Technical GP 3rd year warranty problem(and EGR :( )

[afxxfa]

I've just recently started to get the EGR problems(or so i think) that a few others have been getting, on my 07 GP 1.9 sporting, with the power seeming way down at times and fine at others.

Anyway i bought the car in march 07 from Brindleys in Wolverhampton, it came with the 2 year manufacturer and a 3rd year dealer warranty. Now from ringing Brindleys, regarding the EGR prob, I've now been informed that they've ceased their fiat dealership(theyre now doing honda there instead) and whilst they'll perform Fiat servicing they now no longer do warranty work or repairs... All this without bothering to inform any of their previous fiat customers. Pretty bloody disgusting really.

So off i went to the Arbury Fiat dealership in Walsall and got the car booked in for this wednesday. Obviously one of my worries though was the matter of the 3rd year dealer warranty, The woman i spoke to at Arbury told me i could have it transferred to them but it'll cost me £30 quid, Is this correct? would it be worth speaking to either Brindley or fiat with regard to it? Obviously 30 quids a pittance if you suddenly need a huge amount of warranty work doing, but it's still rather annoying when i bought the car from Brindleys in good faith that the warranty was there without me needing to pay for it to be moved elsewhere.

Anybody with a similiar experience?

 

[punto_matt]

Why would they let you know? Think how many customers they would have to call to inform that they have ceased being a Fiat dealership.

Shouldnt have to pay to transfer warrenty to a different dealership i dont think as Fiat warrenty is countrywide and you can go to any dealership over the country to get it looked at. Ive had mine in a couple of dealerships now and they havent said anything about that. Only time you have to pay to get warrenty changed over is when you are a 2nd owner and you take over the warrenty from the previous owner.

 

[Ffoxy]

Why would they let you know? Think how many customers they would have to call to inform that they have ceased being a Fiat dealership.

Shouldnt have to pay to transfer warrenty to a different dealership i dont think as Fiat warrenty is countrywide and you can go to any dealership over the country to get it looked at. Ive had mine in a couple of dealerships now and they havent said anything about that. Only time you have to pay to get warrenty changed over is when you are a 2nd owner and you take over the warrenty from the previous owner.

Had this discussion with my dealer on Thursday before I had my wheel bearing replaced Matt.

They said the same, £30 and the DEALER warranty can be trasferred, sounds good value to me lol! Fiat have nowt to do with the Dealer warranty just the manufacturer warranty in the first 2 years.

To the OP go for it, damn good £30 worth if you ask me. If you dont believe it call TJVickers in Telford and explain, you will get the very same statement from them.

P.S. do you drive mostly in town, short journeys or very slowly?

Just curious as I have now done 43,000 miles with no EGR issue.

 

[afxxfa]

Why would they let you know? Think how many customers they would have to call to inform that they have ceased being a Fiat dealership.

But yours appears to be an 08 punto(unless you've previously owned another) so you're within your 2 year fiat warranty and obviously could have it serviced at any fiat dealer. I'm more concerned with my 3rd year, apparently dealer specific warranty, which i am about to enter into.

Hopefully if it does turn out to be the EGR, then fingers crossed it'll be covered within the 2nd year of my warranty anyway.

 

[afxxfa]

Had this discussion with my dealer on Thursday before I had my wheel bearing replaced Matt.

They said the same, £30 and the DEALER warranty can be trasferred, sounds good value to me lol! Fiat have nowt to do with the Dealer warranty just the manufacturer warranty in the first 2 years.

To the OP go for it, damn good £30 worth if you ask me. If you dont believe it call TJVickers in Telford and explain, you will get the very same statement from them.

P.S. do you drive mostly in town, short journeys or very slowly?

Just curious as I have now done 43,000 miles with no EGR issue.

Its definitely worthwhile if something goes wrong, I just think that when you buy a car from someone and they offer you that 3rd year warranty that they should be obliged to honour it...i shouldn't be out of pocket simply through no fault of my own, Fair enough if it was a matter of me moving house or something and wishing it to be transferred to a more local garage, but not when i have no choice in the matter. Oh well, guess i'll have to cough up

As for the EGR, well the cars only really driven at weekends and for short journeys on the evenings. It's done a reasonable bit of motorway driving though when i have had to use it for work. I'm currently up to 15800 miles over 2 years driving, i wouldnt say i drive slowly, but i try not to thrash it either. I guess the short journeys could have played a part?

