Hi
Can anyone please give me some advice. My car is in the garage awaiting further action having been towed there after breaking down. The mechanic tried a diagnostic test and I'm told it's the computer. This will be either:
a new one from Italy at approx £600 including the labour to fit it. OR, sending to a specialist who may be able to find the fault and repair it - at approx £300. As a complete novice (who didn't even realise the car had a computer), I'm shocked. It is a 55 model and the higher of the two costs seems out of proportion to the current value of my car. Is the a usual fault/problem with a Panda of this age?

Any advice welcomed.

All cars with electronic injection have an ECU (Electronic Control Unit). It wouldn't be totally incorrect to refer to this as a computer, but it is never called that. It is always known as an ECU.

It is extremely uncommon for an ECU to fail as they are solid state units that hardly ever go wrong. So this does seem unusual.

In terms of replacing, well a new one is going to be expensive of course, but very easy to change as it's simply matter of plugging a new one in.

What exactly has happened. Just Saying you've been told it needs a new ECU doesn't help us diagnose and advise on the course of action needed. How did it break down, what symptoms was / is it suffering with

trackdayqueen said:

All cars with electronic injection have an ECU (Electronic Control Unit). It wouldn't be totally incorrect to refer to this as a computer, but it is never called that. It is always known as an ECU.

It is extremely uncommon for an ECU to fail as they are solid state units that hardly ever go wrong. So this does seem unusual.

In terms of replacing, well a new one is going to be expensive of course, but very easy to change as it's simply matter of plugging a new one in.

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Had a vectra that chucked up a few dtc's and that turned out to be the ecu even after changing the sensors related to the codes! Sometimes reprograming might help and would b cheaper than new ecu as sometimes immobiliser is built into the ecu.

ECU's can be 'repaired' if the problem is a solder joint, but get a substitution check if you can. If not, send it off to someplace like here for a test:

http://www.ecutesting.com/ecu_testing__exchange___repair.html

My other car (Suzuki) brought on an Engine Control Light last week, main dealer charged £50 to plug it in to diagnostics, result: replace exhaust gas recirc valve for £451 plus VAT. Took it home, wiggled all conectors in fusebox and fault cleared. They'd just read the fault code and assumed it needed a new EGR.

Thanks for the info. The garage advise me that it is the Body Control unit. They have tried to decipher the fault with 'Examiner' but cannot get into it??? They are 95% sure it is this unit so have had to order a new one from Italy. I am really disappointed with Fiat now as this is very expensive and seems disproportionate to the current value of the car. And I assumed that a 55 model should still be reliable. Very frustrating and worrying!

You can hardly value a part against the porputunate value of a car. Perhaps if the Engine blows up in a £500 car we should all expect to pay only £200 for a brand new replacement

As above. What does the car's current value have to do with the cost of any particular part?

Popshot said:

As above. What does the car's current value have to do with the cost of any particular part?

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Most Easterly Pandas said:

You can hardly value a part against the porputunate value of a car. Perhaps if the Engine blows up in a £500 car we should all expect to pay only £200 for a brand new replacement

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They're valid points - cars worth perhaps a tenth of their cost when new have always been at risk from needing an unexpected repair that's more expensive than they're worth, but I'd say it's much riskier now than it was twenty years ago.

All this modern electronic gadgetry makes the ownership of an older used car much more of a gamble than it used to be, and it makes it much harder for the mechanically inclined to work their way out of otherwise expensive situations with the help of a few judiciously-chosen secondhand parts - which would likely be readily available once the car's value had fallen to £500. In days past, if an engine failed, you could transplant a secondhand engine & by doing the work yourself, still have change from that £200.

Furthermore, it's all but impossible to check out the electronics when you're buying a well-used car - at least when we scrapped cars because they'd rusted out, we'd plenty of warning of impending doom if we knew what to look for & if you bought a lemon, you'd only yourself to blame.

pandissimo said:

ECU's can be 'repaired' if the problem is a solder joint, but get a substitution check if you can. If not, send it off to someplace like here for a test:

http://www.ecutesting.com/ecu_testing__exchange___repair.html

My other car (Suzuki) brought on an Engine Control Light last week, main dealer charged £50 to plug it in to diagnostics, result: replace exhaust gas recirc valve for £451 plus VAT. Took it home, wiggled all conectors in fusebox and fault cleared. They'd just read the fault code and assumed it needed a new EGR.

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Hope you took it back to the dealer and demanded your old egr be refitted.
Happened to me with a merc dealer said power steering pump failed, fitted a new one, still the same.
They then said its now the steering rack as well. It was the steering rack all along.

"Hope you took it back to the dealer and demanded your old egr be refitted. "

They didn't get a chance to remove the old one, fortunately. Any bill forecast to be over £200 now gets at least two more opinions before I allow myself to be financially raped by mechanics armed with a laptop, but no other intellect. (That's not all mechanics, by the way.)

As to Legouser14, the original poster, what reasons do you have for not sending off the ECU for independent testing at £35?

jrkitching said:

cars worth perhaps a tenth of their cost when new have always been at risk from needing an unexpected repair that's more expensive than they're worth, but I'd say it's much riskier now than it was twenty years ago.

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I agree entirely. I was hearing the other day about a new battery costing £500 on many cars equipped with stop/start technology as the ECU has to be told a new battery has been fitted. The ECU monitors the battery and doesn't stop/start on a dying one. Main dealer jobbie. It's looking increasingly likely my next car will be a Morris Minor or similar. More expensive on fuel but cheaper overall to run.

Popshot said:

I agree entirely. I was hearing the other day about a new battery costing £500 on many cars equipped with stop/start technology as the ECU has to be told a new battery has been fitted. The ECU monitors the battery and doesn't stop/start on a dying one. Main dealer jobbie. It's looking increasingly likely my next car will be a Morris Minor or similar. More expensive on fuel but cheaper overall to run.

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What lier told you that? Its a normal battery and is changed in the same way. Just some talk about if its left disconnected for hour it can cause issues. No issues if its changed like normal. The SS system monitiors the battery, it'll know if a new good one has been put on, doesn't need to be told.

According to Varta.
"Replacing a Start-Stop battery is not like replacing a conventional car battery, as it is intricately linked to the on-board electronics via a battery management system (BMS) or intelligent battery sensor (IBS)."

Popshot said:

According to Varta.
"Replacing a Start-Stop battery is not like replacing a conventional car battery, as it is intricately linked to the on-board electronics via a battery management system (BMS) or intelligent battery sensor (IBS)."

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Well I wouldn't believe what one source says. Dealer would probably give better advise and I just so happened to be talking to one on Thursday about this. The one thing you shouldn't do with a car with SS apparently is use it to just start another car.

My info came from a chap at work who is friendly with a local garage. He was there when they turned a BMW away who wanted a battery. On asking why he was told it's a main dealer job. It was the owner who told him that. Normally this chap is excellent on such issues though of course he is only as accurate as the garage on this occasion.