[Sudaval]

I’m reconsidering some of my concerns about buying a used car, with Fiat dropping the 500, largely due to info I got here. It occurred to me that as at least some of the people writing live in other states, they’ve already found solutions to a lack of mechanics at 500e dealerships. I guess Fiat/Chrysler has some kind of certification program. But again, specifically with respect to the e-car components, I want to double check on what non-mechanic types like me do when they need repair in, say, Wisconsin. I’m looking for a kind of worst-case scenario, something like not being a mechanic, not having a Chrysler/Fiat dealership within reach and needing a critical repair. Does anybody here have any experience with a situation like that, and if so, how did you solve it? Any thoughts about what that might mean for the future? Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[abenusa]

You mentioned WI, but not what part of WI. In MN, the Fiat dealer in Minneapolis services the 500e. I live an hour west of the Twin Cities, and my local Chrysler/Dodge/Ram dealer said that they would be willing to service my 500e once it is out of warranty as they have access to all the diagnostics and tools for the car. They cannot service it while it is under warranty because they are not a Fiat brand dealer. The local Chrysler shop lead mechanic was actually trained on the Fiat 500e because the Chrysler training center did not actually have a Pacifica hybrid in stock for training purposes. So perhaps you should approach your local Chrysler dealership first and see if they would be willing to work on it.

Keep in mind, much of the mechanical aspects of the car, are the same as the gas 500.

Another side note is that I am a community college instructor. I had a problem with my 500e shortly after I bought it. A flashing odometer (I caused the problem, don't ask). So I brought it to our auto service tech program at the school, and the instructor hooked up to it with the official Mopar tool, wiTech, and fixed my flashing odometer problem.

 

[Sudaval]

You mentioned WI, but not what part of WI. In MN, the Fiat dealer in Minneapolis services the 500e. I live an hour west of the Twin Cities, and my local Chrysler/Dodge/Ram dealer said that they would be willing to service my 500e once it is out of warranty as they have access to all the diagnostics and tools for the car. They cannot service it while it is under warranty because they are not a Fiat brand dealer. The local Chrysler shop lead mechanic was actually trained on the Fiat 500e because the Chrysler training center did not actually have a Pacifica hybrid in stock for training purposes. So perhaps you should approach your local Chrysler dealership first and see if they would be willing to work on it.

Keep in mind, much of the mechanical aspects of the car, are the same as the gas 500.

Another side note is that I am a community college instructor. I had a problem with my 500e shortly after I bought it. A flashing odometer (I caused the problem, don't ask). So I brought it to our auto service tech program at the school, and the instructor hooked up to it with the official Mopar tool, wiTech, and fixed my flashing odometer problem.

I should clarify that I this was a follow-up question to one I’d asked earlier, saying that I’d planned to buy a used 500e but had cold feet because of Fiat’s discontinuation of the 500 generally. People there answered most of my questions, but I thought it would be a good idea to get a clear sample from people living outside California, who would be facing challenges now that I may face in the future.
I live in Los Angeles, where 500es are fairly common, and just returned my second leased car. I framed the question in the way I did because I as I mentioned, I’m looking for worst-case scenarios as a way to plan. Right now, there are several Fiat dealerships nearby, but I’ve noticed in the last year or so that they’ve been backpedaling from all 500s, gas & electric alike, after pushing them pretty hard, and it’s been harder and taken longer to get the car serviced.
Then I came across this article, describing difficulties getting service in some parts of the country: Used Fiat 500e electric cars outside California: is service an issue for buyers?.
That’s the kind of situation I want to avoid, or to have a plan to meet.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

I would ask my local independent service centers where I'd take any brand of out-of-warranty gas car & also ask some of my local certified Bosch Car Service Centers. (another forum member suggested that brilliant-seeming idea in another thread)

The linked article is now nearly 2 years old, & it's linked dealer list still has the same noted quantity of 80 dealers, so I wonder if the list is old too.

