So much for buying New to keep running costs down

so far ive had the

front struts top mount bearing fail
exhaust heat shield fall apart twice
exhaust rubber mounts fail
sat nav completly unless
poor MPG best i can get 27mpg
loss off power and surging Fiat promised that the egr pipe recall would fix it
still doing it now say a replacement brake switch will fix the problem
its started to jump out of first gear when in crawling traffic this week
and last night went into limp mode with no warning lights pulled over turned of the engine waited 5mins set off and was all good for 5 miles then limp mode again
checked under the bonnet no water in the header tank looked under neath for a water leak everything bone dry removed the cap slowly it was like a volcano erupting
refilled with 4 litres of water ran it on tick over until the fans kicked in and topped up again still no visible leaks no pressure in the system checked oil for water which was all good so carried on with journey stopping every 30 mins to check
it do use about 1 ltr in 200 miles just started it this morning and water coming out of the exhaust so i pressure the egr valve cooler as cracked saying this was replace only 5k miles ago as part of the recall

GETTING REALLY FED UP with it now looks like another week of the road loosing £££££££££ and letting my customers down gearbox repair and water leak as its my lively hood fiat can't supply with a replacement vehicle as its a conversion for transporting cars :bang::bang:

Forgot to mention even though the water had been lost there was no warning lights for the water level and the temp gauge stopped bang on the normal operating temp

2017 how many miles it-done? Strut top fail that’s bad luck ! Exhaust heat shield change not surprised there like paper exhaust rubbers too? is exhaust got any load on it? Sat nav have you the latest update because this should solve that issue?gearbox crunch 1st ! well if still under warranty arrange a day when they can simply swap it with new gearbox any good fiat tech can swap in a day but your using water that does sound bad if no leaks needs a head gasket sniff test needs testing ,mil light come on the fault code will be stored for 40 drive cycles if EOBD related might explain poor fuel economy egr recall no relation to crack on coolant side of system crack appear on gas side near alternator hope your vehicle problems don’t inconvenience you to much.

AFAIK his strut mounts failed at 3k miles and again at something like 30k sounds more like parts arent up to being regularly loaded to near gvw than bad luck.

My injectors seemed to solve the surging, or at least it’s not as bad as was,
Personally I think it’s the regen of Dpf every 4-500mile that’s causing the on/off surges

Which is a daily occurrence. Mine still uses oil, but only down to approx 200ml a week, was double sometimes with faulty injectors, was told the extra diesel was pushing past rings and in effect washing the oil, causing more soot and blocking dpf daily, just using slightly less oil now, mpg up by approx 3-5mpg depends on driving. Still the surges but not as harsh.
Can’t be arsed going back with it, as like you I can’t afford the time off.
Radio is still crap on dab, (Mansfield to Middlesbrough zero reception! M1-m18-a1m-a19) but dealer says it’s fine, sat nav well, just forget it and buy a Tom Tom

Its just done 96k serviced every 15k jus been confirmed its the head gasket

Top mounts for the struts the bearings had seized which caused the springs to twist hence the twanging noise the replacements creak but they refused to sort them out even though the steering is heavy compared to other ducato's i've driven

Had no waring lights come up on the dash


Stressed out now lol as it will be off the road for week i had 3k worth of work booked in had to cancel with my customers

Kick off with fiat customer care*

They provided a hire van whilst mine was in for injectiors

Although the dealer booked a small van!! So still couldn’t work, but decided to take a couple of days off

Forgot to say my steering ain’t been right since egr recall, it started clunking when turning at slow speed, deffo strut tops as had them done on all my vans, they ignored it though, but will get it done before November when she’s 2yr old and out of warranty

well just spoke to them this morning they haven't had time to look at at it yet

Gearbox won't be an exchange unit but only the faulty parts replaced
water leak they don't think its the head gasket but won't know until they run a pressure test
they are going to do a leak of test on the injectors
they said they have just received information that they are having a lot of injector failures in the south of the country this trend is getting less the further north the vehicles are based hope they are not trying to get out of a warranty claim for poor/bad fuel i only use BP and Shell

supposed to be ringing me later on this afternoon with report

I ordered a new one other week hope ive made the right decision ?

well got my Ducato back on Monday the last words as they handed over the keys was just keep an eye on the water level 10 mins later it was surging and stuttering on the motorway no power
when i got to my customer a regular who owns a diagnostic centre he had a look and did a sniff test which confirmed the head gasket as failed i took it straight back to Fiat i won't put on here what was said

I just don't understand why a main dealer would think its ok to keep your vehicle for a week do nothing and knowing whats wrong and send you on your way telling you to keep an eye on the water level....to me an head gasket failure is a major fault no matter how small the leak is and needs repairing
i have now had to inconvenience my customers again and will be off the road another week earning no money

NOT happy

I would invoice the dealer for 2 weeks lost work im sure they would if the boot was on the other foot. Which dealer is it so i know to avoid ?

