The leather covering on my 100HP's steering wheel appears to be detaching itself and crinkling up around the right hand side. Is this a known problem and will the warranty cover it?

I also note that the gearstick gaiter has started to develop a pinhole but I know this is an issue. Not too impressed given that the car has only done 30,000 miles, might be an indication to bail out and get something else once the warranty expires in September

how weird. I only noticed mine started to do this the other day, around the 2 oclock position. Must be the heat we have had i guess...

no harm in trying to get the warranty to sort it, got nothing to lose by askin i suppose

having a base spec panda has its perks, less to go wrong

They will say wear and tear... any money.

My 500 wheel is doing the same, although one of the guys on the 500 forum got a warranty replacement.

pandasam said:

having a base spec panda has its perks, less to go wrong

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How true.

My 2001 Ka started life with A/C, Central Locking, Electric Windows, Heated Front Screen, CD player and Heated Door Mirrors.

Now, 9 yrs & 97,000 miles later, none of the above are working properly! Car still runs fine though.

Is being replaced by a new Panda on 1st September, ordered yesterday.

Yeah I assumed it must have been the heat as well, although Italy is hotter so they ought to have designed for it really.

I might drop by the dealer after work tomorrow if I'm in the mood but there's nothing like dealing with a Fiat dealer to take the shine off the ownership experience

In the meantime I've been rubbing it (oo-er) to smooth it down a little so it's not so distracting.

After almost 70k, mine doesn't seem too bad [touch wood]. There are some very small 'pimples' on the smooth bottom section, but that's it. I do use a windscreen sun shield when parking up in the heat.

The steering wheel on my Fiesta Zetec-S was awful. The blue leather sections went very nasty after a relatively short time.

LeanMeanRacing said:

After almost 70k, mine doesn't seem too bad [touch wood]. There are some very small 'pimples' on the smooth bottom section, but that's it. I do use a windscreen sun shield when parking up in the heat.

The steering wheel on my Fiesta Zetec-S was awful. The blue leather sections went very nasty after a relatively short time.

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Strange. Some 500 owners are reporting the same issues after the recent warm weather....

Here are the 'pimples'



...that's the only deterioration though - not bad for 70k miles of sweaty, nervous students

After 20K miles I've got shiny leather in the thumb rests and around that area, but given that I don't really touch the steering wheel anywhere else, the rest is as new really.

Not noticed any delamination.

Several Grande Puntos and Bravos have had leather steering wheels replaced under warranty. You may be lucky and get it done for free, unless youre in the third year warranty, which isn't so generous as the first two years.

unless youre in the third year warranty, which isn't so generous as the first two years.

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Bingo - They said it was trim and therefore not covered I said it isn't some inconsequential bit of trim it is the primary control interface but they weren't interested. And as alway their tone implied it was all my fault! I really loathe Fiat dealers - never buying another that's for sure.

I stopped off at Halfords to look at steering wheel covers but they are all so naff. Beginning to think a pair of driving gloves might be the answer.

How bad is it Richard?

Do you have any pics?

Polypedates said:

Bingo - They said it was trim and therefore not covered I said it isn't some inconsequential bit of trim it is the primary control interface but they weren't interested. And as alway their tone implied it was all my fault! I really loathe Fiat dealers - never buying another that's for sure.

I stopped off at Halfords to look at steering wheel covers but they are all so naff. Beginning to think a pair of driving gloves might be the answer.

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Marvellous. And for the sake of steering wheel which probably costs Fiat less than £50, they've lost another repeat-customer.

Obviously knowone from Fiat UK or Italy look at this website. Either that or they do but are too thick to figure out where theyre going wrong. :bang:

Here's a pic:



Seems to be spreading as you can see the "thumb scallop" part starting to lift and the lower part of the wheel is going too either side of the spoke.

Is this fault confined to the ivory wheels, or are the black ones similarly afflicted?

Something similar happened to the ivory leather on my Ka steering wheel, which after 9yrs & 97000 miles, now looks very tatty indeed.

jrkitching said:

Is this fault confined to the ivory wheels, or are the black ones similarly afflicted?

Something similar happened to the ivory leather on my Ka steering wheel, which after 9yrs & 97000 miles, now looks very tatty indeed.

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What do you mean ivory wheels?

This seems to be confined to the leather covered wheels. There is only one colour of wheel on the 100hp. To be fair it does look pretty bad.

Sorry, was thinking of the 500 (these appear to be similarly afflicted), which has either black or ivory leather depending on the chosen trim. I assumed the Panda was the same, as the one in the photo looks like the ivory type, and I have a memory of seeing a black one in the local dealers.