- Joined
- Oct 12, 2003
- Messages
- 16
- Points
- 8
Hi
I am furious and utterly heartbroken.
My Fiat dealer want to charge me an estimated £1230 to replace my Heater Matrix, in addition to approx £350 to dry the inside of the car which is soaking wet, apparently as a result of the faulty Heater Matrix. Oh, and that's labour only... parts is extra.
The car (Stilo, 1.8 Dynamic, 3 Door) is between 2 and 3 years old and has less than 22000 miles on the clock. The dealer tells me that none of the work is covered under the 3rd year dealer warranty.
They have already begun the work to dry the inside of the car, but I have asked them to suspend work on the Heater Matrix whilst I do some more research.
Apparently, the problem with the Heater Matrix is that something (I don't know what) is jammed inside it, and they can't get it out. They have offered a "free workaround" that would save me the £1230 cost of replacing the Heater Matrix, which is to let them drill a hole in the Heater Matrix to try and remove the offending item. However, this is not guranteed to work, and since I don't have a clue what a Heater Matrix is, I don't know if it's a good idea to drill a hole in one.
If anyone can answer the following questions for me, I'd be eternally grateful:
1) What is a Heater Matrix?
2) Given the circumstances, is it a good idea to drill a hole in the Heater Matrix?
3) Isn't this fault covered under the 3rd year dealer warranty?
4) What else can I do to reduce the cost?
A little bit of background: The problem began last week after I picked up the car from Airport valet parking, when I noticed that the mat & carpet in the driver's side footwell of my Stilo was soaking wet. After a little experimentation, I concluded that water was being deposited inside the car only whenever the aircon was switched on. I took the car to my local Fiat dealer, who initially concluded that (as I expected) a pipe had disconnected itself from the aircon unit. Later that day, they called me to explain that whilst the mechanic was drying the car, they identified that actually the fault was with the Heater Matrix, which would take 14 hours to replace (because it is behind the dashboard) at £75/hour plus parts plus VAT. I am nowhere near technical enough to attempt the job myself.
The warranty booklet, which I assume explains what is (and is not) covered by the 3rd year dealer warranty, is locked inside the glovebox of my car, which is in the garage. D'oh!
I know that life isn't supposed to be fair, especially in the world of Fiat, but when a repair bill on a less-than-3 year old car equals one third of the value of the car itself, that's just taking the p*ss. This is the latest in a long line of random faults that the car has developed over the past two years, but the first not to be covered by Warranty.
My Stilo is a lovely car when it works.
Many thanks in advance for any help or advice.
Superleccy
UK
I am furious and utterly heartbroken.
My Fiat dealer want to charge me an estimated £1230 to replace my Heater Matrix, in addition to approx £350 to dry the inside of the car which is soaking wet, apparently as a result of the faulty Heater Matrix. Oh, and that's labour only... parts is extra.
The car (Stilo, 1.8 Dynamic, 3 Door) is between 2 and 3 years old and has less than 22000 miles on the clock. The dealer tells me that none of the work is covered under the 3rd year dealer warranty.
They have already begun the work to dry the inside of the car, but I have asked them to suspend work on the Heater Matrix whilst I do some more research.
Apparently, the problem with the Heater Matrix is that something (I don't know what) is jammed inside it, and they can't get it out. They have offered a "free workaround" that would save me the £1230 cost of replacing the Heater Matrix, which is to let them drill a hole in the Heater Matrix to try and remove the offending item. However, this is not guranteed to work, and since I don't have a clue what a Heater Matrix is, I don't know if it's a good idea to drill a hole in one.
If anyone can answer the following questions for me, I'd be eternally grateful:
1) What is a Heater Matrix?
2) Given the circumstances, is it a good idea to drill a hole in the Heater Matrix?
3) Isn't this fault covered under the 3rd year dealer warranty?
4) What else can I do to reduce the cost?
A little bit of background: The problem began last week after I picked up the car from Airport valet parking, when I noticed that the mat & carpet in the driver's side footwell of my Stilo was soaking wet. After a little experimentation, I concluded that water was being deposited inside the car only whenever the aircon was switched on. I took the car to my local Fiat dealer, who initially concluded that (as I expected) a pipe had disconnected itself from the aircon unit. Later that day, they called me to explain that whilst the mechanic was drying the car, they identified that actually the fault was with the Heater Matrix, which would take 14 hours to replace (because it is behind the dashboard) at £75/hour plus parts plus VAT. I am nowhere near technical enough to attempt the job myself.
The warranty booklet, which I assume explains what is (and is not) covered by the 3rd year dealer warranty, is locked inside the glovebox of my car, which is in the garage. D'oh!
I know that life isn't supposed to be fair, especially in the world of Fiat, but when a repair bill on a less-than-3 year old car equals one third of the value of the car itself, that's just taking the p*ss. This is the latest in a long line of random faults that the car has developed over the past two years, but the first not to be covered by Warranty.
My Stilo is a lovely car when it works.
Many thanks in advance for any help or advice.
Superleccy
UK