 

[smark]

This is old, some of the FCA dealership that will service 500E’s

ARIZONA

• Everett Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT - Springdale AR
• Bill Luke Tempe FIAT & Alfa Romeo - Tempe AZ
• FIAT of Scottsdale - Scottsdale AZ
• Fisher Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT - Yuma AZ

COLORADO

• Mike Ward Alfa Romeo of South Denver - Highlands Ranch CO
• Perkins Motor Company, Inc. - Colorado Springs CO
• Flower Motor Co Inc - Montrose CO
• Larry H. Miller FIAT Denver - Denver CO

CONNECTICUT

• Valenti Alfa Romeo - Hartford CT

DELAWARE

• i.g. Burton Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT - Milford DE

FLORIDA

• South Miami Alfa Romeo - Miami FL
• Arrigo FIAT Sawgrass - Tamarac FL
• Arrigo Alfa Romeo Palm Beach - West Palm Beach FL
• Greenway FIAT - Orlando FL
• Alfa Romeo FIAT of Daytona - Daytona Beach FL
• FIAT of Winter Haven - Winter Haven FL
• FIAT of Ft. Myers - Fort Myers FL
• Jacksonville Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram FIAT - Jacksonville FL
• FIAT of Melbourne - Melbourne FL

GEORGIA

• Landmark FIAT of Atlanta - Atlanta GA
• Don Jackson FIAT - Morrow GA

IOWA

• Dan Deery Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT - Waterloo IA
• Pat McGrath Dodge Country - Cedar Rapids IA

ILLINOIS

• New City Alfa Romeo FIAT of Chicago - Chicago IL
• Coronet Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram FIAT - Peru IL

• KENTUCKY
• Mann Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram - Richmond KY

MASSACHUSETTS

• Central Alfa Romeo of Norwood - Norwood MA

MARYLAND

• Criswell Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram and FIAT - Gaithersburg MD
• Heritage FIAT Owings Mills - Owings Mills MD

MAINE

• Central Maine Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT - Waterville ME

MICHIGAN

• Golling FIAT - Metro Detroit - Bloomfield Hills MI
• Suburban FIAT - Ann Arbor MI
• Zeigler FIAT of Grandville - Grandville MI
• Lafontaine Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT of Lansing - Lansing MI
• Slingerland Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT - Corunna MI

MISSOURI

• Warrensburg Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT - Warrensburg MO

NORTH CAROLINA

• Steve White Motors - Newton NC
• Mike Toler Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT - Morehead City NC

NEW HAMPSHIRE

• Crosstown Motors - Littleton NH

NEW JERSEY

• Lester Glenn Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT - Toms River NJ

OKLAHOMA

• Hoyte Chrysler Durant - Durant OK
• Chris Nikel Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram Broken - Arrow OK
• Bartlesville CDJR FIAT - Bartlesville OK

SOUTH CAROLINA

• Addy's Harbor Dodge Ram FIAT - Myrtle Beach SC

TEXAS

• Nyle Maxwell FIAT Alfa Romeo - Austin TX
• Greenville Chrysler - Greenville TX
• Ewing Alfa Romeo FIAT - Fort Worth TX
• Peters Chevrolet Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram FIAT - Longview TX
• Glenn Polk Autoplex - Gainesville TX
• Helfman FIAT Alfa Romeo Maserati - Houston TX
• Toliver Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram - Corsicana TX
• Alfa Romeo FIAT of the Rio Grande Valley - Weslaco TX
• Stanley Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT Brownwood - Brownwood TX
• FIAT of Mckinney - Mckinney TX
• Port Lavaca Dodge Chrysler Jeep Port - Lavaca TX
• Bruner Motors Inc - Stephenville TX
• Love Field Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT - Dallas TX
• All American Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT of San Angelo - San Angelo TX

VIRGINIA

• Pomoco FIAT of Newport News - Newport News VA
• Southern FIAT of Norfolk - Norfolk VA
• Dick Myers Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT - Harrisonburg VA
• Safford of Winchester - Winchester VA
• Blackwell Auto Group - Danville VA
• Safford Alfa Romeo FIAT of Fredericksburg - Fredericksburg VA

