Yes or get a local mechanic to remove the actuator and send it to CD Motors in Stoke for an overhaul They charge 650 for this.
Technical FIAT 500 SPORT DUALOGIC gear slipping + consumer rights
- Thread starter Pearl500
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Technical FIAT 500 SPORT DUALOGIC gear slipping + consumer rights
That would be good option if the robot is faulty .
We don't have much/any info on mileage/service history of car.
Correct diagnosis of fault is key to fix.
Thanks for posting name is CD motors (-:
I couldn't recall.
Thanks; that's reassuring. Especially as I'm about to say more things that some folks probably don't want to hear.
That's a frankly ludicrous price to pay for a 16yr old 500. As it stands, you could get about £500 if you sell it 'as is' with the fault described; you'd get maybe £1500 if it were in good order. If you were lucky, and sold it privately, you might be able to add £500 to these numbers, but that's as much as the car is worth.
But what's done is done. Just distance yourself from that £4700 figure; the money is already lost and you need to base your future plans on what the car is actually worth, not what your daughter paid for it.
No amount of repair work is going to turn this into a car that's worth £4700.
I don't think it's in the OP's interest to have this car repaired.
If it were repaired, would you really want to keep it? Would either yourself or your daughter have any confidence that the car wouldn't try to kill her the next time she pulls onto a major road?
And since any meaningful repair will cost more than the value it will add to what you might be able to sell the car for, getting it fixed and then selling the car will leave you worse off financially.
Those garages that are saying it's not economically worth repairing are being honest, and telling you the truth.
Those are indeed your rights, but (and it is a very big but)...
...enforcing those rights against an uncooperative seller will be problematical.
The seller might argue that the fault isn't sufficiently serious to stop her driving it. So if you're going to go down this route, your daughter must stop using the car, immediately. If she continues to drive it, it could be construed that she has accepted it in spite of the fault. And for the maybe 6-9 months (minimum) it will take to bring the case before a judge, the car will have to be stored somewhere, and if that's on a public road, she'll need to keep it taxed, MOT'd and insured, but won't be able to use it. She'll also have to fund the purchase of something else in the meantime, and pay tax and insurance on that as well. You'll need to pay some fees to the Court, both when you first make the claim, and if the seller doesn't pay up, more fees to have the case allocated to a hearing, though you'll get these fees back if you win. If your claim is successful, the Court will make a deduction for the use your daughter has already had from the car; perhaps £250 per month for 4 months.
And if the seller stops trading before the case is heard, you'll likely get nothing, and you won't get your Court fees back, either.
Do not underestimate the difficulty involved in going down the route of taking the seller to Court to get your money back.
This is a good sign; it shows that the seller is aware they have obligations to your daughter and that they are prepared to pay some money to make this go away.
Negotiate with the seller to buy the car back. If he'll give you £3000 for it, you've come out of this very well indeed.
If the seller won't take it back, you need a plan B. I'd suggest that whatever your Plan B is, it has to leave your daughter not owning this car. If the car isn't currently showing any warning lights or error messages and is likely to behave itself on a short test drive, you could sell it to WBAC, or one of its clones.
Selling it privately without disclosing this issue is unlikely to end comfortably for either buyer or seller.
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Unfortunately that is too far from her . She is near greenhithe area
Okay I agree I don't think repair is going to be the best option if the issue is what we are all thinking it is .
I have done a check on wbac and they say they'll pay around 3600 minus what they take for any little scuffs they find .
My daughter said there is no warning lights on in regards to the transmission issue. So maybe a short drive would be possible .
I really don't want to go down the court route as I know this will take forever and just won't be viable but if theres something I can say to the seller to get a bit more id be happy.
I think wbac is her only option if it's going to cost so much to fix and as you said you can't rely it on not happening again .I just want her to have a safe and reliable car.
I'm frankly astounded that WBAC would offer this much, but if they will, I've no hesitation whatsoever in recommending that it's what you should do.
I'd recommend not driving it any more unless absolutely necessary, because if it does fail in a way that's apparent during their inspection, they won't give you anywhere near that price.
Even if you take the seller to Court and win, I doubt you'd get any more than that.
Thank you for coming back to us with this update. Please let us know how this turns out, as it will help others who find themselves in a similar situation in the future.
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Take the money from WBAC, its a good price. Cut your losses, its the easy thing to do, you really don't need the hassle of fixing this car or chasing the seller.
If your daughter is thinking of buying another Fiat then post the details here before she buys and we'll tell you whether its a good purchase or not. Good luck on the next purchase, it wouldn't be life without getting some bad deals.
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I am wondering about the possibility of converting to manual. I suspect this might be a way out, but not much good if you want an auto. I have not seen a dualogic in a scrapyard to have a really good look at what would be involved. Probably not for the faint hearted but I guess not complicated to do in the run of things!
I think you'd need a scrap manual as a donor car. How much of the electronics would need reprogramming or replacing I don't know, but there would be a lot of parts to swap over and I doubt it would be a trivial exercise. Someone with enough skills and facilities to take this on could probably strip and refurbish the actuator, and I'd bet that would be an easier job.
