2012 Fiat 500

ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2019 MY 2012 FIAT 500 BEGAN TO EMIT A STRONG ODOR. I THOUGHT THE CAR WOULD CATCH ON FIRE. THE CAR ALSO MADE A LOUD, SCREECHING AND GRINDING NOISE. WHEN I ARRIVED SAFELY TO MY DESTINATION, A FEW MINUTES AWAY, I STOPPED AND TURNED OFF THE CAR. I HAD TO CANCEL A HAIR APPOINTMENT BECAUSE I DIDN'T FEEL COMFORTABLE DRIVING THE DISTANCE IN THE VEHICLE. ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2019 I TOOK MY CAR INTO A FIAT CHRYSLER DODGE RAM JEEP DEALERSHIP FOR AN OIL CHANGE AND FREE BASIC INSPECTION. I WAS TOLD BY THE DEALERSHIP THAT THEY ALSO HEARD THE NOISE COMING FROM THE CLUTCH AREA BUT NEEDED TO PERFORM AN OFFICIAL DIAGNOSTIC. I DIDN'T HAVE THE MONEY AT THE TIME SO I WAITED UNTIL JANUARY 2, 2020 TO HAVE THE DIAGNOSTIC PERFORMED. DURING THE MONTH OF DECEMBER AND WHILE MY CAR WAS IN THE SHOP I TOOK LYFT RIDESHARE FOR TRANSPORTATION AS I DID NOT FEEL SAFE DRIVING THE CAR. THE CAR STAYED IN THE SHOP OVER THE WEEKEND AND I WAS ABLE TO PICK IT UP ON MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 2020. THE ISSUE WAS RELATED TO A RECALL FCA # S34, NHTSA# 16V-302 THAT HAPPENED A COUPLE YEARS BEFORE. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE RESOLVED FOR THIS VEHICLE BUT I WAS HAVING SIMILAR AND WORSE PROBLEMS, WHICH ARE DUE TO THE PREVIOUS FAULTY CAR PART. THE FIAT HAS ONLY $113K MILES ON IT. I HAVE OWNED MANUAL TRANSMISSION VEHICLES PREVIOUSLY AND NEVER HAD THIS ISSUE. I PREVIOUSLY OWNED A HONDA CIVIC (GAINED OVER 200K MILES) AND A CHEVY AVEO AND NEITHER CAR HAD THIS ISSUE. I BELIEVE THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY HAZARD AND MYSELF AND MY DAUGHTER COULD HAVE BEEN SERIOUSLY INJURED HAD I CONTINUED TO DRIVE THIS VEHICLE. THE CLUTCH COULD HAVE STOPPED ALL TOGETHER AND WE COULD HAVE HIT ANOTHER VEHICLE OR BEEN SERIOUSLY INJURED ON THE INTERSTATE OR STREET TRAFFIC. EVEN WITH THE REPAIRS I AM NO LONGER CONFIDENT IN THE SAFETY OF THIS VEHICLE. IT SHOULD BE DECLARED A LEMON.

WAS TOLD RECENTLY NEED TO REPLACE D/S AXEL BUT WHEN FIRESTONE WENT TO CALL FIAT FOR PART THEY WERE TOLD' THIS VEHICLE HAS CUSTOMER SERVICE SATISFACTION RECALL IN WHICH WITH THE AXEL THE CONTROL ARM AND OTHER COMPONENTS MUST BE REPLACED AND TO REFER TO DEALERSHIPS OR RECALL. WHEN WENT TO FIAT DEALERSHIP THEY SAID THERE NO RECALL AND PROCEED TO SAY MUST BUY RF AXLE, LOWER CONTROL ARM, KNUCKLE, BEARING IN ORDER TO REPLACE ORIGINAL AXLE. PARTS ALONE TOTALING 1131.75. ITS WAS ONLY 5 YEAR OLD CAR AT TIME. AND PREVIOUS FIAT OWNERS SAY THEY RECEIVED THE CUSTOMER SERVICE RECALL BEFORE ALFA ROMERO SAID NO.

