Technical Euro6 1.2 Throttle Response, Hill Start Issues & Watchdog report

[FinFerNan]

FinFerNan - if I can recommend ONE thing, I would make it your new mission to become the biggest pain in CS's backsides. I think, without sprouting the fur and the tail, I turned into something of a Jack Russell when I was doing battle with them and I think my daily calls harassing, chasing, arguing, at times crying, obviously made me such of a pain that Fiat in the end just got completely fed up with me.

Don't give up. Dig deep. Make it your first call of the day to ring your case manager for updates.

I hear what you're saying and do appreciate your point. My "trouble" is the Fiat only cost me £89 a month and I'm likely to only do 3000 miles a year in it.

The rest of the time, I'm hooning around in this:

TBH, I'm a bit miffed with Fiat (not the dealer, they've been great) and would like the car sorted. But I'm not going to make it a mission.

 

[zanes]

They also told us that if the fuel gauge was not at the same point when they got it back we would be charged for the petrol.

Ah, happy memories of this with my 500 when it was in for a service.

Except perhaps I can go one better - I got the dealership ringing me at about 1900 telling me that I hadn't put any/enough fuel in, and asking which petrol station I had been to (presumably so they could ring and check that I had). And this was from one of the "better" FIAT dealerships.

The service manager gave me a perplexed look when I asked if I should top up the courtesy car* I had when the swift was in for warranty work a few weeks back.

*Which wasn't a slightly knackered 8 year old bottom of the range Alto, unlike the FIAT dealership in question and their Panda.

FIAT just don't give a toss.

 

[auditt]

I went to a Fiat dealer in Hereford yesterday and have never seen so many new 500s on a dealers forecourt.Some pre-reg but all of them new with almost £3K off and £1K deposit allowance.I wonder if things have caught up with Fiat hence the large discounts.

 

[ahmett]

I went to a Fiat dealer in Hereford yesterday and have never seen so many new 500s on a dealers forecourt.Some pre-reg but all of them new with almost £3K off and £1K deposit allowance.I wonder if things have caught up with Fiat hence the large discounts.

lets see what happens now with the fiat 500. i think there will be a new version soon they cant just keep on selling a 7 year old car with a 11 year old chassis as brand new = )

 

[TrevC]

Zanes, off-topic here but I bore your Suzuki experiences in mind on Saturday when we put a deposit on a year-old SX4 S-Cross, which apparently is Swift based. Nice drive, good space, decent kit (SZ4 trim) and good official economy, backed up by the trip computer on the test drive (1.6 petrol). Some crappy plastics, but it's a lot of car for the money. It's replacing our Megane, not the 500 btw.

 

[zanes]

Zanes, off-topic here but I bore your Suzuki experiences in mind on Saturday when we put a deposit on a year-old SX4 S-Cross, which apparently is Swift based. Nice drive, good space, decent kit (SZ4 trim) and good official economy, backed up by the trip computer on the test drive (1.6 petrol). Some crappy plastics, but it's a lot of car for the money. It's replacing our Megane, not the 500 btw.

I should be on comission

I think the old SX4 (which was only called SX4, and was pretty much the same as the FIAT Sedici) was swift based but I'm not sure the new one (SX4 S-Cross) is- it seems much bigger than the swift. There are undoubtedly quite a few common components though, the engine in particular is a slightly detuned version of the one in my Swift (without the variable intake geometry IIRC) so I suspect the transmission and what not is common and a lot of the internal switch gear appears very familiar. So thinking about it, based on (rather than sharing a common floorpan like the panda/500) would be about right

I had a diesel one as a courtesy car for a service and despite being the polar opposite of mine it was pretty nice.

Amusingly enough I had it because the workshop had forgotten I had booked a courtesy car. The dealership manager overheard the conversation at the desk and gave me the keys to "his" (employee car scheme) car. Would that happen in a FIAT dealership?

I'd be interested to see what economy you get out of it. The trip computer in the 1.6 swifts is rather optimistic (anywhere about 15%, mine indicates about 49.5 long term average but last time I did a typical tank check it came out to about 44.5 real MPG) but the 1.2 swifts are generally reputed to be pretty bang on.

