Oh Dear,

My 500c Twinair went in today for the Recall on the coils & a replacement of a rubber seal in the boot

While It was there it was decided to have the 18k service done as it is 6 months old and at 17100 Miles.

Called to make sure it was ready to pick up, but all is not well

Knock from the Nearside is Play in the upper suspension so that's got to be replaced, damaged gaiter on the Offside Driveshaft "CV", so that's got to be done, and an Oil leak from the engine that they are "Concerned About" but having trouble tracing that needs investigation.

So going to be with them for a while and I have a little 500 Pop from them,

Bit concerned with so much wrong after 6 months and 17k miles never gets "hooned" around and spends most of its life on the motorway.

Oh well as long as its all cured all will be well.

flashyphotos said:

Oh Dear,

My 500c Twinair went in today for the Recall on the coils & a replacement of a rubber seal in the boot

While It was there it was decided to have the 18k service done as it is 6 months old and at 17100 Miles.

Called to make sure it was ready to pick up, but all is not well

Knock from the Nearside is Play in the upper suspension so that's got to be replaced, damaged gaiter on the Offside Driveshaft "CV", so that's got to be done, and an Oil leak from the engine that they are "Concerned About" but having trouble tracing that needs investigation.

So going to be with them for a while and I have a little 500 Pop from them,

Bit concerned with so much wrong after 6 months and 17k miles never gets "hooned" around and spends most of its life on the motorway.

Oh well as long as its all cured all will be well.

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Strut top mounts are made of cheese on 500's. Gaiter on driveshaft could happen to anyone really.

Yeah I know "Could happen to anyone at any time".

Just a pain and as I never had any problems like this with my old 500 over 3 years,

Will see what they say tomorrow, am a bit concerned about the oil leak though, not something I would expect on a new unit like this.

Yeah, the oil leak one is a bit more concerning.

flashyphotos said:

Yeah I know "Could happen to anyone at any time".

Just a pain and as I never had any problems like this with my old 500 over 3 years,

Will see what they say tomorrow, am a bit concerned about the oil leak though, not something I would expect on a new unit like this.

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Don't forget though the Fiat strut mounts are rubbish and fiat dealers only use OEM parts so make sure you get those done at an independent with better quality aftermarket parts once you are out of warranty!


You do 17k in 6 months???? I do that in a year and I feel like I am in the car most of my life! How do you manage that?

ahmett said:

You do 17k in 6 months???? I do that in a year and I feel like I am in the car most of my life! How do you manage that?

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140 Miles to Work in London and 140 Miles home.. Twice a week.. + Being out on the road in London a lot when I am there.

Soon adds up.

flashyphotos said:

Soon adds up.

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Twenty years ago: I would buy myself a second-hand Audi, with 50k on it; do another 50-60k; and sell it... -- a year later.... And I did this for six or seven years....

The perils of being the only marketing manager for a UK-wide IT company.... Thank goodness for Skype, etc.....

Mind you...

flashyphotos said:

140 Miles to Work in London and 140 Miles home.. Twice a week.. + Being out on the road in London a lot when I am there.

Soon adds up.

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Wow. Maybe you overdrove the poor fiat haha, wasn't designed to be driven so much so quickly.

Edited

Back with my 500

There is an oil leak, they have given me the car back but booked it back in For the whole of next week for Investigation and rectification

Said head needs to come off to source the leak, and as it will need authorisation from Fiat for any works so will be with them a week.

Other works were all done, including changing both Front Suspension Tops.

So have my car for a few days although a bit Drippy!!..

Glad its going to be sorted before going back into daily service on the Motorway to work!!!

Am now back in my own car with everything (Hopefully) Done.

To Recap, went in for Coil Pack Change as a Recall Job at 17.1k miles (6months old).

And asked them to investigate knocking from NS on hard acceleration

Decided to get 18k service done while in,

During service found oil leak from Engine

Got it back last Friday with Service done, Coil packs changed & Both Front Suspension Tops replaced,

Went in again on Monday morning for investigation on oil leak and got it back today, with Cylinder Head Gasket Replaced, and Engine Mount replaced.

