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General Clutch / Gear Box Noise brand new Panda

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General Clutch / Gear Box Noise brand new Panda

dt71

dt71

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Sep 7, 2013
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Hi,

I'm new to this group and its nice to find so many Panda fans.

I bought a brand new 1.2 petrol 3 months ago, and have noticed a noise when changing gear, not exactly a crunching sound, but similar to a worn trust bearing. It's mainly noticeable when the engine is under load when changing from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd.

Dealer has advised they all make this sound! Their demonstrators makes exactly the same noise so they have not changed the clutch or any other parts.

Has anyone else had similar issues?
 
Thanks for letting me know - was it the clutch or did they fix some other part?
 
After two weeks discussion with Fiat UK, now booked in with Vospers for a whole week so they can try and find what the problem is
 
I have tried to listen in the hope that I had the same noise buddy but it's simply not there.
 
This kind of noise could come from the gearbox itself, since it is noticeable at 1st to 2nd gear or 2nd to 3rd gear changes, when the torque transfer through the gearbox (crankshaft to driveshafts) is at its highest.


The dealership / factory can do one of two things.

A. replace an extremely expensive part (whole gearbox).

B. convince the customer that "this is nothing", "this is normal", "all cars do it" etc.


It is no surprise that they will try to go to solution B and that it might take some (considerable) pressure to even consider going to solution A.
 
Not necessarily. The dealer would be fixing it under warranty, so it's Fiat that would pay for the work, not the dealer. Dealer gets a reduced labour rate from Fiat, so it's not quite as lucrative as doing it for a client who was paying for the work himself... but they don't lose money on warranty work.

Ralf S.
 
This is correct, in theory.

What actually happens is that the factory has to approve any part replacement / warranty work on the car. This is not as easy as it sounds, and gets progressively more difficult as the required parts get more expensive.

Since the dealerships are well aware of these approval procedures, they tend to act accordingly towards any customer complaining about something not so obvious that might cost too much to fix.
 
Thanks for all the comments-panda has been dropped off at the dealership today for investigations. They wanted it for the whole of next week, so hopefully it will be sorted by next weekend. There's no doubt now that its making a noise, it's been getting louder every mile I cover. Leant me a 500 large for the week. I'll let you know what the diagnosis is.
 
Update from dealer...........it's my driving style that is causing the noise!
 
dt71 said:
Update from dealer...........it's my driving style that is causing the noise!
Click to expand...

Mine has a pedal on the left called a clutch. Pressing this in before changing and releasing makes the change smoother ;)

Really! Don't accept this first opinion. Get a 2nd.
 
Done all that, still won't accept there is an issue. They have said that Fiat UK are not aware of any issues, and that they can replicate the fault on a couple of their Pandas on the forecourt. My argument is, that that only proves you've got a fault on yours as well.

Fiat Uk have advised that unless the dealer can provide evidence of a fault then there is no claim on the warranty. I've even offered to pay for a new clutch myself, and then if that cures the noise claim it back from Fiat - they said the would not reimburse me as I wouldn't have followed the correct process for warranty claims.

I do on a average 500-600 miles a week, so I'm sure it will fail at some point in the not too distant future, then they'll have to fix it.

I think that's the end of the road for me on this issue, the dealer won't budge and neither will Fiat Uk.
 
dt71 said:
Done all that, still won't accept there is an issue. They have said that Fiat UK are not aware of any issues, and that they can replicate the fault on a couple of their Pandas on the forecourt. My argument is, that that only proves you've got a fault on yours as well.

Fiat Uk have advised that unless the dealer can provide evidence of a fault then there is no claim on the warranty. I've even offered to pay for a new clutch myself, and then if that cures the noise claim it back from Fiat - they said the would not reimburse me as I wouldn't have followed the correct process for warranty claims.

I do on a average 500-600 miles a week, so I'm sure it will fail at some point in the not too distant future, then they'll have to fix it.

I think that's the end of the road for me on this issue, the dealer won't budge and neither will Fiat Uk.
Click to expand...

I would email Honest John in the first instance, nothing to do with 'Fiat law', UK law will cover you. Probably the sure way to resolve this is to get an engineers report, submit findings to dealer principle with firm request for a resolution within X days including refund of report costs etc or you will have the work done and sue them for all the costs. Loads of info on the UK Gov consumer law sites.

Start here:

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/consumer-rights/
 
Last edited:
Back in at dealership next week for some more tests
 
I would agree... The master tech has left Vospers so I hear... And the new guy is not as good... I have this from experience, master cylinder on clutch replaced on mine and now brake pedal has problem... And Vospers once again telling me there is nothing wrong... They told me nothing wrong with first Panda... And within weeks the engine needed replacing
 
Going into St Austell this time - I trusted them with my alfa, so do have confidence that they will sort it out.
 
Good news........clutch has been replaced under warranty today, and it has completely resolved the noise problem - my only gripe is that it has taken the best part of three months to get to this point.

I did end up taking Panda to a different dealership, and to give credit where credit is due, St Austell Vospers are very efficient, professional and were really focused on getting this issue resolved for me. I can thoroughly recommend them if any of you have problems in the future.

Happy motoring.
 
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