Hi there,

Really chuffed with my Tipo. An odd thing is happening though: I used to be able to get all my selected radio stations no trouble on my commute. Then they started becomming intermittent, now they simply display 'service unavailable'.

I live in the south east UK, so hardly the outback. It seems a little strange that once did work now don't. I am new to digital radios, so could be that I am missing something obvious here. Any suggestions welcome.

I was about to basically type the same post as you. I've had my 2017 Tipo for 2 weeks now it is doing the same with DAB.

AM/FM works fine.

I was wondering if Fiat warranty could cover it but as we are over 2 years old it's only warranted by the original dealer - is this correct?

Anyway, I have exactly the same issue.

I sometimes get the same problem with the DAB too on my Tipo. I've found that while on the DAB screen by clicking on 'Browse', then 'All', then hitting the 'Refresh' button it seems to resolve the issue (at least temporarily anyway).

May be worth asking your dealer if there is a firmware update for the Uconnect unit, I was going to ask next time I booked in for a service.

I've booked mine in to be looked at on Monday so I'll revert back with what they find.

Abarth.mk2 said:

Hi there,

Really chuffed with my Tipo. An odd thing is happening though: I used to be able to get all my selected radio stations no trouble on my commute. Then they started becomming intermittent, now they simply display 'service unavailable'.

I live in the south east UK, so hardly the outback. It seems a little strange that once did work now don't. I am new to digital radios, so could be that I am missing something obvious here. Any suggestions welcome.

Click to expand...

Mine started doing this about a month ago as well, having been perfect since I bought it new in September 2018. I'm based in the South too, but it started doing it whilst up in Yorkshire for the weekend, so I reckon it's software related rather than to do with local DAB transmittors.

At one point it was unusable but it's now recovered to pretty acceptable, just not as perfect as it was before.

andyleesy said:

I was wondering if Fiat warranty could cover it but as we are over 2 years old it's only warranted by the original dealer - is this correct?

Click to expand...

With regards to Fiat's warranty, the third year dealer warranty is misleading by saying 'dealer' - it just means it's backed by the dealer network rather than directly by Fiat, but you can claim on it at any UK Fiat Dealer, it doesn't have to be the one you purchased the car from.

I should have followed up, but I did book in with my local dealer and they fixed my DAB problem...they don't give paperwork to say what's been done but I'm guessing I had a bit of moisture in the base or antenna and they've either cleaned it and resealed it or replaced it.
And yes the warranty wording is very odd!

This has happened to mine too - working perfectly for a couple of months after buying it in July and - suddenly - I can't get anything unless I'm on the top of a hill whereby it seems to come back although not as good as before.

It's almost as if it needs some sort of 'boost' to be able to receive the signal more effectively.

Frustrating as I was enjoying DAB not having previously had it!

I'm in the South of England too incidentally...

andyleesy said:

I should have followed up, but I did book in with my local dealer and they fixed my DAB problem...they don't give paperwork to say what's been done but I'm guessing I had a bit of moisture in the base or antenna and they've either cleaned it and resealed it or replaced it.
And yes the warranty wording is very odd!

Click to expand...

Stoichkov75 said:

This has happened to mine too - working perfectly for a couple of months after buying it in July and - suddenly - I can't get anything unless I'm on the top of a hill whereby it seems to come back although not as good as before.

It's almost as if it needs some sort of 'boost' to be able to receive the signal more effectively.

Frustrating as I was enjoying DAB not having previously had it!

I'm in the South of England too incidentally...

Click to expand...

I might have to mention mine to the dealer if it deteriorates again. At the moment it's bearable, having been useless for a short time.

Incidently my Parents Nissan Qashqai has started doing the same, so I think there's some issue with DAB generally at the moment, either atmospheric or linked to the technology it uses. It's a shame Fiat don't generally provide warranty paperwork saying what work was done when it's a warranty repair. I wonder if it's just as simple as a bit of software needing an update? I'm pretty clueless on how it all works though, so for now I'm keeping my phone fully charged with Spotify on hand in case the DAB has a meltdown!

My DAB is dropping out now, it used to be fine.

Now I can't get 6 Music anymore...

I need to ring the dealer....

I'm a bit disappointed, in 16 years of Italian car (well the brand is) and after 2 Alfas, a 500 & four Abarths, its the first time I've had to take one back.

Might ask for a go in a Giulia while I'm there.........

My DAB has dropped off the planet this week. Barely working at all now. The D1 National ensemble (Capital, Kiss, Heart) is the worst, but now the BBC stations which were previously OK are hopeless too.

I can't put up with it like that until the next service in September, so going to have to get Fiat to take a look at it in February when I have a week off work.

FM works perfectly, but the stations I tend to listen to unfortunately don't broadcast nationally on FM. They call DAB progress - NOT convinced ?

Don't think I've ever seen a dab system in a car that allways works and didn't suffer dropouts and that not just fiat cars

I took mine in for it's 2nd service today (£380! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ALL ABOUT?!)
Anyway, I told them about my DAB not getting any stations, they did some update to the software and it is back, still very intermittent on some stations (Absolute 80's & 90's - showing age) but at least I have most back in action.

Fiat tipo headunit firmware 23.03.67.12 I can send if you like is to big to post here.
Sen me a message [email protected] is about 3.4 Gb big