Bad memories from yesteryears

[Joe Dolgetta]

Just got back from the dealer where my PE will be delivered to take another look at the Demo they have. It a red sport model, and after getting into the passenger seat and closing the door, I was told I would have to roll down the window to open the door using the outside handle because the inside door handle was broken. Broken in that it didn't work the unlatching mechanism. Memories of my days owning a brand new Strada....Then, after getting out of the car, and trying to swing the front seat forward using the "one hand" latch at the top of the seat, I found that it wasn't working right, and that the driver's side worked better. I consider myself a very tolerant person in general. It's a prerequisite for owning Italian cars. And, I can actually shrug my shoulders about the broken door handle, and the defective seat latch, but is this going to be acceptable to those who are NOT so tolerable about these types of defects?? Hope we're not off to re-establishing the curse of Tony Bacciacalup.....Oh and what's up with the unadjustable height level of the passenger seat? The fixed height of the seat sits way too high....I'm all of 5'7", and my head was only an inch or so from the headliner (it is a sunroof car). Hope you can do something about adjusting the seat's height even if it means making some sort of modification. If someone taller than me wanted to go for a ride, I would have to let them drive it :-((

[Mike S]

The seat height IS adjustable. There is a handle on the left side that you use to pump the seat up or release the air pressure to go down like some office chairs.

I'm 5' 10" and have the sunroof with no problems.

[Gavin]

I've read many places that the passenger seat is not adjustable. I hope it is...will be fine with my wife in the passenger side, but my brother would likely ride with me from time to time and he is 6'3"...if the passenger seat doesn't go down, well he won't ever get to check out my new ride..

Gavin

[Joe Dolgetta]

Are you sure the Passenger seat is adjustable??? Don't think so. Drive seat is, but the passenger side is fixed in the "up" position. Very not cool. Like I said, I hope you can make some sort of permanent modification to set it lower than stock. Otherwise, we would need to get tall people to recline their seat backs so that their heads aren't making contact with the headliner.

[5*(10)^2]

Joe, I am pretty sure you are not the only one with the defects. I started a thread about tips during PDI. Dealer is fixing all the defects that I found.

Yes you are not the only one to complain about the seat. I bet it's because of the added cushion for the US version. Hence even at its lowest setting, you feel that you sit pretty high. It's quite challenging to find a comfortable driving position. Maybe it's one of those things one would get used to over time.

Also, a telescoping adjustment on the steering wheel will help a lot too.

[Alvon Elrod]

The FIAT design decision was to leave the passenger front seat high (not adjustable), to make room for the sub woofer that is installed under the passenger seat.  

Alvon

[Minuszka]

The passenger seat height is a problem. I've looked underneath and there is a couple of inches space between the bottom of the seat and the Bose system ( PEs have it ). I don't know why it is that way and hope that Fiat will recall and modify/lower them. Everybody getting into the pass. seat first time complains about it and it doesn't look logical. I thought that it may be since the rear passengers need space for their feet, but it couldn't be the reason. With space available under the pass. seat it would be a no brainer to modify the frame that the seat is attache to the bottom to have it an inch or two lower. Would be a big improvement.

[sam500]

I've had a good friend who is 6'2" as a passenger in my 500 a few times with absolutely no problems. I have ridden in the passenger seat myself when my girlfriend test drove the car twice, and again, no problems, and I'm 6'1". These are both sports with sunroof. The seat is a bit high, but it didn't bother me at all.

[Alvon Elrod]

Regardless of our overall height from Floor to top of scalp when standing, we all sit at different heights in the seats, and have different preferences in how straight or slouched we sit, and how much tilt we prefer in the seat.

The passenger seat design (with sunroof) presents a problem for me, and for many others.  Without the sunroof, there is no problem for  me.  Minuszka astutely pointed out that even with the subwoofer under the seat, there appears to be a couple inches of clearance that would allow the seat design to be modified to sit lower.  I believe FIAT engineers and marketing would be wise to recognize and address this possible design improvement, to keep a larger percentage of customers extremely happy.

Alvon

[Mike S]

I did not read the question properly and didn't realize it was the passenger seat you were talking about.

Sorry.

[sam500]

Alvon. This is absolutely true, but I'm simply providing a bit more information (a different personal experience or counterpoint if you will) for those that might get the impression from this and other threads that anyone taller than 5'7" won't be able to fit into the passenger seat of a 500 with sunroof. I am not particularly short from the waist up by any stretch of the imagination, and can sit comfortably at most angles in the passenger side.

Alvon Elrod wrote

Regardless of our overall height from Floor to top of scalp when standing, we all sit at different heights in the seats, and have different preferences in how straight or slouched we sit, and how much tilt we prefer in the seat.

