General Calling all start 'n' stop owners!

[JimR123]

If Bosch didn't make good stuff I wouldn't have a fridge, dishwasher, washing machine, drill and a load of other stuff with their name on it in my house

So you're not at all biased then?

You don't happen to work for Bosch do you?

We have a dishwasher made by Bosch, but that doesn't mean that cars made by them are any good. I have some Ferrari aftershave (a gift), and I can assure you that not eveything made by Ferrari is desirable and sophisticated. :yuck:

 

[JimR123]

Anybody know how many s'n's have been sold in the UK? Maybe that would put the whole thing into perspective.

 

[306maxi]

So you're not at all biased then?

You don't happen to work for Bosch do you?

We have a dishwasher made by Bosch, but that doesn't mean that cars made by them are any good. I have some Ferrari aftershave (a gift), and I can assure you that not eveything made by Ferrari is desirable and sophisticated. :yuck:

I don't work for Bosch no I don't work at all at the moment

Bosch have been making car parts for ages and most cars will have Bosch bits in them already.

 

[JimR123]

I asked a mate about this today who works with the largest Fiat dealership chain in UK, no issues.

Maybe we should've got our s'n's from there then!

 

[T14086]

too late now

 

[Venters]

So you're not at all biased then?

You don't happen to work for Bosch do you?

I used to.
Funnily enough as a quality control inspector.
Bosch takes quality control far more seriously than any company I have ever worked for. I would be amazed if every single unit has the same fault. On the off chance it did happen. Bosch would move swiftly to fix it.

No bias either. Was paid off after less than a year for being the last in.

 

[306maxi]

I used to.
Funnily enough as a quality control inspector.
Bosch takes quality control far more seriously than any company I have ever worked for. I would be amazed if every single unit has the same fault. On the off chance it did happen. Bosch would move swiftly to fix it.

No bias either. Was paid off after less than a year for being the last in.

I have even more respect for you now

What most people don't know is that Bosch is 92% owned by the Robert Bosch Foundation which is a charity which is think is rather cool.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bosch_GmbH#Ownership
Buying stuff from a company which gives a big wedge to charity and which invests almost twice the industry average on R&D? Win win I say!

 

[BobbyP]

Well my S&S car was in again last week (third time in) and they replaced a sensor (on or about the battery I think) but it didn't entirely fix the problem so now they're replacing another sensor on the gearlever (D4nny8oy mentioned that some S&S had a faulty neutral sensor but I presume they would have known if my car was in the faulty batch from the first time it went into the garage). I have to wait for the part to come from Italy (and they have to order a whole new gearlever not just a sensor). I say the problem is not entirely fixed since now, like everyone (?) else on here, my problem seems to be confined to the 'reverse trigger' whilst before I never seemed to have S&S working so I'm guessing I had more than one fault and it seems like they've fixed one of them. I'm a bit happier since at least now I can 'trick' the car into having S&S available (by not reversing!).

It would be nice if someone with a fully-functional S&S joined this forum and voted! Until then, I'm suspicious that all S&S cars have this fault.

Hi,

Well I've had the sensor on the gearlever replaced but it hasn't fixed the problem and the garage were aware that it hadn't fixed as soon as they replaced it. They've simply said that they don't know how to fix it right now and they have to wait for Fiat to give them the answer, who knows when that will be. They also said that they know that other dealerships are seeing the same issue.

Very depressing.

 

[JimR123]

Hi,

Well I've had the sensor on the gearlever replaced but it hasn't fixed the problem and the garage were aware that it hadn't fixed as soon as they replaced it. They've simply said that they don't know how to fix it right now and they have to wait for Fiat to give them the answer, who knows when that will be. They also said that they know that other dealerships are seeing the same issue.

Very depressing.

Oh well, at least we're not alone

 

[keeforelli]

Oh well, at least we're not alone

well mine is being investigated by fiat customer care now-

i suppose i should get ready for the inevitable 'we're working on a fix'

:-(

 

[JimR123]

Anybody had any progress on this issue yet? We're starting to wonder if Fiat Italy are really doing anything about this.

