Recently I'd been getting some wiffs of fuel from standing next to the car and o inspection the tank seemed damp on a dry day so I'm nearly 100% that the tank is leaking.

Now we all know or should know that the tanks are crap and that some were replaced etc, I read through some previous posts regarding the recall then hed the following experience: -

I knew from buying the car that the fuel tank had been subject to some work as this was written in biro on the service book so at he time thought everything would be fine. So call this morning to Fiat Customer Care on 0845 6066619 and was told to contact my dealer. I don't really have a dealer in the sense that the lady meant, I bought my Cinq privately and am the third owner but I forced myself to call my local dealer and with my chassis number he was able to tell me that there was no outstanding recall notice on that particular vehicle.

I then called back Fiat Customer Care and gave them my registration, from this they told me the tank was "inspected" on September 2000 but not replaced (I take it no leak was detected hence no replacement?) the lady then went on to say that due to the length of time that there was nothing they could do and doubted there would be a goodwill offering either.

Now, I've no qualms with getting and fitting a replacement tank but just want to know I am doing it as a last resort and not cos I was fobbed off by a call centre.

Apologies for the huge post but does anyone think I've a chance of getting anything? I plan on putting the case in writing to Fiat and waiting for a written reply before buying any parts.

Cheers

Liam

your being fobbed off, someone on here got a free tank the other week as recall to replace is still open.

it was foxyemx https://www.fiatforum.com/showthread.php?p=330958#post330958

If the recall was to replace the tanks not to inspect them then whichever dealer has done it has been rather lazy! Don't know how far you'll have to take it but you never know, you might get an intelligent phone operator next time

My one was inspected and they said it was OK. Does that sound right?

The Ugly Duckling said:

My one was inspected and they said it was OK. Does that sound right?

Click to expand...

I am thinking that its not. It should be replaced, as the leak is not always immediate and might occur later on in your cars life.

i get petrol smells out me car when i give it stick round corners but it leaks out cap litle bit, but it still smells in car?

Don't listen to a word the Fiat call centres say! I had exactly the same problem with my fuel tank. I bought the car privately, I knew that the car had a replacement fuel tank, even though the previous owner had taken the car to Fiat. Anyway, I took ownership of the car and three years later I noticed a leak from my tank, I called Fiat Head Quarters and they told me to contact my local dealer, instead I took the car into the local fiat garage and they inspected the car. They really wanted to know if the car had a replacement fuel tank when the recall notice was first issued some 3 years ago? Anyway they had to get confirmation from the original Fiat garage the car had come from, they then confirmed that the worked had been carried out. They then took photo's of the tank and sent these to Fiat Head Quarters to see who was at fault (payment had to be covered by someone) all went to plan and Fiat took liability and I landed myself with a new tank. Hope this helps?

Sam

Awesome Sam!

Seems like my problem exactly!

Hope I get a solution like that too, going to pen a letter tonight and see what they say.

Thanks guys so far, will update the thread accordingly.

Liam

OK, wrote aforementioned letter last night and have sent it to the following places: -

Fiat (UK)
240 Bath Road
Slough
Berkshire
SL1 4DX

This is Fiat Headquarters for the UK.

Fiat Information & Customer Services
FREEPOST (NAT13690)
Twickenham
TW1 1BR

This is the customer service base and likely where they post out brochures to you.

And lastly [email protected]

All the same letter, hopefully this way it won't be ignored. If I don't get a response I'll write two letters a week just like the Shawshank Redemption!

Liam

No response so far, does anyone know if Fiat log the letters received and who dealt with them if any?

Liam

ive email them now, dont know if it will do anygood oe didnt spell check it before it went

I got this reply :- not very helpfull looks like an auto responce

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your email

We are sorry to hear that you have received no contact from our Customer Service department and can only apologise on their behalf.

If you wish to pursue your case and see exactly how far it has progressed you may contact the Customer Service department directly by calling our number 0845 606 6619 and select option 2. The Customer Service department operates between the hours of 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday.

Alternatively you may write to them regarding your complaint at the following address:

Customer Relations
Fiat Auto UK
Fiat House
240 Bath Road
Slough
Berkshire
SL1 4DX

Please be informed that we can only provide you with standard consumer information and therefore cannot deal with your complaint directly. Please use the above medium with which to gain an update on your case.

Should you in future have a general enquiry or require any advice we will be more than pleased to help you with a question of this nature.

Best Regards

Fiat Information Centre


Original message follows:
>Hello one of our 9964 members has been waiting over a week for a responce to a letter he sent to 3 diffrent departmens, could you please give this urgent attension.
>details here :- https://www.fiatforum.com/showthread.php?t=30507
>Dave
>moderator of punto section at www.fiatforum.com

Thanks Dave!

Went straight to Complaints Section yesterday and the woman said I'd get a call before Tuesday and if not to call back straight away.

I'll wait till then before digging out the WMD!

Liam

Got a "Dear John" letter from Fiat a week or so ago, basically telling me they won't be assisting in any way. Fair enough, I never expected them to roll over at the first hurdle anyway.

Called them back armed with the information I got from Funkycinq (Thanks Sam!) and was tolds I needed to be called by the author of the letter.

I await his call.

Liam

Didn't get a call from Daniel Flannagan at all, he shat out and on his PC opened up the previous letter and changed the body giving me the following:-

Although you mention other owners getting a superior outcome we still can't offer assistance. plase return to the dealer who carried out the work. Fuel tanks after this time (5 years!) are liable to corrosion.

OK not exactly like that but near as damn it.

So to sum up, he has crap admin, letter had first letter date on it June 2nd! and they won't help.

What should I do now?

Liam

trading standards

Hi,
When I contacted Fiat about the tank recall thing, they explained to me that the problem was corrosion in the seem between the upper and lower half of the tank, If the corrosion on yours is in the seem, then its Fiats fault, try and take a photo and email or send recorded delivery with your letter of complaint....

Thanks
Paul T

OK just want to get a few things straight. The recall for the fuel tanks was an inspection only, if the tank had corroded in certain areas it required replacement, which was carried out as an addition to the recall. This does not mean that the tanks automatically have a lifetime warranty. It also does not mean that the dealer doing the inspection was incorrect as like an MOT it was an "at the time inspection". Lastly as trading standards have nothing to do with recalls and the vehicle has been inspected several years earlier I doubt that they would be interested.

One reason people are getting so irate about this issue is because Fiat seem to be treating individual cases differently. Some have recently been offered free fuel tanks without question, others like myself have witnessed troubles such as an extremely hostile response from a service manager in a local dealer.

My tank was replaced under recall in 2001 I'm led to believe, and subsequently holed. Fiat replied that they 'can't do anything' as the replacement was authorised by Fiat but no record of Fiat having paid out for the work was recorded. Sounds fishy to me.

I have no problems with Fiat staff (except one particular service manager who tells people things that are blatantly untrue, but that's a separate, personal issue) and I'm sure nobody means you any insult - but as a whole Fiat UK and some dealers really need to improve.