General Panda Multijet Jan 2005

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General Panda Multijet Jan 2005

Ken Cody

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Hi,
I'm interested to know if my car was built on a Friday. I bought it as an ex demonstrator, three months old and with 150 kms, yes 150 kms on the clock, from a dealer here in France.
To avoid libel proceedings I will refrain from commenting on their so called "after sales service".
The problems I have incurred are: front tyres worn out at 12,000 kms due to faulty wheel alignment; airflow sensor replaced (under warranty) at 15,000 kms. when I first noticed intermittent clutch slip (more of which later). On a visit to the UK in December 2006 the battery failed and had to be replaced at my expense. (local Fiat dealer not interested). The following February the battery was drained completely by a fault which left the heated rear window permanently "on". The fault was traced to a component which Fiat quoted 300 euros to replace, so it was disconnected!
The slipping clutch turned out to be a known fault caused by engine oil leaking along the flywheel bolt threads and contaminating the clutch plate.
The clutch was replaced with new, properly sealed flywheel bolts, again at my expense. As the the car was now out of warranty no dealer I approached was interested.
The car is now 3 years old with 65,000 kms on the clock. A front shock absorber has just failed.
I bought this car because it promised reliable, economic motoring. Oh, and it was voted car of the year!
It's still great to drive, but what will go wrong next? Have other owners experienced these problems?
Ken:bang:
 
I have a May 2005 MJ Panda with 19.5K miles... I have had very little issues with my car apart from very minor problems such as water in headlights and a broken locking mechanism in one of the doors (both replaced under warranty). I quickly noticed the wheel alignment problem on my Panda and got it sorted. Therefore my tyres have a good few thousand miles left on them and are lasting well. I do also run Winter tyres so I've done about 16K miles on the original Conti tyres...

All in all I'd say that I'm very happy with my Panda...:)
 
hello ken, and welcome...lets have a look then:

i see you have experienced a similair level of service in france as some have had in the uk...still dealers are like partners find a good one and you hold on tight

as for the alignment, yes, there have been some posts that alignment from the factory on some cars has been off, but generally most owners keep an eye on such things, as well as fluid levels, etc on a regular basis, and hence catch them in plenty of time to prolong tyre life. perhaps this would be an instance of lesson learnt?

first i've heard, of an airflow sensor going wrong, (i await any members to correct me!) but as with anything made, anything can go wrong.

battery failure, been there myself and with many family and friends countless times, untill the perfect one is created what you gonna do? thats right, bump start down to the local motor factors, and replace them.

as for the second occasion, which component went faulty? and the reasoning given for not carrying out work under warranty? which if it's a jan 05 car, would still have been good up to about now.....

i myself had a very different clutch issue after just 2 years, requiring a new one, again though fully sorted under warranty with minimal fuss.

as for the damper, yes it is unlucky, but there are a ton of factors, driving style, road surface, load, etc, that all affect it, and yes even manufacturing defects, i think every person in here has had at least one issue with their cars, from early models like mine, to the latest 100hp.

what will go wrong next? who knows, hopefully nothing, like many, including myself, the panda does do exactly what it says on the tin, in many variations from the ultra budget active to giant killer 100hp,

but if it does happen, by all means pop in and ask, we might have another solution, and your faith may be a strengthened a little.

ps: if you really want to try a painful fiat ownership experience, buy an uno turbo!
 
must say that i drive 3 different pandas for few years and had 0 problems.
 
Bought my MJT in March '05, the week they came out over here. Only fault so far has been that the front pads wore out at 23K miles a few days before its service. I still can't ascertain if it has pad wear a warning light or not. Otherwise it's been perfect. 55-60 mpg on a regular basis and is just as good whether commuting 17 miles each way or doing 250 mile round trips. Would just like to make it handle and corner a bit better. Just a thought, but is the warranty of French FIATs 2 years or 3?
 
Hi everybody

Ken Cody, you seem to be a bit unfortunate with your MJ. I also have a 05 MJ (early Jan 05) bought as a demo with 3230 Kms on the clock. I bought it in mid April 05 and it now has almost 111,000 Kms (69,375 miles) done so far.

The following is a rough history of the car:

• Front brake pads replaced on the first service - fixed under warranty = no cost, no hassle

• Heater panel bulb(s) goes roughly every 12 months = €12 to replace, done at service. Must be a way to do it myself 

• There is a pull to the left that has started within the past six months that gets ‘fixed’ for about a month then begins to pull to the left again – not too bad, learning to live with it (Got cheap tyres so maybe this is part of the problem?)

• Went into “Limp Home” mode once with a faulty fuel sensor, drove it for three days before I had time to get it looked at – fixed under warranty = no cost, no hassle

That is it for the moment. The last time I post something like this, I ended up with the fuel sensor going! I think it’s called Divine Retribution 

By the way, what is the price of the MJ over in that land of which Thomas Jefferson said: "Every man has two countries: his own and France." ?

BJ20
 
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