 

[Ffoxy]

Its definitely worthwhile if something goes wrong, I just think that when you buy a car from someone and they offer you that 3rd year warranty that they should be obliged to honour it...i shouldn't be out of pocket simply through no fault of my own, Fair enough if it was a matter of me moving house or something and wishing it to be transferred to a more local garage, but not when i have no choice in the matter. Oh well, guess i'll have to cough up

As for the EGR, well the cars only really driven at weekends and for short journeys on the evenings. It's done a reasonable bit of motorway driving though when i have had to use it for work. I'm currently up to 15800 miles over 2 years driving, i wouldnt say i drive slowly, but i try not to thrash it either. I guess the short journeys could have played a part?

Possibly the short trips, note mine is re-mapped as well.
I get to do 200 - 300 mile trips on M/way fairly regularly and rarely do short trips (I define short by the engine not reaching normal operating temperature) Thats just my measure though, not official lol!

I'm afraid in a recession all sorts of horrid and seemingly unfair things happen to all of us, TBF £30 isnt a lot, could easily spend double that on a good Friday night out :devil:

 

[T14086]

TBF £30 isnt a lot, could easily spend double that on a good Friday night out :devil:

that would pay my taxi fares but no drink

 

[afxxfa]

Well the cars now in the garage, its had its 18k service and i've been told its not the EGR causing the problem but is in fact the boost solenoid! Or so the diagnostic computers told them.
Could that cause a similiar problem to a defective EGR? Anyway it's stuck there overnight as they're ordering the necessary part in

 

[Andrew56]

Obviously one of my worries though was the matter of the 3rd year dealer warranty, The woman i spoke to at Arbury told me i could have it transferred to them but it'll cost me £30 quid, Is this correct? would it be worth speaking to either Brindley or fiat with regard to it? Obviously 30 quids a pittance if you suddenly need a huge amount of warranty work doing, but it's still rather annoying when i bought the car from Brindleys in good faith that the warranty was there without me needing to pay for it to be moved elsewhere.

Anybody with a similiar experience?

I am puzzled by this as my service and warranty booklet says the following about claims under the 3rd year waranty:

Take your vehicle to any Authorised Fiat Dealer and bring with you:

Your 3rd Year Dealer Warranty Card

Fiat Servicing and Warranty Booklet

Also mentioned is a procedure for obtain reimbursement if repairs are carried out abroad (settle bill, keep invoice and where possible defective parts).

This seems to make it clear the warranty if valid at any Dealers. Surely Fiat cannot retrospectively change the procedure to the detriment of the customer. (I have an interest in this as the dealer from whom I purchased my GP has ceased trading!)

Andrew

 

[T14086]

Surely Fiat cannot retrospectively change the procedure to the detriment of the customer.

What do you mean by this Andrew?

 

[Andrew56]

What do you mean by this Andrew?

Afxxfa and Ffoxy seem to have been told their warranty is only valid at the dealer from whom they purchased the vehicle unless they pay £30 to have it transfered. My documents suggest that providing I produce the service booklet and warranty card, I can make a claim from any dealer without any further costs. If this is not true, detrimental changes to the warranty have occured since I received the documentation with my vehicle.

Andrew

 

[T14086]

No, think you have misread....you can go to any dealer (Fiat) but the £30 transfer is for putting the cars 3rd year warranty (or first or second year for that matter) in your name. The garage should let Fiat know the car has changed hands.

It wont affect any 3rd year claim but Fiat will require the £30 first to update the records, if you brought your car from a garage I would question this with them. Obviously as yours has ceased trading I would suggest you phone customer services for guidance on this matter.

 

[afxxfa]

No, think you have misread....you can go to any dealer (Fiat) but the £30 transfer is for putting the cars 3rd year warranty (or first or second year for that matter) in your name. The garage should let Fiat know the car has changed hands.

It wont affect any 3rd year claim but Fiat will require the £30 first to update the records, if you brought your car from a garage I would question this with them. Obviously as yours has ceased trading I would suggest you phone customer services for guidance on this matter.

No i'm pretty sure he's got the gist of it, I bought the car from new in March 07 from Brindleys in Wolverhampton, They've now ceased to trade as a fiat dealership and have stated to me that they will only perform servicing and not warranty or repair work.

