My Bravo's gearbox is being replaced under warrenty after the 5th and 6th gear bearings started to become noisy/whiney. It's just 2 years old and covered 18k miles :bang:. Fiat took a look at it last week and have agreed to replace the whole box which is now on its way from Italy. Just wanted to share as it seems like there are more and more people coming forward with the same issue.

hi Mate,

Just got back from my local dealer... had the bearings replaced and box tightened to the proper measures this time ... had to pay 40% myself since its past warrenty... sounds like the exact same problem... hope its sorted when you get it back.


Cheers

Looking through this and other threads all the gearboxes reported seem to be from tjets. Has anyone experienced problems on 1.4 (90) cars ?.
I think in this car this is the same gearbox as on the Stilo 1.4 and 1.2 . My old stilo did 160k with no gearbox issues whatever, but the Bravo has a slight bearing noise evident in 6th gear after 48k.

MarkRacoon said:

hi Mate,

Just got back from my local dealer... had the bearings replaced and box tightened to the proper measures this time ... had to pay 40% myself since its past warrenty... sounds like the exact same problem... hope its sorted when you get it back.


Cheers

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How much was it? Just thinking about budgeting for issues before buying one.

When i had my Bravo MJET 150 the 3rd gear syncho failed. before all this i did notice a whine at around 25mph in 3rd then it crunched in 3rd. New complete gearbox replaced under 3rd year warranty, took 6 weeks to resolve. Since i px'd it i heard it had another gearbox not to long after.
Saw my old bravo a few days back, it did look lovely and i do miss it.

...how much is a gear box? Also havent Fiats come with a 5 year warranty since 2008? Wouldnt this be covered by it?

iTalian Jet said:

...how much is a gear box? Also havent Fiats come with a 5 year warranty since 2008? Wouldnt this be covered by it?

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I can't comment on the gearboxes, other than to say some of Fiats new 6 speed boxes don't seem to be anywhere near as nice to use or well-lasting as their 5 speeds overall.

However, the 5 year unlimited miles warranty was just a limited offer on the Bravo during part of 2008 & possibly 2009. Even then there were restrictions to it, ie if you'd bought it on finance you may not get it etc. I'd have thought there's not a huge amount of people with 5 year warranty on the Bravo.

Even so, even the oldest new Bravo is only just over 4 years old so unless it's done massive miles i'd be asking Fiat UK for a contribution towards repair. If it's still under warranty i'd be expecting them to foot the whole bill.

iTalian Jet said:

How much was it? Just thinking about budgeting for issues before buying one.

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About 550 pounds .. but that was my 40%.. so total around 1300!.. mind you that cars, parts and repairs are horrificly expensive here in Denmark ! :/

.. don't despair though.. I'm overly satisfied with the car

Cheers

Well my running costs will go down by £1000 a year anyway over my current car so even with repairs I should be quids in.

If you're worried buy a warranty

Are they worth the paper they are written on? I dont think Ive ever been able to use a warranty without them saying "oh, thats not included".

iTalian Jet said:

Are they worth the paper they are written on? I dont think Ive ever been able to use a warranty without them saying "oh, thats not included".

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Indeed you need to buy carefully, check out warranty direct, they look good

Ive heard bad things about them. To be honest I dont think they are worth it but I feel as though a Fiat dealer warranty is better than an indys or 3rd parties. I count be completely wrong though.

MarkRacoon said:

hi Mate,

Just got back from my local dealer... had the bearings replaced and box tightened to the proper measures this time ... had to pay 40% myself since its past warrenty... sounds like the exact same problem... hope its sorted when you get it back.

Cheers

Click to expand...

Man, if I remember what I studied during my master degree in Portugal, Denmark shares the same principle of law as brazil and other countries. Well.. the gearbox is made to last for a long time and for a long time, I mean almost the entire life of the car in a normal use. For normal use I mean cars not used as a working tool, like taxis. So, if your car is new or has some years, considering it is a 2007 Bravo, the gear box has to be considered as new. It does not matter if it is out of warranty or whatever. The point is, the gearbox has to be replaced by Fiat if it fails before its medium lifetime. It is made to last, at least, this first half. If something happens during this time and it is not associated with a harmful usage, means that the gearbox or any of it´s part has hidden problem that made it fail. So, you can ask Fiat to replace the damaged gearbox without any cost. Well, it works here. And If I remember, it´s the same in your country. This principle elapses from the Good Faith Principle. Have you considered call your lawyer? I´m saying this because Fiat knows the law but they try to make you pay half.

In theory yes. We have the Sales of goods act. Products are expected to last up to 6 years depending on what it is designed for and price paid. All this 2 years this and 3 years that is, by statuary law, an irrelevance. What they do seem to suggest is that within those 2 or 3 years the dealer wont put up a fight, which is of course wrong.

I dont actually know if this is different for cars but I dont see why it should be.

Sale of Goods Act does apply to cars when bought from a dealer - not private or auction.

Should be Satisfactory quality, As Described, Fit for purpose, And last a Reasonable length of Time. So technically you could very well argue it wasn't of satisfactory quality and didn't last a reasonable length of time. Legally your gripe is with the dealer - not Fiat.

I think I'll be looking for a decent extended warranty if I keep the Bravo beyond its third birthday.

Is that only relevant if buying new?

iTalian Jet said:

Is that only relevant if buying new?

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Nope. But obviously age and previous history come into play when deciding what satisfactory quality means.

colin79666 said:

Sale of Goods Act does apply to cars when bought from a dealer - not private or auction.

Should be Satisfactory quality, As Described, Fit for purpose, And last a Reasonable length of Time. So technically you could very well argue it wasn't of satisfactory quality and didn't last a reasonable length of time. Legally your gripe is with the dealer - not Fiat.

I think I'll be looking for a decent extended warranty if I keep the Bravo beyond its third birthday.

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(OFF TOPIC - SORRY)

Good to know this difference. Actually, I´ve never deeply studied English Law, mostly because it´s common law. I´ve read some papers and some studies about Good Faith in English Law, but just for curiosity. And If I remember, the Good Faith Principle is not mostly acceptable in England. Anyway, I´d love to know more about consumer relationships law in England.

Anyway, in Brazil, doesn´t matter if you bought a car from a dealer, private or auction. If the some part of the car fail for some reason that not harmful usage, it doesn´t matter if you´re the first, second or third owner. Fiat has the duty to solve the problem. Actually, you can choose who gonna pay. I would choose Fiat, of course. Fiat has the money. In this case, you don´t need to prove who is the responsible for the fail in the gearbox, for exemple. Fiat, on the other hand, has to prove that the system fail because of you or a third person. It´s very cool. And work perfectly. This changed the whole system in Brazil. Nowadays, if you choose to open a business in Brazil you have to have in mind that, if something goes wrong, you are responsible, being your fault or not. The consumer just say "hey dealer, I´ve both this thing and it´s not working well". That´s all you have to say here. From this part ahead, the dealer has to prove that the thing is not working well because of you or a third person. If the dealer cannot prove, well, the dealer has to pay. I can say everything works now. No more abuses from dealers.

Does your second hand market reflect his with high then average car prices?

It does make you wonder here why people dont use their rights and just except dealers saying "its just out of warranty" sorry, or in fact purchase a warranty at all. You shouldnt need to.