Been taking it easy over the past couple of weeks as we run in our Twin Air 4x4 only to receive a letter from the Police Camera Unit showing that the salesman was speeding at 80mph in our new car as he delivered it, not impressed!!!
General Garage Caught Speeding in my new Panda 4x4
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General Garage Caught Speeding in my new Panda 4x4
Wow, that's bad!
Do you know the name of the chump who dropped it off?
He/she will learn their lesson with the points and fine coming their way.
It's up to you, depending on how you feel about them whether you complain to the dealer about what happened.
Bear in mind, this person may actually get sacked over this.
If it were me I would go and see them (and blackmail him :devil:, only joking) and let them know the situation. He/she can then keep it quiet and deal with it discretely.
They may be offered a speed awareness course dependent on the circumstances?
If they were a complete arse, I'd consider grassing them.
As for the car being driven at that speed whilst so new, it'll be fine, nothing to worry over. Plenty of people thrash their new cars from day one.
There's stacks of differing opinions on running in technique.
I just drove mine the same as I do now 10,000 miles later. It's all good and not drinking oil.
Let us know the outcome, and welcome to Fiat Forum.
Do you know the name of the chump who dropped it off?
He/she will learn their lesson with the points and fine coming their way.
It's up to you, depending on how you feel about them whether you complain to the dealer about what happened.
Bear in mind, this person may actually get sacked over this.
If it were me I would go and see them (and blackmail him :devil:, only joking) and let them know the situation. He/she can then keep it quiet and deal with it discretely.
They may be offered a speed awareness course dependent on the circumstances?
If they were a complete arse, I'd consider grassing them.
As for the car being driven at that speed whilst so new, it'll be fine, nothing to worry over. Plenty of people thrash their new cars from day one.
There's stacks of differing opinions on running in technique.
I just drove mine the same as I do now 10,000 miles later. It's all good and not drinking oil.
Let us know the outcome, and welcome to Fiat Forum.
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Bearing in mind that, if assessed by the PCU at 80mph, the speedo was probably displaying around 90mph, I wouldn't be much impressed, either.
I'd agree with the poster who said this probably has done no lasting damage.
That said, it is every purchaser's right to choose how they wish to run in their new car and by driving in this way, the person delivering the car has deprived the new owner of that choice.
How to deal with it? Well, that's also for the OP to choose.
Personally I'd put the name of the supplying dealership on whatever form you have to return to the police with a comment that the car was being delivered to you at the time of the alleged offence & they should contact the garage to obtain the driver's details. I'd also be looking for some form of compensation, if only to make up for the hassle of having to deal with this.
If it's the first time it's happened, the driver will likely just get a warning from their employer. If they've done this before, they're more likely to be sacked, and rightly so IMO.
Whatever you decide to do, remember that if someone does lose their job over this, it was absolutely not down to you. It was down to them when they chose to drive in the way that they did.
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I have contacted the Fiat dealership and confirmed the individuals details. The manager was apologetic in the first instance however I have found him a little too blasé about the whole issue to be honest. No lasting damage was his opinion and that of their service manager however I have read that lots of folk have gently run in their Twin Air and was doing so myself, this was my choice as mentioned in the above post. I then received the Police letter which puts doubt in my mind as to how the car was treated over the 100 mile + journey. Certainly not with the care and respect I would expect for a customers new car that's for sure. I agreed to this delivery method at the point of sale in good faith something I now regret.
Thanks for your replies both.
Thanks for your replies both.
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babbo_umbro
Established member
It's only doing about 3600 rpm, which is very comfortable, and a suitable speed for running in but I'd be more worried that it had been thrashed through the gears from cold, which is not clever with a new engine. While I'd be reluctant to put someone in the s--t for what could be a minor lack of attention, I'd also put my concern in writing to the dealer just in case there are any problems with the engine.
The whole car needs running in, not just the engine.
I'd actually be more concerned about the brakes & tyres, both of which should be treated gently for at least the first 100 miles.
Thrashing the car when cold (and we're just speculating about whether this actually happened) is not clever with any engine, regardless of its age.
If you tell this story to your local newspaper, I'll bet they'd run with it & name the dealership. It'd be interesting to see how blasé the manager was then.
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In my experience, local newspapers are reluctant to run stories criticising local businesses, which they rely on for advertising revenue, particularly their biggest advertisers such as car dealerships and estate agents.
I would be livid about this too and would be expecting more than an apology from the dealership. Good luck!
