I have just put my 1 year old Panda in for its first service. I have been advised by the garage (not the dealership) that it has an oil leak from the gear box selector seal and that i should take it back to the dealer to get it repaired under warranty. The car has only done 5K. My local dealer can't tell me this is covered by the warranty over the phone and wants me to give them £75 just to look at it (which they will refund should it be covered by warranty). Does anybody know if this is likely to be covered i really do hope so. is it normal for dealers to charge for inspecting the vehicle on a warranty claim.

Remind of the sales of goods act 1974 and other relevant laws

The car is faulty, the supplying dealer needs to fix it, even if its not under a FIAT warranty any more.

If they demand £75 just to look at it, then threaten them with trading standards and demand your money back as the car is not fit for purpose.

Be firm but try not to get too worked up, shouting won;t do any good, but at the same time don't let them walk all over you, perhaps go with a friend too let them know you mean business.

And no its not normal, I've made two claims with my local FIAT dealer and not paid a penny nor would I .

The car also will be covered under the FIAT warranty, missed it was just one year old. This dealer is taking the ****** and I would report them to FIAT (call FIAT customer services it is an 0800 number).

Just never known anything like it frankly

I had something similar with a VW dealer a few years ago.
The advice about contacting Fiat UK is spot on.

If you think the dealer is taking the ****, tell them and use another dealer!

Tell them to go fock themselves and just sort the problem out.

Agree with the other replies. Gearbox seal was replaced on my panda under warranty, picked up by dealer at first service on a similar mileage to your car. Incidentally, my dealer's policy seems to be to charge an inspection fee if the defect isn't covered by warranty but, unlike your dealer, don't seek the payment up front.

gazz_bee said:

Agree with the other replies. Gearbox seal was replaced on my panda under warranty, picked up by dealer at first service on a similar mileage to your car. Incidentally, my dealer's policy seems to be to charge an inspection fee if the defect isn't covered by warranty but, unlike your dealer, don't seek the payment up front.

Click to expand...

Still ******** though. Tell me what the owner could do (that they couldn't easily pick up during the service) to cause such an oil leak. Nothing.... that's what.

Phoning Fiat UK today. To be honbest by dealer were pretty bloody unhelpful about it. I would expected them to apologise to me for the hassle i have had, offer to collect from me and provide me with a coutesy car for the hassle I am having - given that i bought a brand new car with a 3 year warranty from them 12 months ago - not demand £90 to look at it for me. Can I use any dealer for warranty repairs or do i have to go to the one I bought it from ?

Will let you know how i get on.

I bought a new car because i thought i would get peace of mind for 3 years - the fault with the car and the attitude of the dealer has really P****d me off big time.

cowimars said:

Phoning Fiat UK today. To be honbest by dealer were pretty bloody unhelpful about it. I would expected them to apologise to me for the hassle i have had, offer to collect from me and provide me with a coutesy car for the hassle I am having - given that i bought a brand new car with a 3 year warranty from them 12 months ago - not demand £90 to look at it for me. Can I use any dealer for warranty repairs or do i have to go to the one I bought it from ?

Will let you know how i get on.

I bought a new car because i thought i would get peace of mind for 3 years - the fault with the car and the attitude of the dealer has really P****d me off big time.

Click to expand...

Good stuff. Don't be pushed around by CS either, don't be arsey, just stand your ground Ask why you're being asked to pay a fee upfront for troubleshooting what is OBVIOUSLY a warranty issue. When they say "That's not right" then ask for an apology from the dealer.

I phoned FIAT UK this morning. They told me that they rely on the expertise of the dealer to determine whether or not a fault is covered under warranty. I have phoned another dealer (a small single franchise dealership as opposed to a larger multi branch one) and they are more than happy to look at it for me and repair it if its a warranty problem. They will ask for no money and will look at it out of courtesy - customer service i expect. They explained that because they are a smaller dealership they would only tend to deal with one or 2 warranty claims a week while the multi branch dealer would be dealing with hundreds - so can give that better customer service. I guess a lot of the problems stem from the fact that i didnt get the car serviced at a dealership - but to be honest i dont trust them (well not the large multi banch one anyway) if this small delaership continue the way they have then they may get my future business (although i have 100% trust in the independant garage i use).

