Got the car back on Friday. 24 days at the dealer. In that time they:
Dropped the transmission, took it apart and rebuilt every part associated with going backwards. They took the car out hence forth for a test drive where the rebuilt transmission exploded on them.
So they put in a new transmission and what do ya know! It works! Here's the main difference I heard between the two (as I like to back down the drive way when I get home so that in the morning I just need to pull out), when coasting backwards now in reverse with the clutch pedal depressed it still makes the RC car noise. Before it didn't, it just went "click-click-click-click". So that's reassuring.
Now at this point the worry is "OH DAMN. Did I buy a lemon?" But I'm several steps ahead of that. A few weeks ago I registered the vehicle on MOPAR's owner connect website and gained access to the car's entire service history since new. The previous owner did not visit the dealership for anything other than basic maintenance and state inspection. So, it's not a lemon. Looking forward to many thousands of fun, engaging miles to drive. 21K on the motor. 90 miles on the transmission and clutch. Lets do it up.
All through this experience the dealer and FCA customer service were just fine to deal with. The driveline manager himself owns a Fiat 500 Abarth, and with my own philosophy of "be the customer that you yourself want to deal with" I don't have any complaints about him, he was great. There was some out of pocket expense due to the clutch replacement and it no longer being covered under warranty. However it was not outside of my means and because the problem was never the clutch in the first place FCA is going to reimburse me. I just have to send them the paper work. I've been working AND doing take home finals. So, yeah, have to get to that.
The 500L they gave me as a rental, with a 6-spd manual, didn't cost me a penny. It's a nice car but man, it's reliability reputation is dubious as hell. Went out in a few outings with that thing filled to the brim. Girlfriend, me, best friend's fiance, their newborn and her rich aunt from LA. Even with a stroller in the back everybody fit and was comfortable. It's also a fairly upscale feeling vehicle. But it's not as raucous and engaging to drive as the regular 500 is. With the reputation of being one of the least reliable cars on the US market the 500L might be one to avoid after all. Excited to see how the made-in-Italy Fiat 500X crossover and it's plateform mate (also made in Italy) Jeep Renegade do in the reliability department.