[Giallo Edizione]

5*(10)^2 wrote

Joe, I am pretty sure you are not the only one with the defects. I started a thread about tips during PDI. Dealer is fixing all the defects that I found.

Yes you are not the only one to complain about the seat. I bet it's because of the added cushion for the US version. Hence even at its lowest setting, you feel that you sit pretty high. It's quite challenging to find a comfortable driving position. Maybe it's one of those things one would get used to over time.

Also, a telescoping adjustment on the steering wheel will help a lot too.

I'm picking my 500 up tomorrow, but, at your prodding, I sent a note today to the sales specialist and sales manager asking that they consider having a tech look it over closely one more time and make sure everything works as it should, no parts hangin off or missing, etc., being that its a brand new model on the Mexican assembly line.  I looked it over pretty carefully inside, out and underneath and it was a showroom model, so they had cleaned it up and had probably gone over it pretty well and maybe some customers had already pointed out the obvious (like the hanging sunroof trim I found in their test driver). Having now asked them, I hope I have them in a good position to be especially responsive if, in fact, I do find things.

Speaking of which I could not really find a good seating position with the sunroof. I am about 6'1". I sort of found one position but it was clear whenever I took a hard right I'd bang into the side edge of the sunroof frame. Slouching was not a good option. Passenger side was impossible for me to sit in. I still have hair and it brushing up on the roof material really bugged me. Others who are follically challenged may have a better time of it ( see, there are advantages....). Mine, needless to say, has no sunroof.

[Thad]

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[Joe Dolgetta]

Maybe I'm not as tolerant as I thought I was. Maybe old age does that to you...I'm 53 years old now, and making excuses for the bad rap Italian cars have when it comes to reliability is getting old like me. Broken door handles, sagging headliners, Blue and Me did not work, Hood was out of alignment (poor quality control on Fiat's side), Front bumper/spoiler is slightly a different color, Odometer won't stop flashing, Can't get the Media/USB iPod connector to work, paint on the rear spoiler has faded, bumper damage, no parts available to do repairs.....Give me a break!!! My current everyday driver is a 1995 Alfa 164 Q with 166,000 miles that I absolutely love. I keep it looking and driving as good as ever, but certainly have had my share of "issues". I defend ownership of this car at all cost. However, friends and family think I'm nuts whenever they see him under the hood. When I decided to get in on the PE orders, I explained to my critics that Fiat had turned the page on the past, and the Tony was a thing of the past. I can just hear them now when I try to explain to them why my door handle broke, or why the paint is faded on my spoiler, or why the headliner is sagging. Come on....$21000 for an "A" segment car is not cheap, but putting up with all these "issues" may suggest that cheap is what we're getting??? My dealer emailed me today telling me that my PE finally showed up late in the day. They still don't have a license to sell it to me, but at least they now have the car. To tell you the truth, I'm both excited and a bit reluctant to go and see it tomorrow. My diminished sense of tolerance may get the best of me if I am introduced to "issues" that come with my PE at no extra cost. Who knows, might be another PE available for a waiting list customer. Hope I'm simply over reacting.

[Joe Dolgetta]

Maybe I'm not as tolerant as I thought I was. Maybe old age does that to you...I'm 53 years old now, and making excuses for the bad rap Italian cars have when it comes to reliability is getting old like me. Broken door handles, sagging headliners, Blue and Me did not work, Hood was out of alignment (poor quality control on Fiat's side), Front bumper/spoiler is slightly a different color, Odometer won't stop flashing, Can't get the Media/USB iPod connector to work, paint on the rear spoiler has faded, bumper damage, no parts available to do repairs.....Give me a break!!! My current everyday driver is a 1995 Alfa 164 Q with 166,000 miles that I absolutely love. I keep it looking and driving as good as ever, but certainly have had my share of "issues". I defend ownership of this car at all cost. However, friends and family think I'm nuts whenever they see him under the hood. When I decided to get in on the PE orders, I explained to my critics that Fiat had turned the page on the past, and the Tony was a thing of the past. I can just hear them now when I try to explain to them why my door handle broke, or why the paint is faded on my spoiler, or why the headliner is sagging. Come on....$21000 for an "A" segment car is not cheap, but putting up with all these "issues" may suggest that cheap is what we're getting??? My dealer emailed me today telling me that my PE finally showed up late in the day. They still don't have a license to sell it to me, but at least they now have the car. To tell you the truth, I'm both excited and a bit reluctant to go and see it tomorrow. My diminished sense of tolerance may get the best of me if I am introduced to "issues" that come with my PE at no extra cost. Who knows, might be another PE available for a waiting list customer. Hope I'm simply over reacting.

[Fiat500USA]

As far as the Demo models go, those are pre-production models and (hopefully) those issues will be addressed. I've heard the seat-handle was mentioned as being re-designed.

We'll see...