I went to Research Garage in Nuneaton and had them check it out... I took my car keys and told me to wait in waiting room.
My car has BlackJax Anti Hijack Clifford Alarm function which cuts the engine & electronics if no pin number is entered. I forgot to tell them about it...
A few minutes later, I heard my car alarm go off. Then a few further moments the service advisor came out with my key and said it is safe to drive but requires further investigation. We can book you in on Monday (This being Wednesday)
As I'm going to Rome next Monday, booked in for Monday 17th.
When I returned to my car, the car was fully immobilised showing that Blackjax had initiated which makes me wonder how Research were able to look at the alarms if they did at all?!
I wasn't happy with the response I got considering its an engine fault, so I phoned Grays Garage in Warwick. I was told that if I dropped the car in they'd try to have a look at it but couldnt promise as they were fully booked and couldn't provide me with a courtesy car. However they advised they could book it in for thursday (this being today)
They also recommended if I was worried about driving around with a potential engine fault to call out the AA to get them to have a look at the Alarms and depending on what it is they may be able to resolve it.
I got the AA out and they were very good. They noted it was the Exhaust Gas Recirculation Valve. They checked that it was all tight. Cleared the alarm and asked me to have a bit of a drive to see if it was ok. The car felt a lot perkier and the alarm didnt return.
AA gave me a Breakdown report to hand to the dealership.
There must be a better way of looking after Fiat customers in the event of emergency repairs that could potentially be a safety issue?!
Grays response was obviously fairly good but not brilliant, as it still requires more of my time/ second visit to the dealership.
The Alarm has now returned since all this.
(Thanks for listening to my waffle!!)