I think if you explained your situation to the garage they could fit you in, if dealership chains were not so selfish and money grabbing they would pay techs overtime to get through the backlog of concerned owners!

true, it made me laugh more than anything, the fact that the letter said it was a serious safety issue etc and then they were like "we can book it in for 2 weeks yesterday"

Shakey99 said:

that is also a very fair comment, however, i am fortunate in the sense that i can walk to my place of work, however if i needed to drive to work or college, as some people will do, it isnt really a good reason or excuse to miss 2 weeks of work/education because your car has a potentially lethal defect that cant be sorted quicker?

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So how did you manage before you learned to drive, and how would you manage if say.....your car developed a fault that couldnt be repaired within 2 weeks, or if it was stolen, or if for whatever reason you became unfit to drive, or we had a major petrol shortage??.....Life goes on and some people can actually cope without a car. I am sure you would find a way if you had no choice

I agree, you have to be responsible and for safety, not drive it until its due for its recall..

However, if you can't drive it because its "unsafe" to do so, how on earth are you going to get it to the dealership lol. Secondly, as its a fault of fiat, and not something which has been done by the driver/owner of the car, fiat should pay for alternative transport. The guy who isn't old enough for a courtesy car should be entitled to either free bus or train passes or something similar. (Very unfair that they discriminate driver due to age!!)

Why should he have to pay for Fiat's crap service and faults?

As i live in a village in the middle of nowhere where busses run through just 5 times a day, stay in or walk about 10 miles to the nearest town.
I do understand that i am getting annoyed over a small issue because my car is used purely for social use, im just saying that its still a bit ridiculous as regardless of what a car is used for, making someone wait 2 weeks for a serious problem to be fixed is a bit cheeky.
Also just had another thaught, what happens if it fails when youre on the way to the garage to get it fixed, is it still youre fault?

One more thing, if it was such a "serious" issue, why would they send a letter in the post... Letters can get lost and can take time to come. I wasn't home when my recall letter came a week ago so they sent it back to fiat.. I'm sure it will take another week for them to send it out to me again. If it wasn't for this forum, I wouldn't have known about the steering issue.

Got the letter as well the other day, booked it in this afternoon and they will have it in Tuesday, told it takes less than half an hour.

JimbbobW1977 said:

Got the letter as well the other day, booked it in this afternoon and they will have it in Tuesday, told it takes less than half an hour.

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yeh mine was in for half 10 n out by 11

Shakey99 said:

Also just had another thaught, what happens if it fails when youre on the way to the garage to get it fixed, is it still youre fault?

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Absolutely, no one, least of all Fiat or your dealer has told you to drive it there. You would have made that choice yourself. But if you could prove the fact you were taking it to be repaired which wouldnt be difficult if it was booked in I would imagine some leniency would be applied. I am looking at the recall letter now, its very cleverly worded so as not to incriminate. Its says there is a possible safety related issue and to make an appointment with your dealer, it doesnt say you must drive your car there. Fiat are telling you there is a possible problem and that the dealers will fix it FOC. It doesnt say how long the will take to fix it or what owners should do in the interim. The choice as to how to get the car to the dealer is being left with the owner.

Regarding registered letters, there is indeed no guarantee they will be delivered to the recipient first time round......but at least Fiat can turn around and say....we did everything we relaisticly could to ensure the owner was informed, the fact he wasnt in when the letter was delivered is not our fault and is beyond our control.

The chances of complete steering failure are miniscule. You'd hear obvious knocking/clonking noises a long time before failure, which you'd have to be an idiot to ignore.

In fact, not one vehicle we've checked which has had to have the shaft replaced due to being outside of the torque-range (always under, not over tight) had reported any noise issue/loss of control.

Ffoxy said:

Yes it does Mr Barbary_coaster :-
https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto/222347-recall-notice.html

We'll give you the benefit of the doubt as a Welcome Noob!

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Fair enough, missed that one

Interesting points raised in this thread as to responsibility - I wonder where I stand when the local Fiat dealer can not do the job due to lack of a wrench??

Seems there is some truth in what my legal-eagle told me regarding insurance on recalled cars. Toyota and the ABI have issued a statement confirming to owners that insurance cover will not be invalidated on vehicles subject to recall and that if owners are refused cover as a result Toyota themselves will provide insurance via there own scheme.

This ties in with what he told me regarding liability and begs the question ........Where do we as Fiat owners stand regarding our insurance and our recalled cars. Are we all on the same playing field as Toyota owners and can we assume we are covered despite knowing about the possible fault. Or is it one rule for them and another for us in that the statement only applies to Toyota owners??


http://blog.toyota.co.uk/toyota-ins...ish-insurers-abi-confirms-cover-is-unaffected

So is the fault basically a bolt?? As about 2weeks after i took mine to fiat i went down to london and as soon as i went above 60 the steering started to shake and vibrate bid time.

dansmitts said:

So is the fault basically a bolt?? As about 2weeks after i took mine to fiat i went down to london and as soon as i went above 60 the steering started to shake and vibrate bid time.

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Get your wheels balanced and tracking checked then.

ive had my wheels ballanced and everything but when i got about 60/70 i get vibrationvquite badly,then when i turn my sterring wheel it cluncs i took it to fia and the said wait till the 4th march when my car goes infor the recall so im hardly using the car untill then due to being worrid about failure

Danny westall said:

ive had my wheels ballanced and everything but when i got about 60/70 i get vibrationvquite badly,then when i turn my sterring wheel it cluncs i took it to fia and the said wait till the 4th march when my car goes infor the recall so im hardly using the car untill then due to being worrid about failure

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Could be a buckled wheel or an imbalance of the tyre.

Turning the wheel, is this slow speeds? If so may be the top strut mounts, im getting mine replaced £17 from fiat.

RD55 DUN said:

Could be a buckled wheel or an imbalance of the tyre.

Turning the wheel, is this slow speeds? If so may be the top strut mounts, im getting mine replaced £17 from fiat.

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the wheels are fine tried them on another gp im going towait and find out when the time comes but im just hoping nothing will brake..

and hw do you know if the strut mounts have broke and yeah its at slow speed

Im unsure how you tell if they have broke, but it seems to be a common failure.

I get a scrapping/rubbing noise when going at slow speeds unually when reversing out my drive , i.e turning whilst reversing.

Myne got recalled the other week and ever since iv got a creek from the colum plus the other day my top mounts have gone so im replacing them on saturday when i put my eibach sportlines on :slayer: and my car is booked in for the 3rd march for this creeking and steering wheel replacement which i was promised when bought the car 5 months ago......