Help please,

My sons were travelling through Belguim when the front offside wheels came of the hub. Fortunately the driver managed to control the car and nobody was hurt. On closer inspection the wheel bolts had sheared in the hubs. Now we have been given the following quote from a Fiat dealer in Belgium;

Diagnostic: 2 brakes disc+ Brake pads+ Wheel Hub+ Bearing+ Abs Sensor

Devis: 1306.41Euros

Bearing in mind this 2003 1.9 JTD is probably worth about half that I was wondering whether Fiat's operate a fixed price system for replacement of parts?
If so does this apply to Belgium and how can I find the tariffs?

My fear is that the garage, having had the REliant Robin wannabee towed to them, must feel they have the ultimate captive market especially as they expect the car to be collected on the way home (my sons have the use of a hire car).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

B

Brian Partridge said:

Help please,

My sons were travelling through Belguim when the front offside wheels came of the hub. Fortunately the driver managed to control the car and nobody was hurt. On closer inspection the wheel bolts had sheared in the hubs. Now we have been given the following quote from a Fiat dealer in Belgium;

Diagnostic: 2 brakes disc+ Brake pads+ Wheel Hub+ Bearing+ Abs Sensor

Devis: 1306.41Euros

Bearing in mind this 2003 1.9 JTD is probably worth about half that I was wondering whether Fiat's operate a fixed price system for replacement of parts?
If so does this apply to Belgium and how can I find the tariffs?

My fear is that the garage, having had the REliant Robin wannabee towed to them, must feel they have the ultimate captive market especially as they expect the car to be collected on the way home (my sons have the use of a hire car).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

B

Click to expand...

Hi, good to hear nobody was hurt ( just the 1 x wheel..?)

fixed price.. not for parts I suspect..
is it actually at a FIAT agent. or just a roadside place.?

I'd look at either try and supply non-Genuine parts = less than half price,

:idea:
or look into "vouchers" where you price and pay for the parts in Sterling

they reclaim the voucher with FIAT Benelux


is the hire car part of a travel insurance deal..??

it may be you could order the parts . as it's only labour that's normally covered.

Charlie

Dear Charlie,

Thank you so much for taking the time to give your thoughts.

The breakdown cover is part of a packaged Nationwide account (run by Liverpool Victoria) which has covered the costs of the hire car but not, understandably, cost of repairs.

The Multi was taken to a Fiat garage as a matter of course.

My sons asked whether the car could be repaired by an independent garage and were told it could be but;
1. they would need to nominate a garage
2. there would be a Euro 120 diagnostic fee and
3. there might be a carriage charge to transfer the vehicle,

They were also told that repair charges in France/Belgium tend to be higher than UK. Whether this is correct I cannot say.

I'm intrigued by the concept of vouchers as I've never heard of this!

However the issue of what would happen if we considered the cost uneconomic has yet to be broached e.g. what happens to the vehicle, what are our liabilities etc should we decide to abandon it.

Much as we love the Multi if the costs of repair are double the value then one starts to consider the final solution.

I believe the insurers are being quite fair in that when this was put to them they did say that they would still be liable to get them and luggage back to UK. Apparently they would continue to use hire car, use booked crossing back to Uk and then pay for another crossing for car and driver back to Calais and then final crossing for driver to UK.

This is more than we expected.

We are now awaiting what costs and liabilities are involved before deciding whether to pay the Euro1300 or abandon Multi.

Thanks again Charlie and any further thoughts or advice from anybody most welcome as this is not a situation we ever envisaged being in.

Kind regards

Brian

Brian Partridge said:

Dear Charlie,

Thank you so much for taking the time to give your thoughts.

The breakdown cover is part of a packaged Nationwide account (run by Liverpool Victoria) which has covered the costs of the hire car but not, understandably, cost of repairs.

Thanks again Charlie and any further thoughts or advice from anybody most welcome as this is not a situation we ever envisaged being in.

Kind regards

Brian

Click to expand...

TBH ,
if it's essentially "just" lost a wheel , and rolled along on the disc..

the parts list is essentially;


1 x brake disc, 4 x wheel bolts

any competent person could remedy this in around an hour,

( once a new disc is in place it would be prudent to change all 4 x front brake pads - but also means doing the same to the opposing wheel side..)

for the costs involved with a local garage repair..

in your position..I would seriously consider a trip to Belgium with a trolley jack / axle stands, and the necessary used replacement parts

sound used discs and pads plus 4 x bolts =@£30

early morning ferry = @£100 .. and a bit of driving..


you can then carry 2 x the duty free..

Interesting thought Charlie,

I wondered why they had included hub and bearing.

However it did come off on the motorway at about 60 mph so I guess damage might have been done to them.

Thanks again

Brian Partridge said:

Interesting thought Charlie,

I wondered why they had included hub and bearing.

However it did come off on the motorway at about 60 mph so I guess damage might have been done to them.

Thanks again

Click to expand...

They will have included the hub and bearing because the sheared off bolt ends are still in the hub. I guess they don't want to use a screw extractor on them. Price does seem high. Have you asked your trvel insurance about recovery of the vehicle to the UK as-is? If you have fully comp insurance It might be worth checking with them. The failure was wheel bolts (which you can pay for) the rest is "accident damage" They may at least recover it for you.

Robert G8RPI.

Thanks Robert,

That's quite an interesting thought.

