[NationsKappatol]

Hi all,

Overall, I am very happy with my 2012 Espresso Pop manual with the alloys. Its a blast to drive, and a blast to own. I am bringing it in today though for a couple of issues that need to be worked out. I am curious if others have had similar issues. I have just under 1K mi on her, and these are some things I have learned in my first few weeks with the car.

1 - a REALLY annoying rattle coming from what sounds like the either the B-pillar or the driver's door frame. Any type of bump in the road and you hear it.

2 - My radio is not aligned properly. One side is flush and the other side sticks out about a couple of millimeters.

3 - The latch for the driver's seat to move it forward hasn't worked since I drove it off the lot.

4 - If you tap the blinker, but it doesn't click in, the blinker goes on for say, 5 seconds before shutting off.

5 - I don't know if this is supposed to happen, or if my shifter is just missing a bumper, but when you put the car into 5th gear, it is definitely metal on metal, or metal on plastic. There is no rubber anything to dampen the sound.

Any help you guys could give is great.

Thanks!

 

[JAFA500]

Bring it into the dealer to get fixed

 

[smark]

Spray some, silicon spray on a rag. Rub it all over the upper weather stripping of the driver door. Your rattle creaking/noise will go away. Weather stripping rubs on the inside door sill. Very tight.

Take it to the dealer to fix the rest of your items.

 

[Umbrianissimo]

Some of these items do sound like things the dealer can adjust or look at easily.

RE #4, I think this is a feature that is common on European cars. It is a lane-change signal; rather than holding the stalk down or up, you just tap the indicator stalk, and then it lets the car signal the change then turn off automatically. I really like this feature and wish my current cars had it.

 

[Mr. Pickles]

Some of these items do sound like things the dealer can adjust or look at easily.

RE #4, I think this is a feature that is common on European cars. It is a lane-change signal; rather than holding the stalk down or up, you just tap the indicator stalk, and then it lets the car signal the change then turn off automatically. I really like this feature and wish my current cars had it.

it's a dodge/chrysler thing. They all do that.

 

[Tweak]

As others mentioned #4 seems normal, stays on for a few when lightly bumped rather than fully engaged. European, Chrysler/Dodge, doesn't matter who, I like the feature.

 

[kerry]

ditto the lane change tap, I like to let the minis know i'm about to zip around them...

 

[rrucker]

On #3, do you mean the bottom aduster, which slides the seat forward and back, or the adjuster up on seat back, that flips the seat back forward, causing the seat to move?

Neither has happened to mine, just curious which one it is.

 

[FiatguyColorado]

#5; the shifting noise. If it's a sound from the gear shift lever, it may be a slight linkage mis-alignment. If it is gear to gear related it may be that you are throwing the shift awkwardly and not straight. Is the noise eliminated if you double clutch? I agree with the other recommendations to take it to the dealer servic folks. IMHO The more documentation you have the better off you will be if it is a true trans defect and the 5th gear fails and you have a warranty claim.

 

[Retired Rev]

Not sure but I think #1 may be the passenger side seatbelt. I have the same rattle but not when someone is in the passenger seat. Just a thought.

 

[NationsKappatol]

Hi all,

Overall, I am very happy with my 2012 Espresso Pop manual with the alloys. Its a blast to drive, and a blast to own. I am bringing it in today though for a couple of issues that need to be worked out. I am curious if others have had similar issues. I have just under 1K mi on her, and these are some things I have learned in my first few weeks with the car.

1 - a REALLY annoying rattle coming from what sounds like the either the B-pillar or the driver's door frame. Any type of bump in the road and you hear it.

2 - My radio is not aligned properly. One side is flush and the other side sticks out about a couple of millimeters.

3 - The latch for the driver's seat to move it forward hasn't worked since I drove it off the lot.

4 - If you tap the blinker, but it doesn't click in, the blinker goes on for say, 5 seconds before shutting off.

5 - I don't know if this is supposed to happen, or if my shifter is just missing a bumper, but when you put the car into 5th gear, it is definitely metal on metal, or metal on plastic. There is no rubber anything to dampen the sound.

Any help you guys could give is great.

Thanks!

EDIT: I forgot to add two more small things

6 - The fabric on the rear passenger seat is oddly bunched in the middle of the seat. It is in the middle of the seat cushion, in the very front where it pulls down and is clipped in. Nobody has ever sat in the seat.

