AMC Chelmsford refuse to fix my car !

I have a grande punto 1.2 dynamic bought on 4/9/06 from new my car has always had a clonking steering and a vibration that runs thru the car.
AMC have changed the steering rack twice now and the last time was feb 07
When i went to pick up the car it was not ready and the receptionist asked the service guy when my car would be ready he just shook his head and from his expressions it looked to me that my car was F****D, she said to him it had to be ready by 12 next day as my loan car was due out.
Any way i picked car up next day with not a lot of faith and my instincts were proved right steering still clonky and vibration thru car
I Have now done 12300 miles on my gp and yesterday i notice my two front tyres are both bald same place on the inside rim.
So iam now forced into trying to get car fixed again as i 100% know its steering rack.
I went to AMC yesterday and i will be brief this is what happened.
I asked at reception to speak to service manager reply was he has left!
ok can i speak to a manager or director reply no he is on holiday back in a week.
So i tell reception girl about my problem i have had two steering racks and iam still getting vibration thru car and both front tyres are bald on inside,
she types in to computer says you had new rack in feb 07 walks off comes back with attitude and says warranty does not cover tyres then her female side kick pipes up you must of hit a curb.
Now i keep my car in mint condition i have not hit any curbs and wheels have no curb damage.
I then say to her does this mean you are not going to fix my car?
reply NO.
So straight away they went on defencive and at no point did i ask for new tyres although i expected that they would as tyres are bald due to their shoddy work on rack.
When i got home i phoned fiat uk and have a case number but have not heard anything yet.
Any ideas what i should do?

If you get a dealer who can't or won't fix your car properly book your car in with another dealer......no matter how inconvenient the travelling time is,
the good one's are all listed......it's worth it in the long run - there are some VERY GOOD Fiat dealerships and I'm afraid for important stuff you've got to take it there....I suggest Thames Fiat, Slough or Desira, Southgate.

Gemma Kirby at Fiat Auto in Slough is somone who is pretty effective at getting things sorted out fast....her direct number is: 01753-519509

Thankyou for a swift reply,
IS Thames fiat you mention in croydon canterbury road? as i live in Essex i think that would be nearest to me.
And i do remember reading a post on steering racks and they managed to fix someones rack problem.
This is my third punto and i would like to get car fixed,my other cars were from fiat southend managed by eric cousins who i never had any problems with he has now retired and sold garage to toomeys which is now a vauxhall dealer.
So AMC will no longer get any future sales or service ££££ from me or my father who has a gp also bought on same day as mine.
But will AMC care i think not

have heard of lot of bad reports about this dealer

fortunatly romford is not far down the road and glen hopkings are highly recomended by members on here
Nick the parts manager and dave the tech guy are top people who will go out od their way to try and sort out any problems

Sweet thx dave i will have to give them a try.
Another thing that put me off AMC chelmsford was the way they treated my mother when she booked my fathers car in because the power steering failed.
She asked for them to pick up the car as she was to scared to drive it and felt it was unsafe to drive,the reply was why should one of our staff drive it if you think its unsafe to drive.
My mother then asked for it to be picked up on a truck the reply was Who told you we pick up cars,well it was fiat uk who she phoned prior to AMC chelmsford.
My mother then had to say i did not phone for a argument i just want my car fixed.
The car was finally booked in and on the day i had to follow my dad down to garage.
We get to garage and they know nothing about our car being booked in so then my dad says they are going to pick it up from home in a few days time
Something my mother was told on booking day they would not do.
Any ways it went in and they said there was nothing wrong with car,i read on forum about powersteering fault and it said it could be loose connection on battery so we fixed ourselfs but told mother AMC had fixed problem otherwise she would have been to scared to drive car.
Must admit thou the sales guy was as nice as pie but the service girls need a lesson in how to treat customers,or maybe they are trained to put up a shield when customers have problems.
And i have noticed that the fiat area of the showroom is now quarter of the size it used to be give it another year and i bet they will no longer have any fiat customers

Hi PCMAN,

If you use your wheel-changing jack to raise the front near-side you will be able to see for yourself and demonstrate to your dealer if there is play in your steering rack. Use the ignition key to unlock the steering, jack up the car and rock the near-side front wheel from side-to-side (steer it). The noise mine makes matches what I hear inside the car. Also, it is possible to turn the near-side wheel from side-to-side slightly while the steering wheel is stationary.

This movement is characteristic of play existing in the tie-rod ball joint inside the steering rack. Consequently one hears loud knocking over bumps and a "shimmering" as the wheel oscillates at speed - particularly after hitting a bump. It would not surprise me if this causes tyre wear and also wear in the near-side constant-velocity joint.

My dealer found it difficult (or reluctant?!) to diagnose the problem because they jack up the whole car. Under these conditions the opposite wheel is not constrained and it is much more difficult to observe this play. Eventually the technician observed the play and my GP is due to have the rack replaced as soon as a new one is supplied.

I have written a letter to Fiat bringing this point (and this website) to their attention. One only needs to see the number of people viewing letters about knocking noises from the steering/suspension of the Grande Punto to see that there are many owners, unhappy about this fault, visiting the website.

Good luck!

Mike

i have bought my car from amc and had my breaks done and other things there, they seem fine to me! where abouts you from? near there? i am from brentwood area.

Thx for the input mike will have to give that a try.
My symptoms are-
When moving steering left to right it clonks
Vibration thru pedals and car
Front two tyres bald on inside same spot,i have a feeling it could be due to amc not tracking in after rack was replaced.
After going over bumps or a slope in car park it rattles underneath.

Seems weird that fathers car is ok and both cars were ordered on same day,well apart from powersteering failing and loosing all dash dials.


I would really love to have a new car that worked from day one with minor defects like faulty windows or leaking boot

Try this if you think your gp is not running as smooth as you think it should put a couple of plasic shopping bags half full on passenger seat drive along and see if they shake like they was placed on a washing machine.

Wish i was as lucky as you James.

Did you have warranty work done or did you have to pay would be interesting to know?

Its like when you buy a tv from a electrical shop every one is nice when you buy it but the true test of a good service is when it goes wrong and you try to take it back.

Name and shame - tell everyone you know (and don't know) how unhappy you are with them.

i had warrenty work done, one was for a recall and another was for my breaks squealing which hasn't come back so far (touch wood) so they have been pretty good to me so far, although when i enquired about the break squeal they claimed there ws no cure but i then said what i had from the forum they looked more into it.

Booked car in this morning at fiat romford lady at reception was shocked when she heard i had had two steering racks fitted,
she also said straight away that the inside wear on both front tyres was probably down to amc not tracking rack in after fitting.



I have still not heard anything from fiat uk.

You wont.
And as for the lady being shocked....i cant see how, they must get drama lessons as training!

Fiat uk are about as helpfull as a chocolate teapot. Ive got so fed up with dealing with Glyn Hopkin Chadwell heath the finance company and Fiat auto uk.
Ive contacted SMMT (Society of motor manufactures and traders) who seem VERY intrested in my problems.

I just sent them all copies of correspondence between myself and the fiat uk, glyn hopkin.

Hopefully these guys will jump all over fiat uk and Glyn hopkin to get all my problems sorted once and for all.

I would really suggest people write to SMMT to make them aware of Fiat uk and the dodgy dealerships.

noooooooooo looks like new car time then


wave goodbye to £5000 in less than a year

why have you had bad news on your car?