panda multijet diesel clutch failure at 18 thousand miles

Hi, our 56 plate panda is suffering from clutch slip up a hill, jordans are advising me it will probably NOT be covered under warranty, as FIAT will class it as wear and tear. How can this be so ?

If we end up paying they want a whacking £540 charge for replacing the clutch.
We are hopping mad, has anyone else had a similar experience with fiat ?

Can anyone advise us what we should be saying to jordans ?

...cheers

If they have tested it and agree it's slipping then get them to liaise with Fiat UK, to sort something out. My MJ is 9 months old, used for courier work and gets well caned with 24K on the clock and runs a treat with no sign of clutch slip. Nearly all my diesels ( PSA group ) have gone well past 100K and have no clutch problems, so I don't see why Fiat should not be any different.

Had same problem at 19000m took it back to dealer master cylinder, slave cylinder replaced out of good will clutch seemed better still slipped up hills foot to the board at 2000rpm, told pupils to ease off gas, just swapped car for 100hp at 52500m 18mths old clutch still going strong but slips now and again (Driving School car).

arsedownoz said:

Had same problem at 19000m took it back to dealer master cylinder, slave cylinder replaced out of good will clutch seemed better still slipped up hills foot to the board at 2000rpm, told pupils to ease off gas, just swapped car for 100hp at 52500m 18mths old clutch still going strong but slips now and again (Driving School car).

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I agree with arsedownoz.I had a pupil try and floor it doing 30 mph up a steephill in foirth gear .The turbo wined in disgust and the clutch slipped. The gear much match speed.The multiet as with other oil burners sometimes will feel as if the clutch is going out.

How is the100 ?

The clutch should not slip when accelerating in any gear - up hill or not. If its slipping then that's an indication that it can't handle the engine torque (either through poor design or wear).

If they want £450 i'd take it elsewhere. You could probably get it done for half that. Unfortunately they don't know how you have been treating the car so it's easy for them to call it "wear and tear". 18k sounds a very low milage for a clutch failure.
Incidentally, my works van has covered 100k on it's original clutch, but one of my colleague's has torn through three for the same milage. I'm not saying your a heavy clutch user, but driving style has a huge effect on clutch life expectancy. (that's what Fiat will tell you)

Thanks for the advise guys, I'm in 2 minds what to do, do I risk taking it into jordans on thursday, and risk facing a £540 bill for the clutch, when fiat welsh on paying for it under the dubious wear and tear banner, or do I think sod it, and take it to clutch specialist and get it done for half that price.
Its a real dilemor.

Take it to clutch specialist ask them to use Fiat parts get an invoice make sure they are vat registered no problem warranty still valid, or ask them to fit borg/beck and forget it for ever, as to the 100hp yes its great pulls any gear does not push them over at junctions when wrong gear or late clutch but does stall if not carefull, spent most of my time at filling station fill up every day thats the pits.

Just wondering. Can the clutch on a multijet be adjusted?

Clutch £246 including vat ect Nationwide auto centre using valeo parts

Starting to crunch while engaing reverse, clutch slip is intermitent but something is a miss.

Don't think so ADI it's Hydraulic so is self adjusting.

Ok thanks. Just been out with a pupil and the clutch was fine as it was when I drove it. I just can't put my finger on it. I have had clutches go before on other cars, but this one is a mystery.

Do I take it back to the dealer? Or shall I take it to NW auto and get it changed?

We have a Panda Multijet with 45,000 miles on the clock and have not had any clutch slip - hope I'm not tempting fate !

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-new/142375-england-hungary-reliability.html

Mine was the same ADI if used with care no slip if you let it drop below 1750rpm and give it loads of gas it slipped until you let off i will admit it was only 400/500rpm of slip it then had picked up enough, just bad throttle control but try looking at pups feet while they are driving we live and learn, 100hp robbing me spend every day at petrol station done 1100m last week.

Hi A I find the same.I am thinking that maybe, when the turbo kicks in I think its the spin. Learners this aft no spin.I trashed it like never before, but it could not handle the trash, turbo lag and stuff. Unlike the 100 of course which loves a good thrashing. So you may be right heavy feet not advisable?

If it's outside the Fiat 2 year warranty then the 3rd year warranty company will send out an engineer to decide whether they will cover the costs. There's little that the Dealer can do to change their minds in this situation.

Even if it's within the 2nd year, the Dealer can talk to Fiat customer services and beg for goodwill all they like, but Fiat will only listen and respond if the customer themselves phones up. It's annoying to say the least and makes the Dealership look like idiots :bang:.

Just like on some driving test failure there is a grey area. This time called "wear and tare".

Hi, the car went into jordans today, and they fitted a new clutch under warranty, I suppose thats a good result. I love fiat cars, the problem comes when anything goes wrong with them, it always seems like a fight to get fiat to pay for it, I never had that feeling in the past with rover or ford

bobian81 said:

Hi, the car went into jordans today, and they fitted a new clutch under warranty, I suppose thats a good result. I love fiat cars, the problem comes when anything goes wrong with them, it always seems like a fight to get fiat to pay for it, I never had that feeling in the past with rover or ford

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Result. Most dealerships will change a clutch under warrenty unless they can prove neglect, which is hard for them to do, because if you took them to court you'd normally win! Saw it on watchdog or something because its more than likely to be a defective part.

I have been driving for over 35 years and have never had to replace a clutch. Some of my cars had 250,000 miles on them when they were scrapped off.
If your clutch is going at just 18,000 miles it is either your driving style or a fault with the clutch. I would put it down to the clutch.
I have never had a Fiat before so I bought a Doblo then the Panda. I gave my 6 year Doblo away as it was just to slow and I was spending to much money on it. My 3 year old Panda is starting to have a few problems so that might be going soon.
I suppose you get what you pay for. Maybe in the long run a more expensive car might end up cheaper than a Panda.

doblo said:

I suppose you get what you pay for. Maybe in the long run a more expensive car might end up cheaper than a Panda.

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Very true. The Panda will be my first and last Fiat. Not a badly designed little car really, and quite nice to drive, but not made for the long haul. Worn shocks, front steering parts flimsy (so tracking keeps going out), exhaust rusting, too many little niggles over 20k miles. Lunchtime today the engine warning lamp came on, so that will be a trip to the dealer :bang: Will be going back to Jap cars - had several that did over 100k without anything other than basic servicing - including original battery and exhaust!