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NYC Fiat 500 pop Clutch Problem

89K views 231 replies 61 participants last post by  solamour  
#1 ·
Hey guys,

So today my Fiat ran into a clutch problem. Just a little background, I have a 2012 Fiat 500 Pop, purchased Aug 2012 from Fiat of Manhattan. Clutch never slipped or had any issues prior to today. I have 23,794 miles on the OD and mechanically the car never had an issue.

Today however, scared the living daylights out of me. I was on the local road about to hit the 278 to manhattan in Brooklyn when all of a sudden, while on first gear, I realized:

1. The clutch pedal became really stiff and hard to press down
2. I was unable to get out of first gear!!

Mind you, I'm in rush hour traffic, and I needed to get my car to a stop safely. I almost rear ended an SUV, and what saved me was I had to turn off the car, and put it in neutral, and drive up into a gas station. When this happened, i didn't smell anything burning, no loud pop or noise, it literally happened out of nowhere!

Long story short, my symptoms are:

1. Stiff Clutch pedal (hard to depress)
2. Cannot shift gears while car is on
3. Can shift gears while car is off without depressing the clutch pedal

I then called Fiat Road Side Assistance, and was able to get a tow truck to my location in 2.5 hours -_- There was no charge for this as it's included in your warranty. I had it towed to the Fiat dealership in Manhattan.The tow truck operator even said there seems to be something weird with the clutch assembly as there was no slippage.

Car is dropped off at Fiat of Manhattan, and I sign in for service with a James McMurphy. I told him my symptoms, and he calmly tells me it should be covered as it's under warranty, but that he'll take a look tomorrow. There is a $270 inspection fee, he explained that if it is an issue covered by warranty, the inspection fee is waived. If not, I will have to pay for it.

I will be waiting on his phone call tomorrow, and I will update on how it goes here.

**fingers crossed**
 
#2 ·
look at my thread right below this one and have a fun read. same thing happened to me, except i felt my pedal pop. my pressure plate had teeth brake off and they replaced everything under warranty. now however, my transmission is being replaced as well. good luck, hope everything is covered for you under warranty!
 
#4 ·
Honestly this doesn't sound like an issue with a worn clutch. And I think with only 24k miles on the car it should be something covered under warranty. I would not expect to have to pay for this. I would have them look into they mechanics of the pedal to clutch, it really sounds like something failed that shouldn't have.
 
#6 ·
Has your clutch been engaging differently lately?


I HIGHLY doubt the clutch disc is worn out unless you are SUPER hard on it.. I would suspect a master/slave cylinder, pressure plate or throwout bearing long before the actual clutch disc...

Did if you ask them if they pulled the transmission out and verified it was a clutch disc?
 
#9 ·
I would be down there so fast Id get there before I hung up the phone. You sir, seem to be dealing with a really bad service department. The words Fraud and rip-off come to mind if your description of the problem is accurate.
 
#10 ·
they called me back, and they did indeed see that there is an issue with the Master/Slave cylinder, and the pressure plate. However they still want to charge me for the clutch.

I think that the pressure plate failed, or the master/slave, causing a castratrophic failure with the clutch.

I should not have to pay to the clutch as the other parts must have caused it to fail. Any input?

23,794 miles clutch never slipped before.
 
#92 ·
It seems to me that at 24K miles there is going to be some clutch wear. If you want them to put in a new clutch, then someone is going to have to pay for it. If you want them to put the old cluth back in, obviously there would be no charge for a new clutch.

In reading through this thread, it seems to me people have some unrealistic expectations about clutch life. I have owned three fiats, a 128, an x-1/9 and now a 500. I have never gotten more than about 40-45K miles on a Fiat clutch. Maybe I am hard on clutches but some of you expexting a clutch to have 20k mi., 30k mi on it an not have any wear are being unrealistic.

Sure, if the master/slave cylinders fail, or the fork bends that should be fixed under the 4yr. 50k mi. warranty. But not the clutch.

Tedolph
 
#12 ·
Yes, Mrezzy has me involved. I am looking into the coverage... Thanks for the heads up! :)
 
#13 ·
FiatCares has been really helpful as he took over the case number I filed with Fiat.

In anycase, I went by dealership yesterday and was going to have the service manager call Fiatcares but my phone ran out of battery -_- and I had his number on there.

The story about the clutch was the pressure plate is damaged, master and slave are leaking, clutch had normal wear and tear.

What pisses me off is that they didn't diagnosis this from the beginning, they were literally replacing parts left and right to see if it works and finding issues along the way. Basically they ordered a clutch from the get go without looking at the master/slave or the pressure plate.
Then later they found that the pressure plate was damaged.

unbelievable!
 
#15 ·
FiatCares has handled this case for me and has had it covered under warranty!

But lesson learned is before the dealer does any work, do massive research on what may of caused it, and give them a specific list of this to remove before any expensive work is done and demand proof. having Fiatares helping out is also a must!

They still haven't called me yet as to when my care is fixed, so we'll see how long it takes these guys.
 
#110 ·
I started the post with "IF". "IF Fiat requires a new clutch..."

Let me explain how I concluded that Fiat will not re-use the old clutch plate:

Mrezzi explained "they called me back, and they did indeed see that there is an issue with the Master/Slave cylinder, and the pressure plate. However they still want to charge me for the clutch."

Fiat WANTS to charge for the clutch, I don't know if they require it but Mrezzi never explained that Fiat gave the option of reusing the old one. But when Fiat finally accepts fault and pays for everything (including the OP), they don't reuse the old clutch, therefore we can arrive at an educated conclusion that Fiat doesn't want to reuse the old worn clutch plate.




