Technical Weird clutch & brake pedal issue?

[ahmett]

Ok, update on this:

Called Perry's (Dealer I got it from in Portsmouth) and eventually got put through to an engineer who wasn't quite sure but told me NOT to drive it and get it recovered to them. (strangely enough when I got in it this morning the sticking/rubbing

Turns out I don't have breakdown cover on my policy (I totally thought I did, you live and learn though) so it has cost me 100 squids to get it from home to garage.
I've now been told that if its a clutch problem (and the guy who recovered it thought it was??) it isn't covered by warranty and is going to be lots of £ basically.

Although I've always had good service and technical help from this dealer I'm really worried that due to the fact it's actually part of the clutch mech they will say, even if it is just that bit of brake pedal, that its considered a clutch repair and I'm going to be stung for lots of shiny coins.
Helpfully the sales guy who I got it from initially was there and came out to see me (I was looking at the 500X, couldn't help it) and he said if the engineer gave me suspect news to call Fiat Care and have them take a look into it for me, as it may help. Turns out if it was under a year old they would have recovered it for me as well.
Fingers crossed it's either A/nothing or B/something they can fix under warranty.

yeah here its 2 years warranty and recovery, other than that you are on your own. my insurance has breakdown cover included. i would never drive my car without breakdown cover = )

i think i have used breakdown cover about 6 times.

 

[DBunX]

yeah here its 2 years warranty and recovery, other than that you are on your own. my insurance has breakdown cover included. i would never drive my car without breakdown cover = )

i think i have used breakdown cover about 6 times.

Totally agree, and I'm going to have cover in place by the end of today. One of the reasons for getting a new car was the confidence of the warranty etc. I was in central London the week before, thank goodness this didn't happen then!

 

[DBunX]

Feelings like I'm spamming the board today... new update:

Just had a call from the Master Tech, and he can't find any issues with it at all after an hours investigation. He suspects possible air in the clutch component may be a factor so is going to bleed that out and then let the guys take it for a bit of a drive to see what they think.

I asked about the brake thing which got me going in the first place and he was aware of that part and said it's fine and not an issue, and I can talk to him about it some more later when I pop in, so it looks like I'm going to be getting it back today hopefully par any further things found on the test drive.

 

[zanes]

I've now been told that if its a clutch problem (and the guy who recovered it thought it was??) it isn't covered by warranty and is going to be lots of £ basically.

If that's true that's a seriously shocking warranty provision.

Not covering wear and tear/abuse of the clutch for friction surfaces is one thing, but a blanket denial?

 

[frupi]

So here's the thing, a boot micro switch, a door handle, an electric steering motor, all of which failed in the third year on our old POP, were all replaced under warranty and the clutch is apparently not covered if that fails in year two? I'd be very suspicious of that myself and something I'd be pressing the dealership on it. Either that, or I'd be off to another Fiat dealership for a second opinion.

As for not having breakdown insurance, yep, harsh lesson learnt there. As a suggestion, if you have a bank that offers a packaged account that includes breakdown cover, mobile 'phone cover and holiday insurance, example Nationwide Flex Plus, http://www.nationwide.co.uk/products/current-accounts/flexplus/features-and-benefits For the £10 a month cost, it can be a great deal. I've had one of these accounts for over 12 months now and the travel insurance aspect alone saves me and the wife a tidy sum on our world wide jaunts. Plus, both our cars are covered on the breakdown insurance and we both have mobile 'phones so they're insured too. Very happy with it.

 

[DBunX]

When I spoke with the tech he said that the clutch is covered, so I suspect what actually happened was the lady with the fake tan I described the issue to this morning has been previously advised that if you drive like a fool and burn your clutch out (and they know its bad driving that is the cause) then its not covered, but she hears 'clutch' and so does her little talk blanket bombing the whole thing and putting the fear of God into noobs like me!

Tech guy said if its a genuine failure under warranty there is no charge as expected. I'd like to know what clutch issues warrant non-cover though.

 

[ahmett]

When I spoke with the tech he said that the clutch is covered, so I suspect what actually happened was the lady with the fake tan I described the issue to this morning has been previously advised that if you drive like a fool and burn your clutch out (and they know its bad driving that is the cause) then its not covered, but she hears 'clutch' and so does her little talk blanket bombing the whole thing and putting the fear of God into noobs like me!

Tech guy said if its a genuine failure under warranty there is no charge as expected. I'd like to know what clutch issues warrant non-cover though.

well i guess if your clutch completely falls apart it is under warranty? the techs must be able to tell a worn out clutch from burnouts, although i am not sure its possible to do burnouts on the fiat = )

 

[snes]

But if you didn't have a duologic box, Ahmett, I bet you would have put that statement to the test!

 

[ahmett]

But if you didn't have a duologic box, Ahmett, I bet you would have put that statement to the test!

haha my clutch was fine when it was replaced at 90,000 km to see if that cured the dualogic woes = ) it didn't by the way but that's another story.

 

[zanes]

When I spoke with the tech he said that the clutch is covered, so I suspect what actually happened was the lady with the fake tan I described the issue to this morning has been previously advised that if you drive like a fool and burn your clutch out (and they know its bad driving that is the cause) then its not covered, but she hears 'clutch' and so does her little talk blanket bombing the whole thing and putting the fear of God into noobs like me!

Tech guy said if its a genuine failure under warranty there is no charge as expected. I'd like to know what clutch issues warrant non-cover though.

That makes more sense, and what I was expecting (but it is a FIAT).

I'd think the main one they wouldn't warrant would be failure of the friction surfaces through overheating (which leaves a particular sort of mark on the friction plates) without some sort of causal mechanical issue (pressure plate failure, hydraulic leak) being present.

Well, that's what I'd expect for a manufacturer that stands by their products. With FIAT it's anyone's guess.

 

[DBunX]

That makes more sense, and what I was expecting (but it is a FIAT).

I'd think the main one they wouldn't warrant would be failure of the friction surfaces through overheating (which leaves a particular sort of mark on the friction plates) without some sort of causal mechanical issue (pressure plate failure, hydraulic leak) being present.

Well, that's what I'd expect for a manufacturer that stands by their products. With FIAT it's anyone's guess.

I think I'm lucking out with it being Perry's, as they are the main hub for new and used cars and all 'official' repairs and servicing for FIAT, Peugeot and Mazda in the local area. I guess they don't want any bad press at all. They are very nice though to be fair to them, and have always been good with communication (knowledge deficient receptionists non-withstanding) and looking into issues I may have. It's been almost 2 years now, and so far the experience has been good enough to have me go back if I were to want another car from those manufacturers they support.

 

[Canadian1972]

I got the same issue but haven't gotten into it yet!