2016 Fiat 500X

CAR HAS APPROX 26K MILES. DRIVING UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS THIS MORNING AND WARNING CAME ON "SERVICE ENGINE. DRIVE MODE UNAVAILABLE". I HAD THE SUN ROOF OPEN AS I WAS DRIVING AND I KEPT THINKING I WAS SMELLING A HOT OR BURNING SMELL, BUT COULDN'T BE SURE. I POPPED THE HOOD WHEN I GOT HOME AND DIDN'T SMELL ANYTHING OBVIOUS. DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS RELATED, BUT JUST HAD IT IN FOR OIL CHANGE A WEEK AGO - THEY NEVER RESET THE OIL CHANGE LIGHT (WHICH WASN'T COMING ON BEFORE OIL CHANGE - THOUGH LOW OIL PRESSURE LIGHT WAS COMING ON -- NOW LOW OIL PRESSURE LIGHT IS OFF, BUT OIL CHANGE LIGHT IS ON!). AGAIN, DON'T KNOW IF IT IS RELATED BUT WANT TO GIVE ALL PIECES OF THE PUZZLE. ALSO MY ENGINE SHUTS OFF FOR NO APPARENT REASON WHILE DRIVING OCCASIONALLY. VERY SCARY! TOOK IT IN TO FIAT AND THEY GAVE ME A LAME EXCUSE -- IT JUST NEEDED SOME UPDATES! TO ME THAT IS JUST UNACCEPTABLE -- WHAT IF I HAD BEEN GOING 70MPH ON THE INTERSTATE AND THIS HAPPENED!? I ASKED THEM THAT EXACT QUESTION AT FIAT AND THEY JUST SHRUGGED THEIR SHOULDERS. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE AND IT IS SHOCKING TO ME THAT FIAT IS NOT TAKING IT MORE SERIOUSLY! AFTER THE "UPDATE" THAT THEY PERFORMED ABOUT 8 MONTHS AGO -- ALL SEEMED FINE UNTIL ABOUT A MONTH AGO. CAR STALLED AS I WAS DRIVING -- SEEMED TO HAPPEN ONLY WHEN I WAS GOING OVER A SPEED BUMP OR A ROUGH ROAD. THAT WAS NOT THE CASE THE FIRST TIME -- FIRST TIME I WAS ON A SMOOTH, FLAT ROAD. I REALLY FEEL LIKE A SAFETY RECALL SHOULD BE DONE ON THESE CARS BECAUSE AFTER READING ABOUT SO MANY OTHER PEOPLE HAVING THESE EXACT SAME PROBLEMS -- THIS IS CLEARLY AN ISSUE!

WHEN OPENING THE DRIVER SIDE DOOR, YOU FEEL A SLIGHT DROP, IT FEELS AS IF THE DOOR IS UNHINGED. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD THAT THEY HAD ADDRESSED IT. THE DOOR IS STILL DOING THE SAME THING. IS THIS A VEHICLE ISSUE OR COULD THE CAR HAVE BEEN DAMAGED AT THE DEALER? I HAVE ADDRESSED THIS TWICE AND NOTHING IS BEING CORRECTED.

WHILE THE CAR WAS IN MOTION ON THE HIGHWAY, THE A/C ABRUPTLY STOPPED WORKING AND THE VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY OVERHEATED. THE FAN ASSEMBLY HAD FAULTED, THE ISSUE WAS CORRECTED IN OCTOBER 2017 AFTER THE VEHICLE WAS HELD FOR 30 DAYS BECAUSE THE PART WAS UNAVAILABLE. THE NEW ISSUE CAME UP ON START UP, THE A/C WAS NOT COOLING AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, I DROPPED OFF THE VEHICLE AT THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD THAT IT IS A SENSOR IN THE RIGHT REAR VIEW MIIRROR THAT IS CAUSING THE A/C MALFUNCTION, THEY INITIALLY THOUGHT IT WAS THE FAN ASSEMBLY THAT HAD FAULTED AGAIN. THE PART IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR (3) WEEKS. THEY SAID IT WAS A NATIONWIDE SHORTAGE ON THE PART (AGAIN). MY QUESTION IS SHOULD THIS BE CAUSE FOR CONCERN? WHY WOULD THERE BE A NATIONWIDE SHORTAGE ON A SINGLE PART? AND IS THIS CONNECTED IN ANYWAY TO THE FAN ASSEMBLY FAILURE. I LOVE MY FIAT, BUT I DONT NEED THE ISSUES, THIS VEHICLE IS BARELY (2) YEARS OLD.