A FEW WEEKS AGO, I WOKE UP AND DROVE TO WORK IN THE MORNING. MY FIAT PARKED, I WORKED, EVERYTHING WAS GOOD. 5 HOURS LATER, I GET BACK TO MY CAR TO DRIVE HOME. I START MY ENGINE AND THE DASHBOARD LIGHTS UP SAYING, "HILL START ERROR ... SEE OWNERS MANUAL". I THOUGHT TO MYSELF, "WELP, L GUESS I'LL GO SEE A MECHANIC NOW.". I LIFT THE E-BREAK, PRESS DOWN THE BREAK PEDAL, AND THEN TRY TO MOVE THE CAR INTO REVERSE, BUT IT'S LOCKED IN PARK. I TURN OFF THE CAR. I USE GOOGLE SEARCH ON MY PHONE TO FIND MY FIAT 500 OWNER'S MANUAL ONLINE. I LOOK FOR THE "HILL START ERROR" AND FIND AN OVERRIDE TO GET MY CAR OUT OF PARK AND INTO REVERSE/DRIVE. I RESTART THE CAR. NOW THE DASHBOARD IS COMPLETELY BLANK EXCEPT FOR THE LETTER 'P' IN THE BOTTOM-CENTER OF THE CIRCULAR DASH PANEL. THE LETTER "P" IS BLINKING CONCURRENTLY WITH A BEEP THAT DOES NOT STOP. THERE IS NO MEASURE OF SPEED AND I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE IF MY LIGHTS ARE WORKING AT THIS POINT. I'M JUST TRYING TO GET THE CAR TO A MECHANIC ABOUT 10 MILES AWAY. I FOUND AN HONEST-FAMILY SPOT AND THE GUY TELLS ME TO LEAVE THE CAR THERE AND HE'LL LOOK AT IT. BREAK LIGHTS WERE OUT AND A SAFETY FEATURE CAUSED IT TO LOCK UP. A COMMON ISSUE IS A BREAK-LIGHT SWITCH WITH THIS CAR, SO... WE REPLACED THE BLS AND DID A FULL DIAGNOSTICS, BUT STILL NO FIX. WE TROUBLESHOOT ALL WEEK AND FOUND THAT A 5-AMP FUSE BLEW OUT IN THE BODY CONTROL MODULE. HE REPLACED THE FUSE AND FOUND THAT IT BURNED OUT AGAIN BECAUSE OF A LOOSE WIRE SOMEWHERE BEHIND THE STEERING WHEEL. IF I RUN THE CAR, THE LOOSE WIRE WILL CAUSE MORE CONNECTIONS TO BURNOUT AND BREAK. THE CAR SHORTS IF WE RUN IT NOW. THE LOOSE WIRE CAUSING THIS SHORT CAUSED MY CAR'S GEARSHIFT TO LOCK UP COMPLETELY, DISABLED MY BREAK LIGHTS, AND LEAD TO SHORTAGES ACROSS THE BOARD. I CAN'T DRIVE IT AT ALL, LET ALONE START IT. I BARELY HAVE 89K ON THIS CAR AND IT'S PRETTY MUCH COOKED.