I have an update. Erica (FiatCares) was able to contact my service advisor and receive additional information. With her findings, she was able to get Fiat to cover the repair under warranty. She also told me that FIAT is looking into this issue on a wider scale so maybe we'll eventually see this covered as a warranty repair without having to go through all of the corporate contacting effort.

Thank you, Erica!
 
#16 ·
I took my car in for the clunk at fiat of Manhattan. I have to say I was very happy with there service. I told them about the clunk in the steering and they knew right away it needed a new rack. Had the rack there in 3 days and replaced it for free without any hassle. So I would not avoid this dealership in anyway for anyone that needs there car fixed.
 
#17 ·
I had a lousy experience with Fiat of Manhattan. I had an oil leak in my engine. I took it there, left it for three days, they tell me they can't find the leak. I go to pick it up and there it is leaking in front of my eyes.

I show them the leak and they said 'well we couldn't find anything'. They just expected me to drive away with a car that was still leaking oil. ..What a bunch of galactically stupid morons. I hate that place.

I had the car towed to another Fiat dealer in NJ and they fixed the leak right away. They also could not understand how the other dealer couldn't find that leak.
 
#22 ·
Hi there,

I am going through the exact same problem with my 2012 fiat 500c right now. I’ve driven a manual prelude for 11 years and have never had to replace the clutch. I’ve driven my fiat for just over 2 years and the EXACT same thing happened to me 2 days ago. I called roadside assistance and they towed it to the dealer who then advised that it is not covered under warranty anymore. (Clutch is 1 year or under 20k) They quoted me $1500. I should hear back on Tuesday once they open up the transmission.

My friend who is a mechanic for Honda said this is ridiculous as a clutch should definitely last longer than 2 years. I drive my car so carefully. I never grind my gears or burned my clutch!

Can you please tell me if you have filed a complaint with Fiat head office? I’m thinking of doing so but I need to build a stronger case.

Any advice is much appreciated!!!

Karen

 
#24 ·
Hi there,

I am going through the exact same problem with my 2012 fiat 500c right now. I’ve driven a manual prelude for 11 years and have never had to replace the clutch.I’ve driven my fiat for just over 2 years and the EXACT same thing happened to me 2 days ago. I called roadside assistance and they towed it to the dealer who then advised that it is not covered under warranty anymore.(Clutch is 1 year or under 20k) They quoted me $1500.I should hear back on Tuesday once they open up the transmission.

My friend who is a mechanic for Honda said this is ridiculous as a clutch should definitely last longer than 2 years. I drive my car so carefully. I never grind my gears or burned my clutch!

Can you please tell me if you have filed a complaint with Fiat head office? I’m thinking of doing so but I need to build a stronger case.

Any advice is much appreciated!!!

Karen
Karen,

Actually, the clutch and clutch assembly warranty (as with all wear and tear items) is 12/12, not 1 year or 20k. How many miles are on your vehicle?
 
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#27 ·
I apologize. From your initial post I could not tell that you were not US until you mention the kms.
 
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#26 ·
KareKards:

Thank you for writing. At this time, unfortunately, I can only assist with US vehicles. However, my Canadian counterpart, Dave (FiatCACares) will be more than happy to address any concerns you may have.
 
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#33 ·
It sounds like they are trying to scam you!
There is a known problem with the forks on the pressure plate bending. This is a warranty repair and should be treated as such.
The dealer is double dipping here. Chrysler will pay them for the labour and then they are going after you to make twice as much.
 
#39 ·
it's pretty obvious Fiat is using poor quality clutch components. These pressure plates are failing with little wear on the clutch disc. A one year warranty on these is a complete joke. With the number of owners that are experiencing this I think it's time for a class-action lawsuit.
Most manufacturers will offer extended warranty periods on parts that show a pattern failure, Fiat just isn't stepping up. This reeks of the type of issues that drove Fiat from the US back in 1985
 
#40 ·
Really glad I found this forum and thread. You all seem to be incredibly helpful!
I [Canadian] also drive a 2012 Fiat 500c, its sitting at around 17,500KM right now. I was on my way home from work yesterday. I started the car, got out of the parking lot, went to shift from third into fourth gear a couple hundred meters down the road and noticed the clutch had heavy resistance. I couldn't get it out of gear. I was able to safely pull over and get road side to pick me up.
The dealership called me a short time ago explaining the 'clutch assembly needs replaced'. I've voiced my concern that I couldn't understand how the car is fine one minute, and not the next. I've experienced no grinding of gears, didn't notice any slipping, and I don't drive the car in a manner that would abuse the clutch. The dealer is quoting just under $1300 CAD to replace the 'clutch assembly'. I've asked to view the parts myself before approving anything, I'll be going down later this evening with my father who is far more mechanically inclined then myself.
What information should I be going in with? are the question I should be asking, parts I should see specifically.

Thanks so much for any advice you can offer!
 
#41 ·
Welcome to the forum. Sorry to read of your issues. I think it would be a good idea to sent a msg to Dave (FiatCACares) the Fiat rep for Canada here on the forum. (He is easily found and sent a msg by clicking on his name above). I know some have mentioned this issue and some made enough fuss that at least a portion of the repair ended up being covered. I do not have anything specific to suggest other than read and research those that have mentioned it here and use what you've read to help best you can. Good luck with a speedy and hopefully cheaper repair!
 
#42 ·
it's pretty friggin' sad that Fiat won't warranty a defective part. Sure, the clutch is a wear item but it's not wear that is the problem. It's a seriously inferior part. These clutches should last 100,000 before wearing out and the disc probably will go that long unless it's abused. Why on earth spend $1500 on a part that probably won't last more than a year? Until Fiat acknowledges the problem and offers a better pressure plate this clutch issue won't go away. Once this problem becomes public knowledge, resale prices will dive even lower than they are now