got my punto just over a month ago it was actually 8 months old when i got it 03 plate,
i immediately spent £200 on an alarm system because of te thiefing toe rags in my area,
well after 2 weeks i started getting the power steering light coming on and the engine management light and i also noticed the brakes was binding,
i hot footed it back to the place i got it from and they said nothing was wrong with it !!!
but what i hadnt told them i booked it into fiat service for the next day they discovered there was water in the electrics and at some point the brakes was binding so they sorted out the problems and i got my car back within 4 1/2 hours ,
within 2 days the power steering and engine management light comes on again and i loose the city steering i phoned fiat and the booked it in to be done a 2 week wait i was told , anyway the following day i was taking my son to school when the car veered to the right hand side of the road,
i got the car home and as i got out the car the smell of eggs overwelmed me the smell was coming from the front 2 wheels i was told the brakes could possibly be binding and to take the wheel off and spin the disc so i did the wheel spun 3/4 of the way round the scraped along the brakes,
i called the AA to have the vehicle recovered to the fiat garage the AA bloke cheked it and said it was definately binding brake on the right hand side and it was veering to the right,
the car was taken to fiat and i recieved a call later that day to say there was nothing wrong witht he brakes at all !!!
but they would keep the car to have a new transponder fitted to it and i should get the car back the next day (friday) friday comes and so does a call transponder didnt come will be in on saturday (today) just got a call transponder wont be in till monday or possibly tuesday so i either get it back monday night or tuesday night i am well gutted they wont supply me with a courtesy car as i only have a provisional lisence
i dont know which way to turn i know there is a problem with the car and i am scared to take my kids in it, what can i do i am no qualified mechanic but i know the car and how it reacts if i take it elsewhere i have to pay to have it done ? fiat tells me nothing wrong with it ? i knwo somthing is wrong i also contacted the company who i had it off today and all they said is wwo a car that age with problems you want to get on to fiat grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..
can anyone give me any advice please i am going loopy i have done the grand total of 800 miles since i have had it and now i have no car at all until they sort themselves out!



dave

well if u want the car fixed uv gotta wait on this occasion! as for the brakes the AA guy shud have told the dealer wat the problem was- did he(/she) even speak to the dealer?
How come u only have a provisional license? u wudnt be able to drive the courtesy car neway!?

EVERYONE- SPRAY YOUR PUNTOS BLACK (full s/s system on the way!)

I'd throw the car back to the place you got it from... did you get any kind of warranty from them?

hi wolf yeah suppose i have go tto wait but its really annoying from what the dealer had told me the AA bloke had expressed his concerns regarding the car but they still couldnt find a problem well i might get i tback tommorow or tuesday and if they havnt sorted it i will have to take a different course of action ( wonder is the steering will throw a wobbler as i am passing all there show cars on the way out i bet that would make them take notice) as for not being able to drive a courtesy car on a provisional i have a friend that comes with me when i want to go out so he could be nominated as the driver as he dont have his own car and could run me about.....


hi klaus23 in answer to you yes i got a 2 year warentee with the people who i had it off and i have been in touch with them over it and they bounce me back to fiat as they say that the warentee is with fiat as they are the main place to get it fixed but its the same old story your passed from one place to another no- one wants to accept responsibilty for it , what made me shocked more than anyhting is they had the car last week for the steering light and engine management as the city steering kept going they reset the computer and i had the car back , this time they have done the same thing reset the light and are waiting on a new transponder but this time they wont let me have the car as they class the fault as dangerous its amazing how things change in a week as last week it was ok to drive , now its dangerous to drive amazing considering its the same problem , its just a case of playing the waiting game i suppose will keep you updated on what happens

dave

dave

This may sound like a silly idea but it worked for a friend of mine with a VW Polo.
He bought it at a year old with warantee and like you he was getting no satisfaction with problems and continually being bounced around. In the end through despair he went to a solicitor, who wrote to the dealer and VW. That had the desired effect and their actions were so fast then, that their shoes gave off sparks! Weeks of inactivity were transformed within a week to a happy outcome. It cost him £80 for the solicitor but he considered that a small price considering what he paid for the car.
Finally, don't forget that even second hand goods under law, must be fit for the purpose for which they were sold.

yeah welcome to the world of fiat dealers. arnt they great.

anyway if you get your car back and the brakes are still going wrong mayeb you could get aa out again? or another independant who could write a report saying what they found wrong? then when you take it to fiat you have written proof of what they found?? maybe the breaks start binding after they have got hot and tahts why fiat cant find anything as they check form cold.

oh oh i have good idea lol just remembered lots of garages now like ATS and fast fiat i think will give you a free brake check (front wheel discs, rear drum check takes longer) and they will advise you if anything wrong you could get them to write it down.

2001 Punto sporting in sprint blue with matching Mr Bump air freshner all together now mmmmmmm

The Judge is right, get a solicitor to write to the garage where you bought the car and Fiat UK, if you get a good solicitor he should be able to get Fiat to pay his fee for getting involved, at the end of the day its not your fault that there is a problem with the car. What you could also do is get the solicitor to look for compensation for the additional expense that you have been put through, you know, getting taxis etc.....You may need receipts for this but I'm sure that getting these wont be a problem.