WASHINGTON

• Alfa Romeo and FIAT of Tacoma - Tacoma WA
• Car Pros FIAT of Seattle - Renton WA

WISCONSIN

• Palmen FIAT - Kenosha WI
• Pischke Motors, Inc. - West Salem WI
• Schlossman Dodge City Chrysler Jeep Ram FIAT - Brookfield WI
• Brickner's of Wausau - Wausau WI
• Chilson Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT - Chippewa Falls WI
• Van Horn Dodge - Plymouth WI
• Bergstrom Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT of Kaukauna - Kaukauna WI

WEST VIRGINIA

• Astorg Auto - Parkersburg WV

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

26,978 Fiat 500e cars were sold as of August 2019, according to numbers at insideEVs.com

Just thinking that may be enough of them out there to create demand for repairs IF anything ever goes wrong with its non-standard bits. On that note, the computer is probably just as likely to fail on a gas car, so I wonder what people do with those if the're 10+ years old when that happens.

 

[SaltyPeanuts]

For the software updates all I had to do was schedule a visit with a local Fiat dealership in South Carolina (JT's Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Jeep - 4838 Sunset Blvd, Lexington, SC 29072). I haven't had any actual mechanical work performed but I would probably take it back to them if the car needed it.

And I have yet to see another 500e on the road here in the past 6 months.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

I see that the word "Fiat" is conspicuously absent from your dealer's brand list, as it is from:

• 15 of those listed at the link Sudaval posted
• The dealer where I bought mine*
• My own local CA dealer where I got my own software updates.

This leads me to believe that even if Fiat pulls out of America completely, we'll still be able to get factory-authorized service at any dealership with any one of the following words in their name: Alfa, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram or even Maserati.

* Isn't there some law requiring dealers with service centers to service any car they sell?

 

[Sudaval]

For the software updates all I had to do was schedule a visit with a local Fiat dealership in South Carolina (JT's Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Jeep - 4838 Sunset Blvd, Lexington, SC 29072). I haven't had any actual mechanical work performed but I would probably take it back to them if the car needed it.

And I have yet to see another 500e on the road here in the past 6 months.

So I take it that you infer they were ready to provide needed service even when there wasn't much demand. Did you talk to them about that? In other words, was there an opportunity to find out how come you could get the work done in a place where there wasn't much demand?
I ask because, being in the midst of trying to replace my leased car, I've pretty much had it with dealership blandishments. This sounds like a case where there wasn't an immediate big or even dependable profit to be expected. So I'm curious about what they told you, if they did. I can't say that what maintenance people say in South Carolina will answer my questions for California, let alone the whole country, but I do think there's a way to decipher Chrysler/Fiat's intentions via what lots of local repair shops report.

 

[Sudaval]

d

So I take it that you infer they were ready to provide needed service even when there wasn't much demand. Did you talk to them about that? In other words, was there an opportunity to find out how come you could get the work done in a place where there wasn't much demand?
I ask because, being in the midst of trying to replace my leased car, I've pretty much had it with dealership blandishments. This sounds like a case where there wasn't an immediate big or even dependable profit to be expected. So I'm curious about what they told you, if they did. I can't say that what maintenance people say in South Carolina will answer my questions for California, let alone the whole country, but I do think there's a way to decipher Chrysler/Fiat's intentions via what lots of local repair shops report.

A little more on that and for some perspective: At one point in my life, I drove IH Scouts. No, they weren't built to be environmentally friendly, but at that point I was burning biodiesel. To get my Scouts worked on, I had to drive way, way, way out into the boondocks. Routine maintenance could eat up a whole day, or more.
Thinking back to when I was a real little boy, my parents had a Hillman. From what I remember as a little boy, that was a great car. But my father was blind. He wasn't in any position to work on the car himself, and getting even routine maintenance was a real pain and very expensive. So eventually they gave up and got Buicks.
Those are some of the scenarios I'm trying to avoid.
Not everybody will have Scouts and Hillmans in his backgrounds, but I bet this is a common problem in broader terms.

