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Technical Fiat 500 Twin Air - NOT at all HAPPY!
- Thread starter SteveKirstyR
- Start date
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Technical Fiat 500 Twin Air - NOT at all HAPPY!
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I've had my 1.2 500 for a year now (first owner), and zero problems. It just had its first service and everything was absolutely fine.
Can I go in the Guinness Book of Records now?
ahmett
Prominent member
I think we should have an 'X' rated section of the forum where posts are not deleted and then we can see the true colors of some of the members. Although I sure can imagine who are the naughty ones even without seeing the posts = )
Yes. Very good advice. Just been banned again from another car forum. Too much bevvy drowning my sorrows over the NO vote.
Piccolo Nero e Bella
Established member
Must have been a big disappointment. Mebbe next time, eh? I think the OP is heading for a big disappointment too.
I think they dealer will fix it, but just to balance all the arm chair lawyers, I did reject a new Fiat after more than 5 months and got a loan car for more than 10 weeks with nothing to pay.
Fiat aren't all bad and I didn't need trading standards either. It depends on the fault
Fiat aren't all bad and I didn't need trading standards either. It depends on the fault
SteveKirstyR
New member
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I thought an update might be useful ...
Basically, we picked up a brand new F500 TA yesterday, supplied as a free of charge replacement by Fiat UK.
Having taken the car back to our dealer for a third time they, in conjunction with Fiat UK and the factory in Italy, said that our car was suffering from a known problem. If you jumped in the car and started the engine straightaway (as you do) the engine management system couldn't boot up in time and therefore wasn't ready to start receiving data from the sensors around the engine. Therefore it sent the error messages we were seeing on the dash. So, we were given the car back and told that trouble tickets had been raised with the Italian factory and they'd let us know when a resolution had been identified. We were given no timescale (by the way, that was the beginning of October and we never heard back).
All this didn't sound right to me so I read the warranty. All it said was that for a 3 year period any genuine warranty faults would be repaired free of charge - oh dear. So, given I had nothing to loose I phoned Trading Standards, expecting them to say that providing the warranty was being honoured there was nothing more that could be done - how wrong was I.
They said that given the fact that the car was purchased on finance we should pursue the finance company (FGA Capital) as the vehicle was not merchantable quality and our statutory rights (my wife's actually) as set out by the Supply of Goods Implied Terms Act 1973 had been contravened. And as such we were entitled to a replacement vehicle or a refund. We should write to the finance company giving them 7 days to respond. If the response was not as we wanted we should phone Trading Standards back for further advice and we were given a reference number.
We followed Trading Standard's instructions, and copied in the MD of Fiat UK plus the MD of our Fiat dealer. The initial response was to ask that car go back to the dealer for further assessment. We refused and repeatedly insisted that we wanted a refund or replacement. After a few robust but polite emails the Fiat UK Director's Office took up our case and got us a brand new car.
Assuming the new car doesn't go the same way as the original one we are well chuffed. Interestingly, the new car is a much smoother drive and the engine is much quieter which perhaps indicates the original vehicle had some fundamental issues.
Anyhow, the moral of the story is take proper advice so you know your rights, don't get fobbed off and stick to your guns.
Basically, we picked up a brand new F500 TA yesterday, supplied as a free of charge replacement by Fiat UK.
Having taken the car back to our dealer for a third time they, in conjunction with Fiat UK and the factory in Italy, said that our car was suffering from a known problem. If you jumped in the car and started the engine straightaway (as you do) the engine management system couldn't boot up in time and therefore wasn't ready to start receiving data from the sensors around the engine. Therefore it sent the error messages we were seeing on the dash. So, we were given the car back and told that trouble tickets had been raised with the Italian factory and they'd let us know when a resolution had been identified. We were given no timescale (by the way, that was the beginning of October and we never heard back).
All this didn't sound right to me so I read the warranty. All it said was that for a 3 year period any genuine warranty faults would be repaired free of charge - oh dear. So, given I had nothing to loose I phoned Trading Standards, expecting them to say that providing the warranty was being honoured there was nothing more that could be done - how wrong was I.
They said that given the fact that the car was purchased on finance we should pursue the finance company (FGA Capital) as the vehicle was not merchantable quality and our statutory rights (my wife's actually) as set out by the Supply of Goods Implied Terms Act 1973 had been contravened. And as such we were entitled to a replacement vehicle or a refund. We should write to the finance company giving them 7 days to respond. If the response was not as we wanted we should phone Trading Standards back for further advice and we were given a reference number.
We followed Trading Standard's instructions, and copied in the MD of Fiat UK plus the MD of our Fiat dealer. The initial response was to ask that car go back to the dealer for further assessment. We refused and repeatedly insisted that we wanted a refund or replacement. After a few robust but polite emails the Fiat UK Director's Office took up our case and got us a brand new car.
Assuming the new car doesn't go the same way as the original one we are well chuffed. Interestingly, the new car is a much smoother drive and the engine is much quieter which perhaps indicates the original vehicle had some fundamental issues.
Anyhow, the moral of the story is take proper advice so you know your rights, don't get fobbed off and stick to your guns.
Well, that's rather urinated on my fried potato slices now hasn't it!
I wonder how that response affects the people with the EU6 issues.
Interestingly that correlates well with my understanding of having a car on finance.
I wonder how that response affects the people with the EU6 issues.
Interestingly that correlates well with my understanding of having a car on finance.
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I'd say if Fiat don't roll out a permanent and repeatable fix quickly, their dealers could be looking at a shedload of rejections.
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Which dealership? I have just had the same experience for the second time. I would like to be able to quote your experience to my dealer. Thanks.
SteveKirstyR
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D Salmon Cars in Colchester. But I would point out that it was not the dealer who solved the problem. Not that they didn't want to, they have been very helpful, but because it was taken out of their hands. It was Fiat UK who stepped up.
Based on our own experiences, I would advise anyone with problems to immediately take advice from Trading Standards. You then know where you stand legally and can tell the manufacturer / dealer you have a problem with that Trading Standards has advised you. Get a TS reference number and quote it so the people you are dealing with know you're serious.
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SteveKirstyR
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Its an 85bhp
SteveKirstyR
New member
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I hope your chips have dried out a bit!
I have a long association with internet forums and learnt not to take every view expressed as the gospel truth. I hope you didn't mind me ignoring your views plus a few others on here!
Great result Steve ,let`s hope this 500 is much better ,they are full of character and put a smile on your face .
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