Fiat problems

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Fiat problems

errolmorris

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Feb 15, 2014
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Well, I have been checking out information on Fiat problems and have discovered that Fiat does indeed have some manufacturing issues that are well known to Fiat. The reason for my research is because I have one of these lemons which I bought second hand. Obviously I was told lots of untruths about said vehicle and for almost two and a half years my van has been sitting in my yard unable to be driven. I had it towed home after driving it for 3 hours on a dry highway at 90-100 kilometres per hour, and that is where it has sat since. I had just taken delivery of the vehicle and the dealer had sold his business a few days earlier and could not be found and the dealership was under new management. This explained why the dealer offered to save me the extra time and offered to meet me on the highway to facilitate the handover. Anyway, that's another story and I moved on from that a long time ago.
Trying to get parts is difficult as Fiat has no idea what I require when I order the parts with the VIN, engine number and all details pertaining to the vehicle along with full colour photographs and detailed descriptions of the parts needed. Speaking to dealerships draws blanks with regards to quoting on repairs, eg: "Can you give me a ball park figure on carrying out these repairs? I realise that there will be extras such as hoses, clamps, oils and gaskets and a few sundries that you can't quote on, so a ball park figure would be helpful so that I can budget for the work."
The responses from two 'dealer workshops' has been almost identical.
"We have never done those types of repairs so we can't give you a quote, but if you can bring the car in for us to look at, we might have a better idea."
"I wish I could 'just bring it in' for you to look at, but that would involve a 10 hour trip on the back of a truck which is why I am just looking for a rough guesstimate of the cost involved. I already know that it will cost me $1,200.00.00 to get the vehicle to your workshop so I need to have some idea of what it might cost me to get it repaired."
"Sorry, but we can't quote unless we can look at it."
As a mechanic myself, I find this very odd, but then my research suggests that this might be the way Fiat operates in spite of the fact that at no time have I ever mentioned warranty work or poor manufacturing on behalf of Fiat. They did offer to sell me another vehicle though, but again could not tell me how much it would cost. They bandied figures around but would not settle on a price for a brand new vehicle to drive away. Weird stuff. They sure were very friendly though, so that must count for something.
I recently found a part I needed, but only because an old school mate who was/is working for a Fiat dealer in another state, was able to help me but with the warning that he couldn't say too much because Fiat denies that there are any problems with any of their vehicles. He told me that the standard response he must give is, " in all my time with the company that is the first time I have heard about 'that problem'...", which confirms that it is Fiat's policy to reject criticism of its product.
In fairness, I did ask my mate if he had heard of any issues with the part I needed because each time I tried to order the part, the Fiat person I spoke with suddenly couldn't find the part number I had provided and therefore couldn't give me a price or quote on supplying the part or fitting the part. His response was that the part I was after had in fact been a real problem but the replacement now available seemed to be okay but Fiat stalls for months on supplying the parts and then people become desperate and so order their own parts from Europe or Britain and of course Fiat then tells their customers that they will not warrant the parts. All part of their policy to avoid any warranty work.
Anyway, I now have the parts I need, thanks to knowing someone on the inside, and will replace them over the next several months. Good luck to all Fiat owners...and yes, there are many satisfied owners but many satisfied owners does not cancel out poor workmanship or faulty products as some here seem to suggest. Very disappointing to see that, but that is the way of the world.
I am rather ambivalent about the whole thing because I bought second hand and therefore have to sleep in the bed I made. That's life.
 
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