TBH ,my TA was that tight for the first 500 miles, that I wouldv'e struggled to attain that speed,
pulling 6th was a push..!!
but - as you said you were blissfully unaware of it's early abuse , and seemed to be running it in quite happily.
as a side note..many UK delivered French cars used to be ferried over and then driven in "quite fast"
convoys to the M4 corridor dealers..,
so you'rs has only fared similar treatment.. another case where the dealers ability to wipe off the initial mileage is not ideal--you could then see the "average speed" indicated at 65+:bang:,
Charlie
pulling 6th was a push..!!
but - as you said you were blissfully unaware of it's early abuse , and seemed to be running it in quite happily.
as a side note..many UK delivered French cars used to be ferried over and then driven in "quite fast"
convoys to the M4 corridor dealers.., so you'rs has only fared similar treatment.. another case where the dealers ability to wipe off the initial mileage is not ideal--you could then see the "average speed" indicated at 65+:bang:,
Charlie
I think the dealer should have a £50 admin charge slapped on them by OP just they they would if the OP had done this in a courtesy car.
macamxthe1st
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The whole point of this is that the experience of getting a new car has been tainted for you. I would contact Trading Standards for there view.
I would be looking to reject the vehicle. I don't have my manual to hand but if you check the "Break in" instructions and the speeding ticket confirms that these have been contravened then I think that you would have a good case for rejection.
A car dealer treating a customer with this sort of contempt should and must be brought to task.
When I was shopping around before buying the TA one dealer offered me a "Test drive" in a customers car awaiting collection without obtaining their permission, needless to say I declined and bought elsewhere.
Good luck.
Geoff.
I would be looking to reject the vehicle. I don't have my manual to hand but if you check the "Break in" instructions and the speeding ticket confirms that these have been contravened then I think that you would have a good case for rejection.
A car dealer treating a customer with this sort of contempt should and must be brought to task.
When I was shopping around before buying the TA one dealer offered me a "Test drive" in a customers car awaiting collection without obtaining their permission, needless to say I declined and bought elsewhere.
Good luck.
Geoff.
Why not suggest the delivery driver should be summarily executed without trial or appeal.......come on get a grip what has happened to your car other than the bores have bedded in more readily .
Geoff you can't reject a car if its not faulty.
Running in is only a recommendation, and there are 1000's of cars out there that don't get run in and have no issues at all.
I'm not saying that what the dealer has done was morally right, but what exactly do you expect trading standards to do?
For all you know the car could have been ragged about the factory on the production line. It does happen, but people have no idea about it.
Have to agree with you there.
The driver was stupid, he'll get a nice fine and points as reward. imo that's enough.
I like MEP's idea of the admin fee though
Oil consumption is one of the larger issues with the TA engines,
surely the choice of running in method should be down to the person who has to top-up with oil every week.. rather than a person who'll be out of a job in the new year..!!
My local specialist Italian breaker had a "2 day old" FIAT engine in bits - from the main dealer, as a guy Seized his punto sporting doing 100 MPH on the M4 , exactly 15 miles after taking collection..,
FIAT fitted a brand new engine as this was" beyond repair"- covered by warranty..:bang:
ALL Modern engines Run MUCH tighter tolerances for better emissions ..,
Common consensus says a TA will take @ 7000 miles to run in fully,
mine certainly upheld that, :worship:
Charlie
Which means they do NOT need running in per say. If the tolerances are already high, what is the running in going to achieve?
7000 miles may be where economy starts improving etc, but mechanically run in will be within miles, if not only a few hundred thousand revolutions of the engine.
The 2 days old engine would obviously have been faulty, hence being replaced under warranty.
nope..,
Performance engines have always run tighter tolerances, AND need proper heat cycling to work efficiently,
race engines using Nikasil bores need 1 minute of idling before any real revs are used or it'll nip-up, Piston expands quicker than the bore,
F1 engines have to be pre-heated before starting.
I do hope the OP doesn't endure the oil consumption others have had to suffer on here - would make a small economical car rather expensive to run
But that is something that has to be done on every cold cycle, like you say due to just how high the tolerances are.
After a rebuild though after its warmed up does it not go straight out
No it won't. It takes several thousand miles before the initial wear phase is complete and the engine fully loses its initial tighness.
The difference now is that better control of tolerances mean modern engines can be safely operated at higher power outputs during the initial wear phase and that the risk of catastrophic failure during this period is much less likely. This helps with running in as you can safely drive for the higher cylinder pressures needed to get the optimum ring/bore mating before the initial honing is worn away.
Modern synthetic oils are part of the problem because they actually lubricate too well - there are many folks who would recommend running on a straight mineral oil for the first 3000 miles or so. Some aircraft piston engines MUST be run in using straight oils and will never subsequently achieve their rated power if run in using a multigrade oil with additives.
Most of the real damage happens before the engine reaches running temperature. In the case we're discussing, I'd be far more concerned with how the car was driven whilst warming up than the speed it was cruised at on the motorway.
Perhaps the moral of this tale is to collect your car from the dealership.
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Agree 100% with this post.
I'd be absolutely fuming if I received a speeding fine in the post, but to be fair everyone makes mistakes and it is how you deal with it that matters.
So yeah, I'd be giving the dealer a call and politely asking them to sort it in-house and let it be...
Otherwise I would certainly be taking it further. It's a matter of respect for other people's property, irrespective of the motive here (I expect the driver just wanted to get the job done ASAP, and might even have been under pressure to do so from their employer, but even so...it's really not on.)
