Finally got round to talking to my dealer -- Chris Howells from Glyn Hopkin Buckhurst Hill -- who said that it would NOT invalidate the warranty if I performed the oil and filter change myself, provided I used geniune parts So I think I know what I will be doing this weekend!

nemchenk said:

Finally got round to talking to my dealer -- Chris Howells from Glyn Hopkin Buckhurst Hill -- who said that it would NOT invalidate the warranty if I performed the oil and filter change myself, provided I used geniune parts So I think I know what I will be doing this weekend!

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Get him to confirm that in writing (an email will do) and keep it safe....

My TA is at the dealer today having a 1-year oil/filter change. I'm paying £120 for it, but it looks like I'm getting a new turbo thrown in - there's a notice out on some cars about it, as has been mentioned here before. Apparently the linkage between the turbo and wastegate can detach, causing power loss. They've given me a courtesy car, so I'm fairly happy.

RobinPJ said:

Get him to confirm that in writing (an email will do) and keep it safe....

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That..... but it should be pointed out that the warranty doesn't lie with the dealer, but with Fiat.

TrevC said:

My TA is at the dealer today having a 1-year oil/filter change. I'm paying £120 for it, but it looks like I'm getting a new turbo thrown in - there's a notice out on some cars about it, as has been mentioned here before. Apparently the linkage between the turbo and wastegate can detach, causing power loss. They've given me a courtesy car, so I'm fairly happy.

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I'm glad you're fairly happy, though I don't see how doing a warranty repair to fix something that should have been got right in the factory makes paying £120 for an oil & filter change any more reasonable.

RobinPJ said:

Get him to confirm that in writing (an email will do) and keep it safe....

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If you plan to get the oil filter and oil changed yourself you would be better off with no 'paper' trail. Once a car is under warranty ALL work should either be done by Fiat or a VAT registered garage. Once it is realised that you did the oil change yourself (after all the OP is not a qualified mechanic) should anything 'happen' to the engine Fiat will claim (& rightly so) that they are not responsible since they did not maintain the vehicle. The 'last man on the job' is responsible and that would apply to getting in an electrican that put an electric shower in your house that resulted in an unfortunate consequence.
Replacing like for EXACTLY like is the best way of no one being none the wiser.

jrkitching said:

I'm glad you're fairly happy, though I don't see how doing a warranty repair to fix something that should have been got right in the factory makes paying £120 for an oil & filter change any more reasonable.

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I can understand why TrevC is happy to pay the £120 - if he had gone to a VAT registered garage he wouldn't be getting the 'free' turbo work done.

TrevC - did you get any notification from the Dealer that work needed to be done ?

No - I'd booked it in for the oil and filter change for last Saturday, and they were going to do it while I waited. They called me late on Friday to say that there was an outstanding "maintenance campaign" on the car regarding the turbo, and they'd need it for half a day. They were polite and apologetic and arranged for a free courtesy car. The book has now been stamped with the service, and also in the "campaign" section with a reference number. I know they should build it right first time, but these things do happen occasionally, and I don't see how FIAT or the dealer could have dealt with it much better. Apparently if it had failed there would have been a power loss but no damage, and only a small number have actually failed.

My first 'free' Fiat service on my 1983 Panda care of Fiat main dealer in Bournemouth was a disaster. They fitted the wrong filter. The filter they fitted had no 'anti drain' rubber seal fitted and overnight the filter drained oil back to the sump so on start up next day you had a lot of big end knocking until the filter filled and injected oil into the galleries. I took all the warranty/servicing work to Fiat Highcliffe and they charged £1 for doing the paperwork.

TrevC said:

No - I'd booked it in for the oil and filter change for last Saturday, and they were going to do it while I waited. They called me late on Friday to say that there was an outstanding "maintenance campaign" on the car regarding the turbo, and they'd need it for half a day. They were polite and apologetic and arranged for a free courtesy car. The book has now been stamped with the service, and also in the "campaign" section with a reference number. I know they should build it right first time, but these things do happen occasionally, and I don't see how FIAT or the dealer could have dealt with it much better. Apparently if it had failed there would have been a power loss but no damage, and only a small number have actually failed.

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That's a little disappointing. There was an issue with the MiTo on a drain pipe that had to be replaced so that it wouldn't freeze the belts causing them to snap (it's well documented and IIRC it also affected the GPs). The OH got a letter to get her car in a quick visit to get it sorted about a year ago. There was reports of timing belts freezing from this (rare enough) which resulted in a new or I should say replacement engines. I did check the AA web site and there was no recalls for the 500 TA on this or for the MiTo so I guess it would have to be a safety related one to 'get up there'. It's good that Fiat have a 'campaign section' so that you know that it has been done - it will help anyone looking to buy a TA secondhand particularly if it is outside the warranty period.

