Hi guys.

So I've had an issue recently with my manual 2009 Fiat 500. Iv'e owned it for 2 years and brought the milage up to around 52k.

When changing gears into reverse it can sometimes be a bit of a pain to shift the stick but will go in with a little force (every other gear smoothly shifts). So I went away on holiday for 2 weeks and upon starting the car for the first time I really had to give it a lot of force and shaking about to get it into reverse (eventually it loosened up again to its previous feel).. So I called my local fiat dealership too arrange a check up.

They have come back with the following report:

'Clutch pedal stiff suspect faulty clutch £510'
'Gear selection cables rusted and seizing up causing bad gear selection, new cables required £350'
'Rear exhaust clamp missing' £220
'Engine oil sump badly corroded through allowing oil to leak into exhaust' £500

Quite the heft bill for parts....

I paid £3900 for the car 2 years ago and its just had a new 12 month MOT.

Are Fiat taking me for a ride here as I really wasnt expecting all that back. Really not sure what to do

Any advice welcomed!

Thank you

Hi, and a very warm welcome!

Advice......find yourself a good local independent garage to do the work. It'll be a damn sight cheaper!

£220 for an exhaust clamp? I think that price alone speaks volumes.

drsmoketto said:

They have come back with the following report:

'Clutch pedal stiff suspect faulty clutch £510'
'Gear selection cables rusted and seizing up causing bad gear selection, new cables required £350'
'Rear exhaust clamp missing' £220
'Engine oil sump badly corroded through allowing oil to leak into exhaust' £500

Click to expand...

Hello and welcome to the forum :wave:.

None of those items are particularly surprising given the age & mileage of your car - all common, well-known 500 (and other fiat) issues.

What is astounding are the prices you have been quoted; but that's franchised dealers for you. You could save a hefty chunk of that bill by finding a decent independent garage and using aftermarket parts - all of those items are common and cheaply available for much less than you'd pay for an OEM Fiat part. By way of example, Shop4Parts will sell you a perfectly good aftermarket sump for £35.88, and you can get a further 10% off that if you donate to this forum.

It's rarely cost effective to use a franchised dealer once out of the manufacturer's warranty for all but the most specialised marques and perhaps none more so than Fiat.

And whatever else, treat that sump replacement as urgent; if your car is leaking oil onto the road, it could cost some unfortunate motorcyclist their life. If it leaks all its oil onto the road, it will also cost you your engine.

Yup, the prices quoted if they are correct, are a complete joke imo. These are the sorts of prices you should be paying. Remember vat on some parts applies. I'm basing this on a 1.2. You do of course have to check all part numbers if you buy them yourself. You can get a good independent garage to fit, but they obviously wouldn't warrant the parts, only their labour:

https://www.shop4parts.co.uk/?name=store&op=Product&ProdID=21128&gclid=CJ3NyP3Z5dICFcYp0wodz8wATg

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-F...546135?hash=item33c641ff97:g:aZ0AAOSwZVlXu15t

Thanks for the replies guys. Im going to get some quotes from local garages ASAP

Do you suggest sourcing all the parts myself then taking them to the independant garage?

If you are going to source the parts yourself, you must check all part numbers with a dealership or someone with access to the Fiat parts catalogue. You can call an outlet such as shop4parts if you are intent on buying the parts, give them your VIN and they will check for you as to suitability prior to purchase.

Just remember, as I said before, if you buy the parts yourself, a garage will not warrant them if you are supplying yourself, only their labour. You can potentially save yourself a small fortune buying your own parts, but if you don't feel comfortable doing it then find a good indpendent garage and let them do the work.

https://www.goodgaragescheme.com/

Our 59 plate has NO exhaust clamps left, they've all rusted away! I made a new clamp for the "front pipe to engine" the other two missing clamps could be bought and put on by yourself for only £5, so that's £215 saved.

An independent would probably charge £100-150 to replace the sump, our car had a new sump fitted by the supplying dealer before we got the car, something I had not noticed, you need to have this fixed.

How does the clutch pedal feel, it should be quite easy to push? if hard then its a case of working out whats causing it, master/slave cylinder, pedal assembly(under dash) or clutch itself, a second opinion is required.

Gear selection, with the engine OFF how easy is it to move the stick, only two fingers should be required to move it, go through all the gears with and without the clutch depressed, how well do they select?

John202020 said:

Our 59 plate has NO exhaust clamps left, they've all rusted away! I made a new clamp for the "front pipe to engine" the other two missing clamps could be bought and put on by yourself for only £5, so that's £215 saved.

An independent would probably charge £100-150 to replace the sump, our car had a new sump fitted by the supplying dealer before we got the car, something I had not noticed, you need to have this fixed.

How does the clutch pedal feel, it should be quite easy to push? if hard then its a case of working out whats causing it, master/slave cylinder, pedal assembly(under dash) or clutch itself, a second opinion is required.

Gear selection, with the engine OFF how easy is it to move the stick, only two fingers should be required to move it, go through all the gears with and without the clutch depressed, how well do they select?

Click to expand...

Cheers John. Had a few quotes back today around the £850 for everything mentioned in the list.

Gear selection is fine until I get to reverse, thats the only gear that im having trouble with at the moment. The clutch doesnt really feel stiff to me at all

Is that difficulty with or without the engine running, if its fine off, but not when running that points towards the "clutch system" if it makes no difference that points to gearbox or selector mechanism?