I figured something out!!! No thanks to Fiat...

"AMC/Renauledge" (n2skylark)
03/18/2014 at 12:24 • Filed to: None

Here's an extremely crisp 131 Mirafiori for your trouble...

...so !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! back in January. I knew that they came standard with air conditioning. Or, at least, I thought I knew. But since I bought the car right before a giant (for Portland) snowstorm, I didn't think much about it. Especially because I was so excited about having a new car in the first place.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Now that it's March and getting warmer, I am thinking about the a/c. And the other day, it dawned on me that my car doesn't have an a/c button. Or anything on the fascia to indicate it has a/c at all.

So I consulted my wafer-thin owner's manual. It said absolutely nothing about how to turn the a/c on, unless you happened to have a model with the optional automatic climate control, which does have an a/c button.

I looked down at my WWBZD? bracelet and took to the internet to solve my problem. In some message board somewhere, I was informed that you have to push the fan speed dial in, in order to actuate the a/c. Again, nowhere in the owner's manual does it say this . There is a snowflake symbol on the fan speed dial, but I figured that was just funny Italian ergonomicspeak for fan speed. I was relieved, at least, that I'd figured it out, but frustrated that Fiat didn't meet me halfway...that I had to go to an unaffiliated 3rd party to get my answers.

Now go back and look at the IP photo from above. If you'll note, the little snowflake on the fan speed dial is glowing orange in accordance with the dash lighting. Most of the time, a/c indicator lights are a different color than the dash lights. I figured it was there simply to help me find the fan speed dial at night. Apparently, it means that the dial has been pushed in, and that I've had the a/c on this whole time . Since I've only really had my temp dial set to warm so far, I never knew. Sigh.

My Fiat has other ergonomic curiosities, as well. There's no internal central locking button. There's no internal liftgate release, either. And if you don't want to wake the neighborhood by locking your car after 10pm, you have to lock your car with the key. Doing so doesn't not activate the alarm, however. The only way to activate the alarm is with the remote, and using that must honk the horn. You can change whether or not the lights flash when you arm the alarm. But the horn must honk if you want to arm the alarm. I also found this out online, as the owner's manual is entirely uninformative on this point, as well.

I know my car is Italian-designed and Chrysler-built in Mexico. And I love it despite, and in some ways because of, its quirks. But the least Chrysler could do is provide an owner's manual that helps me figure those things out.

Have any of you ever had this experience with your cars?

DISCUSSION (7)

Ferrero1911 > AMC/Renauledge
03/18/2014 at 14:01

Do you have the full owner's manual? They don't come with the car, but if you call Fiat they will send you one.

AMC/Renauledge > Ferrero1911
03/18/2014 at 14:12

Hmm... I didn't know that! Thanks for the tip! I'll do that.

Newsboy > AMC/Renauledge
03/18/2014 at 14:19

I HATE the fact that you can't turn the horn off. Disabling the horn in the Subaru was a 30 second job, yet Fiat doesn't even give you the option.

Supposedly replacing the factory tooter with an air powered horn "disables" the alarm. The electrical signal is too fast for the air horn to spool up.

As for locking, did you know that the door handle also functions as the lock/unlock button? Just pull the driver's door handle lightly and the other door will unlock. I believe the reverse is true, push to lock both doors, but I can't remember off the top of my head.

Newsboy > Newsboy
03/18/2014 at 14:22

I will say, in spite of the niggling little things about this car, I love mine, for one reason: the noise.

The exhaust note is intoxicating, I find it hard to stop myself from caning it at stoplights and on-ramps.

AMC/Renauledge > Newsboy
03/18/2014 at 14:22

I did know about the door handle/lock. However, if the driver's door is already unlocked and you want to unlock the passenger door, you have to reach over and open it. I've tried locking and unlocking the driver's doorhandle to unlock the passenger side, and it doesn't work.

Newsboy > AMC/Renauledge
03/18/2014 at 14:26

Yeah, I've noticed the same thing, as my wife is left standing outside the car wondering why I won't let her in.

The Compromiser > AMC/Renauledge
03/18/2014 at 20:50

Google the lock horn thing. I found on my Doge that you have to do some on off in out lrlrl up up down up type bs to turn it off. Just the lights now.