Just hoping this is the end of it for a while now. as in 6 months have had

New Battery
New Alternator
OSF Driveshaft
Repainted Front End (As garage damaged Bonnet while in for warranty work)
Roof Seal
Coil Packs
Both Front Suspension Tops
Head Gasket
Engine Mount

Starting to add up to a lot of bits on a car that is only 6 months old!!!


NOTE That, the Dealer said they had done a fair few Head Gaskets on the Twinair, but had never had one back again once it had been done! Lets hope so as I always see a head gasket as a sign of worse things to come!

I'm not sure if I feel more sorry for you or your poor car that you are driving 35,000 miles a year in.

RobinPJ said:

I'm not sure if I feel more sorry for you or your poor car that you are driving 35,000 miles a year in.

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35k a year is nothing,

My highest ever mileage was a 1992 K Reg Ford Granada 2.8 Scorpio, Picked it up Brand New with 4 miles on the clock, went out of service at 24 months old with 167k on it.

Now that is when I did drive a lot!

Mind you saying that, the Dealer had a bit of a stunned look when he took the Courtesy car back in that he left me on Monday morning as it had 204 on the clock at 8am Monday, and had 1180 on the clock at 3pm Wednesday.

Your mileage is okay... it doesn't make any difference to the car if you do 17,000 miles in 6 months or 6 years ... it's not a living creature, that has to rest.

In fact 17k in 6 months is probably better for the car... but it does mean you get a whole year-and-a-bit of wear, issues and problems in a shorter timescale.

Hopefully the beast will stay fit and well now...

What's it like for long motorway journies though. I'm still deciding whether a TA will do for me.... benzina being a bit dear... but I do the same sort of mileage as you.

Squadrone Rosso on here has a TA and he reckons it's fine for long treks (comfort and a reasonable cruising speed) but how do you find it? What's your usual speed on the motorway and what mpgs does the lad knock out?


Ralf S.

It is not big issue every car that run at road have little bit problem, leakage, bolts lose or other little problems are common. Just repair car from expert mechanical and enjoy your drive.

Ralf S. said:

Your mileage is okay... it doesn't make any difference to the car if you do 17,000 miles in 6 months or 6 years ... it's not a living creature, that has to rest.

In fact 17k in 6 months is probably better for the car... but it does mean you get a whole year-and-a-bit of wear, issues and problems in a shorter timescale.

Hopefully the beast will stay fit and well now...

What's it like for long motorway journies though. I'm still deciding whether a TA will do for me.... benzina being a bit dear... but I do the same sort of mileage as you.

Squadrone Rosso on here has a TA and he reckons it's fine for long treks (comfort and a reasonable cruising speed) but how do you find it? What's your usual speed on the motorway and what mpgs does the lad knock out?


Ralf S.

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Cheers, I love it on the motorway, I find it very relaxed.

Both myself and OH are short (5ft3) so helps being a small car.

As for economy I did put some figures up in the other thread on the TA will copy them here when I find them


EDIT - Here are my motorway figures

After 17k miles my results are (Sorry for the long waffling reply)

I can easily manage 73mpg average on my 135 mile commute from Huthwaite to Central London. BUT to get that I have to spend the entire 120 Mile M1 Section of the journey at 53mph in the slow lane with the HGVs, its tiring its boring its no fun and I hate doing it. But I have done it multiple times to prove to myself that Fiats figures are achievable and beatable.

Doing the same trip with a Motorway speed of 60mph brings the trip average down to 62mpg

Doing the same trip with a Motorway speed of 70mph brings the trip average down to 49mpg

Doing the same trip with a Motorway speed of 80mph brings the trip average down to 37mpg

I don't think I have ever had an engine that punishes you so much for small increases in speed. (Especially with an engine that encourages you to give it that bit more beans)...