I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY IN A MIDDLE LANE GOING ABOUT 50MPH WHEN I NOTICED THE CAR WAS NO LONGER RESPONSIVE TO GAS OR STEERING. BRAKES WERE HARDER TO PRESS THAN USUAL & I REALIZED THE CAR HAD TURNED ITSELF OFF. THE ONLY WAY I COULD GET IT STARTED AGAIN WAS TO COME TO A COMPLETE STOP & PUT IT IN PARK, RE-START, DISENGAGE THE AUTO-EMERGENCY BRAKE, THEN PUT IT IN DRIVE. ALL WHILE CARS WERE FLYING AROUND THE BEND OF THE HIGHWAY ALMOST HITTING ME AND ALMOST HITTING EACH OTHER TRYING TO AVOID HITTING ME.

CAR WAS GETTING OIL CHANGE AT ANOTHER FACILITY. THE WORKERS NOTICED THE UNDERCARRIAGE OF THE CAR WAS MELTED AND DEFORMED. THERE WAS MAJOR OIL OR OTHER FLUIDS LEAKING. CAR WAS BROUGHT IN AND FIXED SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE THE TRANSMISSION WAS REPLACED. IT WAS FIXED INCORRECTLY AND HAD TO BE TOWED IN AFTER BEING FIXED. THE CAR STOPPED DRIVING. NO ONE WAS ABLE TO TELL ME WHY THE CAR WAS LIKE THAT AND WHY IT WAS FIXED INCORRECTLY AND UNSAFE TO DRIVE. THEN SEVERAL WEEKS LATER, THE CAR HAD ANOTHER INCIDENT AND HAD TO BE TOWED IN. THE DRIVESHAFT WAS BROKEN AND REPLACED. THESE TWO MAJOR COMPONENTS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO BE REPLACED IN A CAR LESS THAN 2 YEARS OR 20,000 MILES. THE DEALERSHIP HAS NOT OFFERED ANY CONCESSION OR EXPLANATION. THE MANAGER EVENTUALLY TOLD ME THE CAR WAS "DEFORMED". I DON'T FEEL SAFE IN THE CAR. THE CAR WAS NOT SHOWING SYMPTOMS WITH THE FIRST INCIDENT ONLY LEAKED FLUID. THE SECOND TIME WITH THE DRIVE SHAFT IT WAS IN MOTION.

I SLIGHTLY OVERSHOT A STOP SIGN AT THE BOTTOM OF A STEEP HILL. I SAW THAT A CAR WITH THE RIGHT OF WAY WAS RAPIDLY APPROACH THE INTERSECTION SO I PUT THE CAR IN REVERSE WITH THE INTENT TO BACK UP THE CAR A COUPLE OF FEET. I PUT THE CAR IN REVERSE AND TOOK MY FOOT OFF THE BRAKE AND INSTEAD OF ENGAGING THE GEAR IN REVERSE, THE CAR ROLLED FORWARD IN NEUTRAL FARTHER INTO THE INTERSECTION BEFORE THE GEAR WAS ENGAGED BY THE COMPUTER. LUCKILY, THE CAR JERKED BACKWARD IN TIME WHEN THE COMPUTER FINALLY ENGAGED THE GEAR. THE DELAY IN THE COMPUTER RECOGNIZING THE GEAR IS COMMON. EVEN THOUGH I HAVE ALL SOFTWARE UPDATES FOR THE TRANSMISSION, THE COMPUTER FREQUENTLY LAGS IN SHIFTING TO THE APPROPRIATE GEAR. WHEN IT DOES SHIFT, THERE IS NOTICEABLE JERK.

I RECEIVED THE ERROR MESSAGE "DRIVE MODE UNAVAILABLE" WITH A SERVICE ENGINE MESSAGE AFTER MY LAST REGULAR SERVICE APPOINTMENT AND OIL CHANGE. MY CAR IS AT 27,400 MILES AND AFTER THROWING THAT CODE BARELY COULD MAKE IT UP A RESIDENTIAL HILL. AFTER THE LOCAL SERVICE DEPARTMENT CLAIMED TO HAVE FIXED IT, 3 MILES DOWN THE ROAD THE MESSAGE POPPED UP AGAIN AND DRIVING WAS DIFFICULT. MY LOCAL DEALERSHIP HAS HAD MY FIAT 500X NOW THE SECOND TIME SINCE DECEMBER 1ST WITH NO UPDATES FOR ME.

TRANSMISSION HESITATES TO ENGAGE AFTER PRESSING ACCELERATOR AND ALSO SHIFTS ROUGHLY WHEN IT DOES CHANGE GEARS. ALL AVAILABLE SOFTWARE PATCHES HAVE BEEN APPLIED BY DEALER, HOWEVER THE PROBLEM PERSISTS. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE, ESPECIALLY WHEN MERGING OR TURNING INTO TRAFFIC, SINCE ACCELERATION CAN LAG RANDOMLY WHEN IT IS NEEDED THE MOST. BECAUSE OF THE ACCELERATION BURSTS AND LAGS WHEN SHIFTING, THE CAR IS DIFFICULT TO CONTROL AND PROVIDES A HERKY-JERKY DRIVING EXPERIENCE.