General Panda easy + (2016) engine light problem

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General Panda easy + (2016) engine light problem

TrishR

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Apr 26, 2017
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Hello everyone
I got a new panda easy plus at the end of September. The engine light has come on 5 times now! It has had two sensors replaces and two electro valves replaced. It is going back to the garage tomorrow as the light came on again tonight. It only had the last electro valve replace on Friday (21st)! I am very unhappy about this. I have been told each time there is nothing wrong with the it's just faulty sensors. There was a bad batch apparently. I'm not happy to accept this anymore.

I wondered firstly if anyone else has had this problem. If it's a faulty batch of parts others should be experiencing the same problems.

Secondly, what else could it be. My car has only done 2600 miles. I had a panda for 3 years previous to this one and not a single problem. In other words it's not my driving or bumpy roads or anything silly like that.

I don't want to go in tomorrow and just get a so called faulty part changed again. Anyone know where I stand with this?

I'd really appreciate some feed back.

Thank you.
 
Hi.
Sorry I cannot help you but it would help if you could tell us what model of Panda you have. 1.2. Twin Air, 1.3 Multijet diesel, 4x4 etc. Does this happen randomly or when cold, hot, or accelerating or other relevant info.
 
Hi Murphy, thank you for your reply. My car is a 1.2 easy +. This fault happens randomly, not during high acceleration or anything. Tonight when it happened I was only doing about 20mph if that just about to pull up. When it happens other warnings come up too. It say something about the 'hill holder' feature and something else. The message comes up where the menu, range, or trip info is shown. The other warning disappear when I switch the engine off and restart. The engine light does not go off.

On one of the occasions I had taken the car in to the dealership to be sorted out, when I went back to collect the car, I picked the keys up at service reception, got in the car on the forecourt and the engine light came on straight away. Of course I went back in and left the car with them. They simply blamed a faulty new replacement sensor.

I just hoped I would be able to find info where other people were having this problem.
 
Hi sorry to hear about your panda..I dont no about the electronics but i would say its not fit for purpose.
You could get the AA OR RAC to check its Ecu unit..You could insist on a new Ecu from the dealer.These days social media is king for complaints...hope this helps in some way..
 
Any car can have faults, but it's fairly rare that these Pandas suffer from faults like this.
They are usually pretty hardy and reliable.

Best thing is don't panic, it's still under Fiat's warranty (the third year is a dealer warranty).
Yes it seems it's turning into a headache, but a bit of level headedness is needed.

Get it back in to your dealer, explain to them you are not happy, but don't loose it with them, in all honesty, it won't make them want to help you!

Make it clear that you understand their obligations as the supplying dealer and that you will also seek help from Fiat customer services.
It might be worth engaging the salesperson that you dealt with as well, get them involved.

Get a name, contact details and a case number from Fiat's CS and make it plain you want to be kept informed of progress, either they do that or you will by making daily contact with them.

If your car is on any sort of finance, particularly a Fiat scheme, let them know about the issue too and you may need to consider rejecting. (though I think this is limited to a six month time frame)
If it does come to rejecting the car because of a major problem, it's harder when it's actually still owed by the finance company, so it's only right to inform them as soon as possible that you are being reasonable with allowing the dealer to attempt several repairs.
 
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Hi.
It could be a multitude of things. I'm no expert on how to reject a car but I'd say it's not fit for purpose. I'd recommend speaking to citizens advice or trading standards firstly.
Good luck
 
Thank you for all the replies. I arranged last night to take it in this morning and told them I wanted to speak to the sales manager.

I did tell the service receptionist and the sales man last Friday that if it happens again I will not be simply accepting an exchanged sensor or valve.

The car was registered on 30/9/16 so I've just missed the 6 month deadline. I will however speak to fiat finance, I have a PCP agreement with them. Thanks for the advice.
 
My 1.2 suffers from same problems. It has taken 2 visits to the dealer to sort it out. Seems ok now .
 
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