(T) Fiat... Don't you just love them?

Ok!, this is my story...

Last Year I wrote my old Punto off when I hit a skip lorry face on at 60mph (his fault, driving on my side of the road).

Stupidly, and because I love the shape of them so much I decided to buy a brand new 2004 Active Sport,nothing will go wrong with a brand new car. How wrong I was...

Day I picked it up from the Fiat garage and got it home, only to discover that the speaker grills at the back where not even clipped in, they where just sitting there on top of the parcel shelf, hmmm, not a good sign.

month later... squeeking and rattling from rear, windscreen wipers judding, brakes catching and squeeking, rubber door seal catching on door, driver door lock broke, rear window wash not working, clutch juddering at slow speed, found a screw on the floor don't know where it came from.

Now, it's nearly 1 year old, done 15000 miles...

Smell of oil and clutch still juddering, total lack of power (wont do over 70)took it to Fiat...

They replaced the rocker gasket. No other fault found!!!!!

Went for a drive with a Fiat specialist (hahahaha), spotted the juddering, booked it in for a new clutch!!!.

Again, took car to Fiat for new clutch, told them there was still a smell of oil.

They rang me back 2 hours later. The new clutch they put in was also faulty (AHHHHHHHHH) and they would have to order another. Went to pick car up, asked them about the oil smell, they found no fault (hahahahaha), took him out to my car, lifted bonet, showed him the oil pouring out the engine, he instantly booked it in for 3 days, NEW FOOKING HEAD GASKET AS WELL AS A NEW CLUTCH!!, thats on top of the replaced rocker gasket earlier.

Still waiting for them to ring me back, and this "New Clutch" that is faulty is worse than the one I had in, no reverse most of the time LOL

So!... do you love Fiat?

Jesus, you survived a crash into a lorry at 60mph in a Punto??! God must've been in a good mood that day...

Regarding all the problems with the car, why didn't you consider rejecting it and asking for a replacement one? You were within your rights to do so.

I hope all those repairs were done free of charge as it's still under warranty, but if I was you I would've rejected the car months ago and asked for a new one.

ditto, give the car back, warrenty problems are acceptable but that takes the piss.

Well its a year old now LOL don't they fall to bits now?

Anyway, I have a custom made stainless steel exhaust fitted, so I should be lucky that they are doing all this under warrenty at all.

It was 60 when I saw it, but it was probably about 40 when I hit is LOL, car was a mess, and I had to kick the passenger door open to get out, I was kocked out for a few seconds when I hit the the air bag.

I dont mind all these faults if they fix them correctly, but I would never buy another Fiat car, EVER!!!

same prob with fiat its the bloody service thats crap. if teh problems were fixed firsat time eeverytime and quickly im sure they would have more customers comming back for me. but im sure they just do the trial and error repair method

I agree thats taking the piss a bit.........or do you thrash it everywhere??

I dont think i'll be coming back to Fiat for my next car either. The Punto's been great for my first car, but I want something different.

If you think youve got problems and you have the time then read this

53 reg Punto Sporting. Has not even done 10,000 miles yet

1.. 13th Dec 2003, time off work to take the car in for diagnosis
New alternator required at 2 weeks old
Engine knocking at 2 weeks old (piston slap)
14th Dec 2003, time off work to collect the car but no work done on it
2.. 7th Jan 2004, time off work to take the car to garage for new alternator
Had to get a taxi to work as the garage had ordered the wrong alternator
3.. 20th Jan 2004, time off work to take car to garage for new alternator (second time)
Had to get taxi to work
My wife collected the car and the alternator safety cover had been wrongly fitted, the fuel vapour recovery pipe had been left disconnected and the off-side front wing scratched I had to refit the fuel vapour recovery pipe
4.. 29th Jan 2004, time off work to take the car to the garage to have the previous 'so called work' put right
Had get a taxi to work
My wife collected the car and nothing had been rectified
5.. 18th Feb 2004, time off work to take the car to garage for remedial work (second time)
Time off work to collect the car. Remedial work done this time
6.. 6th Aug 2004, time off work to take and collect car for diagnosis of malfunctioning instrument panel
New instrument panel required
7.. 24th Aug 2004, time off work to take car to garage for new instrument panel
Time off work to collect car
8.. 7th Sept 2004, car completely cut out while travelling at 60mph on a fast main road
18th Sept 2004 and 25th Sept 2004 car cut out again.
Each time after contacting garage they say they will look at when it goes in for first service on 30th Sept 2004
9.. 30th Sept 2004, car in for first service (only done 7,200 miles)
No outcome on engine cutting out. Say they will have another look if it happens again
10.. 1st Oct 2004, just setting off for long weekend holiday but the airbag warning light is on and will not go off
Phoned garage and they said it would not be a problem and to just take it to the garage when we get back
11.. 2nd Oct 2004, engine cut out again while on holiday. Restarted after 5 mins of trying
12.. 4th Oct 2004, time off work to take and collect car. Airbag light now off
As to engine cutting out, I was just told to monitor the situation
13.. 11th Oct 2004, engine cut out again, code light came on but engine restarted
On reaching work I stopped the engine but it wouldn't start again
Got the car started and left work early to get the car to the garage. Told that it needed a new body computer
14.. 13th Oct 2004, time off work to take car for new body computer
15.. 14th Oct 2004, time off work to collect car. It was apparently ready the previous day but they said they forgot to phone me
16.. 17th Oct 2004, took 20 mins to get the car started
17.. 18th Oct 2004, car wouldn't start to go home so I had to abandon it at work and get a taxi home
18.. 19th Oct 2004, time off work to take car to garage. Faulty ignition switch diagnosed
They said they couldn't do anything until 27th Oct, when I asked if it would keep going till then I was told to hope that it would
19.. 27th Oct 2004, time off work to take the car to the garage
Car delivered back to place of work
20.. 13th Dec 2004, time off work to take car to garage to apparently remedy the piston slap (It has only taken 12 months to get round to this)
I was told that I would get my car back on 24th Dec
21.. 18th Jan 2005, finally got my car back after nearly 5 weeks but I only got about 1 mile from the garage when the engine management light came on and the cooling system started 'gurgling'. I immediately took the car back
22.. 19th Jan 2005, time off work to take the car to the garage as the cooling system is air locked
Told to bring it back on 27th Jan as they say it needs a new crankshaft pulley
23.. 27th Jan 2005, time off work to take and collect the car only to be told that they ordered the wrong part and now apparently I also need a new gearbox oil seal
Told to take it back on 8th Feb
24.. 8th Feb 2005, who knows what will happen and what else will be wrong

