(T) Abarth Side Skirt Problems.

Hi

Just wondering if anyone else has had any problems with these skirts.

I had them fitted by a FIAT dealership, Stoneacre FIAT of Peterborough. Since having them fitted the mounting clips that hold them on underneath have broken twice and left the skirts suspended in mid air held onto the body only by the adhesive, they replaced them twice free of charge.

The clips have again broken and I'm returning the car to the dealership for inspection, this time the clips have broken but the skirts have become unhinged at the points where they are glued too.

I phoned them this morning and they said bodyworks are only warranted for twelve months and it is likely I will have to pay for them to be re-fitted/re-glued. The first time they broke was six months after fitting, they were fixed under warranty, the second time was eighteen months after fitting, they were fixed as a 'gesture of goodwill', this time it's thirty months after initial fitting.

Where do you guys think I stand on this one as a consumer?

Has anyone else had such issues with these skirts?

I am booked in at 1pm today, I will let you know the outcome.

Cheers.

Well ,let me start by saying, it's been some time since I used this dealership but things seemed to have improved, looks like a totally new staff base, they are friendly and helpful unlike the previous people.

Anyway, they have booked the car in for inspection next Tuesday and will consider fabricating some new brackets to hold the skirts in place as they believe the originals are sub-standard and not fit for the job.

Will update this post once they have investigated and completed the work.

Has anyone else experienced such problems with this particular kit?

I have had asimilar problem on mine but i fitted the skirts myself. I have found that all of the brackets have broken and now the skirts are held on with the adhesive and i have screwed into the front and back arches aswel. so basiclally my skirts shouldn't go anywhere but they are not held on underneath. i was going to get my dad to fabricate some metal ones at work that i might possibly be able to fit in order for them to be more secure.

You should report this to FIAT or the dealership that you purchased them from, they need to know about this in order to make future fitting kits more apropriate.

Hopefully they'll get it sorted, the adhesive has come away too on mine.

Just a little word on this for people as we all now Fiat have a habit of cutting corners BOING BOING so did they use superglue when they fixed your skirts on sweety

I have over many years done a considerable amount of plumbing [4 house moves]and have used on many occasions the clear silicon mastic you can readily buy at your local diy this is not affected by water and wont absorb water either and once set sticks like crap to cricket stump and if you ever wish to remove any item then by using a thin single edge razor blade you can carefully cut through it to remove the item you have stuck in place I used it to stick in place my front and rear light covers on my car and had no problems at all with it ..just inject the required amount with a mastic gun and clean off the surplus with a cloth and as its clear you see nothing

mine are held on with tiger seal alone, and have stayed in place for over a year now

ye i used sikaflex sealent adhesive on my skirts and they show no sign of moving so far even with the clips broken. the sealent adhesive products definately seem the best sort of products for the job and i'd recommend it to n e body doing a similar job.

The original skirts are clipped, screwed and bonded onto the body of the car.

The aftermarket ones are bonded and clipped on with special clips, a perfectly reasonable solution for aftermarket fitment (come on, who would want to start drilling their sills?).

I can't comment on their durability as mine are the OE ones, but I seem to remember my bro enquiring about stainless steel brackets for his aftermarket ones when he did it. I'll ask him later.

Maybe this thread should be made a STICKY

im having mine done soon, so tell me what those stainless brackets are like.

Update.

The skirts were inspected today and the tecchies at Stoneacre FIAT Peterborough concluded that the original plastic clips are inadequate for the job they were designed to do.

What they are going to do is fabricate some clips made of steel, they will screw into the bottom of the skirts and clamp onto the sill lip, thus making them a removeable item and not having to drill into the sills keeps the anti-perforation warranty intact.

Marcus, the Body Shop Manager has agreed to do this work as a good-will-gesture and with no cost to me even though the original skirt fitting warranty was only valid for twelve months.

The car is booked in on the 29th May to have this work completed and hopefully this will bring an end to any further skirt problems.

As I said in the original post above, the staff base at Peterborough has changed and these people genuinely seem interested in building the garages reputation up to a good level, unlike the clowns that were originally in place. Only time will tell.....................................

Ok, update.

I took my car to Stoneacre FIAT yesterday for it's suspension recall and side skirt re-fixing.

On my arrival I wasn't greeted with the best of receptions, the receptionist Trisha was huffing and puffing and wasn't exactly friendly, I overlooked this because it was just 0800, I was her second customer and she hadn't even taken her coat off, so maybe that was why she was grumpy or maybe she's just not a morning person.

The suspension recall modification has been fitted, workmanship looks ok even if the modification does look a little out of place, 'Heath Robinson' I believe is the term, but as long as it works then that's fine. This must be costing FIAT a fortune.

The skirts have been re-fixed with a modification that is far superior to the original, bespoke metal brackets, the skirts now feel solid, they aren't going anywhere, just as they should have been in the first place. This is a FIAT design fault and not the dealerships fault. Thanks to Marcus the Bodyshop Manager for firstly being polite and very helpful and secondly for arranging the upgrade to be made free of charge even though the skirts were out of the warranty period.

I collected the Stilo at 1630 today and Trisha was polite and friendly, either she was now awake or it was very close to home time.

All in all I have to say that from my recent experiences Stoneacre FIAT in Peterborough has improved, they are making the effort to improve Customer Services and to ensure they get repeat custom, hopefully they will continue in this vain.

Yay, good to know our goodwill and good service is doing well.

And yes, well will be doing nothing but improving our service to customers

Glad to know your happy savi.

p.s - yes marcus is a good man i worked with him and the bodyshop lads in a previous job.

Yeah, he's pretty down to earth, talks, delivers, doesn't complicate things, not a bad lad! (Marcus)

Jase, what rate of commision are you on? Do Stoneacre pay you by the post? Seems your inner promotional entrepeneur is released everytime you touch your keypad!