engine failure light was displaying on my 2 and a half year old Stilo so I booked it into my local dealer(Reg Vardy) believing this would be covered under my 3 year warranty. On picking up the vehicle was told that the pressure sensor and throttle body sensors were displaying faults, they were removed, cleaned, replaced and system reset, for this I was charged £64.63 basically for the dignostic check. I argued the point for about 40minutes that this should be covered under warranty but was told that things like this werent. When I asked for a list of items that werent covered under year 3 of my warranty they were unable to provide details saying it would be in the info pack I was given at time of purchase. I have failed to find this info from all the paperwork I have for the vehicle. Have I been had or is this just another example of shoddy Fiat service. What annoys me the most is I have spent £500 on the last service so that my vehicle remained under warranty when I could have had a better job one at an independent garage for a 3rd of the price. Is the 3rd year warranty not worth the paper its written, ironically I was told that if either of the sensors had failed and had to be replaced both these and the diagnostic check would have been free! Is it just me or does this seem a crazy way to treat loyal customers. I like my Stilo but because of my dealings with their after sales service will probably never buy a (new) Fiat again. I would be interested if anyone has similar tales and whether or not I should pursue this matter.

Cheers Phil

Sounds like a p**s take to me- like fords charging my mate £400 nearly to replace a lambda sensor on an escort GTI that failed emissions MOT- and he worked for ford manufacturing and that was with his staff discount. He just had a word with his boss who basically came down on the dealership (through their boss) like a ton of bricks as they should have charged about £70 including labour.

Only one thing to do in this situation - kick up a stink!

I too had the engine fault message etc on my 2 and a half year old Stilo last week and it turned out to be the RPM sensor going AWOL.

Popped it into my local dealer (Stoneacre) who popped it on the examiner while I waited and 10 minutes later they had the fault details and were ordering the part (rather than cleaning) - it's now booked in on 11th Jan to be fixed under the 3rd year warranty.

Sounds like Reg Vardy are having a laugh at your expense - they have charged you an hours labour for something that probably fixed nothing as the sensors in the Stilo have a tendency to reset themselves which simply 'hides' the problem for a while - I doubt very much that simply cleaning the sensors will provide a long term fix and would advise taking the car to another dealer for a second opinion while you still have warranty remaining.

philmgro said:

when is a warranty not a warranty

Click to expand...

in answer to your question - when it's a Fiat one.

In the meantime show them this and ask them to explain themselves or you'll report them to Fiat head office. I've had arguements before on what is/ isnt covered and when I got the Fiat warranty people involved they relented.

Anyway show them this!

http://fiat.co.uk/services/3_year_dealer_warranty.asp

hope this helps

cmc

To answer the above question...............................when it's a FIAT warranty!

I reckon they could argue (possibly):

wires and terminals and reconnection of disturbed electrical connection

Engine tuning;

and

decarbonisation and failure caused by the build up of carbon deposits.


Although I don't know

Thanks guys,

I was nearly going to put it down to experience and an expensive car wash(yes they did run a damp sponge over my pride and joy) but I am now armed with a printed version of cmc's link and intend going back there today to see what they have to say. I will let you know the outcome, thanks again. Re above post all these terminals relate to Battery only as denoted by : if my Higher English serves me right!

Phil

Phil,
Try the website

http://www.showroomatfiat.co.uk/services/3_year_dealer_warranty.asp

reference 3rd year cover

Fiat UK customer services have a dedicated warranty department. I've queried things before with them and they've phoned the dealer on my behalf so give them a call.

cmc

Well guys,

Went to the dealer this afternoon, armed with the 3rd year warranty print out and had a raised voices 'discussion', as you would say, with the manager of the service dept. He was initially refusing to budge using the get out that pghstochaj thought the might i.e. cleaning of electrical terminals. I argued the case that it was not the terminals or the wiring that was at fault here but the sensor itself(which is covered under warranty). The discussion came down to a play on words over the term 'failed' my argument being that the sensor had failed as it was giving a false reading his argument being it was still servicable and as it did not require replaced(still cant get my head round the fact that if the unit requires replaced all charges are free even though it would cost Fiat more in the long run than a simple clean and reset of the system). Bottom line was I refused to budge and as it was getting near closing time he decided to phone Fiat for clarification. I only heard one side of the call but when he came off the phone he said that "as a good will gesture" I would be refunded the full charge. I suspect it was his way of saving face over a situation and it would appear that this work is covered under warranty. Thanks again for all your help guys.

cheers Phil

Good result Phil

well done mate - good work.

Hey guys, guess what I got an Engine failure on my 2 1/2 year Stilo as well!!! :bang:

Not only that I got a airbag failure light as well!! Not impressed.

Well printed off that sheet as well, going to take it in aswell.

So I take it, if they re-connect something..thats not under warranty...however if the reset something that is????

Cheers

Good Work

They diagnosed the fault as a faulty connection in the passengers side A pillar! Gonna cost £105 to fix!! Damn them!! Fiats cost a fortune to maintain!!

Engine failure light was due to the airbag apparently so the are resetting the ECU.

Guys,

I can't seem to get the webpages that have been quoted above. Can you help?

Airbag warning light has just come on and Reg Vardy will charge £60 odd to run a diagnosis. If fault is under warrenty it will cost nothing but then again if it is a wiring issue I am het for the cost. I am pretty pi**ed off by this as I would have thought it would be in the 3rd year warranty.

Car is 2 1/2 year old Stilo.

Regards

The links do seem to have messed up. Just go to www.fiat.co.uk , go to search, and type in '3rd year dealer warranty'.

My car in 3rd year, and all my problems [airbag lights, etc] are being covered under warranty.

I was under impression that if it was a component fault then its covered.If its a wiring fault then it is not covered & customer pays.Most dealers would change the part(knowing it was just the connections)& claim from Fiat & you pay nothing,everyones a winner(except Fiat?)its a argument I have seen(heard!)many times & Fiat in my opinion should sort it out because end of the day the wiring looms are of poor quality(look at a Alfa engine bay loom!)and Fiat should include it in the 3rd year warranty!

with the regards above my dealership have been quite good with me. I've had no major problems other then the clutch snapping at 6k, and the airbag fault associated with the 3dr. basically no arguements at all during years one and 2. as i'm now into year 3 of the warranty the latest airbag fault was paid for 36 quid for the diagnostic and the reapir of the connection block, not too fussed, just hated the warning light. The warning came on again, and they did it free of charge under the warranty for the repair, *though i caused this accidentaly by falling on the back of the chair...* anyways for those who are having issues, my dealership are great. Ancaster rawk.......

Theres good & bad dealers.....or good dealers that have bad days,or bad dealers that have good days
End of day dealers are there to make money but its good to see the odd small repair done free for a good customer as you will return there to buy your next car & tell your friends etc etc.Nothing wrong with being friendly especially in these days! What I hate is the hour long job that gets charged out at hour & half labour just to screw you out of that extra £20/30 its just plain greed.
Still i'd rather face a dealer than a plumber anyday,£160 to change a valve(30min job) i'd happily pay it if it includes doing the washing up/ironing/walk the dog/wash the car/hoovering carpets etc :bang: