bought my car 31/06/06, fact of the matter is..... you get pulled over by the old bill and they inspect your car, feel play and hear noise from the steering....your nicked!
AA have told me its not safe, paid £179 for a report telling me that. They are not classed as roadworthy, read the road traffic act 1988 section 75(1).
" 75.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section no person shall supply a motor vehicle or trailer in an unroadworthy condition.

(2) In this section references to supply include—
(a) sell,
(b) offer to sell or supply, and
(c) expose for sale.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (1) above a motor vehicle or trailer is in an unroadworthy condition if—
(a) it is in such a condition that the use of it on a road in that condition would be unlawful by virtue of any provision made by regulations under section 41 of this Act as respects—
(i) brakes, steering gear or tyres, or
(ii) the construction, weight or equipment of vehicles, or
(iii) the maintenance of vehicles, their parts and accessories in such a condition that no danger is or is likely to be caused."

I suppose this only applies to uk residents...which i am.

Fiat are going to tell you anything to stop your car being returned to their forecourt and you given a full refund.
Why should we spent £9000 on a car for it to go wrong after a few days or weeks.
If you bought a tv that packed up after a few weeks would you mind it being taken back to be repaired.... i know i wouldnt, id want it replaced, and a tv cost £500 or so, so why should you/i have to put up with numerous repairs for a £9000 product.
Its just wrong, and im really pi***d off with it.
The easy way is to sit back and let them keep repairing it, its gona be a hard battle for me trying to get shot cos i got it on finance but they are getting it back and im steering clear of Fiats for good.
2 brand new cars and both faulty....whats the odds on that!
Crap build, simple as, going from cars with nothing in the late 90s to cars trying to compete with the japenese in the last 3-4 years, its a joke, yea they got the styling but what does that matter if the engineering is way off!!
I think this new image for Fiat aint getting them no where. The old punto was crap and from all the reviews i have read from numerous forums the Grande also falls into this catagory!

I think you have to look when the car was manufactured not when you took delivery of it, fiat did have some sitting around for a while doing the pre-launch stock build.

My car was built to order (becaus of the options) in the first week of May and I took delivery at the very end of May, so far so good 3800 miles and no noise so far, but I am always listening

Glad to hear you are having fault free driving. Some of us are not in your position though.
Like i said i got my car in may and ive got all the faults going.
Fiat knowing that the earlier built cars had problems should have removed them from stock before they were sold. Surely the PDI check should have found this problem, they didnt even find the missing bulb in my boot, or the loose wing mirror assembly. So much for checking your car eh

Small items may exist,....but this happens to all cars (even German ones....I have many examples.....)

Regarding the steering rack, it is a known problem which came out to some of the first cars.....and maybe you got the car May but the car was built much earlier....as the previous post said....

25 days so far,....3500Km and everything ok....

rob19791 said:

bought my car 31/06/06, fact of the matter is..... you get pulled over by the old bill and they inspect your car, feel play and hear noise from the steering....your nicked!

Click to expand...

the 'old bill' will not test your steering for defects under any circumstances, they do not have the authority to decide if a car's steering is defective. they can give you a defect notice for tyres (and protruding wheels), lights, windows, seatbelts, exhaust emissions and noise level and in certain cases other issues such as insecure seats and insecure body parts/panels (obvious safety issues). even if they could have a say about your steering you would not be personally responsible as you have not modified the steering and you have not ignored the advice of an MOT test that identifed such a problem. so you can't get 'nicked' as you have done nothing wrong, fiat would be responsible.

if you really have an AA report that states the steering column is unsafe (i doubt you do) I suggest you email a copy to fiat UK and demand your money back. if they are selling cars with a fault that is safety related they legally must recall all affected cars in the EU and carry out repairs. since no recall has been issued it is fairly certain that the steering rack fault does not have any impact on the safety of the car. can we see a scan of your AA report please?

