Hi there i bought an 04 panda eleganza with dualogic gearbox about 3 weeks ago from a kia dealer in hampshire,i live in merseyside,long way i know.It was in excellent condition with only 20,000 on the clock full service history.Drove home with no problems but after a few days when driving it in auto mode the car occasionally would go into neutral,not when i'm stationary but in 2nd or 3rd gear,very scary.Also when i try selecting manual when i drive off and try to change into second gear i get a warning noise and a message saying operation not allowed,after about 20 seconds the car will drive fine in manual.I have told the garage in hampshire about my problems and yesterday took it to my local fiat dealer who ran a diagnostic test and cleared the errors.I drove the car home and nearly got killed when it slipped into neutral doing 30 mph The garage in hampshire have told me if it's a major problem i have to take it to them,depending on traffic its about a 6 hour drive one way+would be worried if the car played up enroute.Has anyone had any similar problems or any advice would be greaty appreciated.I am going away but will be back on sunday,many thanks

I know there have been similar problems with the Dual logic boxes. I'm not sure if it's software problems.

If the car is under warrentiee then I think you can get it recovered to the place you brought it from and they'll cover the costs. I'm not sure if this is the case with the Kia dealership, but I know Toyota do this.

Jon.

Unfortunately this seems to be the problem with aftermarket warranties and you're tied to getting it fixed by the garage (network) that sold it to you. I seem to remember reading a fair few issues with the Dual-logic, which I think is the same as the Selespeed on the Alfa, and you might find it more worthwhile popping in to an Alfa dealer and see if they can tell you what needs replacing before you make a 6 hour journey.

If you're concerned about safety driving the car that sort of distance, then I'd look at negotiating recovery as part of the fixing of the problem - do you have breakdown cover?

Your other option is rejecting the car as unfit for purpose, but I think you have to give the garage the reasonable opportunity to fix it before you can do that....

Chris