmission to blow apart while I was driving the vehicle.
First incident was two weeks after I purchased the fiat 500l. The brakes jammed and I ended rear ending another vehicle. The second incident was six weeks ago after replacing the front brakes. I purchased new rotors and pads;that evening the brakes jammed and caused me to rear end another vehicle twice. My fiat 500l has experienced losing communication from the computer to the transmission, which caused my vehicle to stall on various streets and while in moving traffic. On friday 13, 2015; my fiat 500l made a noise so loud that it sounded like it was going to blow up. I immediately checked the engine and it sounded like a large heavy piece of metal was trying to break through the engine wall. I turned the vehicle off and waited for 20 min. I started the vehicle and the noise went away. As I pulled off the vehicle started making a real loud noise and shut off. The vehicle has been towed to the dealer; however fiat is only concerned that they do not have to pay for it because the car is out of warranty. My issue is not the mileage; however my safety. I am not easily scared; however I felt like my fiat 500l was going to blow up. There is something seriously wrong with this car, fca needs to buy back every last one.
Tl* the contact owns a 2014 fiat 500. While driving approximately 20 MPH, the vehicle independently slowed down to 5 MPH without warning. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal to the floor; however, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact removed her foot from the accelerator pedal and then depressed the pedal to the floor. The vehicle eventually responded. The failure recurred on several occasions while driving at lower speeds, usually in cold weather. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the failure was unable to be determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 19,000.
My wife was in traffic and her vehicle would not go and the transmission light came on. She was stranded and had to call a wrecker. The dealer tested the vehicle and found nothing wrong except that it was the double clutch design flaw and stated I needed to call fiat and place a complaint. I did so and fiat said it was a natural design characteristic and se needs to put the car in neutral when in stop and go traffic. Lets face it if the dealer would of stated that when I purchased the vehicle I would not have purchased it. How stupid does fiat think we americans are? I am going forward with a lawsuit. Do not ever purchase a fiat product !!!
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