Problems with Horn - 3rd Year Warranty

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Problems with Horn - 3rd Year Warranty

bobfossil

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Hello all,

I've taken my Grande Punto in to have the horn looked at as its still under warranty. Initially a faulty clock spring was to blame (this was replaced free under warranty) but still the horn does not work. The garage are insisting on charging me around £200 for 2 hours "diagnostic fault finding work" as they then claimed the fault was caused by my fusebox apparently being "submerged in water" so they've got me a new fusebox on order, again under warranty.

Now im no expert, but surely...

A - If my fusebox was "submerged in water" then it would have affected something else to-do with the electronics, lights, stereo etc?

B - If the fusebox was indeed faulty is it right I can be left out off pocket to the tune off £200 for something that was faulty whilst still under warranty?

Is it worth me speaking to Fiat UK regarding this as I am slightly wary of what else I may get charged for?

Cheers
 
Hello all,

Is it worth me speaking to Fiat UK regarding this as I am slightly wary of what else I may get charged for?

Cheers
YES! The retail motor trade, and you can say it's partly our fault as customers, had become focussed on replacing anything it can and then charging us for the privilege. What you say seems to defy logic. If the fuse box was submerged in water, why didn't they diagnose that in the first place? Also what the hell has a clock spring got to do with the horn? In fact, what the hell is a clock spring in the first place?

If they mis-diagnosed the fault initially then it must be up to them to diagnose it correctly now. An alternative would be to take the car to a different dealer.

As an example; I took my Panda MJ to a main dealer for its service and MOT last year despite being 4 years old and out of warranty, simply because they quoted me a really good price.

It passed, but they informed me it had two faults that would need fixing soon. The first was that it needed new front suspension bushes and that would cost around £100. The other fault was an oil leak that would need a new oil pump which would cost £230.

The local mechanic across the way from where I live actually diagnosed anti roll bar drop links and told me to go to a local motor factors and buy a couple. They cost me £18 each and were fitted over the road for £20.

More importantly, when we were looking at a 2nd hand Alfa 156 to replace the Stilo that Mrs. Beard wrote off, we went to an independant Alfa specialist in Sandbach who had been recommended. While there I asked him to look at the oil leak which, 10 months after first being diagnosed had started to drip onto the ground. He took 5 minutes to find it: A leaking gasket on the oil filter. It seems that unlike most oil filters, the one on the MJ doesn't have a typical O-ring, because it isn't fitted horizontally but a gasket instead. He said he would sort it when I brought it in for a service. I did, and he did. The point of all this rambling is that the leak was caused by a kinked gasket which would have been changed at the last service, presumably the garage that carried out the service. Unless, it happened at the 3rd year service and the filter just wasn't changed last year.

Good luck.
 
Hello all,

I've taken my Grande Punto in to have the horn looked at as its still under warranty. Initially a faulty clock spring was to blame (this was replaced free under warranty) but still the horn does not work. The garage are insisting on charging me around £200 for 2 hours "diagnostic fault finding work" as they then claimed the fault was caused by my fusebox apparently being "submerged in water" so they've got me a new fusebox on order, again under warranty.

Now im no expert, but surely...

A - If my fusebox was "submerged in water" then it would have affected something else to-do with the electronics, lights, stereo etc?

B - If the fusebox was indeed faulty is it right I can be left out off pocket to the tune off £200 for something that was faulty whilst still under warranty?

Is it worth me speaking to Fiat UK regarding this as I am slightly wary of what else I may get charged for?

Cheers

There is a lot wrong there. For example if the fusebox gets submerged in water then the horn will have water in it as well. Test the horn yourself by puting the wires on a battery. Then you can prove that they are lying.
Unfortunately the Franchising of Car companies is now killing it especially considering Fiat UK and Fiat dont seem to give a damn about the actions of those Franchised dealers.
Fiat were doing well but now cracks in their process are starting to show through.
 
Well the car is going back in at the end of this week. So I've got my fingers crossed nothing else is faulty and no more diagnostic work needs doing on it.
 
2 hours to diagnose a horn fault....FFS! Ask to speak to the DET and no one else, they are ytaking the fuc*ing phish. Worse one I had was a alfa 147 horn wire snapped behind heater box...still only took hour and half to diagnose and fix and that included 3 cig breaks, 2 coffees, 6 doughnuts and a wa*k (not at sametime as eating doughnuts....thats just wrong!)
 
In fact, what the hell is a clock spring in the first place?

I think it's a spiral wire spring (like the spring in a clock) that sits in the centre of the steering wheel to maintain the electrical connection with the bit in the steering wheel that you push to make the horn work (this winds/unwinds as you turn the wheel). Seems an odd thing to have fail, though - maybe they just tried replacing it to see if it would fix the original problem.

As for the submerged in water bit - er, you haven't by any chance had a pressure washer anywhere near the fusebox?
 
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I get the car washed every few weeks as normal. Sponge/hose etc. The odd time I may have used the power washer but not for prolonged periods or even delibrately pointing the nozzle towards the gap between the wind screen and bonnet. The faulty fusebox seemed a bit of a cop out to me aswell. The most annoying part was about or so after I had the work done I checked the fusebox myself and it was not closed/seated properly (If you have ever taken the lid off your own fuse box you'll know it should in theory clip on the right side while the left side has like a lip to have to hook on between the fusebox itself and the lid, bit confusing I know but if you try it yourself you'll know exactly what I mean)

I've decided to complain directly to Fiat UK themselves, I'll let you all know how I get on.
 
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