demonpixie
New member
I have a w reg 2001 petrol ELX which ground to a grinding halt about a month ago, the fiat dealer towed the car away and came back with a quote for a grand to replace the gearbox, as I had a new clutch just 12 months previously they did not replace this at the same time, I phoned the fiat customer service line only to be told to bog off basically as I did not have a regular service done at the fiat dealership even though this part is not covered by service..... Am I being unreasonable to expect my gearbox to last longer than 5 years? So I go and pick up my frog and notice a rattle/whine which was not there before the work was done, we thought it sounded like the thrust bearing, I take it straight back to the dealer and they examine it again and say there is nothing wrong it might be settling in noise...plurleeese setting in noise! I being a woman accepted this and drove home, 5 days later I put my foot on the clutch and it stayed there ON THE FLOOR. I phone the dealer again and they tow it away, they had not secured the pipe feeding the clutch fluid properly...
Now two weeks later I decide to take the car on a 200 mile journey, after 140 miles I just know my car does not sound right, so I pull in with a stumbling engine and then I cannot get it in gear without crunching the life out of the thing, I phone the fiat dealer on the Isle of Wight back and he tells me to get it to the nearest garage to be assessed. The clutch specialist in Luton I took it to was great they drove it up and down and told me that without taking it apart they could not give 100% definite diagnosis but he was 99% sure that the middle plate of the multiplated clutch had excessive play/not aligned and this was the problem, in 5th gear the problem was not noticeable so with the clutch mechanics advice I made the decision to try and drive it home after relaying the diagnosis to my dealer on the Island by phone. On returning home the workshop manager of my Fiat dealer personally came to collect my car, that was 5 days ago and I had heard nothing, I just phoned them and they are now saying that they cannot replicate the problem and will keep the car until they get replication. Please please could someone give me some advise, the clutch had to come out to fit the gearbox so I am assuming the dealer is at fault, do I take this further with Fiat or get the work done elsewhere and bill them?
Now two weeks later I decide to take the car on a 200 mile journey, after 140 miles I just know my car does not sound right, so I pull in with a stumbling engine and then I cannot get it in gear without crunching the life out of the thing, I phone the fiat dealer on the Isle of Wight back and he tells me to get it to the nearest garage to be assessed. The clutch specialist in Luton I took it to was great they drove it up and down and told me that without taking it apart they could not give 100% definite diagnosis but he was 99% sure that the middle plate of the multiplated clutch had excessive play/not aligned and this was the problem, in 5th gear the problem was not noticeable so with the clutch mechanics advice I made the decision to try and drive it home after relaying the diagnosis to my dealer on the Island by phone. On returning home the workshop manager of my Fiat dealer personally came to collect my car, that was 5 days ago and I had heard nothing, I just phoned them and they are now saying that they cannot replicate the problem and will keep the car until they get replication. Please please could someone give me some advise, the clutch had to come out to fit the gearbox so I am assuming the dealer is at fault, do I take this further with Fiat or get the work done elsewhere and bill them?
