We've had our new 500 TA 105 Lounge for just about a month now with approx 200 miles on the clock. I have had Start Stop switched off since before I drove it off the Fiat forecourt - never been on once.


This morning on the way to the station I got jerky acceleration, the engine warning light and message and start stop unavailable message.


Not entirely pleased - it shall be returned to Fiat bloody rapid!

Re: Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

ronmanager said:

We've had our new 500 TA 105 Lounge for just about a month now with approx 200 miles on the clock. I have had Start Stop switched off since before I drove it off the Fiat forecourt - never been on once.


This morning on the way to the station I got jerky acceleration, the engine warning light and message and start stop unavailable message.


Not entirely pleased - it shall be returned to Fiat bloody rapid!

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Unfortunate. The 'Start Stop Unavailable' message is probably just to advise that the fault would prevent S/S operating if it was switched on, not to indicate that S/S has caused any problems but I'll be interested to hear what they come up with..

Re: Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

Piccolo Nero e Bella said:

Unfortunate. The 'Start Stop Unavailable' message is probably just to advise that the fault would prevent S/S operating if it was switched on, not to indicate that S/S has caused any problems but I'll be interested to hear what they come up with..

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Yes I guessed that SS would switch itself off under any stress. However, the fact that I don't use SS and that the car is only a month old should mean that my battery is fine and shouldn't have caused this problem. We will see.


Currently the car is parked up for the day but I'll report what status it has when I pick it up later. I will also film the warning lights on so I have evidence when I take it in to Fiat in case it clears itself in the meantime.

Re: Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

Update is that the engine warning light was still on last night. The fuel light was on so I filled up (just in case) and the light remained on. This morning my wife drove the car a few miles and the light was off again but the car was jerky. I then drove it a couple of miles and it was misfiring at about 2500 revs. So I drove it up and down a big carpark for 5 mins and the problem persisted until bingo, on came the engine warning light again.


Long story short, it is booked in for Friday and hopefully even if the light does go off between now and then, I can replicate the misfire and hopefully the light will come on again.


Never ever had a single issue with my old 1.2 over 6 years and now I'm nervous about this quirky little Twin air engine as it appears to have a reputation for problems.

Re: Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

Ronmanager, I will be very interested in the outcome of your problem, as will all TA owners. Coincidentally, at the weekend my wife was driving our TA 85 and, after some reversing the "Stop/Start unavailable" message came up (normal) and also the yellow warning triangle and engine outline warning lights. The car still drove normally. The handbook states the engine outline means injection system fault, but the car can still be driven. I drove it around the block a couple of times, drove perfectly but the warnings stayed on.
The next day, warnings were still on so I disconnected the battery for about an hour, reconnected it and all has been well for the last 100 miles. I'm hoping it was an electronic glitch that had to be cleared from the error log, but time will tell.

Re: Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

TrevC said:

Ronmanager, I will be very interested in the outcome of your problem, as will all TA owners. Coincidentally, at the weekend my wife was driving our TA 85 and, after some reversing the "Stop/Start unavailable" message came up (normal) and also the yellow warning triangle and engine outline warning lights. The car still drove normally. The handbook states the engine outline means injection system fault, but the car can still be driven. I drove it around the block a couple of times, drove perfectly but the warnings stayed on.
The next day, warnings were still on so I disconnected the battery for about an hour, reconnected it and all has been well for the last 100 miles. I'm hoping it was an electronic glitch that had to be cleared from the error log, but time will tell.

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I will write what they say on here but disconnecting the battery is not an option for me. This either works properly or they can have the car back. Engine warning lights coming on for not real problems is not acceptable under any circumstances - certainly not on a brand new car.

Re: Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

ronmanager said:

certainly not on a brand new car.

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More so, its a mass produced product, so its inevitable that the odd one might have a glitch that needs fixing - by its very nature this is in part what a warranty is for.

What matters is how they go about resolving the issue. Seeing as the car hasn't been seen by them yet at least give them half a chance.

Re: Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

ronmanager said:

........... and that the car is only a month old should mean that my battery is fine ............

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Not necessarily.

It seems that some cars are built and sit around for months and the battery dies. They charge it up obviously when the car is being sent out to the dealers, but because the battery had been left alone for ages, the S/S side of things can be rubbish.

I haven't a clue how or why these S/S batteries are so problematical, but if you neglect them, you've had it.

Good luck,
Mick

Re: Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

Ron, I totally agree with you, especially as your car is not running properly. My situation is different - the car is 5 years old, was running fine, so I tried the "reset". In your position I'd be back to the dealer too.

Re: Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

I have a faulty uniair module apparently causing misfires and the car 'can't be driven!' Anyway they have ordered a new one which won't be in until Tuesday. I hope that fixes it but my cynical side has nagging doubts.


Until then I have coaxed a 500L out of them but I had to insist on a courtesy car - they weren't going to offer one.

Re: Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

That's pretty shoddy with a non-drivable car. When my TA was a year old I was told it needed a new turbo as part of a service campaign - replacement of a potentially faulty item. The dealer gave me a courtesy car without me asking, which is how it should be.
Anyway, sounds a reasonable explanation of your problem, hopefully that will be the end of it.

