Went to a local tyre dealer (not my usual dealer) had new vredesteins fitted on front (£55 each fitted) BUT tyre fitter has damaged sill when using trolley jack. Sill is now pushed up and out at jacking point. Well I suppose thats what you get when you entrust your car to the "professionals". When I noticed this and uttered the magic word (f****) they said that they would pay for the repair. I saw my freindly bodyshop - we are on first name terms now! - and sill will need pulled out and painted. I await the quote. I suspect that if I hadnt noticed the damage then nothing would have been said. I have had more knocks with this expensive wee car than I had when driving cheap oldies.

get it done by fiat, not local body shop as it may invalidate corrosion warranty

Agreed.

Thats said those warantees are a joke anyway, they are dependent upon customer-paid-for-annual-inspections, complete with all remedial work required being undertaken (again at customers expense), which obviously no-one ever does.

Gotta admit our 500 seems to be getting its fair share of dents and bangs!! worst being some stones came off a tipper and dented the bonnet (wife didnt get the reg or company) some scrot also tried to go through the door with a screwdriver (all they managed to do was dent the door under the handle) Her previous car was an omega which was completely dent and scratch free at 65k apart from the 18" alloys which she kerbed at least once a month!!

Google "law of attration" and thats whats happening stop thinking of any damage what so ever

Re: 2 nice new tyres - 1 damaged sill!! (newowner)

Hello everyone!
I too have had a new tyre on my wifes 500C and the tyrefitter has damaged the sill with the trolley jack. The tyrefitter says they have jacked it in the correct place and so it must the car that is faulty. I am off to the Fiat dealer this morning to let them have a look, but I know what there reply will be!
Does anyone know my rights and how to proceed?

Cheers,

Jules

https://www.fiatforum.com/500/169992-anybody-heard-crushed-sills-problem.html

Car won't be faulty. Tyre fitter is faulty.

Venters said:

https://www.fiatforum.com/500/169992-anybody-heard-crushed-sills-problem.html

Car won't be faulty. Tyre fitter is faulty.

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Agreed. I ALWAYS take the wheels off and take them in another car to get the tyres put on. Not trusting some monkey with my car thanks.

Re: 2 nice new tyres - 1 damaged sill!! (newowner)

Julianf77 said:

Hello everyone!
I too have had a new tyre on my wifes 500C and the tyrefitter has damaged the sill with the trolley jack. The tyrefitter says they have jacked it in the correct place and so it must the car that is faulty. I am off to the Fiat dealer this morning to let them have a look, but I know what there reply will be!
Does anyone know my rights and how to proceed?

Cheers,

Jules

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IIRC this has happened frequently as the 500 is particularly prone to sill damage if a trolleyjack is used incorrectly. I remember the AA having problems when the car first came out & if I'm not mistaken, after a spate of similar incidents they instructed all their patrols to only use the jack supplied with the car when changing tyres at the roadside.

If a trolley jack is used to lift the car on the sills it must be positioned well inboard on the reinforced section as the outer sills WILL crumple if used to support the car, even at the jacking points. Personally I won't use a trolley jack anywhere on the sills on this car - there are a couple of obvious safer places on the chassis where you can use a large pad on the jack to distribute the load. Jacking on the wishbones & rear suspension arms is also a no-no.

Personally I don't trust the quick-fit places to get it right & have always removed wheels & taken them separately for tyre replacement.

That said, a professional tyrefitter should know how to raise a car without damaging it & simply saying they put the trolley jack where the arrows are is not an excuse. I'd say your claim is against the tyrefitters, not FIAT - there's no reason to suppose your car was in any way defective before they bent the sill.

(written before seeing the previous replies)

Re: 2 nice new tyres - 1 damaged sill!! (newowner)

jrkitching said:

IIRC this has happened frequently as the 500 is particularly prone to sill damage if a trolleyjack is used incorrectly. I remember the AA having problems when the car first came out & if I'm not mistaken, after a spate of similar incidents they instructed all their patrols to only use the jack supplied with the car when changing tyres at the roadside.

If a trolley jack is used to lift the car on the sills it must be positioned well inboard on the reinforced section as the outer sills WILL crumple if used to support the car, even at the jacking points. Personally I won't use a trolley jack anywhere on the sills on this car - there are a couple of obvious safer places on the chassis where you can use a large pad on the jack to distribute the load. Jacking on the wishbones & rear suspension arms is also a no-no.

Personally I don't trust the quick-fit places to get it right & have always removed wheels & taken them separately for tyre replacement.

That said, a professional tyrefitter should know how to raise a car without damaging it & simply saying they put the trolley jack where the arrows are is not an excuse. I'd say your claim is against the tyrefitters, not FIAT - there's no reason to suppose your car was in any way defective before they bent the sill.

(written before seeing the previous replies)

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Good advice. At least I'm not alone in taking my tyres sans car

Last time the wife had a puncture I didn't even need to get the spare out of the boot, I got one of the many spare alloys I have out from around the side of the house and swapped it round and took the puncture to be repaired No 1 steel wheel look for me!

Yes use professional people for the job. I rotated my fiat 500's tires at the tyre dealership i always use and while i was watching them place the jacks under the car, they visually made sure they were properly placed by looking underneath the car regardless of the arrows before even pumping the jack. Needless to say the whole operation passed by faultlessly.

Re: 2 nice new tyres - 1 damaged sill!! (newowner)

306maxi said:

Good advice. At least I'm not alone in taking my tyres sans car

Last time the wife had a puncture I didn't even need to get the spare out of the boot, I got one of the many spare alloys I have out from around the side of the house and swapped it round and took the puncture to be repaired No 1 steel wheel look for me!

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100% agree - remember it's not their car, so they don't give a monkeys about any damage.

My A500 was damaged on the ramps. Always check your sills before you drive off! They admitted it and repaired it, luckily the plastic side skirts protected the metal sills so they only needed heating up and pulling straight.

Over the years i too have become paranoid due to incidences like this. I'm even doing the servicing now myself as a result. I have a very good local tyre guy who offers to buy me a new set of wheels if he damages anything!

Took my 500 to the guy who maintained my old car for 9 years and he and his "assistant" raised my 24 month old car up to fit new front brakes crushing the passenger sill. The other side is slightly dinted but I was assured this was already like this! Not happy AT ALL. Is this a manufacturing issue because I've noticed a fair few posts. I was assured that this was raised using the noted jacking points positioned on the vehicle.

fiesta said:

I was assured that this was raised using the noted jacking points positioned on the vehicle.

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These points are designed for emergency wheel changing using the FIAT-supplied jack. They should NEVER be used with a trolley jack because there is a high risk of damaging the sills.

Read this:

https://www.fiatforum.com/500/283597-500-jacking-lifting-axle-stand-positioning.html?p=2872165

for a safe way to lift the car with a trolley jack.

I've had three tyres replaced now....two at ford garage and one at kwikfit. Not noticed anything glaring out at me damage wise.....what am I looking for and does it affect the car or is it just cosmetic?

I had this happen to my scirocco before Christmas, used the place for 7 years but new guy worked on car, never said anything, however, the boys who look after my car pointed it out day after. In reality tyre company are manager was decent as were their insurers (bit slow as car needs to be old) in the end it was £1,100 worth of damage as they needed to replace a section of sell as couldn't pull it out, repair works were done by VW dealer of my choice

Worth formally writing to these people under the Supply of goods and services act 1982, when a service is provided they need to take reasonable care and skill, my letter formally stated they failed to exercise this and should a satisfactory conclusion not be reached I reserved the right to reclaim costs through the small claims court

Was gutted as these guys had been superb but won't use them again