After i took the car to arbury fiat they told me, that to transfer the 3rd year warranty to them i needed to pay £30. Nothing to do with transferring owner but transferring to a different garage....This is unless they're giving me duff info. But if thats so whats the point of the 3rd year being classed as a "dealer warranty", if you can use it at any fiat dealer than why not just class it as a fiat warranty, like the initial 2 year warranty?

As for my situation, the boost solenoid has apparently now just arrived at the dealership....Took from last wednesday to arrive(surely thats a bit crap?) and they've told me that they cant fit me in til the middle of next week, This despite the fact that my car is now showing a "check engine" warning message. Consequently i've dumped my car on them and dont want it back til its sorted(theyre gonna try and fit me in if they get a cancellation in the meantime), This is more than a bit inconvenient for me, but frankly i'm far from happy about continuing to drive it around and possibly causing any other damage before they get it on the diagnostic and see whats happening.

More than a bit pissed off.

 

[T14086]

I do/have done many 3rd year warranty repairs from customers that have never even been to the garages I work from. If you are not the registed owner of the car at that time (repair) then no work will be authorised until a transfer is carried out.

Problems normally arise when cars are brought from non-Fiat garages, as they do not alert the warranty company that the car is registered with new owner.

Its not called Fiat 3rd year warranty because it is not Fiat but a third party that authorises the dealer to carry out the work.

The £30 transfer can be arranged over the phone with relevent vehicle documents.

 

[sandal100]

With this £30 issue: I bought my car brand new froma dealer in Barnsley which are a Fiat dealer, along with a few others, and they messed me around. I now take it to a garage in Wakefield and they havent asked for any money off me, even though I didn't but it from them. Its a 56 plate so in its 3rd year warranty and they are replacing a sensor in the EGR at the moment without querying anything.

 

[afxxfa]

I do/have done many 3rd year warranty repairs from customers that have never even been to the garages I work from. If you are not the registed owner of the car at that time (repair) then no work will be authorised until a transfer is carried out.

Problems normally arise when cars are brought from non-Fiat garages, as they do not alert the warranty company that the car is registered with new owner.

Its not called Fiat 3rd year warranty because it is not Fiat but a third party that authorises the dealer to carry out the work.

The £30 transfer can be arranged over the phone with relevent vehicle documents.

Then i guess the person i spoke to at the garage either got the wrong end of the stick, or was trying to con me out of 30 quid. Never mind, least i know now where i stand. Thanks

 

[T14086]

https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo/15555-warranty-aacover.html

read post #3

 

[afxxfa]

This is turning into a bit of a marathon now, Got off the phone with the garage earlier this afternoon...been over a week now since their initial viewing off the car and after fitting the boost solenoid, to no avail. They've now informed me that its an "air pressure sensor" of which there are apparently none in the country

They've now told me that i'm looking at sometime next week, I just hope when this part is fitted that it cures the problem and that they dont then come back at me saying that its the EGR, Something which i suggested to them when i first took the car in. *sigh*

I've honestly had more grief with this 2 year old car(drivers door lock needed replacing, Bit of trim under the bumper fell off, Air vent on front window expanded and popped up at right side, Horn didnt work...im sure theres more, pretty much every recall in the book) than i ever did with the used cars i had before. I really do love the car and its great to drive, i'll think long and hard before buying another fiat though.

 

[T14086]

sell it & buy something more reliable that never goes wrong/breakdown.




let us know when you find it

 

[afxxfa]

Been without my car for 10 days now(and nearly 3 weeks since the problem arose), The garage are telling me that they cant source this "air flow meter" from the UK or Italy and that there are apparently some in Germany and that they're trying to get hold of one, But since the item is on back order...or something along those lines they aren't even able to give me any kind of ETA on when it might come in. So here i am with no form of transport, luckily atm i dont need my car for work, but i'm starting a new job in a few weeks and definitely will then, Just really hope it's sorted soon.

Anyone else ever had a similiar situation with waiting for a part? I could understand this if i was driving something a bit more exotic or whatever, but not for a mass produced and very popular model such as the grande punto.
I'm tryin not to get too pissed off with the garage since they obviously cant fix the car without the part, but i have raised a complaint with fiat about the situation, just waiting to hear back from them. Doubt it'll do much but just felt i had to do something.