jrkitching said:

No.

I once had a clutch go from an almost unnoticeable slip to essentially losing all traction in less than five miles.

You risk being stranded at any time & facing the prospect of recovery by tow truck.


You also risk making the bill much more expensive than it need be - the clutch assembly will seriously overheat & if that takes out an oil seal you will likely be spending a lot of money.

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Cheers for that. I said that to my dealer and he's let me keep the courtesy car.

Also got green flag national breakdown cover now!

Dealer checked it out yesterday and said it's the diff, might be covered under warranty 3rd year dealer extended warranty that is! But if not it's about £3k (£2.5k+VAT!) lol

PsFiat said:

If it starts to slip badly I'd change it, you might get another few thousand kms out of it... But it could suddenly go as well... Always a risky proposition...

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no its not slipping badly, I just feel that it is no longer brand new. my question is if it goes, other than changing the clutch, will there be any other effects? I have breakdown cover anyway, so if it goes and I am in town I will just have it towed to my service place. they already quoted me 350 euros for the change.

failure of a non wear and tear part in less than 30 K is poor,
FIAT UK should help you there IF the warranty you've paid for doesn't cover it,

what engine / g box combo is this.., as I've read a few reports of VERY early g-box issues in the latest TA panda's = 6 speed Twin Airs,

do let us know,
Charlie

You risk not being able to change gears at all, or you may end up stuck in one particular gear. You'll probably feel when the time is right to fix it, though I've rarely had a clutch go under about 70,000kms on the odo.

ahmett said:

no its not slipping badly, I just feel that it is no longer brand new. my question is if it goes, other than changing the clutch, will there be any other effects? I have breakdown cover anyway, so if it goes and I am in town I will just have it towed to my service place. they already quoted me 350 euros for the change.

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the friction material of the "driven" clutch plate is held on with Rivets,
if it wears down completely these rivets will score grooves into the FLYWHEEL plate (on end of engines crankshaft),
in the olden days you'd get it skimmed-up but with DMF's etc.. your options MAY be limited,
best not to drive on one that is slipping much..,

risk of further bills / mechanical damage..
Failure = being stranded without drive

charlie

ahmett said:

I can feel the clutch slip a bit but not too bad. Is it ok if I drive it until the clutch goes and replace it then?

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That would be too much like playing russian roulette for my taste.

Varescrazy's post sums it up pretty well. Once they start slipping they can quickly get very hot; the problems can soon multiply and what would be a relatively inexpensive repair now could end up well into four figures if left until it fails outright.

That's before you even think about the inconvenience of never being quite sure if you'll get where you're going. It would be a bit like driving everywhere with no bars showing on the fuel gauge.

jrkitching said:

That would be too much like playing russian roulette for my taste.

Varescrazy's post sums it up pretty well. Once they start slipping they can quickly get very hot; the problems can soon multiply and what would be a relatively inexpensive repair now could end up well into four figures if left until it fails outright.

That's before you even think about the inconvenience of never being quite sure if you'll get where you're going. It would be a bit like driving everywhere with no bars showing on the fuel gauge.

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Problem is car is dualogic so I don't know how worn or not the clutch exactly is as I don't control the clutch myself. I'll monitor it and if it feels really bad, will get it changed.

varesecrazy said:

failure of a non wear and tear part in less than 30 K is poor,
FIAT UK should help you there IF the warranty you've paid for doesn't cover it,

what engine / g box combo is this.., as I've read a few reports of VERY early g-box issues in the latest TA panda's = 6 speed Twin Airs,

do let us know,
Charlie

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It is a 1.2 pop with 5 speed manual gearbox
Is imagine they will but I might just go to an indie depending in how much they contribute

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_s...at+500+1.2+gearbox&=&rt=nc&LH_ItemCondition=4

+ a clutch

and a few hours labour at an independent and you'll be sorted.


Tbh the 500 drivetrain is pretty solid, in fact issues with the 1.2 engine and box are more or less unheard of.


The clutch in my 500 still feels fantastic at 63k miles, it will probably go to the scrappers with it in......

Mitchiet123 said:

It is a 1.2 pop with 5 speed manual gearbox
Is imagine they will but I might just go to an indie depending in how much they contribute

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the 5 speed boxes are generally pretty tough and durable.. so FIAT should stand for the repair,

out of interest did you buy the car from FIAT.. / NEW ..??


Charlie

Or on the other hand that suggests that the boxes are tough and would only break if abused.

varesecrazy said:

the 5 speed boxes are generally pretty tough and durable.. so FIAT should stand for the repair,

out of interest did you buy the car from FIAT.. / NEW ..??



Charlie

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Yer brand new from that garage on PCP buy it out at the end

306maxi said:

Or on the other hand that suggests that the boxes are tough and would only break if abused.

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Dunno what you seen to be suggesting mate but I don't abuse my car.
Just either bought a lemon or the 500 is a piece if ****ing **** and need to get something decent like a discovery!

Mitchiet123 said:

Dunno what you seen to be suggesting mate but I don't abuse my car.
Just either bought a lemon or the 500 is a piece if ****ing **** and need to get something decent like a discovery!

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I'm sorry, but not everyone knows how to change gear properly or not ride the clutch etc etc. It would be stupid of people on here to not at least suspect owner error

306maxi said:

I'm sorry, but not everyone knows how to change gear properly or not ride the clutch etc etc. It would be stupid of people on here to not at least suspect owner error

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Well you've posted things like that a few times and fyi I do know how to change gear and actually drive properly!
And for the discovery, I know land rover hasn't got the best track record but my dad has had about 7 discoverys and range rovers and no problems with any

Components fail, statistically it happens regardless

Mitchiet123 said:

Just either bought a lemon or the 500 is a piece if ****ing ****

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Gearbox/clutch issues on 500's are relatively rare but not unknown. Failure after 30000 miles is unusual; normally they either fail in the first few weeks (it has happened), or they run reliably for the life of the car.

If FIAT aren't prepared to pick up all or most of the tab for this, it tells you a lot about their attitude to customer service - which IMO is a bigger problem with these cars than their general reliability.

jrkitching said:

Gearbox/clutch issues on 500's are relatively rare but not unknown. Failure after 30000 miles is unusual; normally they either fail in the first few weeks (it has happened), or they run reliably for the life of the car.

If FIAT aren't prepared to pick up all or most of the tab for this, it tells you a lot about their attitude to customer service - which IMO is a bigger problem with these cars than their general reliability.

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They literally are the worst garage ever. They replaced my exhaust system because they couldn't find what the actual noise was (about 6 months ago) when actually it was a small bracket that had snapped and was rattling (just needed about 5 mins labour and £5 parts!
Instead tried charging me about £450

Why did you go back?