Hi Guys,
I am a newbie to the forum and checking in for the first time. I collected my new GP today. 1.2 Dynamic in New Orleans blue with the blue interior...fantastic looking car and very well equipped. Dealer gave me a very generous £2200 for my 02 Corsa Sxi with 76k on the clock and I was very happy with the overall deal. So I signed all the paperwork and on the way home found the passenger side window wasnt working.....well it went down ok but on the way up it twisted and jammed. The glass stuck in the frame and the top edge of the window ended up at about 45 deg. Took it straight back and was told its a common fault, its due to a faulty plastic clip that costs less than £1.50 and it takes about 30mins to do the repair. Fair play to the dealers, they are well established and have a good rep` and I dont see it as being their fault, they are sorting it out for me first thing mon morn. They would have done it there and then if they had a mechanic in but as it is Saturday they didnt. Fortunately we managed to straighten the glass up by hand to keep the rain out. The car had 6...yes 6 miles on the clock when I took it back. I think the GP is without doubt the best looking car in its class but I have worries now about quality and reliabilty. Can anyone tell me if there are any other common problems or issues I should look for or just things I need to be aware of. BTW I found a quality control sticker in the boot thats says it was born in the Fiat Melfi plant on the 18/9/06. Thanks guys

common faults eh....i hope you have a long time to read lol. Im sure people will add to my common faults:

Steering rack; knocking from front of the car

Door Handles; Sometimes stop working from inside (have to open window and open from outside to get out)

Paint; Lots of people complain of poor paint quality, blemishes.

Glove box; poorly fitting, hard to open and close, mis-aligned

Clutch; not a major problem for lots of people, but mine needs replacing after 700 miles....juddering in 1st 2nd and reverse, hard to engage

windows; sometimes have a mind of their own, up goes down, and vice versa

Brakes; squeeky at times and at low speeds

Thats about all ive had on my car(s) lol. Read through some of the threads to find out the other problems that you may expect whilst owning one of these lovely cars lol

I have done 9000 miles now and still not been to a dealer - there are some common faults emerging with the model as listed above but they are few and far between - i have followed this forum from the day GP was launched and these faults are not that common i just think some people have been unlucky - bear in mind they have sold over 20000 GP's.
Enjoy your car - don't worry if it goes wrong you have a 3 year warranty.

Yeah I wouldn't be worried just rape the warranty if you need to. Mine seems to be ok except when they had to replace the Blue&Me unit (the usb ipod port broke off) My Biatch started speaking italian lol .

One thing to bear in mind, a lot of people join forums to find out how to fix problems once they have happened. Thats why there seems to be a lot of people on here with troubles with thier GP's. I think they are just as bad as every other car on the market for 'teething problems'.

ed_ said:

One thing to bear in mind, a lot of people join forums to find out how to fix problems once they have happened. Thats why there seems to be a lot of people on here with troubles with thier GP's. I think they are just as bad as every other car on the market for 'teething problems'.

Click to expand...

mmm..... ive had 2 now....and both have had major problems. Never had that with my ford focus's

rob19791 said:

mmm..... ive had 2 now....and both have had major problems. Never had that with my ford focus's

Click to expand...

Your just bloody unlucky! .

I've only experienced 1 major problem and I've owned 3 fiats now since 2000 and that was a shagged gear box on my 05 Punto Sporting 1.4 16v but thats probably due to me suuping up the power to about 120ish bhp from 95bhp. They fixed it under warranty within 48hrs! :slayer: despite all my mods to increase power which were really abvious:

Fast road cams, higher compression pistons, lightened & balanced bottom end, flowed and polished head, Supersprint strait through stainless exhaust with no cat, Pipercross Viper induction kit :yum:.

I owned one different car in that time.. Skoda Fabia vRS, supposed to be renowned for their build quality. It f**ked within 3months! with a serious brake fault!.

that is just the dualogic system.
it's still doing the gear change robotically under the bonnet. if you ease off the accelerator a tad as it's about to change it will be a bit smoother. it all comes with driving it more, you tend to work out ways of making it smoother etc

It shouldn't do as it's basically an automatic box with manual control. On the Audis which have a similar system you don't lift off. However, if yo learn to drive them then you get a bit more performance out of them. The technique is to ease off a bit just as you are changing gear.

the only damage you will do is your neck muscles!
nah, it's fine.
just keep trying different things and you'll soon find something thast suits how you drive. That's the good thing about dualogic, it is quite an adaptive 'box that will go with how you drive not how it wants to drive

rob19791 said:

mmm..... ive had 2 now....and both have had major problems. Never had that with my ford focus's

Click to expand...

I did....wish I never brought the bloody thing

So what sort of prob's did you have T14086.....?

Superboy (ref Focus)....

Constant recalls for updating ECU to cure stalling...none worked,timing belt slipped smashing 16valves,rust on n/s door,starter motor,fuel pump,uneven tyre wear,brake squeal,door lock,engine warning light coming on all the time(still does!),boot not opening,radio,drop links,trim falling of seats constantly,tailgate rattling(still does),water in passenger footwell,constant number plate light failure,engine cuts out for no reason at anytime(been doing this for 2 years now),all this within 4 years Its going to the great ebay in the sky very soon

T14086 said:

Superboy (ref Focus)....

Constant recalls for updating ECU to cure stalling...none worked,timing belt slipped smashing 16valves,rust on n/s door,starter motor,fuel pump,uneven tyre wear,brake squeal,door lock,engine warning light coming on all the time(still does!),boot not opening,radio,drop links,trim falling of seats constantly,tailgate rattling(still does),water in passenger footwell,constant number plate light failure,engine cuts out for no reason at anytime(been doing this for 2 years now),all this within 4 years Its going to the great ebay in the sky very soon

Click to expand...

If my car was like that.... I would steal it myself and drive it into the river tyne .

Thanks for the reply T14086 - WOW......that sounds truly horrible....makes the G. Punto problems seem like nothing.
Was this on a brand new Focus originally purchased and used by yourself?

T14086 said:

Superboy (ref Focus)....

Constant recalls for updating ECU to cure stalling...none worked,timing belt slipped smashing 16valves,rust on n/s door,starter motor,fuel pump,uneven tyre wear,brake squeal,door lock,engine warning light coming on all the time(still does!),boot not opening,radio,drop links,trim falling of seats constantly,tailgate rattling(still does),water in passenger footwell,constant number plate light failure,engine cuts out for no reason at anytime(been doing this for 2 years now),all this within 4 years Its going to the great ebay in the sky very soon

Click to expand...

LOL, and i thought i was unlucky
What year is it???? Not the new shap??? u know what they say about new shape models lol.
I had a 52 reg. 1.8 zetec, bought it brand new..... never had 1 problem.... was a wicked little motor and quick...unlike my grande, well it is a 1.2 lol
Cheap insurance, cheap tax, cheap to run (its always at the garage, and im driving their courtesy cars lol).