Some crappy plastics, but it's a lot of car for the money.

Yeah, that's about right. Almost exactly the opposite of the 500 The high trim levels are comically well equipped for the money.

 

[MrDerv]

I rang our garage, and still being told there's nothing they can do and ours is not affected in any way by the Watchdog report as apparently it's Euro5. I find this odd as Fiat CS say it's a Euro6!!

I have got it booked in for Thursday, and if it comes back unchanged, we're going to stop driving it and hand the keys back in September when we are able to end the term early (on a 4 year deal with option to hand back after 2). I made this point quite clear to the service department, and have also made Fiat CS aware of this.

 

[zanes]

A mid-2013 build 500 being EU6 and affected by this problem? That widens the net of 500s to avoid somewhat!

 

[MrDerv]

A mid-2013 build 500 being EU6 and affected by this problem? That widens the net of 500s to avoid somewhat!

Widens how? We already know that some 63-reg onwards 500's are affected

 

[Mick F]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Euro6 didn't come in until September 2014.

Mick.

 

[zanes]

Widens how? We already know that some 63-reg onwards 500's are affected

Oops- I'd got it in my head that it was 14 plates only.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Euro6 didn't come in until September 2014.

Mick.

Quite common for companies to adopt the new standards a little early; I'd bet FIAT "retooled" for EU6 during the Tychy summer shutdown- doing that in Summer 2014 would be leaving things a bit tight timewise.

 

[MrDerv]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Euro6 didn't come in until September 2014.

Mick.

March 2014 onwards was when it officially states Euro6 in the brochures and manual etc, However, the issue isn't just limited to 2014 onwards.

What raised my suspicions of ours being Euro6 was the supplement that came with our user manual explaining what it was all about. Fiat CS confirmed it is infact a Euro6 that we have registered in Sept 2013.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

they cant just keep on selling a 7 year old car with a 11 year old chassis as brand new = )

Well they can if people buy them

 

[Andyb80]

if I can recommend ONE thing, I would make it your new mission to become the biggest pain in CS's backsides.

Got our car booked in for the beginning of June (first appointment they had). I'm ready for a good fight if they want one!!

 

[auditt]

Mine is Oct 2013 and EU6 engine it has been updated but still suffers from the rev surge at clutch biting point.

 

[MrDerv]

Mine is Oct 2013 and EU6 engine it has been updated but still suffers from the rev surge at clutch biting point.

That will always be present, it's an anti-stall feature.


Ours is in today to hopefully get sorted, but they are still adamant that ours is not affected. Their system shows it as a Euro5, but CS claim it's a Euro6. Won't know if there's a fix til they plug it in to check for updates apparently. However, they are replacing a valve on the Evap cannister which they think may be at fault. Not holding much hope though.

The whole saga of putting up with Fiat's lies, crap service, and constant fobbing off has left us with no trust in them. We're handing back the keys regardless of the outcome of todays visit. Sad to say i will never buy a Fiat again after the way we've been treated by the dealership and Fiat CS.

 

[highlander52]

My neighbour loves our 2015 lounge twin air but would prefer the 1.2 engine. She has had a test drive in a newly built (April 2015) car and the dealer has assured her that the new cars do not in any way suffer from the problems highlighted by watchdog. She asked me to see if I could look into this on her behalf ( she is 76 years old but young with it).

Without going into all the existing posts on this subject can anyone confirm that the dealer is being honest? Anyone out there bought the 1.2 model lately? I have told her to hold off for a while until I can find out what the situation is.:worship::worship:

 

[Mercky]

You could test drive it for her?

 

[highlander52]

You could test drive it for her?

Lady concerned was very happy with the test drive she took with the test car (April 2015 build) however she wants to order a new model with various specs and colour etc.

This means she cannot test the car before delivery as the dealer won't order her ( very highly specced) car without a deposit and contract.

Whilst she loves the 500 she does not want to get into any problems with the dealer if after delivery the car fails to meet expectations.

I have incidentally tried to persuade her to go for the t/a but to no avail as the dealer persuaded her to go for the 1.2 as being " more suitable" for her needs...whatever that means!

 

[auditt]

I was not aware of the anti stall as it wont do the clutch any good.