To be honest SS is really putting me off buying a 500, it would drive me mad to have a system in a new car that dident work correctly. I guess it's a personality thing in that it wouldent bother some people but my OCD 'type A' head woudlent be able to deal with it!!
General Calling all start 'n' stop owners!
- Thread starter JimR123
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General Calling all start 'n' stop owners!
I've owned both a pre-start-stop 1.2 and now a 1.2 with ss and I really like it. I've never switched it off. The car is used for 2 days per week by me for a 25 mile each way commute and 3 days by my wife for a 2-3 mile urban commute. The SS system appears to work well. As hs been previously posted if the battery is under load (ie aircon, lights, demist etc) then it won't cut the engine - which is what it's supposed to do. My only concern would be long term reliability of the starter motor which obviously is doing more work?
Then you just badger the dealer till tis done,
Like you I wont settle for something not right,
On Mine I never hads the warning lights problem, with mine it just never really worked (Maybe once or twice after a very long run, and then I got the stopping and immediate restarting problem)
The Dealer DID try and fob it off as "Well thats the way it works", but I know from other cars its not, and after just keep taking it back they have sorted it.
In the end after, charging it, changing the battery, changing the alternator did the trick.
I was lucky that a fiat head office tech was on site while my car was there, and he took it out with it attached to a laptop, as the standard computer in the dealership was not showing a problem, the laptop showed that thew alternator was not giving a constant supply and the voltage was dropping out as it was driven (Dont know if it was loose parts or whatever), but they changed the Alternator and from that minute the S&S Works EXACTLY as it should
I can have lights on, radio on, blower on over 50% power all at the same time and it works (Even opening or closing the roof does not cause the car to restart if it is stopped). It really is working superbly,
The only time I had the warning light come on was when I stopped got out of the car to do a quick job but forgot to take the key out, when I came back 10 mins later the warning light was on. As it should be as there is a 3 min limit on Start & Stop, after that it makes you restart with the key for safety
So yes it can work perfectly, I am very happy with it and dont give it a thought now, when it was no working properly it drove me mad constantly think "Will It / Wont It / Should It". Not I dont even think about it.
SO as far as I am aware, the lights issue is a different problem that was sorted by software (AFAIK) if you get one that does not perform for reasons like I had above make a fuss get a ticket opened with Fiat and get it sorted.
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If you're buying a Fiat - from my experience and from where we're based you wouldn't get the customer service that you'll think you'll get. Funnily enough I feel that I get a better service from Alfa but that's only a perception. I haven't got anything out of them & judging by past service history receipts - they're more expensive to service. So if the SS is going to really annoy you I wouldn't buy a 500 but for many including myself it wouldn't put me off.
After 'sleeping on it' in relation to the leather - it would be difficult to get a professional finish on the 'extra stitch'.
It's hard to beat the 'standard' Sport seats that come in the 'old' Sport model or the current TAs (not the Lounge). The Leatherette is a very good copy of Black Leather. Plus the silver Fabric can be cleaned 'without wearing it out' if a bit of care is taken.
Well, as suggested, my wife has been giving our Fiat 500 a good run to and from her work all last week and no warning lights have come on! Great, I thought, solved...until I drove it today, reversed out of a parking slot in a car park and 'bingo', on come the 'S' crossed out and the Triangle warning lights again! Contacted my nearest Fiat dealer by e.mail and they immediately replied saying there is a Software Fix and to bring it in.
Considering our Fiat is only 18 months old, surely this problem shouldn't be still going on, as I have read forum posts on this issue going back to 2009?
Considering our Fiat is only 18 months old, surely this problem shouldn't be still going on, as I have read forum posts on this issue going back to 2009?
Some work perfectly, some don't - so if yours is one of the ones that doesn't (after you've given it a week or so to settle down), take it back to FIAT & don't be fobbed off by excuses & misleading platitudes. You paid good money for your car and are entitled to expect it to do what it says on the tin.
How easy would it be for you to take the car to another dealer?
Robnw67
New member
:devil: Haha - and here's me deperately hoping that I get one of these minor faults that stops the S&S working so that I don't have to keep turning the darn system off every time I get into the car. Knowing the way life/the world works, I bet my S&S will work perfectly for however long I own the car!! :yum:
why do you want to turn it off? A working s&s system is fantastic
Robnw67
New member
Well I've covered this in a previous post and it's just down to how I like to operate a car. But it is my opinion :slayer:that you'd want to turn the system off because it can develop faults. There are 45 prior pages here of people annoyed because the car doesn't turn the engine off when you stop. I would be more concerned about turning the engine back on when you want to go. If there are so many components all conspiring to work correctly to get the engine to stop which, from all these previous posts cannot be relied upon, surely it is better (and more logical) that if you have a running engine, not to articifially stop it working just because you have no forward speed. Just because you're not moving along doesn't mean that you don't need the engine running.
As I said - it's just the way I like to operate my cars and bikes and we shouldn't allow this digression to derail the thread.
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Allan, I'd seriously consider just biting the bullet and contacting the other dealer. Your current dealer sounds like a complete tool (who doesn't have courtesy cars available?
It's not ideal having to do a round trip like that, but if you want to get it fixed then you have to think outside the box a bit and just take the time off to get it done (however inconvenient it may be). The longest round trip I've had to do was about 90 miles, but it was worth it as the other dealer did a good job on bodywork that needed repairing on our old 500.
Maybe worth ringing Fiat Customer Services as well to explain the issues that you've had - you might be able to get some goodwill vouchers to cover petrol costs or put towards servicing. Also highlights to head office the fact that your dealer can't/won't help you - the way I see it is that if they don't know then the dealer will continue to get away with providing shoddy service.
In an ideal world you would be able to rely on your nearest dealer for everything. However, from personal experience I have found this is rarely the case and you do need to "shop around" somewhat.
thanks but the other dealer i rang and told him the problem he said it is normal stop start not to work he said it is probaly the battery.i said do you want the warranty work on my car he said no as they over loaded with work and i would have to wait for about 5 weeks before i could get a apointment.i said if i bought my car in in 5 weeks would he have a courtsey car as i needed it for work he said no courtsey cars customers only that buy there cars from them. it is possible to live with out stop start but you know when you buy new you expect every thing to work.
Very one sided as far as that dealer is concerned. Customer service is paramount and if they had impressed then possibly they would have got repeat business from you.
I have taken cars to dealers and had warranty work carried out, even though I did not buy from them and been offered courtesy cars. Because of their attention they did get my servicing work.
The mind boggles at this lack of business sense:bang:
These dealers deserve to go out of business. Sadly when they do the policy makers hide behind the insolvency laws & just start up again
.From everything that I've read, if I wasn't able to do all my own servicing & maintenance, the customer service experience would for me be an absolute deal breaker as far as buying any FIAT was concerned.
That is pretty poor.....
