Yellow warning light came on the dash. On FIATs you only see WHAT that means when you turn the car on, then it appears briefly as a scrolling message. So first chance, I turned the car off and back on and it says “License Plate Lamps are out” or something similar. PS you only see this message IF the headlights are on. Lights off, no warning light or message.
So I figure I can pick up the bulb(s) and DIY. I get out the manual. You might remember I had to do some finagling to get a manual… Anyway, the manual lists all the replacement part numbers for the headlights, interior lights etc but for License Plate it just says “LED”.
When I look at that thing called the internet and oh, oh, it says that for early 2012 FIATs the License Plate Bulbs aren’t really replaceable. I call the dealer. They say oh no, we have those, they’re not expensive… But can I replace it myself? Oh yes. Are you sure? (hate it when people ask ME that question) Oh yes.
Stop by the dealer tonight. The fellow at the parts counter has to look and look and then he goes off to try and find the bulbs. He apologizes because inventory says they have ten but he can’t find them. Meanwhile I find that they don’t have a FIAT on display nearby because well because so I can’t look to see if it looks like mine.
Stop at a NAPA and they can’t find any listing for the part either and they thought it was weird.
I come home, take off the license plate and get one of the bulb housings off and take a couple pictures and voila – it seems I have a non-DYI FIAT.
Frustrating to say the least.