General Problem car

[keggers]

Just to let those of you who are familiar with the problems I've had with my car that it is finally going in on Monday to have, amongst other things, the airbag wiring loom replaced. The MD of Fiat UK is now getting a weekly report on my vehicle so hopefully I'll get some resolution. I'll keep everyone updated as they fix things in case it's of use to others.

BTW they are renting a replacement vehicle for me and guess what it is? A Renault Espace!

Keggers

 

[poggy]

Hi,

Good luck, hope your car gets fixed this time. Our new dealer has been very good so I can't complain (AHF Auto's in Southampton). I am waiting for a new auto gearbox ECU, which should solve the weird problem with the display disappearing. Mind you it works fine at the moment.

Poggy

 

[Stu DemonD]

Hi again,

Glad to hear your car going in eventually. What a struggle you have had. Keep us all updated....

An Espace? At least they could have gone down the C8/807 road! Hmmm.

Stu

PS My car in tomorrow morning at last - version 5.4 / rear socket / rear cluster / windscreen condensation / screen activation [I now think you have to tell Diag2000 not to switch it off over a certain speed - I will make sure this done!!!!]

Don't reckon they will get it all done, but we shall see.

 

[Paul Short]

Hi all

Stuart can you let me know how you get on saturday, I have had my car in the dealer for 9 days only to be told that:
1, My rear socket has been fitted
2, The rear light units on both sides MUST be changed to new modifed rear light clusters which are on back order & they can not give me a firm date for these.
3, The software 5.40 which I asked my dealer to upgrade to but they said that 5.32 is still the "latest they have"
4, As for the windscreen condensation, they told me that everything has been resealed & checked but the condensation is still there when I checked the car tonight.
5, I was also told about that I had leaks into the car from the roof which are now sealed.
6, My front foglight & indicators are still fogging up on the inside.

I am getting in touch with fiat uk on monday & the dealer too!

If anyone on here know anything that will fix these please let me know

Thanks

Paul

 

[Stu DemonD]

Hi Paul,

All items sorted today to my total satisfaction!

1 - New rear cluster replaced, plus extra stuff put around hole to stop any more leaking;

2 - Rear socket now fitted! Wires were just underneath blanking plate, so took about 2 mins to fix;

3 - Version 5.4 installed using a Fiat disk and my instructions. The full-screen map is awesome. Make the previous version look rubbish;

4 - Plus I checked out Diag2000; the dealer plugs in this touchscreen laptop into a plug under the dash. Video inputs now activated, and fully working with my digital camera. Not yet tried it with DVD/camcorder. Also, inputs do not cut off over a certain speed. I am well chuffed!

Did you know how to eject that darned SIM - using a biro, there is a little button just above the card. Press this in, and SIM holder ejects.

Condensation not yet sorted; they only have a fax which shows this contraption they have been told to use. Dealer not yet convinced!

Overall, a good result.

Stuart

 

[poggy]

Hi,

Good result, the voice on navigation is much better. The rear socket wasn't a spec change as our dealer had a newly delivered demo car which had them in. I think they ran out or it was a mistake.

Were there any other options to play with on the Diag 2000.

Poggy

 

[Stu DemonD]

Hi again,

Diag2000 seemed very comprehensive. I looked at the 8 options as mentioned on the Eurovan site to activate Video - mainly settings like km/miles / temp / outside temp on / video 1 on / video 2 on / speed activation etc.

Seemed that the technician can check most things - very good diagnostic system. The options were endless, but didn't check everything out coz everything on my car seemed switched on already!

One thing with 5.4 update - we followed Eurovan instructions to the letter, but at the end disk did not automatically eject. We waited ages, checked all menus working, version details, etc, and then ejected it ourselves. Seemed to work fine!

Voice navigation is indeed better - even though the old voice comes into place on some road names [taken from NavTech disk??] Presume this will eventually get sorted [5.4.1?]

Stuart

 

[poggy]

Hi,

Sadly the road names won't get better as this is a computer generated synthesis based on the formation of the word. It would take up way too much data to have all the road names recorded onto the CD correctly. The instruction voice is a normal recorded voice. Annoying but they forgot to sample "at the end of the road" as this is still the old computer voice.

As your RT3 works OK, I expect you will have no problem as a result of the CD not ejecting. I bet you were almost as nervous as the technician, imagine if you had done it at home.

Poggy

 

[Stu DemonD]

Hi,

It was the technician's first update as well! We made sure 100% that all the menus, version numbers were right first. Then looked at each other, shrugged shoulders and pressed eject....

At least if it had gone wrong, warranty not an issue!

I too noticed about 'at the end of the road' - it is like having two people doing a double act all the time.

Now also tried ports with camcorder. Excellent, full stereo sound and also widescreen [I always record in widescreen mode]. Still untried at speed though. I am tempted to source a small camera and install it under the front grille or rear window. Now that would be fun.

Stuart

 

[John_K]

Keggers - how's the Espace (is it the new model or the previous one?)?

I was a fan of the previous one, but despite all the gimicks in the new one, I stopped being a fan because of the styling (and that's how I came to be here).....

 

[keggers]

New model John, 600 miles on the clock from Avis. It's the basic model but nice to drive. The lack of sunroofs, an additional seat (7 instead of the 6 in my Ulysse) and the darker interior do make it feel more cramped than the Ulysse, not being a Grande I think it is also slightly shorter.

Compared to the Ulysse it is fairly basic, I have to turn on the lights and wipers!! However I suppose it's less to go wrong. Build quality seems pretty good, everything fits well and feels solid.

Unlike yourself I do like the styling (my wife drives a Megane so we're used to it) especially the higher spec models which have rails, alloys etc.

Cost put me off buying one, an Espace with a similar spec to my Ulysse would have blown my budget.

Keggers

 

[Lou]

When I was looking for a new car I had a look at the new Espace. I looked at one that had the triple sunroof etc. fitted and had a light coloured interior and it still felt very cramped. This was also a normal Espace but according to the sales person the extra length on the Grande is in the boot area only so the interior size allocated to the passengers does not change.

Lou

 

[Stu DemonD]

Hi,

Lets join this Espace debate. I too looked at buying one, but having spec'd one up on the Renault site [a Grande version and the normal], the level of options just needed to match the Ulysse just totally blew my budget as well. We didn't even go for a test drive just in case our hearts took over!!!

Interesting point from Lou about interior size; never realised that.

Still think I made the right choice! Didn't want to go down Voyager road as well, mainly cos of cost/safety/overall versatility. Galaxy variant ok, and was tempted by Seat marque. But too dated!!!

Stuart

 

[John_K]

So styling aside, sounds like we're all 'singing from the same hymn sheet' on this. New Espace is smaller internally than the old one (and the Ulysse), and the Grande does just give extra boot space, and it's EXPENSIVE!

 

[poggy]

Hi,

Another day of pain with the Ulysse, random bleeping this morning and this afternoon. Not good when you're on the way to London to give a presentation.

Auto gearbox is really lumpy now and when you stop it lurches into 1st gear.

Off to the dealer on the way home to see if the bits have arrived.

Poggy