Here's hoping for a smooth resolution. And I have learned a valuable lesson - the larger multi franchise dealers might appear to give you a better deal but perhaps it is not the case and it is maybe worth giving your local smaller single franchise dealership a visit.

Thanks for the post there, very interesting.

To be honest, your post rather sums up the problems that Fiat have with their dealerships; there is too much inconsistency between individual dealers. I have found that to be the case in both South Wales and the South West, and although I've received good service in the end, I've had to deal with bad as well.

I am not really sure what to make of CS's response though; I appreciate they are happy to leave it to dealers to decide what to do, but surely they must have some say in terms of pricing? I don't see how one can say that you need to pay £70-80 upfront and the other doesn't?

As for the smaller dealers giving better service, I agree that it can sometimes be the case, but that is no excuse in my eyes. Perhaps I'm biased being self employed, but if you can't give good customer service at times like these where every penny matters to people up and down the country then you deserve to go to the wall.

cowimars said:

I phoned FIAT UK this morning. They told me that they rely on the expertise of the dealer to determine whether or not a fault is covered under warranty.

Click to expand...

What a cop out....... absolute load of crap. Makes me never want to buy a Fiat ever again.

I know the people in CS aren't mechanics, but surely they can't be thick enough to think that you driving the car could cause an oil leak......

Phone FIAT up again, tell them you want the dealer to fix it free of charge (no up fee) or you will inform trading standards that your dealership is breaking the law.

If you need some legal advice look on the Martin Lewis website, lots of info there.

306maxi said:

What a cop out....... absolute load of crap. Makes me never want to buy a Fiat ever again.

I know the people in CS aren't mechanics, but surely they can't be thick enough to think that you driving the car could cause an oil leak......

Click to expand...

Not only that but the supplying dealer has a duty to fix the faulty car they supplied. This dealer needs grassing up. If FIAT don't want to know then this site does so we can avoid them.

This thread has actually made me very very angry. If I tried this on with my customers I would have no business.

Imagine it

"You sold me a computer last week, now it won't switch on"

"Well sir, pay me £75 and I will decide if it is under warranty or not"

It would be criminal.

306maxi said:

Still ******** though. Tell me what the owner could do (that they couldn't easily pick up during the service) to cause such an oil leak. Nothing.... that's what.

Click to expand...

Tell me where I said the owner could have caused the oil leak?

I confirmed that the gear selector seal is covered under warranty. I also pointed out that there are inconsistencies across the Fiat dealership regarding investigations of potential warranty claims. How you could read anything else into my post is a mystery.

To the OP, I still have the works sheet for the gear selector seal on my car if you want a copy to demonstrate that the part is covered under warranty.

gazz_bee said:

Tell me where I said the owner could have caused the oil leak?

I confirmed that the gear selector seal is covered under warranty. I also pointed out that there are inconsistencies across the Fiat dealership regarding investigations of potential warranty claims. How you could read anything else into my post is a mystery.

To the OP, I still have the works sheet for the gear selector seal on my car if you want a copy to demonstrate that the part is covered under warranty.

Click to expand...

It was a rhetorical question.......

306maxi said:

Still ******** though. Tell me what the owner could do (that they couldn't easily pick up during the service) to cause such an oil leak. Nothing.... that's what.

Click to expand...

306maxi said:

It was a rhetorical question.......

Click to expand...

A rhetorical question that you answered yourself? Anyway, I felt duty bound to respond as your point wasn't relevant to the post I made and, rhetorical or not, appeared directed at me.

Over and out

gazz_bee said:

Tell me where I said the owner could have caused the oil leak?

I confirmed that the gear selector seal is covered under warranty. I also pointed out that there are inconsistencies across the Fiat dealership regarding investigations of potential warranty claims. How you could read anything else into my post is a mystery.

To the OP, I still have the works sheet for the gear selector seal on my car if you want a copy to demonstrate that the part is covered under warranty.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer of the works sheet gazz_bee. I will see how i get on getting it repaired. This other garage seems a lot more helpful so far. i'll let you know how i get on.