i own a exotica red, 1.4 active sport grande punto with tinted windows and teflon coated paintwork. anyone wana buy it? it's a great buy , lol.

1- sqeaking brakes.
2-steering rack replaced.
3- continuous rattles.
4- safety recall for steering coloumn knee plate.
5- flashing odometer.
6- handles like a shopping trolley.
7- starting problems.
8- drivers door lock.
9- stiff ignition lock.
10- rocker cover gasket replaced twice.
11- two courtesy cars from dealership, 1st broke down 5miles from home with no recovery number at 9pm and 2nd has squeaky brakes, back doors don't open, electric windows don't work properly.
12- droaning from gearbox.
13- gives extremely poor fuel consumption, spending £ 60 a week in fuel.
14- have contacted citizens advice, trading standards, watchdog, fiat finance, fiat headoffice, managing directors p.a and two different dealerships and am getting no where with either just pulling my hair out with it.
anybody had anywhere of these problems?

Reject it and ask for a replacement.

How much?

are you sure you are looking after it properly? what car did you have before a clapped out old mini?

lol, are you sure you're not the owner of a Ford or Vauxhall dealership!?

Seriously, sounds like you have a dud there. A lot of the problems you;ve mentioned are common, but your dealer should be able to sort out most of them. If you've been there/done that with the dealers then you're right to let Fiat UK know, though from what you have mentioned they should send someone round who CAN fix the probs you have as they are all simple ones.

The fuel con has to be your driving style, either that or your expectations were too high to start off with What mpg are you getting?

I had a mate who had a 1.4 active sport for 3months he also reported bad fuel economy. But I found out why he was driving it like it was stolen thats the most scared i've been in a slow car .

Definatly reject it as it sounds like a shed.

Exercise your consumer rights!!!!!!!

(I feel for you, brother..)

"gives extremely poor fuel consumption, spending £ 60 a week in fuel."

Not trying to be funny, but If fuel consumption was important I would have thought you would have gone for the Multijet diesel......

oilrag said:

"gives extremely poor fuel consumption, spending £ 60 a week in fuel."

Not trying to be funny, but If fuel consumption was important I would have thought you would have gone for the Multijet diesel......

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Yes but £60 quid a week , its not a V12.

But if he drives 2000 miles each week it's not so bad

Go and see a Solicitor and discuss the issues. I had numerous quality realted problems with my car from new and a Dealer that continualy lied to me and simply didnt want to know. After weeks of getting nowhere I handed the matter over to my Solicitor who wrote a few stiff letters and sent them via registered post to the Dealer Principle. Things changed almost instantly. All the problems have now been rectified, I have been recompensed in full for my costs and have had a grovelling letter of appology from the Dealer principle himself.

Fraggle said:

i own a exotica red, 1.4 active sport grande punto with tinted windows and teflon coated paintwork. anyone wana buy it? it's a great buy , lol.

1- sqeaking brakes.
2-steering rack replaced.
3- continuous rattles.
4- safety recall for steering coloumn knee plate.
5- flashing odometer.
6- handles like a shopping trolley.
7- starting problems.
8- drivers door lock.
9- stiff ignition lock.
10- rocker cover gasket replaced twice.
11- two courtesy cars from dealership, 1st broke down 5miles from home with no recovery number at 9pm and 2nd has squeaky brakes, back doors don't open, electric windows don't work properly.
12- droaning from gearbox.
13- gives extremely poor fuel consumption, spending £ 60 a week in fuel.
14- have contacted citizens advice, trading standards, watchdog, fiat finance, fiat headoffice, managing directors p.a and two different dealerships and am getting no where with either just pulling my hair out with it.
anybody had anywhere of these problems?

Click to expand...

Incase you are unaware it's polite to introduce yourself to the forum before ranting & raving...

Personally i'd like to hear both sides of a story...

...points 1,2 & 8 are common problems,reference should of been made to this link beforehand;
https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto/89495-known-faults-problems.html

...point 4 is a recall...for your safety!

...point 5 has also been discussed here in the GP section.

...points 3,7,9 & 12 requires more clarifivation/details

...points 6 & 13 are a matter of opinion.

...point 10 is interesting,would be nice if more information on this was provided.

...point 11 is irelevent to your car

...point 14 is your right as a consumer.

Fraggle,would you like to add furter comments/information to your initial posting.

