2016 Fiat 5 Series power train problems

“I was driving vehicle and it all of a sudden get stuck in gear in either park gear or some other gear that wont allow me to turn engine off. Sometimes it just slow down to a stop and will not go into gear again for a while or appears the gears are not engaging putting me at risk for accident on highway. Once it slowed down in traffic and I nearly got hit trying to drive it off the highway. The gears were not engaging putting me at risk of many vehicles hitting me. I was praying someone noticed I had car trouble to slow down as I was no longer in full control of vehicle. After some”

“The contact owns a 2016 Fiat 500X. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission unintendedly shifted from drive(D) to neutral(N). The RPM became elevated; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. While driving approximately 15 - 20 MPH, the vehicle went into LIMP Mode. While in LIMP Mode, the contact coasted to the side of the road and waited for several minutes before continuing to drive. The failure had occurred twice. Additionally, the check engine warning light illuminated intermittently. The vehicle had been taken to a certified mechanic, who determined that the transmission had failed and needed to be rebuilt. The dealer also diagnosed that there was a failure with the instrument cluster. The instrument cluster lights were cleared; however, the transmission was not repaired. The check engine warning light remained illuminated. The contact was made aware of NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V529000 (Power Train), for the transmission for the same year, make, and model. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the VIN was not included in the recall and opened a case. The failure mileage was approximately 144,000.”

“Car suddenly slowed down while driving on Christmas Day. This was a very unsafe situation because I was on the highway in traffic traveling at 70 miles per hour and the car suddenly slowed down which could have resulted in an accident leading to harm. A warning light then came on to service transmission right as the car slowed down. I Tried to step on the gas pedal and it would not accelerate. There was no warning light prior to this incident. The car was towed to the dealership the next day. On the following Monday we were told the transmission needs to be completely replaced after they completed a diagnosis test. Enclosed is a pic of the invoice.”

“The contact owns a 2016 Fiat 500X. The contact stated while driving 30-35 MPH, several messages stating that the 4-WD system and the drive mode selector system were not available were displayed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where a computer software update was performed, per the manufacturer's recommendation; however, the failure persisted. The contact stated that the failure recurred upon starting the vehicle. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where the cause of the failure could not be determined. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 73,000.”

“While driving, the vehicle will randomly shift to Neutral with a message appearing about shifting gears. When this happens I cannot accelerate or brake, and cannot shift gears. The only way to get the car to operate properly again is to turn the engine off and back on. Suddenly losing the ability to drive the car while on the road like this is definitely a safety risk, to me and other drivers. This has happened on three separate occasions for me. I took it to a dealership that was unable to diagnose it as they could not replicate the issue themselves during a test drive. It appears to be the same issue that is described in recall S55. However, even though my car is listed in the recall, I was told my specific VIN is not included. The dealership says there is nothing they can do.”

“Driving on the highway approximately 55 MPH and the vehicle went automatically went into neutral thankfully I was able to pull off to the shoulder. I put it in park and shut the vehicle off and turned it back on again, when I shifted into drive it felt like somebody just picked up the car and dropped it. This has been an ongoing issue. Dealerships don’t know what it is. I’ve done research on this specific vehicle from other owners and they have been experiencing the same thing with this make and model of vehicle”