2017 Fiat 124 Spider

TPMS SOUNDS WARNING ALARM AND LIGHT WHEN DRIVING - ALTHOUGH TIRE PRESSURES ARE FINE. THIS HAS HAPPENED MANY TIMES IN THE NEARLY 2 YEARS OF OWNERSHIP AND BEEN TO THE DEALER 3 TIMES FOR ATTEMPTED REPAIRS. THE AUDIBLE ALARM IS ALSO SO LOUD IT SCARES ME WHEN IT GOES OFF - AND IS NOT ADJUSTABLE. THIS IS NOT SAFE WHEN I AM DRIVING, PARTICULARLY IN TRAFFIC. I DON'T WANT TO FEEL THAT I HAVE TO STOP ON THE ROADSIDE AND CHECK THE TIRES WHEN THE SYSTEM IS GIVING ME A FALSE POSITIVE. DEALER HAS NO ANSWERS. SAID TO JUST HIT THE RESET BUTTON. THE SYSTEM IS WORTHLESS - IT'S LIKE THE BOY THAT CRIES WOLF -- IT GOES OFF BUT YOU START TO IGNORE IT BECAUSE IT'S NEVER RIGHT. CHRYSLER/FIAT NEEDS TO REMEDY THIS.

THE VEHICLE'S ALARM (HORN AND FLASHERS) PERIODICALLY GOES OFF WHILE DRIVING. IT WILL SOMETIMES STOP ON ITS OWN, BUT TYPICALLY REQUIRES THAT THE CAR IS SHUT OFF TO STOP THE ALARM. THE EVENT DOES NOT HAPPEN WITH ANY CONSISTENCY AND WILL SOMETIMES HAPPEN TWO OR THREE TIMES IN A DAY, BUT SOMETIMES WILL NOT HAPPEN FOR TWO OR THREE WEEKS. IT HAS HAPPENED WHEN DRIVING ON BOTH THE FREEWAY AND CITY ROADS. WHEN TAKEN TO THE DEALERSHIP, THEY SAY THAT THE PROBLEM CANNOT BE DUPLICATED, NO CODES WERE PRESENT TO EXPLAIN THE OCCURRENCE, AND THE PROBLEM CONTINUES TO GO UNRESOLVED.

WHILE DRIVING BETWEEN 30 AND 70 MPH IN SECOND TO SIXTH GEAR, THE CAR'S ALARM SYSTEM RANDOMLY ACTIVATES WITHOUT APPARENT REASON. THE HORN SOUNDS AND EMERGENCY FLASHERS ILLUMINATE WITHOUT CUTTING OFF. THE ALARM IS DEACTIVATED BY STOPPING THE CAR AND SHUTTING OFF THE IGNITION. SWITCHING IT ON AGAIN RESULTS IN THE ALARM NOT ACTIVE. THE ALARM ACTIVATION OCCURS RANDOMLY AND SPORADICALLY WHEN DRIVING ON HARD SURFACES INCLUDING COUNTY ROADS, CITY STREETS, AND INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS, USUALLY DRIVING STRAIGHT, DURING DRY WEATHER CONDITIONS, AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, AND IN DIFFERENT GEARS. THIS RANDOM ALARM ACTIVATION HAPPENS AT IRREGULAR INTERVALS PERHAPS A DAY OR A MONTH APART. IT STARTED BEFORE MAY 2017 AND CONTINUES JULY 2018. *TR

WHILE DRIVING MY 2017 FIAT SPIDER 124 ABARTH ON REGULAR PAVED ROADS, THE ALARM ACTIVATES. JUST DRIVING NORMALLY DOWN THE ROAD. THE FIRST TIME IT HAPPENED WAS WHILE SLOWING DOWN TO MAKE A LEFT TURN. THE SECOND TIME WAS AFTER TURNING RIGHT ONTO ANOTHER ROAD AND SPEEDING UP. THE HORN STARTS BLOWING AND ALL THE LIGHTS START FLASHING. SCARES ME AND EVERYONE AROUND ME. THIS APPEARS TO BE A PROBLEM ON THE ABARTH MODEL AND HAS BEEN KNOWN TO BE A PROBLEM FOR OVER A YEAR, WITH NO FIX IN SIGHT. MINE HAS DONE THIS TWICE BUT OTHERS HAVE REPORTED IT HAPPENING MANY TIMES. FCA IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM.

THERMOSTAT, EXCELERATOR PEDAL, REPLACED AND WINDOW WASHER TUBE REINSTALLED AT 2,477 MILES. AT 3,014 MILS CAR WAS TOWED 2 TIMES IN A WEEK FOR CAR NOT STARTING. THE SPARK PLUGS WERE OIL SOAKED AND FOULED OUT. THE MOST RECENT WAS NOW AT 4,681 MILES THE OIL LIGHT CAME ON , CHECK ENGINE LIGHT AND VACUUM PUMP GASKET WENT AND WAS LOW IN COOLANT. EACH TIME THE CAR WAS IN FOR 4 DAYS AT A TIME. FCA PAID FOR 3 TOWS. I NOW HAVE A YEAR OLD CAR WITH UNDER 5,000 MILES ON IT. EACH TIME IT WAS TOWED FROM IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE.

OUR 2017 FIAT 124 SPIDER ABARTH ALARM GOES OFF RANDOMLY SOMETIMES 4 OR 5 TIMES A DAY WHILE DRIVING. MY WIFE HAS BEEN ON THE FREEWAY AND LIGHTS FLASH AND HORN CONSTANTLY GOES OFF UNTIL SHE HAS TO PULL OFF IN TRAFFIC AND STOP THE CAR AND RESTART. PUSHING PANIC BUTTON DOES NOTHING. THIS IS AN ONGOING PROBLEM WITH MANY FIAT SPIDERS AND ALSO MIATAS THAT ARE BOTH BUILT IN THE SAME PLANT. THE DEALER SPENT DAYS BUT COULDN'T FIX AND NOW IS GOING TO ORDER NEW BCM AND FOBS BUT FROM THE FORUMS ON BOTH CARS I'M NOT HOPEFUL. THINKING WE MAY HAVE TO GO THE LEMON LAW ROUTE BUT DEALERS ARE SNEAKY WITH NOT CALL BACKS AND AVOIDING TRIPPING THE LEMON LAW REQUIREMENTS. MY WIFE IS STRESSING OUT SO BADLY WITH WORRY EVERY DAY SHE COMMUTES. THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL IN MY OPINION.