This problem just came to turn this past week after the cold snap in NYC (to quickly return to an ongoing and bizarre Fall like weather). I took the notes from this thread (thanks all!) to the Manhattan dealer and they squeezed me in on a busy Saturday while I went for lunch in midtown. An hour later they said I was ready to go but they replaced a different blown fuse in the engine bay as opposed to the fuse/module under the steering column. I'm suspect this issue will occur again but I've got working locks for now. image.jpg
This just happened to my 500X yesterday. The door key is very hard to use, it takes a lot of force to turn the key and that's once it's seated just right in the keyhole. Of course the dealership is closed on Saturday. I'm deciding if I should try to disconnect the battery or just deal with it until I can get in the shop. I want them to fix it if there's a problem but I'm worried they won't if I am able to reset it with the battery disconnect. Decisions decisions
i realize it's been years since the last posting but I'm curious...why are folks referring to the dealerships/mechanics as "studio"?
Studio was FCA slang for Fiat Showroom. When I bought my 2016 X the Studio is where I satdown and talked with the sales person, gifted some Fiat swag, oggled at the Alfa Romeo 4C while waiting for the paperwork to finish. A touch of Italy. The mechanics were located across town at the Jeep/Dodge megacenter that was much less personal.Fiat 005.jpg
FCA dealers (Dodge/Jeep/Ram) could license to sell/service Fiat and their showroom usually was crowded with Dodge and Jeeps, with maybe a 124, with a couple 500's in the parking lot.
Or you could go to a studio that usually had only Fiats. It was sort of like the Smart kiosks. It'd often feature Fiat displays and accessories, in a bright setting. It was a bit more like the UK Fiat salesrooms. The main difference is, when Fiat sales dropped, the former shop still had cars to sell while many studios closed their doors.
The Fiat studio, I bought my car from in 2011 and 2014 500L. Was a large FCA dealership. They owned the Fiat franchise. Fiat required them to build a separate studio, before they were able to sell Fiats there. There 60 500’s on the lot too. I was able to buy mine. It was delivered out of the Dodge building. Jeeps, dodges, Chrysler, Ram, and Fiats. We’re all service, in the one Service department. At the beginning, if you needed service, you dropped your car off at the Fiat. The Fiat sales manager would take it to the main service. The only that dealership shared with Fiat, was a service department and parts department. Never a Fiat car on the FCA show floors. The Fiat studio, was tore down, to make room for Jeeps.
Because of Extreme poor sales of the Fiat brand there. That dealership, sold off the Fiat franchise. to a standalone studio. We looked at a new 2016 500x there. Studio wouldn’t come down on price of that car. They went belly up too. Lasted only a year. We only have one Fiat studio left. It shares a service department, with Lincoln dealership.
2011, Grand opening at our studio
The one studio we have left. The sales manager would have get together of Fiat owners. Pizza party, and Christmas ones. Notice the Lincoln mercury dealership behind. Shared Fiat service department. That studio today only has a couple 500x’s to sale. A few Alfa’s
All our drive events, were planned around the Northtowne studio, once a month. The sales staff, were highly involved with their owners.
It’s sad all those days are over now!
To get back to the electric locks, for some reason mine on my 12' Sport just started requiring two clicks of the remote to unlock both doors. One click just does the driver's door. I haven't got into the dash menu to see if I can reset it yet. I don't know if my alarm ,which uses the oem remote, has anything to do with it.
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Originally Posted by Moonfiat
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