Another thought occurred to me... If we have an accident, and it's discovered by our insurers that our car had a malfunction light, I bet they would try and get out of paying, saying that we knew the car wasn't roadworthy. The other thing is, if this goes on for 3 years (hopefully not!) surely it won't pass an MOT? In fact is it not deemed unsafe to be on the road with a warning light showing?

 

[T14086]

Airbag light is not part of the MOT so I doubt stop/start system is

The stop/start is not a safety system.

 

[BobbyP]

Anybody had any progress on this issue yet? We're starting to wonder if Fiat Italy are really doing anything about this.

Another thought occurred to me... If we have an accident, and it's discovered by our insurers that our car had a malfunction light, I bet they would try and get out of paying, saying that we knew the car wasn't roadworthy. The other thing is, if this goes on for 3 years (hopefully not!) surely it won't pass an MOT? In fact is it not deemed unsafe to be on the road with a warning light showing?

No progress for me. I'm not very happy. It'd help a lot if Fiat offered some sort of compensation to us (financial or a servicing deal or something!) by way of an apology.

Does this ever happen?

 

[306maxi]

Another thought occurred to me... If we have an accident, and it's discovered by our insurers that our car had a malfunction light, I bet they would try and get out of paying, saying that we knew the car wasn't roadworthy. The other thing is, if this goes on for 3 years (hopefully not!) surely it won't pass an MOT? In fact is it not deemed unsafe to be on the road with a warning light showing?

Now you're just worrying about something that doesn't need to be worried about. It's no different to if there was a warning light saying that the stereo isn't working. It doesn't actually make the car unsafe so you needn't worry about it.

 

[grimwau]

Do these warning lights still appear if the S&S is switched off?

 

[keeforelli]

Do these warning lights still appear if the S&S is switched off?

the s/s light does show when u switch it off- general fault light doesnt.

 

[Hugh Snape]

As a soon to be "ex" Barchetta owner I have to say your Start n Stop situation sounds somewhat similar to the Variator problem which continues to plague that model and which Fiat never really fixed.

Following the BBC Watchdog expose, I, like many other owners, spent many happy hours talking to Fiat customer asking for Variators to be replaced under warranty.

Good luck.

Hugh

 

[matttash]

I have recently had a 500 start/stop. Being mine is the first start/stop they have had at my local garage, they were not sure if the warning light was supposed to come on. Anyway, it went back to the garage and they first thought it was the censor in the gear box, which was changed but the warning light still came on. But they say it is a clutch problem. The salesman drove it and the warning light came on, I drove it and the warning light came. When it is working apparently you are suppose the release the clutch straight away and not have it on the 'bite'. Having the clutch at the 'bite' makes the start/stop not work and the warning light come on. To reset I would have to go back to the garage. Sometimes but not very often it will start working again but not for long.

They said it was driver error and that it is a habit that I would have to break. So when you use the start/stop you have to release the clutch straightaway. They told me that Fiat in Italy are trying to solve the problem.

 

[JimR123]

I have recently had a 500 start/stop. Being mine is the first start/stop they have had at my local garage, they were not sure if the warning light was supposed to come on. Anyway, it went back to the garage and they first thought it was the censor in the gear box, which was changed but the warning light still came on. But they say it is a clutch problem. The salesman drove it and the warning light came on, I drove it and the warning light came. When it is working apparently you are suppose the release the clutch straight away and not have it on the 'bite'. Having the clutch at the 'bite' makes the start/stop not work and the warning light come on. To reset I would have to go back to the garage. Sometimes but not very often it will start working again but not for long.

They said it was driver error and that it is a habit that I would have to break. So when you use the start/stop you have to release the clutch straightaway. They told me that Fiat in Italy are trying to solve the problem.

Driver error?!?

Funny, doesn't say anything about it in the manual. I didn't realise you had to take extra driving lessons to be qualified to drive "correctly" :bang:

Either the warning light is coming on because there is a fault, or the car is just designed so badly that everybody who drives it gets it wrong. Either way, it needs fixing.

If I were to release the clutch straight away in my own car (not a 500), I'd have been killed by a tree by now.

 

[JimR123]

As a soon to be "ex" Barchetta owner I have to say your Start n Stop situation sounds somewhat similar to the Variator problem which continues to plague that model and which Fiat never really fixed.

They'd better fix this issue soon, or they'll be getting a lot of cars returned to them for refund.