Apparently the turbo linkage detachment was rare, and the failure mode is power loss, not damage. That's presumably why they leave it until a service is being done. They could have kept quiet and crossed their fingers until the warranty was up, but the fact that they didn't suggests that FIAT are making some attempt to improve reliability/customer satisfaction. That last sentence is bound to start a flurry of responses!

TrevC said:

Apparently the turbo linkage detachment was rare, and the failure mode is power loss, not damage. That's presumably why they leave it until a service is being done. They could have kept quiet and crossed their fingers until the warranty was up, but the fact that they didn't suggests that FIAT are making some attempt to improve reliability/customer satisfaction. That last sentence is bound to start a flurry of responses!

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:Offtopic:
After getting the ex 500 serviced last November I got a call from Fiat customer service as to how satisfied I was with the service. I didn't exactly give a glowing report but gave a 'balanced' feedback without totally burning them. Received a call during the week from the actual garage where the service had been done wanting to double check on my contact details looking for email address, etc. and if I still had the 500. Told them that I had a MiTo now and being primarily an Alfa (now Chyrsler) garage there was a sign of relief. She preceded to ask the same questions I was asked by HQ but I refused saying that I had already answered them and that I would prefer to be an anoymous - fat chance of that.
Dealers are trying harder now but the tightening of the belts on entertaining warranty claims there's a lot of communication between the Dealer and Fiat CS and it's creating an overhead.
Can't help thinking that some notification should have gone to TA owners - it might have swayed a few to stick with Fiat on the servicing.

Finally got to changing the oil and filter today -- seems to have gone well, I'll post a write-up with photos shortly.

One thing that bothered me however was: the oil that came out looked like it had been in the engine for a year! Dark, nearly-black stuff that smelled of burned toast to me -- I was very surprised to drain that from an engine only 3 months old and having done only 3500 miles!

Good write up, also the 'engine floor' is more commonly known as the engine tray

The oil filter looks like its upside down in your photo? I thought they were meant to hang downwards? Assuming I'm looking at the photo correctly

It's not a cartridge oil filter - it's a 'canister' type that sits inside a housing (like BMW and VAG use)..

Changed mine today as the car was just shy of 3000 miles. Easy enough job, although one thing to say is that the drain plug is as soft as cheese, so be very careful not to allow the socket/spanner to slip and mash the head of the bolt.

I took the top cover/air filter off to ease the access to the filter, as said it's a bit of a tight fit and best to place a load of rags around the area to avoid dropping oil on hoses etc.

bgunn said:

Changed mine today as the car was just shy of 3000 miles. Easy enough job, although one thing to say is that the drain plug is as soft as cheese, so be very careful not to allow the socket/spanner to slip and mash the head of the bolt.

I took the top cover/air filter off to ease the access to the filter, as said it's a bit of a tight fit and best to place a load of rags around the area to avoid dropping oil on hoses etc.

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Realise that it's hard to know from a visual but was your oil anything like what newcheck described on his oil change ?

Would you recommend changing the washer on the drain plug at the same time given that it probably only costs a few pence ?

loveshandbags said:

Would you recommend changing the washer on the drain plug at the same time given that it probably only costs a few pence ?

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It's certainly good practice to change the sump plug washer, particularly as they only cost a few pence. The difficulty is that they're sometimes not that easy to get hold of.

I've long thought it'd be a good idea to include one with each oil filter sold - it would add very little to the cost & it'd be there when you needed it.

1.2 owners don't need to concern themselves with this, as those models use a tapered thread on the sump plug to provide the necessary seal - no washer is needed.

Most Easterly Pandas said:

Good write up, also the 'engine floor' is more commonly known as the engine tray

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Thanks, 'pandas! Yeah, sorry about the "engine bay floor" thing I knew it wasn't quite right, but couldn't think of the right term!

jrkitching said:

It's certainly good practice to change the sump plug washer, particularly as they only cost a few pence. The difficulty is that they're sometimes not that easy to get hold of.

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Precisely. It's a shame I forgot to measure mine though, since now we won't know until someone else does an oil change It should be ok to reverse the washer once, since it will have been crushed in the opposite direction before. I suppose there might be the issue that, having been crushed once, it may have become brittle and need annealing... But I think it should be ok for one more use, in a pinch

loveshandbags said:

Realise that it's hard to know from a visual but was your oil anything like what newcheck described on his oil change ?

Would you recommend changing the washer on the drain plug at the same time given that it probably only costs a few pence ?

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I annealed my sump plug washer, and flattened it with some 600 grit wet+dry - the easiest way would be to chuck it an replace it.

The oil was dark and quite smelly, but had plenty of 'lubricity' - when rubbed between thumb and forefinger, so I have no doubt it would have been fine if left, but I just feel much more comfortable replacing it and the filter after the engine had done a few thousand miles..