(T) Dealer Charges!!

Hi,

New at this but thanks for the excellent forum!

Just bought a yellow peril Stilo Abarth (used) and loving it, BUT as per usual according to this forum and confirmed by me yet to be 100% in the faults department, but getting there.

My query is that following contacting the Fiat dealer at Preston Lancs, and sorting the change of warranty I had a problem with the reverse sensors and these were repaired under warranty (Would have cost £190, ECU change) but got charged £35 to have it plugged into the computer to find the fault!! This I find is non returnable even though the car was faulty and repaired under warranty?

Now the car is kangarooing when cold and almost impossble to drive for 1st 2 minutes until it sorts itself out but as you will have guessed the dealer wants £35 to plug it in and then if a fault is found this will be repaired under warranty but I am still a £35 down on a car I thought had a good warranty til July next year?

I am not trying to be tight but was wondering if all Dealers charged this "warranty"" clause in the 3rd Dealer warranty year or were they taking the "p**s.

If this has been covered in an earlier thread I apologise but apart from that the car is fantastic. It has covered some 54,000 mies, July 02 regd, and having spoke to the 1st owner and told it was one reliable car, I am trying not to complain to much.

Also trying to get the 4th and 5th year extended warranty as well and hitting a brick wall with the dealer, but Fiat say no probs, £200+ vat 4th year and £325+vat for 4th and 5th!! then he says just nip to your dealer and he will sort it!! Which I do and told the 1st owner must do it on purchase and as I am not the first owner he can not help me. Catch 22 me thinks.

Have you any advise, either a better dealer or a contact at Fiat who has sorted this problem for them. The car is approaching the 60,000 warranty cut off and if you think the extended warranty is worthwhile it will take the coverage to 100,000 miles and give me full AA cover at same time (if I can get cover)

Dealer wants me to take a used car warranty which looked POO!
Sorry for long thread, but keep up the good work

Welcome to the forum (im in the wrong section but nevermind)

I'd take a trip to Blackpool Caledonia, this is the dealer I use and have always sorted my car out. And its not a very long drive for you. I got my car from the Preston dealers, but havnt gone back since.

Im sure someone else who knows more about warranties will help you out when they read it.

they should not be charging you to diagnose a problem under the warranty, threaten them with a complaint to FIAT UK if you still get no joy, then go ahead and complain!

My wife was charged £35 by AMC Fiat of Chelmsford when her Punto went in with a problem under the third year warranty.The third year warranty doesn't seem to cover much because it cost her £108 to replace a rear light unit that they said was causing the problem to her transmission and was not covered under the third year warranty. When the fault returned a month later they wanted the £35 so called inspection fee again plus another £35 to put it on the computer for fault diagnosis. She refused to pay and part exchanged the car at another dealer for another Punto.

Even if it wasn't under warranty i wouldn't pay for them plugging it into the diagnostics computer. Afterall it probably only takes 5 minutes. If however there was a fault they could fix there are then, then i'd expect to pay something, 1 hours labour maybe.

isn't worth the paper it's written on!

That's why after the first two annual services I move away to a cheaper garage to service my cars.

Agreed with TC. See here for third year warranty exclusions http://fiat.co.uk/services/3_year_dealer_warranty.asp

All the stuff that is likely to go wrong on Fiats! Air cons pipes etc (I got hit for £200 for a fractured Airco pipe). Come third service I'm going outside the daler Network too.

cmc