Much obliged

I'll look into it.

Brian

Hi Robert and Charlie,

Apparently parts of the wheel bolts are still embedded in hub and thus the need for a replacement. As this means also removal of wheel bearing and reinstatement of same needs a press I believe a roadside repair is not feasible. Thanks for the thought though.

As for your suggestion Robert of claiming on motor policy as part of an accident, having read the policy wording I find among the exclusions the following;

'Loss or damage caused by any mechanical, electrical, electronic
computer or computer software failures, breakdowns, faults or breakages.'

So I think they have covered themselves there.

I think the only possibility is hiring trailer with winch and with appropriate tow car repatriating vehicle ourselves. I'm about to find out cross channel costs of this.

It's probably either this or leaving it there (after finding costs and liabilities of doing so). What a shame as we loved that car and spent circa £600 getting it through MOT in February.

Does anyone know the value an insurer would give for a 2003 Multipla 1.9 JTD ELX with 130,000 miles? Do they still use Glass's Guide?

Kind regards
Brian

value.. get a "we buy any car" quote.. ( good condition)

be £150 to £250 I suspect.. but you can ever tell what insurance pay..

bought a stop gap nail of an astra estate for £150.. got rear ended after 6 weeks - paid £600

Brian Partridge said:

Hi Robert and Charlie,

Apparently parts of the wheel bolts are still embedded in hub and thus the need for a replacement. As this means also removal of wheel bearing and reinstatement of same needs a press I believe a roadside repair is not feasible. Thanks for the thought though.

As for your suggestion Robert of claiming on motor policy as part of an accident, having read the policy wording I find among the exclusions the following;

'Loss or damage caused by any mechanical, electrical, electronic
computer or computer software failures, breakdowns, faults or breakages.'

So I think they have covered themselves there.

I think the only possibility is hiring trailer with winch and with appropriate tow car repatriating vehicle ourselves. I'm about to find out cross channel costs of this.

It's probably either this or leaving it there (after finding costs and liabilities of doing so). What a shame as we loved that car and spent circa £600 getting it through MOT in February.

Does anyone know the value an insurer would give for a 2003 Multipla 1.9 JTD ELX with 130,000 miles? Do they still use Glass's Guide?

Kind regards
Brian

Click to expand...

Hi,
The insurance exclusion could be read a number of ways. For example one interpretation is that you are not covered for an electrical fire which is by definition caused by an electrical fault, but they normally pay out for these. I'm pretty sure it's intended that they don't pay for a blown engine. You could always argue that it was human error (someone over tightened / didn't tighten the bolts) I'd at least ask them. Phrase it "I need to claim for damage caused by a wheel coming off" not "will you pay for..." and see what they say.


Obviously I've not seen the damage, but normally a decent mechanic should be able to remove the broken off bolt ends with a screw extractor. I bet I could do it at the side of the road.


Robert G8RPI.

They should be easily able to remove the sheared bolts from the hub!
That's pi$$ poor out of them.
Marty.

Thank you all for taking the time and trouble to reply to this thread.

I'm getting a quote from my local Fiat garage to compare with Belgium one.

Unfortunately Robert I don't think an insurance claim is feasible. You see I have a £400 excess and any claim negates the policy which I've just paid £195 for. So I'd gat anything in excess of £595.

We buy any car quotes £120 and AutoTrader suggests £590 so even if I got £650 its only £55 in the bank and loss of no claims.

I've also done my sums for recovery which with parts (labour mine), ferries, trailer hire and fuel comes to around £500 and that's without sourcing a tow car.

It's all looking pretty grim.

Just waiting to see what scrapage charges or liabilities I might incur in Belgium.

Thanks again

Brian

Hi All,

Just had quote from local Fiat garage and it's (with VAT) £994!

So Belgium quote not far off the mark after all.

What is shocking is the cost of Fiat parts.

Brian

See attached a pic of hub bearing and hub carrier I replaced about a year ago.
Hub holes are straight through. Once disc is removed you/they will have good access to the stripped bolts. Marty.

Better pic...

Brian Partridge said:

Hi All,

Just had quote from local Fiat garage and it's (with VAT) £994!

So Belgium quote not far off the mark after all.

What is shocking is the cost of Fiat parts.

Brian

Click to expand...

most GENUINE parts are in that order..


the pic of martyc makes removal look relatively straightforward

you'd have the option of drilling straight through - rather than needing to use a reverse ground bit ( which would wind-out the broken stub).

so - how much was a standard car return crossing..??

out of interest steel wheels or alloy..??

Thanks Marty,

I wonder whether, if I suggest they should do this, the Belgium Fiat garage will cry 'safety' and therefore not entertain what you suggest.

If I got it back though this would be an option.

Just feeling withdrawal symptons from Multo already!
Kind regards

Brian

Sorry I'm a bit late to spot this thread.

If it could still help you by now and you aren't on the other side of the country, I could recommend Fiat specialist "Monteyne" in Lo-Reninge.
They're always in to rescue an older Fiat while trying to keep cost down, tell them Isabelle with the red Doblo sent you.

Greetings from Belgium,
Isabelle

Brian Partridge

Rather interested in the outcome or story so far...

What's happening Brian?

Seems a shame to abandon the ole girl, I personally wouldn't. But then I'm more than a bit addicted to the good ole multi (now running #7 )

George