7 - I have the white/brown interior. On the radio, and on the cruise control, it appears that some of the paint on the plastic has rubbed off. Its strange because it is in a place where I have never, or rarely, touched. I thought it might be grease, so i tried to clean it off to no avail

 

[NationsKappatol]

Thanks all for the input. I added in my previous post two other small things that I have noticed that I forgot to mention. Let me know if those are happening to you as well. I have heard about #6 and fabric problems in the sport, but not yet the pop/lounge.

You were dead-on about the blinker question. It is supposed to do that. Also, the issue with the shifter is the same way. According to them, it is supposed to do that. I have been driving stick consistently for years with no issue, so I assumed it wasn't user error. The showed me that if you lift up the piece that allows you to enter reverse, it doesn't make the sound when entering fifth. They said all the fiats do it. Weird...

As to the other issues, they fixed the latch for the driver's seat on the spot. For the person who asked, it is the latch that allows the seat to fold and move forward for rear access. The one on the top of the seat by the headrest.

As to the other issues, they looked at all of them and verified all of them, even the rattle which comes from both doorframes, not the seatbelt...we isolated it. (Which is good...I always feel crazy when talking to service writers about rattles...lol) They have an interior specialist from Fiat coming to take a look at it on Thursday, and they ordered new clips for my stereo. They confirmed it was in wrong.

Sounds like whomever did final QC down in Mexico, or their PDI guy didn't do the best job. Again, fun little car. You expect a couple of things when the car is new to be tweaked/adjusted, but this is a little over the top. I am keeping my fingers crossed it is just growing pains and all turns out fine. Still, amazing little car...a blast to drive, gets a lot of attention, and ain't nothing classier for the money.

 

[MrFlippant]

Hmm... Mine doesn't make noise when I put it in 5th. It's just as smooth into 5th as every other gear. Fortunately, everything else seems great. I did learn about the turn signal thing from this thread, though. I thought mine was "sticking" as well, but after reading that I tested it and now it all makes sense. I don't like it, though. Seems to me that it only encourages people to blink AS they change lanes. Sorry, but blinkers are to WARN people behind you. Blinking while moving is redundant. I ALREADY SEE you moving into my lane without warning. Durr.

Anyway, it's great that the other issues were resolved. I don't have your 6th and 7th issues that I've noticed, but I wouldn't be surprised about the paint on the buttons. The HP keyboard I'm typing this on has lost almost half of the lettering paint. The most used letters wore off a long time ago, and it's not even an old keyboard.

 

[Tweak]

Side note to the topic at hand, realized today the rear wiper automatically turns on when the front are on and you put it in reverse. That tidbit of info didn't merit a new thread but since Mr. F stated he learned something new I figured I would add a possibly other new item to learn. Although not a concern at the moment I am concerned with the steering wheel as far as durability for long term, these cars seem to be pretty well built and I am fortunate to not have had issues described, glad they are seemingly getting you straightened out so far!

 

[PFVA63]

Hi

Side note to the topic at hand, realized today the rear wiper automatically turns on when the front are on and you put it in reverse. That tidbit of info didn't merit a new thread but since Mr. F stated he learned something new I figured I would add a possibly other new item to learn. ...

Thanks,

That's kind of a neat feature.

Regards

Pat

 

[smark]

Not sure but I think #1 may be the passenger side seatbelt. I have the same rattle but not when someone is in the passenger seat. Just a thought.

If its his drivers door. Its the weather stripping rubbing, against the top of the door sill.

 

[smark]

Side note to the topic at hand, realized today the rear wiper automatically turns on when the front are on and you put it in reverse. That tidbit of info didn't merit a new thread but since Mr. F stated he learned something new I figured I would add a possibly other new item to learn. Although not a concern at the moment I am concerned with the steering wheel as far as durability for long term, these cars seem to be pretty well built and I am fortunate to not have had issues described, glad they are seemingly getting you straightened out so far!

Thats normal for the wiper to come on when your in reverse. When the front ones are on. Its a European thing. My smart car does the same thing.

 

[MrFlippant]

Haha! Thanks! I had that happen and started freaking out a little inside, worrying that my car was having fits. In hindsight, it was when I was in reverse! That's so cool!

 

[NationsKappatol]

That happened to me, too with the rear wiper. I thought my car was going crazy! haha. It wouldn't bug me if the rear wiper motor wasn't so loud. Its fine and its an issue per se, but I'd love to be able to disable it, like we can disable the hill holder, which I promptly did.

 

[Tweak]

Many of the newer cars do this but I had never had a rear wiper that I can recall so it was new to me and I thought I would share. Glad it helped someone. I did have a rattle from my sunglasses holder but that issue is solved, it broke, now my issue is nowhere to put my sunglasses, I'd rather have had the rattle from the clip instead of no clip.