So on the plus side I know I can get Fiats figures if I am prepared to sit there bored tired and willing myself to throw the car of the road and end it all..!!! Or I can enjoy the drive and pay more than I would for driving a lot of other cars at the same speed.

I can live with that. I tend to drive down to London economically, but drive back more enthusiastically (Its normally 1am and I want to get home before the coffee wears off).

But after living with motorway cruisers in the past this has been a real culture shock that so little extra speed means so much extra consumption.

My Real Term average over 17k miles has averages now at 51mpg.
(70% Motorway, 30% Town & Heavy City Traffic)

Flashyphotos are you on fuelly out of interest

Most Easterly Pandas said:

Flashyphotos are you on fuelly out of interest

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I was for a while but found I forgot to update it or chucked the receipt before I entered the data, so it fell by the wayside I am afraid. I am not organised enough for it to work for me!!!

flashyphotos said:

Am now back in my own car with everything (Hopefully) Done.

To Recap, went in for Coil Pack Change as a Recall Job at 17.1k miles (6months old).

And asked them to investigate knocking from NS on hard acceleration

Decided to get 18k service done while in,

During service found oil leak from Engine

Got it back last Friday with Service done, Coil packs changed & Both Front Suspension Tops replaced,

Went in again on Monday morning for investigation on oil leak and got it back today, with Cylinder Head Gasket Replaced, and Engine Mount replaced.

Just hoping this is the end of it for a while now. as in 6 months have had

New Battery
New Alternator
OSF Driveshaft
Repainted Front End (As garage damaged Bonnet while in for warranty work)
Roof Seal
Coil Packs
Both Front Suspension Tops
Head Gasket
Engine Mount

Starting to add up to a lot of bits on a car that is only 6 months old!!!


NOTE That, the Dealer said they had done a fair few Head Gaskets on the Twinair, but had never had one back again once it had been done! Lets hope so as I always see a head gasket as a sign of worse things to come!

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Sorry to hear about your troubles Flashyphotos. Surprised that there's head gasket issues on the TA - a little bit worrying on such a new engine and one with lowish mileage.

Can't help thinking that with 34K p.a. and a lot of it on the motorway that a multi-jet would have been a better bet. Personally I don't really like diesel engines but drive the OH's MJ on a regular basis. I would be averaging 50mpg with a mix of country runs and motorway jaunts and I wouldn't be sparing the horses. Over 2 days I could cover in excess of 350 miles. Diesel engines are tougher engines than petrol and wear the miles better.
What are you options in extending the warranty with Fiat so that the engine is covered. From what I remember of head gasket changes the head needs to be skimmed. So surely there's a limit to how often a head gasket can be changed.
Also surprised that the 500 MJ never managed to get its emissions below 100grs/km so that it was exempt from the current London congestion charge.

loveshandbags said:

Sorry to hear about your troubles Flashyphotos. Surprised that there's head gasket issues on the TA - a little bit worrying on such a new engine and one with lowish mileage.

Can't help thinking that with 34K p.a. and a lot of it on the motorway that a multi-jet would have been a better bet. Also surprised that the 500 MJ never managed to get its emissions below 100grs/km so that it was exempt from the current London congestion charge.

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Yep will be keeping an eye on the Head Gasket, they threw out a standard line that one of the bolts was not tightened to spec and they see it a lot and once replaced all is well we will see.

Did consider the MJ, but still think running costs are higher than the TA and with the TA saving me over £1500 a year in London CC (£4500 over 3 years) it was a no brainer for me, although a lot closer call if you don't have the need travel in London a lot.

flashyphotos said:

Doing the same trip with a Motorway speed of 80mph brings the trip average down to 37mpg

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Interesting. I do a 38 mile commute each way most of which is motorway and I'm averaging 37mpg on a 1.4 with the 6 speed and a quaife diff fitted to it which robs a few mpg. And that's at 80 to 100 for the whole motorway section.

I mean at 70mph only and never faster. Yes, that's what I meant. 70mph.