Fraggle?
I sympathise with you and understand your frustration. With me it was not so much the fact that things went wrong with my car, more the fact that the dealer didnt respond in they way in which they should have and the fact that the warranty related service I got from them left a great deal to be desired. I am not going to go into the details here because my previous posts on the subject have all had a strange tendancy to "disappear"!! If you want to e-mail me I will explain exactly how, with the help of my Solicitor who explained to me the Sale of Goods act, informed me in great detail of my rights as a consumer and also "reminded" my dealer of their legal obligations..... I got the result I wanted within days. Same goes for anyone else in a similar position, e-mail me and I will be only to glad to help you out if I can. Dont get me wrong I am not some consumer rights activist, I just think that if buyers continualy tolerate and put up with poor service from their dealers and allow themselves to be fobbed off the situation will never improve.

sledge said:

Fraggle?
I sympathise with you and understand your frustration. With me it was not so much the fact that things went wrong with my car, more the fact that the dealer didnt respond in they way in which they should have and the fact that the warranty related service I got from them left a great deal to be desired. I am not going to go into the details here because my previous posts on the subject have all had a strange tendancy to "disappear"!! If you want to e-mail me I will explain exactly how, with the help of my Solicitor who explained to me the Sale of Goods act, informed me in great detail of my rights as a consumer and also "reminded" my dealer of their legal obligations..... I got the result I wanted within days. Same goes for anyone else in a similar position, e-mail me and I will be only to glad to help you out if I can. Dont get me wrong I am not some consumer rights activist, I just think that if buyers continualy tolerate and put up with poor service from their dealers and allow themselves to be fobbed off the situation will never improve.

Click to expand...

Yes, as above. The not fit for purpose springs to mind.

Ant1974 said:

Yes, as above. The not fit for purpose springs to mind.

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I prefer the word shed... If it was me it would be back round the dealers with a formal rejection letter.

Your advising him to reject the car on the grounds its not fit for purpose.......fair enough. However I am not convinced you understand how to, and what is involved with rejecting a car, rather you are assuming its just the best option. Time is the main consideration, if its a week old, and has developed a major issue with say the engine/gearbox or a safety issue related to say the braking system and the dealer doesnt dispute the rejection ie: admits its the makers fault then yeah.......you could be onto a winner and stand a chance of a full refund/replacement. If the car is a few months old and has already been back to the dealer a few times for minor repairs you are very unlikely to get a full refund and no chance of a brand new replacement, if anything trade value, in which case rejection may not be seen as viable. Its a fine line and the term "Fit for purpose" is open to much interpretation. Rejecting the car involves returning it to the dealer and handing over the keys, in effect you are giving it up and you will be without the car even though you may still be paying for it, not something everyone finds convenient or is prepared to do. Rejecting a car often ends up as a legal battle and ultimately in court and if you do take a chance and try to reject without a solicitor backing you up remember that Fiat and the Dealers will always act in their own best interests and not yours. Any attempt at rejecting a car still under makers warranty will cost you more in terms of money and inconvenience than trying to get satisfactory repairs done via the dealer and should be seen as a last resort when all other attempts have failed. When you bought the car it came with a warranty. Thats a legal agreement made by Fiat stating that they will... WILL... rectify any faults attributable to themselves within a certain period of time via their UK dealer network, regardless......I found the hard part is, just getting the dealer to do what Fiat say they are obliged to do, thats where it all seemed to fall down. Its also why you need a Solicitor to back you up and help you out. It worked for me, our car was sorted out in 2 days and for the first time in almost 4 months I am starting to enjoy it. Plus I have confidence in knowing that if any further faults do occur they will be sorted out quickly and without any fuss or questions whatsoever because my dealer now knows I mean buisiness and refuse to be fobbed off. Its just a shame though in this day and age that you have to resort to such extremes just to get what you are legaly entitled to, particularly with a well known and respected name like Fiat.

There are plenty of sites on the net that offer advice relating to rejection and back up my comments if you take time to look for them, but I will say it again.......go see a Solicitor.

Agree, how long have you had the car and is Fiat customer service on your side?

When i phoned them for the missus panda they sorted out the problem in two days. I mean the dealer was back on the phone and couldn't have been more helpful.

I am intrigued by the silence of the chap who made the initial post...........

Having posted his problems and the time people have spent in trying to offer advice, i would have thought a reply from the guy would be appropriate, as T has already asked for.

If not, (and i hope this is not the case), is this just someone using scare tactics to create hysteria about the some of the issues that we already know affect the GP?

If the guy replies please feel free to delete this post T, otherwise should this whole thread be deleted as it really serves no purpose and is just going over old ground?

AllSaintChris said:

I am intrigued by the silence of the chap who made the initial post...........

Having posted his problems and the time people have spent in trying to offer advice, i would have thought a reply from the guy would be appropriate, as T has already asked for.

If not, (and i hope this is not the case), is this just someone using scare tactics to create hysteria about the some of the issues that we already know affect the GP?

If the guy replies please feel free to delete this post T, otherwise should this whole thread be deleted as it really serves no purpose and is just going over old ground?

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Probably one of these one hit wonders make one post get what they want / don't want to hear and don't come back .

And Sledge no offense but use paragraphs .

I have to have some sympathy, but, The Moderator has put perhaps a slightly less emotional viewpoint across?
I also feel that how the Dealership responds has a lasting impression, basically if they could'nt care less or appear to be less than concerned, your problems are going to seem much worse than if a caring, efficient Aftersales Department have put things right asap.
Thus allowing you to get on with using, and hopefully learning to enjoy the car.