I DROVE DOWN FROM IL TO WI WITH MY FIAT POP 500 2012 ON HIGHWAY 39 AND ALL OF THE SUDDEN ABOUT AN HOUR AWAY TO MY DESTINATION, MY SUNROOF SPONTANEOUSLY EXPLODED (BOOM!) ALONG WITH LOUD NOISE. I DUCKED DOWN AND ALL THE SUNROOF GLASSES WAS SHATTERED AND FELL OFF ONTO MY HEAD, MY LAPS AND MOSTLY WENT FALLING DOWN ON THE FRONT OF PASSENGER SEAT. THIS WAS HAPPENING ON A CLEAR SUMMER SUNNY DAY, ON FRIDAY, JUNE 28TH OF 2019. THERE'S NO FOREIGN OBJECTS, THERE'S NOT A LOT (CONGESTED) OF TRAFFICS, THERE'S NO ANY SEMI TRUCKS AROUND ME NOR THE BAD WEATHER OR ANY DISTRACTIONS WHATSOEVER. IT WAS AROUND 6:10 PM LOCAL TIME AND IT IS ABOUT AN HOUR AWAY FROM MY FINAL DESTINATION TO MADISON, WI. THE WEATHER WAS AROUND 81 - 79 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT, VERY CLEAR SKY, NO RAIN, NO WET ROAD.NICE AND DRY SUMMER TIME TO DRIVE, NORMAL BREEZE.SKY ARE ALL CLEAR AND SUNNY. WEATHER: 8 HUMIDITY: 62%, BAROMETER: 30.06 HG, AND SE WINDS CONDITION: 6.214 MPH. AS A WOMEN WHO COMPLETELY DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT CARS EXCEPT TOOK MY CAR TO THE AUTO SHOP FOR REGULAR OIL CHANGE, THIS WAS VERY SCARY TO ME - COMPLETELY RELYING ON MY SAFETY WITH THE CAR THAT I OWN AND I DRIVE EVERYDAY, AND THIS ACCIDENT DEFINITELY MADE ME REALIZED THAT FIAT POP 500 IT IS NOT A SAFE TO BE DRIVE FOR ANYONE PERIOD. THE SUNROOF THAT ALL OF THE SUDDEN SPONTANEOUSLY EXPLODED WITH NO VALID REASON WHATSOEVER AND THERE'S NO WARNING FROM FIAT THAT COULD BE PART OF THEIR DEFECT IN THIS TYPE OF CAR IT'S VERY DANGEROUS FOR ANYBODY EVENT TO CONSIDER PURCHASE THIS TYPE OF CAR. THE GLASS THAT SHATTERED AND WAS FALLING DOWN COULD SLICED ANYONE HEADS IN A HALF. IT IS VERY DANGEROUS VEHICLE TO DRIVE FOR ANYBODY OR FOR EVERYONE AND THIS SUNROOF SHOULD BE A RECALL AND THE CONSUMER HAVE A RIGHT TO BE INFORM ABOUT THIS. THIS SUNROOF IS A SAFETY ISSUE. BE AWARE!

WHILE DRIVING CAR LOST POWER AND SMOKE BEGAN COMING OUT FROM UNDER HOOD. IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. CAR WAS PULLED TO SIDE OF INTERSTATE. IMMEDIATELY GOT OUT AND LOOKED UNDER HOOD TO SEE FLAMES AND SMOKE. CALLED 911 REPORT THE FIRE, DISPATCH SAID FIRE AND POLICE WOULD ARRIVE SOON. CHECKED UNDER THE HOOD FOR A SECOND TIME, THERE WAS CONSIDERABLE MORE FIRE AND SMOKE. PROCEEDED TO GATHER PURSE AND BAG FROM THE BACKSEAT. APPROXIMATELY 4 MINUTES HAD ELAPSED. BY THIS TIME THE CAR IS COMPLETELY ENGULFED IN FLAMES. I MOVED APPROXIMATELY 300 FEET AWAY IN FEAR THE CAR MAY EXPLODE. ANOTHER 4-5 MINUTES PASSED WHEN POLICE ARRIVED AND AN ADDITIONAL 6-7 MORE MINUTES FOR THE FIREFIGHTERS TO RESPOND. AS FOR PERSONAL SAFETY, DRIVING HAD APPROXIMATELY 4 MINUTES TO ESCAPE VEHICLE FROM CHECK ENGINE LIGHT APPEARING TO THE ENTIRE BE COMPLETELY ENCOMPASSED WITH FLAMES. DRIVER ESCAPED UNHARMED, BUT WAS INCREDIBLY SHAKEN BY THE SCARY EVENTS THAT UNFOLDED IN SUCH A RAPID PERIOD OF TIME. CAR WAS NOT ABLE TO BE SAVED.