yep i know, but it doesnt change the fact that in my experience FIAT are to be steered clear of.
Known problems should be explained to you when you buy the car. The dealership must have known about the problem on the early built cars..... therfore you would have thought they would have checked them before selling them, my car had 25 miles on the clock when i bought it so therefor they should have known it had the fault. I noticed the noise within minutes of driving it... but i assumed maybe the car had to settle for a few 100 miles. It should have been noticed and Fiat are wrong to sell cars like that.
I am not paid to find faults, their mechanics are.
My mum wont buy anything but Saab...never had a problem always been absolutly spot on...not even a dodgy bulb. Thats what i want, i know her car is £32000 and mines £9000 but that shouldnt make a difference. Quality control is there for a reason and the PDI check was obviously not done on my car, just stamped and put back on the forecourt for me to pick up.

Hi, this thread seems to have caused a lot of response !

ive got 2 things to add !

1. My car is at northgate fiat right now getting the rack replaced, will report back when i get it back, but i am pretty sure it will fix the noises coming from below.

2. Re the last few threads re the police pulling you over, i think you may find that actually you could be "done" if an officer decided the steering was defective. A PG9 trained officer can inspect a vehicle to a much deeper level and if required prohibit its use on the road until rectified. for a bit more info see link http://www.kent.police.uk/About Kent Police/Policy/p/p07b.html

Im not saying it would ever happen !! but the police can inspect a vehicle, steering included and put it off the road. specially trained officers are used and have to be called out to the vehicle to inspect it.... for your info !

It’s a great shame to hear about your problems with the new Grande Punto.
I can assure you that initial problems are to be expected from any new car, not just Fiat. I tell you this from a past experience with a rival manufacturer.
Although such problems are not acceptable, you are taking a risk when buying ANY new car from launch.
It's usually best to wait a while for initial problems to be noticed and sorted before buying such a new model.

Picked the car up this afternoon, all is well, it was obviously the rack causing my problems.

For those of you near the S E of england i would reccommend Northgate fiat @ Canterbury if you are looking for a fiat dealer, my experience with them so far (be it fairly short) is very good.

The staff are friendly and prompt, they do what they say and seem very efficient. Now i can hopefully settle down and enjoy the car, it was only the steering rack problem that was causing me grief, i am impressed with the rest of the car and enjoy to drive it ! lets hope the next time i see northgate is for its next service !!

eleganza said:

I can assure you that initial problems are to be expected from any new car, not just Fiat. I tell you this from a past experience with a rival manufacturer. Although such problems are not acceptable, you are taking a risk when buying ANY new car from launch. It's usually best to wait a while for initial problems to be noticed and sorted before buying such a new model.

Click to expand...

EXACTLY! if you buy a new model you're a guinea pig. i had a daewoo lanos back in 97, they're very reliable cars (its basically a civic) but i still had to go back to the dealer many times in the first year. there were problems with the a/c, there were problems with the alternator, there was a recall on the front shocks and antiroll bar. thats a daewoo, expect a new fiat model to be worse. have you ever wondered why you get a warranty on new cars, because you will need one, a warranty is quality control after the fact. thats the only affordable way to sell the cars so cheaply. if it worked perfect from new it would have a toyota badge on the front and cost 50% more. if you're interested i'm sure there's a toyata garage near you.

i especially like the 'million miles of testing' claim on the GP advert. yeah right..

My thoughts exactly. Jap cars are wicked. There is one close by so i think il have a look when this is all sorted.
Thing is, i only bought th GP to get out of my old car in a hurry. Never really looked around or looked at forums.
The only problem with the japenese cars is the small ones look pants, the only thing that really intrests me are the Toyota celica, and the new Honda civic. BUT my girlfriends only been driving for 3 months and she pranged my other car and the insurance will sky rocket if i put her on. I might go back to ford, had a Focus about 2 years ago and it was lovely. Not the new shape one. I had the 1.6 zetec. Very nice

Also just had an MOT done today..... it failed on the steering rack.... making it unroadworthy.
Gota wait for the mot fail cirtificate and report but i will post it as soon as i get it. Had to leave the car in stansted, RAC are bringing it home tomorrow with the fail sheet thing lol