Have now heard from dealer who have tried to get assistance from Fiat. No joy, they won't contribute anything to the cost of repair. However, dealer now thinks that gearbox isn't damaged and would like to replace flywheel and clutch for £1500. Risk is that they are wrong and gearbox turns out to be damaged as well which will only be apparent once they have finished. Any views?
Condolences; I'm sure this isn't what you want to hear, but sadly it doesn't surprise me. Fiat are not known for their generosity in supporting customers out of warranty. They might even have refused this one if the car had been under warranty, particularly in the third year.
I posted the following on this subject recently in
another thread - it was your case I had in mind at the time:
However, the criteria Fiat have given you for a goodwill contribution are much more worrying - if I've read what you've posted correctly, they're saying that they will only even consider this if:
1. the car is less than four years old and
2. you are the original owner from new (note this would seem to disqualify all prereg vehicles) and
3. the car has a full service history with all servicing being done by the franchised dealer network.
If Fiat really are taking this stance in all cases, it's going to leave quite a few folks who are currently negotiating goodwill contributions in respect of much newer cars well and truly up the proverbial without a wotsit. IMO this would be an extremely harsh policy.
A DMF is a wear and tear item and its failure at some time during the life of the car is by no means unlikely; certainly it should be inspected carefully every time the clutch is changed and an informed decision taken as to whether it should be replaced at the same time. This early in a car's life, I'd say it's premature, but then again you have no way of knowing how the car was used (or abused) by its previous owner. Yours is the only one I've heard of, but the Euro6 TA hasn't been around that long & yours must be one of the first.
My biggest problem with this would be the price; £1500 for a DMF & clutch is outrageous, but that is a reflection on the cost of main dealer servicing with OEM parts, and perhaps no more outrageous than the folks who have been charged north of £300 for a set of front discs & pads. However, they have your car in pieces now and I can't see any reasonable alternative to paying this if you want the car back. This is one of the insidious things about finding a fault on a just-out-of-warranty car; your only hope of getting a contribution from Fiat is to take it to a franchised dealer, and if they refuse, by then the car is in bits & you can't easily go elsewhere.
Personally I'd take a risk with the gearbox. Check carefully for oil leaks until you're sure all is well. If the worst happens and it does need to be replaced, at least you can source a secondhand gearbox from a breakers once you've got the car back.
In time, no doubt aftermarket DMF's will be available, and having the same work done by an indie using aftermarket parts should be much cheaper, but sadly this won't be any help to the OP. It may also be that an aftermarket SMF becomes available as a replacement (remember the Euro5 85TA manages well enough with a SMF) and that will be much cheaper.
I've done a quick internet search and can't find any other source for the part, though there are folks selling new OEM DMF's for the 500L for under £300.