Thunderbug
Established member
Anyone had problems with their power steering fail.
Taken from the Watchdog website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2012/04/fiat_power_steering.html
Fiat Puntos, Fiat Grande Puntos and Europe's best selling super-mini, the Fiat Panda are three small cars with one big problem. So much so, that some of their owners are scared to drive them. Ricky Boleto reports.
The Fiat Grande Punto is advertised as stylish, good quality and most importantly, safe. However, Watchdog has received over 130 complaints about various Fiat cars and found there is a serious problem with the power steering on some Fiats that is costly to fix and potentially very dangerous.
Dominick Thoburn's first ever car was a Fiat Grande Punto, which he bought second-hand in 2010. Less than a year after he bought the car, problems with the power steering began. A problem with the electrics had caused Dominick's power steering to fail the first time and within weeks, it went again. In fact, according to Dominick, it failed around 50 times in the space of six months. Dominick's car was no longer under warranty and he had to pay £645 to get a new steering column fitted.
Another Fiat Grande Punto owner, Sarah Butt, has told Watchdog that her car is the most unreliable car she has ever had due to the power steering unit failing twice. Sarah has now lost confidence in driving the car, so much so that she's taken out the highest level of breakdown cover.
Other Fiat owners experiencing these problems own the Fiat Panda. John Falcini is one such owner. He loves Fiat cars and has owned over 30 Fiats. John has had his current Fiat Panda for five years and has had to replace the steering unit three times. This has been a huge expense for John, made worse by the fact that he is a driving instructor.
On writing to Fiat to complain, they said that they don't "accept that the problems being experienced are as a result of any manufacturing defect at this point in the vehicle's history."
Watchdog phoned five independent garages around the UK who seem to be well aware of the issue. One garage in Scotland said some Fiats 'do have problems' and that the electric power steering 'can pack up'. A garage in Lincolnshire described the problem with the Punto as 'a well-known common fault'. In fact, four out of five garages told us that the power steering can be faulty on either the Fiat Punto or Panda.
Watchdog spoke to Mark Brown, Automotive Engineer to find out what exactly is the problem and if Fiat should be taking responsibility for it. Mark Brown stated that "The problem with the power steering lies on the electrical side, which develops an intermittent fault that in turn causes the loss of power steering. Given the fault lies with the electrical side of the steering column, which I think shouldn't happen in the lifetime of a car, I really think that Fiat ought to be paying to replace these units."
A Fiat spokesperson said:
Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd prides itself on maintaining a high quality reputation for our brand and we always aim to ensure that customers receive exemplary service from both ourselves and our dealer network.
With reference to the issues you have highlighted, we can confirm that a small number of Fiat Punto and Panda vehicles have had power assisted steering repairs during the period you have mentioned. Every case that has been brought to our notice has been given our full attention. More than 430,000 Punto and Panda vehicles have been sold since their introduction here.
A failure of the power assistance is indicated by a warning light on the instrument panel. But the car can still be driven, albeit with an increased effort on the steering wheel, as detailed in the owner's handbook. Should this happen, we recommend that contact is made with an authorised dealer.
With regard to the examples you have highlighted, you will understand that we are not in a position to comment on individual cases.
Should customers wish to contact us in relation to their vehicle, we recommend that they either contact their local dealership or our Fiat Customer Care team (00800 3428 0000), who will be happy to investigate.
Fiat Group Automobiles takes all customer inquiries seriously and strives to support customers wherever possible.
Taken from the Watchdog website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2012/04/fiat_power_steering.html
Fiat Puntos, Fiat Grande Puntos and Europe's best selling super-mini, the Fiat Panda are three small cars with one big problem. So much so, that some of their owners are scared to drive them. Ricky Boleto reports.
The Fiat Grande Punto is advertised as stylish, good quality and most importantly, safe. However, Watchdog has received over 130 complaints about various Fiat cars and found there is a serious problem with the power steering on some Fiats that is costly to fix and potentially very dangerous.
Dominick Thoburn's first ever car was a Fiat Grande Punto, which he bought second-hand in 2010. Less than a year after he bought the car, problems with the power steering began. A problem with the electrics had caused Dominick's power steering to fail the first time and within weeks, it went again. In fact, according to Dominick, it failed around 50 times in the space of six months. Dominick's car was no longer under warranty and he had to pay £645 to get a new steering column fitted.
Another Fiat Grande Punto owner, Sarah Butt, has told Watchdog that her car is the most unreliable car she has ever had due to the power steering unit failing twice. Sarah has now lost confidence in driving the car, so much so that she's taken out the highest level of breakdown cover.
Other Fiat owners experiencing these problems own the Fiat Panda. John Falcini is one such owner. He loves Fiat cars and has owned over 30 Fiats. John has had his current Fiat Panda for five years and has had to replace the steering unit three times. This has been a huge expense for John, made worse by the fact that he is a driving instructor.
On writing to Fiat to complain, they said that they don't "accept that the problems being experienced are as a result of any manufacturing defect at this point in the vehicle's history."
Watchdog phoned five independent garages around the UK who seem to be well aware of the issue. One garage in Scotland said some Fiats 'do have problems' and that the electric power steering 'can pack up'. A garage in Lincolnshire described the problem with the Punto as 'a well-known common fault'. In fact, four out of five garages told us that the power steering can be faulty on either the Fiat Punto or Panda.
Watchdog spoke to Mark Brown, Automotive Engineer to find out what exactly is the problem and if Fiat should be taking responsibility for it. Mark Brown stated that "The problem with the power steering lies on the electrical side, which develops an intermittent fault that in turn causes the loss of power steering. Given the fault lies with the electrical side of the steering column, which I think shouldn't happen in the lifetime of a car, I really think that Fiat ought to be paying to replace these units."
COMPANY RESPONSE
A Fiat spokesperson said:
Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd prides itself on maintaining a high quality reputation for our brand and we always aim to ensure that customers receive exemplary service from both ourselves and our dealer network.
With reference to the issues you have highlighted, we can confirm that a small number of Fiat Punto and Panda vehicles have had power assisted steering repairs during the period you have mentioned. Every case that has been brought to our notice has been given our full attention. More than 430,000 Punto and Panda vehicles have been sold since their introduction here.
A failure of the power assistance is indicated by a warning light on the instrument panel. But the car can still be driven, albeit with an increased effort on the steering wheel, as detailed in the owner's handbook. Should this happen, we recommend that contact is made with an authorised dealer.
With regard to the examples you have highlighted, you will understand that we are not in a position to comment on individual cases.
Should customers wish to contact us in relation to their vehicle, we recommend that they either contact their local dealership or our Fiat Customer Care team (00800 3428 0000), who will be happy to investigate.
Fiat Group Automobiles takes all customer inquiries seriously and strives to support customers wherever possible.