Admittedly since getting the new pistons fitted the engine runs and sounds sweet but I have sent the above to Fiat HQ requesting compensation.

So far no reply but they always seem to take about 6 weeks to respond, so if no response in 6 weeks I already have an appointment arranged with my T&GW union solicitor and I'll go from there

Quote "if teh problems were fixed firsat time eeverytime and quickly im sure they would have more customers comming back for me. but im sure they just do the trial and error repair method"

Yep agree with this in a ideal world but.......
1)What if the Examiner shows no faults for a intermittent fault for example? Who will pay for the technicians time? Warranty will not pay unless a 'definate' fault/component failure is found.If its out of warranty then the technician is left 'guessing' to a certain extent & going by similar faults that he/she has had in the past,end of the day its the punter who has to foot £100 bill for 2 hours diagnostic work with 'no fault found'! Result-angry customer!
2)The technician is under 'pressure' from managment to find the fault quickly & move onto the next job.What you read on the bill/recipt is not always what the technician found! Result-incorrect diagnosis-angry customer!
3)The technician is often instructed to 'just put the light out' by managment to get the car out knowing it will come back. Result-Tech gets a b*****g when customer comes back (even though he was told to do it) & angry customer!
4)Fiat technical training-compared to the likes of BMW or Ford its pathetic.The actual training itself is ok & detailed but the monitoring of technicians and contact with Fiat technical themselves (via faxes to & fro that can take days to answer) etc is piss poor! Result-Angry customer!
5)Parts department cannot afford to keep any parts in stock besides the basics,obviously this is because of cost & the vast array of parts.For example time taken to strip door down & investigate locking problem & trace fault to motor is say 1 hour.Parts not in stock (car rebuilt) so customer has to return when parts arrive & it takes another hour to fit/test,total time 2 hours yet warranty will only pay for one hour.Fine if customer can leave car overnight in stripped state but not many can do this because they need their cars therefore often a certain amount of guesswork is done without the door being stripped in the first place. Result-angry customer!
6)Trial & error can sometimes be the best/fastest method due to overcomplicated design,poor diagnostic equipment (sorry but I dont rate Examiner too highly) & very poor back up. Result-angry customer!

There seems to be a running theme here,money/managment & back up support.A dealer has a target to meet & has to make it regardless if the technicians do not have enough time to correctly diagnose a fault problem.Managment does not care how diagnosis is carried out only by the time on the job card & the labour rate.Why should they care as its not their car stripped down on the ramp.
Managment waste too much time coming up with 'great ideas' on how to increase profits (all will flop) ,when will they learn that by listening to the technicians needs/requirments to be able to efficently carry out diagnostic work & with the correct training & support that customers will return to their branch because they are simply 'good'.There is no better recommendation than word of mouth because the public isn't stupid & prone to being 'ripped' off anymore.Your average punter will look at forums like these & familarise themselves with possible faults in readiness for the good old argument at the reception desk & lets face it we have all been there!
Some dealers on the other hand are very good & helpful but too many I fear have a certain lack of faith in the product they work with!

Excuse me while I step of my soapbox

taking your soap box

yep i agree with that. what i said was a very simplified answer cause i couldnt be bothered to type more, but you are right there are soem good dealers and tehre are far to many bad ones. everything is done to a timelimit with targets to reach. and this does not aquate to great service unless you happen to find a good place. i have personal mechanic i used in teh past, recently i have been going to fiat for things basically beciase of te warranty i bought for my car. but this is about to run out and i cant wait to use him again. he used to work for the big companys but now workd from his garage, and is dirt cheap.

passingya soap box backl


one other thing liek wolf. i like my punto but will not by a fiat again.

Your car must be a FRIDAY CAR...
My 04 Active has no problems at all yet... 11000 miles

I'm getting really worried now. I think I'm going to sell my Punto, I can't handle all this stuff going wrong with my Punto! I've had enough problems already.......