Hi Everyone 
I purchased a semi-automatic 2006 Fiat Panda Eleganza 4 weeks ago. Spent the first week being checked by my usual mechanic and a mechanic who tried fixing it during a weekend call out, before the car spent the last 3 weeks in a diagnostic garage.
It had broken down on my father, the mechanic and myself at least three times within the two days I actually had it at home.
So, the original issue I had was it slipping out of Auto mode and getting stuck in 1st gear, or 2nd gear, or Neutral. Managed to start it by pushing it, but it seemed that when the car got stuck in 1st or 2nd gear, it refused to start because it wasn't in Neutral.
All three mechanics had run the car through a diagnostic machine, cleared the faults, and the car continued with the same fault within half an hour.
The car is mechanically sound and only has 70k miles on the clock, I'm told I did everything correctly when it came to checking its MOT history, under the bonnet, checked for rust spots, etc. The car is otherwise mechanically sound.
Initially, the diagnostic garage believed I may have to change the entire gearbox - turns out there's absolutely no problem with the clutch and it's all working.
They found an oil leak directly above or onto the gear changing mechanism, I'm sure they said they'd patched it up but from what they said today they didn't - apparently, replacing the component is not worth the cost, even though they've offered not to charge any labour fees on top of charging for parts.
They managed to source a good quality second-hand selector, which only took them an hour to fit. They said they took the car on numerous test drives, including hills, and found it ran perfectly.
I was driving it home from the garage and the car was a dream to drive, when all of a sudden, at the top of a steep hill, it slipped into Neutral, out of Auto mode, and I was stranded. After a minute or so I managed to get it moving but it refused to work in Auto mode so I had to drive it manually home - at one point it got stuck in 3rd gear and I thought it was going to break down, though luckily it changed down as I was driving over a speed bump.
I've just driven it again, and whilst the gear changes are slightly more clunky than they were earlier, it was in Auto mode the entire five minutes (I'm taking my car back to the garage on Monday) - the garage advised not to drive it too far from home, so as not to get stranded in case it starts getting up to it's old tricks and jamming in 1st again.
Have any of you experienced anything like this?
The diagnostic garage that had the car for the last 3 weeks said they've never encountered this issue with the Fiat version of this dualogic semi-auto gearbox before. However, they've found with French cars that have similar systems, they're relatively straightforward to fix - whilst the Audi version costs extortionate amounts to mend.
I would really appreciate hearing any positive stories about similar - if not the same - issues please! I'm not a confident driver and need an automatic due to a hand injury (I find autos easier to drive when my hand is painful), so having the car slip out of Auto mode and get stuck in gears, as well as leaving me stranded, isn't my idea of fun... I have fallen in love with the car though. I used to help my Dad fix our old Fiat Panda 4x4 when I was very young; I am hoping this new car will end up being reliable so I can cherish it for at least a couple of years.
Any responses would be gratefully appreciated
Many thanks!
I purchased a semi-automatic 2006 Fiat Panda Eleganza 4 weeks ago. Spent the first week being checked by my usual mechanic and a mechanic who tried fixing it during a weekend call out, before the car spent the last 3 weeks in a diagnostic garage.
It had broken down on my father, the mechanic and myself at least three times within the two days I actually had it at home.
So, the original issue I had was it slipping out of Auto mode and getting stuck in 1st gear, or 2nd gear, or Neutral. Managed to start it by pushing it, but it seemed that when the car got stuck in 1st or 2nd gear, it refused to start because it wasn't in Neutral.
All three mechanics had run the car through a diagnostic machine, cleared the faults, and the car continued with the same fault within half an hour.
The car is mechanically sound and only has 70k miles on the clock, I'm told I did everything correctly when it came to checking its MOT history, under the bonnet, checked for rust spots, etc. The car is otherwise mechanically sound.
Initially, the diagnostic garage believed I may have to change the entire gearbox - turns out there's absolutely no problem with the clutch and it's all working.
They found an oil leak directly above or onto the gear changing mechanism, I'm sure they said they'd patched it up but from what they said today they didn't - apparently, replacing the component is not worth the cost, even though they've offered not to charge any labour fees on top of charging for parts.
They managed to source a good quality second-hand selector, which only took them an hour to fit. They said they took the car on numerous test drives, including hills, and found it ran perfectly.
I was driving it home from the garage and the car was a dream to drive, when all of a sudden, at the top of a steep hill, it slipped into Neutral, out of Auto mode, and I was stranded. After a minute or so I managed to get it moving but it refused to work in Auto mode so I had to drive it manually home - at one point it got stuck in 3rd gear and I thought it was going to break down, though luckily it changed down as I was driving over a speed bump.
I've just driven it again, and whilst the gear changes are slightly more clunky than they were earlier, it was in Auto mode the entire five minutes (I'm taking my car back to the garage on Monday) - the garage advised not to drive it too far from home, so as not to get stranded in case it starts getting up to it's old tricks and jamming in 1st again.
Have any of you experienced anything like this?
The diagnostic garage that had the car for the last 3 weeks said they've never encountered this issue with the Fiat version of this dualogic semi-auto gearbox before. However, they've found with French cars that have similar systems, they're relatively straightforward to fix - whilst the Audi version costs extortionate amounts to mend.
I would really appreciate hearing any positive stories about similar - if not the same - issues please! I'm not a confident driver and need an automatic due to a hand injury (I find autos easier to drive when my hand is painful), so having the car slip out of Auto mode and get stuck in gears, as well as leaving me stranded, isn't my idea of fun... I have fallen in love with the car though. I used to help my Dad fix our old Fiat Panda 4x4 when I was very young; I am hoping this new car will end up being reliable so I can cherish it for at least a couple of years.
Any responses would be gratefully appreciated
Many thanks!