The garage you bought it from should fix it. They got your money, let them take it to the Fiat garage if they want but get your money back from them. If you have a HP AGREEMENT get on to the HP company they will sort it as they will have paid the garage and you may not be going to pay them. Please be very polite I know it is hard to do but say you know these things happen but you are sure they will solve any problem. Don't forget my first words. Put it in writing and add "time is of the essence" and keep a copy. Tansy

P.S. If you have legal advice cover on your insurance ring them for advice and note down what they say it is free. Tansy

well seems as though i might be getting somwhere with fiat after a very lengthy telephone call and lots of shouting they have told me the transponder problem has been sorted hurrrayyy they done it without having to change the part but the bad news is that the steering problem (loosing city steering & pulling the right) is now down to the speed sensor and they have ordered the part but still no secure date when i can get my car back , they will be checking the brakes again and possibly stripping them down to try and locate the problem and will get back to me tommorow with an update , also after phoning the aa and telling them the situation they have told me that if i am unhappy with the outcome ie if i think the problem with the brakes remain unoticed then i can ring them again and they will send an inspector out to check the car out free of charge they was more than willing to do this when i told them that the dealership had basically called the aa liars in there diagnosis [}] thanks for all your advice everyone i have taken steps from here that i personally wouldnt have thought of (being a thick brummie) i will be getting a written report from the garage if they say there is still no brake problem and will be seeking legal advice if the problem persists will update as soon as i find out more

dave

I wouldn't accept the garage I bought the car off saying that it was a Fiat problem. If they know that they can a) fix it under warranty, or b) take it to Fiat for you and fix it under warranty (or pay Fiat to fix it).

But I wouldn't allow them to bounce you around.#
Anyway, hope all goes well from here!

take it up with trading standards,

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Yet another day yet another update recieved a call from fiat dealers today , they are still witing for the speed sensor (still not arrived after 2 seperate orders) they have know told me that the transponder is being replaced due to problems they have located and at last they are replacing the right hand side brakes i believe the calliper and the pad no date specified for when i am going to get my car back but they are slowly getting there.
i will have to wait and see what the final outcome of it all is and get a written report


dave

that car sounds ill

LATEST UPDATE : yesterday i telephoned the garage who said they still hadnt had the speed sensor in stock , so i contacted fiat uk and they have told me the part is in the uk woohoo and would be delivered to the dealers the following day , i contacted dealers again and told them and they said i would have my car today wheey heyy i have finally got somwhere (i thought) still no call from them , the transponder strap still hasnt reached them as of yesterday the speed sensor is somwhere in the uk and the only thing they have done is replaced the front right hand brakes (even though they say nothing was wrong with the old ones) 12 days and still no car they was kind enough to offer me a courtesy car though (after moaning and moaning at them) but i would have to pay the insurance of £15 per day like my own insurance dont even cost that much , and worst of all they wanted me to have a multipa i think it was called agggghhhhh i had images of people staring at me while i was driving it aghhhh so i decided stick to my pushbike ...... well yet another day and no car but hey while i havnt got it i aint running the mileage up , had an email from fiat uk to say they are passing my complaint on and they take these matters very seriously ( yeah right )
will let you know if i ever get it back

dave

they can't just replace the front right brakes! both sides must be done at the same time!

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cheers for that dave i will pull them about that as im sure they said front right hand only , i know nothing about cars basically this is my first one thats why i so annoyed especially being only 8 months old thanks for letting me know about the brakes though i will deffinately have them over it

dave

nearly 2 cheers for fiat but not qiute i had a call yesterday come and get your car problems all resolved its out on its last test drive will phone you when it comes back this was at 3.00pm @ 5.30 pm i get a call they have found another problem its the city steering i can have the car back but i cant use the city they have to order the part grrrrr but at least i get my car back woohhooo , all night my alarm was going off for no reason just kept setting itself off so i have a feeling they have knackered that up aswell , and this morning went to the car and guess what the engine management light has came on again and the power steering light agggggghhhhhhhhhh , the have replaced the speed sensor , the transponder strap , front right caliper and the front right brake pipe , will i ever win

dave

Dave is right, thats one hell of a saga, and it sounds like you're gettin dicked about, get the heavy mob in- trading standards are bound to be able to do something about it.

I know that we all took the risk of buying a friday car when we bought a fiat, but yours must have been built on a month of fridays!

therealjoe90

well i have got my finance company on to it and they are requesting from fiat all the work sheets from when the was first registered , they are talking about making the company who i had the car off take it back and issueing me with a new car (not a fiat) , its a case of playing the waiting game as this has got to go through 3 companys for me to get a result but as long as i get there in the end , i am still using the punto as it is back in my possession again and booked back into fiat for 2 weeks time for yet another problem hopefully i will have a new car out of this lot will i choose fiat again ???? (i dont think so)

dave