Hi can anyone give me some advice on a fight I currently have with my local dealer? I bought A very low mileage pop in January last year. Took it to them for service and health check, they said all ok but needed a gear box seal and cambelt change so on this basis had work done. Took it to them in November last year and it then they said needed £2000 of parts alone due to corrosion issues underneath. I had done 2500 miles in this time and think they should have reported this back in Jan as it couldn’t have happened that quick. If they had I could have took the car straight back so I ended up px it. Photos attached would appreciate any help or comments as I ended up losing nearly £3k.

Sorry but I think you should have contacted your councils trading standards department before disposing of car.

I know the panda's are well known for this (very similar platform)

Not too many issues with 500s yet but will likely be a few next couple of years as they get older
Something people need to check if they buying a few year old fiat 500

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated.
Would the car rust this quickly driving under normal road conditions?
Someone mentioned sea water damage due to extent and I live in Berkshire!!

I live in Tynemouth only about 200m from the sea, yes both our cars do seem to suffer slightly more from rust, however from the pictures I would not have said it was that bad a diy person could have sorted the rust relatively easily. The rear beam does rust more than I would wish and some parts of our 59 plate have rusted appallingly, not sure what you can do now you no longer have the car?

Thanks. My main issue is whether or not it was there when I bought the car. My argument with the dealership who checked and serviced it was whether it was apparent at that point because I believe it was and They didn’t check it properly. The whole reason I took it to them was so I could decide whether to keep the car or take it back if it had any issues I certainly wouldn’t have kept it after seeing for myself the underside and the fact the brake pipes also were so bad the car was dangerous!
All according to them in 7 months and 2500 miles lol!

You need legal advice.
Try citizens advice bureau.
Or a solicitor.

I think you have been treated very badly indeed , get legal advice .
If it turns out there is no legal remedy for you put it behind you and move on.

Yes that’s what I intend. Not a great situation tbh and one that could have been avoided! Thanks again!!

So sorry to read your story - I can well imagine how gutted you must feel. You trusted the dealer to tell you if the car was worth keeping, and have been badly misled.

That said, neither the extent of the corrosion nor the attitude of the dealer will surprise regular readers of this forum - we've seen it all before.

Look beyond the galvanised bodyshell and the cutesy looks, and you'll find the 500 is a cheaply built rustbucket. Like many small mass produced cars, the 500 has a design life of 10-12 yrs. How folks can justify the prices being asked for some of the older cars is beyond me.

I sincerely hope you'll find some way of getting some redress; but tbh as Jackwhoo says, I think the best thing you can do is just put this behind you and move on.

Thanks yes u are probably right. I’ve learnt u can’t trust any of them that’s for sure!! The other galling thing was I was sent a reminder in January that it was due for an annual health check and I could “rest assured it would be thoroughly checked by their expert technicians “ ?

Following up with the citizens advice bureau is a good plan.Pity you dumped the car but very understandable. It just makes a bad representation of the second hand car market and this dealer specifically. Sad to say not trusting them as far as I can throw them is my standpoint until they prove themaelves differant.

It don't have to live by the sea to get rusty super quick, you must have seen the news footage in recent years of areas of the country getting flooded and cars being submerged, so it does question what happens to all these cars later, they are not all scrapped are they?
Apart from the obvious surface rust the flood water causes havoc with any electrical connection especially later down the line when corrosion builds up on the contact surfaces and fiat are known for their superior quality electrical components aren't they ?


Paul m.

By the sounds of it fiat’s electrical contacts are better than BMW’s!

Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated.

I have read again the original health check and they have stated on it the braking system (also corroded to the point urgent attention needed) was not visible!!

Hopefully this proves it wasn’t looked at properly as it was certainly visible to them on the 2nd one!!

Not sure though how “independent” this ombudsman is though...