NHTSA Complaint #10532417 — 2014 FIAT 500

TODAY IS THE 30TH DAY OF THE PURCHASE OF MY CAR AND HAVEN'T MAKE A PAYMENT YET. WHILE DRIVING IN THE NORMAL MORNING COMMUTE TRAFFIC AT 5 TO 10 MILES PER HOUR AND MAKING FREQUENT STOPS DUE TO THE TRAFFIC JAM, SMOKE BEGAN TO COME OUT OF THE AIR VENT. INITIALLY I THOUGHT THAT THE VENT WAS OPEN TO THE OUTSIDE AND THE SMELL BELONGED TO A TRAILER NEXT TO ME; BUT NO... THE AIR WAS CIRCULATING FROM WITHIN THE VEHICLE. WHEN I OPENED THE DOOR HEAVY SMOKE WAS COMING FROM UNDER THE CAR AND IT SEEMS LIKE THE CAR WAS GOING TO SET ON FIRE, I WAS TRAPPED BETWEEN TWO LANES AND I PANICKED BECAUSE IF AN EXPLOSION WOULD HAVE OCCURRED TOO MANY CARS WERE CLOSE TO ME DUE TO THE HEAVY TRAFFIC. PANEL DID NOT LIGHT UP WITH ANY INDICATIONS OF "CHECK ENGINE" OR "TEMPERATURE" RISING. TEMPERATURE WAS NORMAL ACCORDING TO THE THERMOSTAT. I PULLED UP TO THE SHOULDER AND GOT OFF THE CAR AND OPENED THE HOOD AND IT WAS FULL OF SMOKE. AT THE BEGINNING CAR ENGINE DID NOT RUN BUT LATER THE TOW TRUCK WAS ABLE TO DRIVE THE CAR OVER THE PLATFORM. CAR WAS LEFT AT THE DEALERSHIP FOR FURTHER EVALUATION SINCE IT IS A BRAND NEW MODEL THAT JUST CAME TO THE USA. UNKNOWN DEFECT AT THIS TIME. *TR