Re: Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

TrevC said:

That's pretty shoddy with a non-drivable car. When my TA was a year old I was told it needed a new turbo as part of a service campaign - replacement of a potentially faulty item. The dealer gave me a courtesy car without me asking, which is how it should be.

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Yes I thought so. They said they didn't have any courtesy cars available and I said we needed one as our Volvo is also going in for repairs on Monday. They called back and are giving us a Sales one so hopefully new (like ours is!)

Re: Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

TrevC said:

That's pretty shoddy with a non-drivable car. When my TA was a year old I was told it needed a new turbo as part of a service campaign - replacement of a potentially faulty item. The dealer gave me a courtesy car without me asking, which is how it should be.
Anyway, sounds a reasonable explanation of your problem, hopefully that will be the end of it.

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Difference is yours would have been booked in in advance, and so a car would have been reserved. If the fault has just occurred like it sounds like Ron's has, then they won't always just have a 'spare' courtesy car floating about.

Re: Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

Most Easterly Pandas said:

Difference is yours would have been booked in in advance, and so a car would have been reserved. If the fault has just occurred like it sounds like Ron's has, then they won't always just have a 'spare' courtesy car floating about.

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Well I booked it in on Tuesday for today which was the earliest they could do. They asked then and I said I'd only need a courtesy car if it was going to take longer than a day. Then today they said nothing having just told me it was going to take until Tuesday so I asked.

Re: Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

Fair point, MEP. Ron, let us know the outcome, hope it"s all good and you can start enjoying your car.

Re: Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

They stitched me up this morning and gave me a 2015 Punto 1.2 Pop and not the 500L. Probably the worst most gutless tinny car I've driven in 10 years. I will be making a complaint once I have my car back. I expect them to make good when the car they sold me is faulty. Instead I've had the inconvenience of going down there twice already and then been fobbed off with a crappy bottom of the range replacement that I had to push for.


They love an 'after visit survey' down at Ancaster and they are going to get one.


Roll on Tuesday.

Re: Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

In this case the engine fault is switching off s/s so it's a symptom and not the cause.

Fiat customer service is legendarily bad so not offering a loan car seems pretty standard especially as mentioned if not booked in advance, you'll usually get the sales mans run around while the some sales man will be walking home.

VW are similar but if they have a problem they have a rental car company on speed dial. They gave me a petrol fiesta at there body shop which given mine is a 2.0tdi and a fancy car, the loan car got driven round the block and given back, when they were told to sort it. 10 minutes later the rental car co brought me a diesel octavia, (this was the main dealers body shop while having some little marks fixed)

Mean while my experience of fiat dealers is to argue to the bitter end then argue some more, if you are having problems get fiat uk involved and it's amazing how quickly the service improves.

However in this case you seem to be getting the standard service from fiat which is 'just enough'

Re: Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

Handed the Punto back on Saturday - we'd rather walk than drive that dangerous heap of junk. You only had to rest a feather on the brake pedal and it was like you'd stamped on it.


Our car is still not repaired. Shame on you Ancaster Fiat.

Re: Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

Update/timeline:


9th April - picked up the car
9th May - misfire at 3000 revs and engine light on
10th May - light off briefly but came back on after 2 mins driving - still misfiring - booked in to Ancaster - no longer driving it
13th - 21st May - left at Ancaster Bromley - various messages and parts ordered - uni air module etc. Then had oil leak of some sort when they rebuilt it so delayed further.
21st May - picked up car - (not washed like it should have been - the receptionist pointed this out and apologised.) Been OK since - about 100 miles probably less.
1st June - serious engine failure this morning. Feels like engine running on one cylinder - engine light flashing. Crawled back at 5 miles an hour.


So the cycle begins again. Have to get Fiat free AA service to recover the car to take it down there (I will ask the AA to honk the horn and make sure everyone in the showroom sees this brand new car being towed back in.) More time wasted.


I have spoken to Fiat customer relations at the advice of Ancaster because I want a new car. (I will never trust this car to drive anywhere without potentially breaking down and leaving us stranded.) They have referred me to the finance company but started a case number etc.


What a bloody joke. They give you this oh so well rehearsed sales speech about all the warranties and free roadside recovery (ring this number first if you have an accident etc) and how wonderfully covered it all is but the reality is different. They won't recover the car (I'm two miles from the dealer) but I have to arrange the AA to get it and take it to them. They will try to fix it again while I am without a car. They can't sanction a new engine or a replacement car - that has to be arranged with Fiat - Not according to Fiat - it has to be arranged with the finance company!


All the while my car is depreciating in value at it's fastest rate while I don't even get to drive it! I would have expected the dealer to be falling over themselves with embarrassment at such a catastrophic failure but instead they are deflecting and fobbing me off at every turn.


You live and learn.

Re: Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

Oh dear, that's not what you want at all is it.

I see from your earlier posts that you have a TA 105. Not uncommon on here for a coil pack to fail which would result in the very lumpy running/limp mode (mind you that is just a guess as to what it might be based on what you said). But it sounds like a separate issue which as you say is not going to help you feel any better about the car.

I am not sure if ab4444 still visits this forum or not, but her story can be found (in great depth!) on the Euro 6 1.2 forum. She had a massive fight with her dealer/Fiat in order to get a replacement car; you may be able to exchange some hints and tips on how to proceed. I think whatever happens it could well be a long road...