 

[Sudaval]

I see that the word "Fiat" is conspicuously absent from your dealer's brand list, as it is from:

• 15 of those listed at the link Sudaval posted
• The dealer where I bought mine*
• My own local CA dealer where I got my own software updates.

This leads me to believe that even if Fiat pulls out of America completely, we'll still be able to get factory-authorized service at any dealership with any one of the following words in their name: Alfa, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram or even Maserati.

* Isn't there some law requiring dealers with service centers to service any car they sell?

Re: Isn't there some law requiring dealers with service centers to service any car they sell?
That's probably the most important thing I'm trying to get nailed down. If I could know that, I think the choice on what car to get next would be easy.
The next best choice, the eGolf, can't promise battery management that reasonably responds to its environment. Plus, used EGolfs are expensive. Meanwhile, in my experience with the 500e, the engineers seem to have thought about the most important issues in ways I can respect.
People on this forum have been great, especially you. But that question of legally enforceable responsibility is something I think it behooves all of us to nail down.
Anybody know?

 

[rkw]

Isn't there some law requiring dealers with service centers to service any car they sell?

I very much doubt there is such a law. However, most manufacturers probably require it as a condition of the dealership franchise.

 

[UrbanYeti]

I bought my 500e from the local dealership near Portland, Oregon, and while the dealership is definitely de-emphasizing their Fiat sales, as you mentioned the California dealerships are doing, when I needed to have the back hatch switch replaced because it was loose and I didn't notice it when inspecting the car for purchase, the service department was very good, and the service techs I talked to were (thankfully) more knowledgeable than I expected, and were very conversant on electric vehicles in general, and seemed excited about the fact that they were continuing with the EV certification process on an ongoing basis.

By the sound of other posts here on this forum, the Mopar service kit includes everything needed for all diagnostics for the 500e, so the question of service will come down to the technicians, which will always be the issue for our now-out-of-production models.

I found the post about being able to Recalibrate the Regenerative Braking System using only an OBD connector and the AlfaOBD app for Android rather illuminating, and gave me an excuse to check with my local service department to ask whether or not this is the kind of thing that can be considered "included maintenance" in lieu of not needing oil changes, but I have not yet heard back.

Fix Grabby Brakes for $70

500e brakes tend to grab a bit when switching from regen to mechanical braking at around 6mph. HUGE thanks to wonderfully helpful members of this forum*, there's an easy fix: On AlfaOBD ($49 version), under ABS>Renenerative Brake Controller>Active diagnostics, select procedure to start (RBC...

www.fiat500owners.com

This is the kind of thing that I expect to be more common, since I don't really have a need for the local service department unless there are other mechanical issues with the car, which, as other people have mentioned, are exactly the same as they would be on a gas-powered 500 or other Fiat / Alfa Romeo cars.

 

[SaltyPeanuts]

So I take it that you infer they were ready to provide needed service even when there wasn't much demand. Did you talk to them about that? In other words, was there an opportunity to find out how come you could get the work done in a place where there wasn't much demand?
I ask because, being in the midst of trying to replace my leased car, I've pretty much had it with dealership blandishments. This sounds like a case where there wasn't an immediate big or even dependable profit to be expected. So I'm curious about what they told you, if they did. I can't say that what maintenance people say in South Carolina will answer my questions for California, let alone the whole country, but I do think there's a way to decipher Chrysler/Fiat's intentions via what lots of local repair shops report.

The service I got was just the software updates. There are still quite a few Fiat vehicles in general in South Carolina. But not the 500e, it's an outlier vehicle.

I forgot to say the google address omits "Fiat" from the location description but the actual place says Fiat on their signs- I'm not sure why there's that discrepancy. When I went in there there was a brand-new Fiat Spyder displayed on the showroom floor.

Technically, Fiat owns Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Jeep (and now Maserati IIRC). So any such place that sells cars together like this is probably owned by Fiat and in that case should be willing to service Fiat vehicles. In my case, I used the Fiat app to identify nearby dealers that could service my car and it specified this location as one of them.