I have a 2002 Punto Mia and I suddenly lost all my forward gears whilst sitting at traffic lights.
My Fiat dealer (Arnold Clark) say that they think the crownwheel has come off, although they haven't removed the box yet.
They are making the assumption that it has broken through harsh use due to the fact that the front tyres are wearing on the outside edges and it's done 15,000 miles (2nd set of tyres)and hence is not a warranty claim.
It would appear that they are going to try to get out of a warranty claim for my broken gearbox and I feel a long fight with Fiat coming on. With regard to the wearing tyres, I reported this to them last week and I was told by the service department that there are known mk2 punto suspension problems which cause this tyre wear and they were to ring me back, never did!!
The 'trained technician' says that gearbox problems are very uncommon and he's never heard of the suspension issue" Surprise Surprise.
I have decided to try to gather as much info as possible to add weight to my argument and I would be grateful if anyone out there with a mk 2 punto 1.2 8v 2002 onwards could reply with their info, please try to make it factual with dates, problem and where it was fixed etc.
Either reply on this forum or direct to my email [email protected]

Also any other advice that you can give would be welcomed.

Thanks
Lee

How can they (reasonably) make assumptions before they've looked in side the 'box [?]

Can you find (and name) the service department droid who told you the tyre wear was a known problem [?]

Talk to Citizens Advice Bureau before the garage starts work.
Tell them you don't believe the garage is being fair, as they've already decided it's not their (FIATs) problem before they've even looked at the fault.

IME (limited) of FIAT gearboxes - they aren't the best in the world, but failure in the first 20k is most likely down to bad manufacture.
Failure at high mileages is often due to lack of oil, and happens while running.

When you say "lost all my forward gears" - do you still have reverse [?]
If you still have reverse, odds are it's a selection problem.

mate, there is a very common problem with the new punto's and their gearboxs. 2 of my mates 'boxes went within 7000 miles and fiat also gave them alot of sh*t and said that it wasn't their fault nor could you claim it back on warranty, one of the lads had to fork out 5 grand to get his fixed cause it fcukd up everything so you may be in for a long running battle!!
sorry mate.

John h is right. Just let them know that you are contacting Watchdog about their remarks. They just cannot go around telling you how you drive when all they have in front of them is a w**ked out gearbox. Where is this Arnold Clark dealers that you are dealing with? I think they need some bad publicity.

2000 ELX Green Induction kit, Ecotek Valve.

Have you checked that a linkage arm has not come off. I new a guy once who was told he needed a new gearbox because he had lost reverse when i had a look it was just a linkage rod/arm had popped off.

Thanks for your replies guys, this Arnold Clark dealership is in Perth Scotland, Arnold Clark has a monopoly in Scotland for most car franchises.
having searched the net I now find that their quality of after sales is pityful, so any one elsae be warned, I'll certainly never deal with them again.
To answer the question, yes I did still have reverse gear and it was the service manager that told me about the tyres/suspension problem, which they now deny is a fault. If I get any more crap from them I will try BBC watchdog etc.
Thanks again.
Lee