Hi I put this in the newbie section and was advised to move it here.
I have read the forum before but only just joined and hope someone may be able to help me. I bought my 2011 plate fiat 500 Lounge a year ago from a dealer The first problem i had was the driver side door handle fell off and then the boot catch didnt work which I read on here was a common problem. Minor things no problem got fixed. Two weeks after the 3 year warranty ran out and 362 days after buying the car the gear box went. Fiat said they would replace the gear box but I had to pay for the labour charge I argued my point sale of goods act etc and dealer discounted the labour charge but I was still £250 out of pocket. Picked up the car thursday then on Sunday driving down a duel carriageway big CLUNK then no gears totally immobile stranded could have been very nasty! Breakdown had to rescue me and took the car back to dealers They now tell me its the drive shaft. Can anyone tell me where I stand with this I have lost all confidence in this car now and dont really want to drive it anymore Do you think the gear box wasnt put on properly and does the drive shaft have anything to do with the gear box? My job relies on a good car and I thought this little car would be just the job I have read the internet and cant find any other problems like this I am supposed to be picking up the car later today but need some informed arguements to fight my corner Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
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Hi pammy sorry to hear about your mess. The only thing I can recommend is to call fiat uk and ask them to sort it out.

If that fails get it fixed at an independent and never go near a fiat garage again

Hello and welcome to the forum :wave:. Sorry it's in such sad circumstances.

pammieb said:

Do you think the gear box wasnt put on properly

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I'd say it was at least a strong possibility; proving it might be the hard bit, but if it failed three days after the gearbox was repaired, you might not have to.

pammieb said:

and does the drive shaft have anything to do with the gear box?

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You have to disturb the drive shafts to swap a gearbox; if the car wasn't put back together properly, or an engine mounting was strained in the process, it can lead to subsequent driveshaft failure.

Driveshaft failures on 500's are unusual but they have happened before. You might want to read this thread in its entirety.

Another possibility is that the car was involved in an accident and subsequently repaired prior to your purchasing it.

I'd say you'd have a strong case for arguing that the gearbox repair wasn't done properly and that's what caused the latest failure. In view of the very short time between you collecting the car and it failing, you'd have a good case in law for claiming the repair wasn't of merchantable quality; certainly any burden of proof would be on the dealer who repaired the gearbox.

Hopefully it won't come to that & the dealer will fix it for you without a fuss.

Please come back and tell us how you got on.

Just got back home with my 500 according to the service centre they said that a clip that fastens to the drive shaft had come out resulting in the loss of gears They have refitted it and topped up the gear box oil as there was slight leakage I asked if the other drive shaft had also been checked and was told it had. Obviously they were cagey about why it had happened but my guess is that it was negligence/lack of care or the fact that this is a rare occurence and they didnt really know how to fix a new gearbox on! The dealership has of course made no charge for this so I dont think there is any more I can do unless I have further problems. I am just dissapointed that I have had this problem on a car that has done 26000 miles only and am £250 out of pocket from the previous repair Thanks for your replies!

pammieb said:

Just got back home with my 500 according to the service centre they said that a clip that fastens to the drive shaft had come out resulting in the loss of gears They have refitted it and topped up the gear box oil as there was slight leakage I asked if the other drive shaft had also been checked and was told it had. Obviously they were cagey about why it had happened but my guess is that it was negligence/lack of care or the fact that this is a rare occurence and they didnt really know how to fix a new gearbox on! The dealership has of course made no charge for this so I dont think there is any more I can do unless I have further problems. I am just dissapointed that I have had this problem on a car that has done 26000 miles only and am £250 out of pocket from the previous repair Thanks for your replies!

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Thanks for coming back to tell us how you got on.

Well, at least you have your car again, and it didn't cost anything - but that's no excuse for not fixing it properly in the first place.

I'd be concerned about the gearbox oil topup - if it's leaking, topping it up won't fix that and it may not be long before it's low on oil again. It might be worth getting someone to check it again in a few weeks; meanwhile, keep an eye out under the car where you park it for any suspicious looking drips & stains. If you see any, and you're sure it's your car that's put them there, go get it checked straight away.

Hopefully though, all will be well now.

If the driveshaft was loose then it would have leaked a bit of oil. Putting it back together properly should solve it.. but good idea to look out for any drips and have someone check it in a few weeks time..

Hope the beast behaves itself now..

Ralf S.

Well here I am again after all the problems I had with the gear box I started hearing a bit of clunking going on under the car so took it back to the dealer and now they say its the gear box mount thats gone and that it wasnt safe to drive. Honestly I cant get my breath Do you thinks its worth sueing them now or something? They arnt charging for the repairs but again I feel totally let down

pammieb said:

Well here I am again after all the problems I had with the gear box I started hearing a bit of clunking going on under the car so took it back to the dealer and now they say its the gear box mount thats gone and that it wasnt safe to drive. Honestly I cant get my breath

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Sorry to hear you're having problems again.

pammieb said:

Do you thinks its worth sueing them now or something? They arnt charging for the repairs but again I feel totally let down

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I can understand you feeling totally let down but if they are fixing it for free, you're already doing better than a lot of folks who post on here about their troubles. Providing it works OK when you get it back, I'd say you don't really have anything to sue them for.

Fingers crossed that they repair it properly this time.

What he said, the car is being fixed for free, in what reality is suing them going to get you money?

Yes I get where you are coming from but i just didnt expect all these problems on a car that has only done 29000 miles I dont know if its the cars fault (obviously yes in the first instance) or shoddy workmanship fixing the problem. At the end of the day on 2 occasions the car has been unsafe and put me and my passengers at risk and that is what I am cross about and i am just so mad i want to take it further! I will have probably calmed down tomorrow!

pammieb said:

Yes I get where you are coming from but i just didnt expect all these problems on a car that has only done 29000 miles I dont know if its the cars fault (obviously yes in the first instance) or shoddy workmanship fixing the problem. At the end of the day on 2 occasions the car has been unsafe and put me and my passengers at risk and that is what I am cross about and i am just so mad i want to take it further! I will have probably calmed down tomorrow!

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its a fiat relax = )

When it is fixed ,if you can afford to sell it

I suspect, Ufi, that if it had been correctly punctuated, it would have sounded much more like helpful advice.

Which is what I suspect was intended.

Probably a case of i-phone thumb at work?