Welll we are into week 3 still no repair done dealer says they can't start repairs until Fiat technical authorise the repair under warranty i have now lost 4k in work and more this week

the dealer i'm using is the commercial one in Preston

i'm contacting Fiat care this morning hoping to get this resolved asap and i have taken advice to go and see a solicitor to claim for the loss of earnings compensation for the damage to my business this as caused

the reason i bought new was so i could provide a more reliable service for my customers with the promise of quick turnarounds for repairs and overnight servicing in our state of the art workshops to reduce downtime WHAT A LOAD OF ********

Never buying Fiat again

well just got of the phone to customer care in Italy and there as no technical case been opened by the dealer which they said they had done 2weeks ago not even for the gearbox repair
Customer care are chasing this up asap to find out whats been going on at the dealers and escalating it for an urgent repair

Fingers crossed it gets sorted this week

PC Vehicle Movements said:

well just got of the phone to customer care in Italy and there as no technical case been opened by the dealer which they said they had done 2weeks ago not even for the gearbox repair
Customer care are chasing this up asap to find out whats been going on at the dealers and escalating it for an urgent repair

Fingers crossed it gets sorted this week

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Guess you'll be looking for a new dealer thats shocking.

Well they are removing the cylinder head today 16 days after dropping it off with a suspected head gasket failure
I'm going to see my solicitor this afternoon to see about claiming for loss of earnings so far i've had to cancel/lost nearly 9k in lost work and seriously inconvenienced my customers

PC Vehicle Movements said:

Well they are removing the cylinder head today 16 days after dropping it off with a suspected head gasket failure
I'm going to see my solicitor this afternoon to see about claiming for loss of earnings so far i've had to cancel/lost nearly 9k in lost work and seriously inconvenienced my customers

Click to expand...

I'm starting to understand why my recovery guy has put 3 new beavertail beds on his 6 cylinder merc NG - still trucking after 30 years.

Your recovery guy after time might get symptoms of loneliness not having to deal with dealers on a regular basis can cause long term problems in some cases might need counselling I have some numbers and I’m happy to pass them on in private message if your friend needs them I feel his pain !

well at least i've had nearly 4 weeks of hot sunny weather sat in the garden watching the grass turn brown

well we are going into week 5 next week should be ready to collect the day before my 2 week holiday
I mean come on Fiat 5 weeks to fix a failed head gasket

has anyone tried to claim loss of earning from Fiat as my vehicle as been of the road and with out it i can't run my business its cost me thousands in lost work i'm not going to be greedy just want to claim back my fixed monthly costs
I have spoken to Fiat customer care and they won't entertain a claim and say i should claim of my insurance
Had my 30mins free advice from a solicitor Yes i have a case but will cost me £1500 just to start the balling

Would trading standards help or as anyone done this with success


Regards Paul

PC Vehicle Movements said:

well we are going into week 5 next week should be ready to collect the day before my 2 week holiday
I mean come on Fiat 5 weeks to fix a failed head gasket

has anyone tried to claim loss of earning from Fiat as my vehicle as been of the road and with out it i can't run my business its cost me thousands in lost work i'm not going to be greedy just want to claim back my fixed monthly costs
I have spoken to Fiat customer care and they won't entertain a claim and say i should claim of my insurance
Had my 30mins free advice from a solicitor Yes i have a case but will cost me £1500 just to start the balling

Would trading standards help or as anyone done this with success


Regards Paul

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Very sorry to hear about how hopeless the Preston commercial Fiat dealership have been......I've got a new campervan bought from a dealership near Preston and after your case I certainly won't be taking it to Preston for any warranty work.

I'm afraid I can't offer any advice re solicitors but just a thought to keep you in business and not let too many customer's down, why can't Fiat give you a ducato van with a tow bar and make them pay for the hire of a car transporter trailer you could tow behind.....this might be the path of less friction for you?

Graham