Hi there, my drivers external door handle has snapped off, can anyone advise how I can get this repaired and how much it would cost? The Fiat is a 500 LOUNGE 2009 ... it looks like the black part has snapped as well as the end fixing. agghh Thanks

This is a very common problem; this guide will help you fix it.

Happened to me the first week of mine- and my neighbour and a lady at my slimming world class!
See if your dealer will help with any costs maybe? Seems to be an issue- goodwill maybe?
As they say round me "Shy bairns get nowt!"

Hi, i have joined this site to hope that you all report this issue to the 'driver vehicle and standards agency' as a safety defect.

The more people that report it the more chance this will cause fiat to recall it. My daughter has been quoted £96 for the door handle alone without fitting. I have also seen a few fiats in my area with their door handles missing!

If you were to be in a crash then the rescuing party could not open the door due to this, so in my eyes it is a safety defect.

As i am new i can not add the URL but if you search vosa safety defect report you will get the correct site

Becky

It's not a safety defect- there's redundancy with the other door and an impact severe enough to have disabled the driver will almost certainly have broken a window allowing the door to be opened easily (if it's actually possible to open the door) using the inside handle.

Besides, unless there is an immediate danger (fire, for instance) a well meaning bystander removing a disabled driver from a car crash could very well end up doing more harm than good.

That said, it is a crap design, laughable on a car that costs what the 500 does and should really have been properly sorted out years ago.

breeza said:

Hi, i have joined this site to hope that you all report this issue to the 'driver vehicle and standards agency' as a safety defect.

The more people that report it the more chance this will cause fiat to recall it. My daughter has been quoted £96 for the door handle alone without fitting. I have also seen a few fiats in my area with their door handles missing!

If you were to be in a crash then the rescuing party could not open the door due to this, so in my eyes it is a safety defect.

As i am new i can not add the URL but if you search vosa safety defect report you will get the correct site

Becky

Click to expand...

Hello and welcome to the forum. :wave:

Sorry to hear your daughter is having a problem with the door handle on her 500.

I'd agree with Zanes; this is a monumentally abysmal piece of crap design and what is absolutely unfiorgivable is the way in which Fiat have handled customers who have been unfortunate enough to experience this issue. Worse still, nothing has been done to address the root cause of the problem,. so basically every 500 made is likely to suffer this issue eventually.

Some folks have had to pay for a repair even when their car was under warranty.

That said, to my way of thinking, it's not the kind of defect that would justify a VOSA recall.

Usually only the hinge needs to be replaced; these can be bought on ebay for less than £10 (just search ebay for "Fiat 500 door hinge"). The job does not require either special tools or specialist skills, so could be done by any competent mechanic or independent garage, most likely for a total cost which is less that the price you have been quoted for the part alone.

IMO going to a Fiat franchised dealer for this repair is probably the least cost-effective way of dealing with this issue.

Unless the replaced hinge is properly lubricated with a dry graphite grease, it will likely happen again within a few years at most.

Hi ,
Thanks for the advice, I have had a good mechanic look at it and spoke to the main dealer, she needs a complete handle as the part connected to it has snapped. The reason it is so dear is it is not a standard chrome one due to it being the twin Port....the chrome ones are only 30 that's including vat.
I will give Vosa a couple weeks then suppose I will have to bite the bullet and buy her a handle....?

Based on issues I have reported to VOSA (major fuel leak from Fuel Filter in Ducato and fire from habitation fusebox) the problem with the door handle will not be seen as a recall issue. It is a caracteristic of the FIAT 500! I have had this problem and you will find other posts on the site. Stay away from a main dealer as I was quoted £155 from Vospers in Plymouth. Using a good independent garage the cost was £66 plus labour.