11 months to fix my fiat

lostinbristol

Im so frustrated Fiat have had my 06 reg doblo since Oct 09 in their garage trying to find what the fault is ,this is the same recurring fault that every 400 miles the engine management light comes on ,it loses all power the oil evaporates and disappears,I have already spent hundreds of £ssss trying to fix the same problem prior to this from june 09,fiat have finally contacted me today saying their sure they have fixed it ( i have heard this so many times before ) and its going to cost another £794
The car is supposed to be a working taxi and the amount i have already lost on the supposed repairs that didnt fix the problem as well as the insurance tax etc and plating the vehicle for it to be sat in fiat for nearly a year
I have emailed fiat and spoken to head office and still waiting for a response but just want closure .Do i have any grounds to seek legal advice ? is 11 months a reasonable amount of time for a garage to take fixing a car ?

Hammyman

Summat doesn't sound right. Do you actually check the oil and water on a weekly basis?

bigjl

I would point out that oil doesn't really evaporate, it might be leaking or being burnt, as Hammyman said, how often do you check the levels?

Just so you know, the engine fitted to the Vauxhall Zafira is apparently a Fiat lump, and that has a long history of putting the engine management lights on, especially in the use similiar to that which you would use it as a Taxi driver.

Just one of the main reasons why i would never have a Fiat for work, at least not if I had to pay for repairs or if I was to lose money when it is off the road.

flyingscotno1

bigjl wrote: »

Just so you know, the engine fitted to the Vauxhall Zafira is apparently a Fiat lump, and that has a long history of putting the engine management lights on, especially in the use similiar to that which you would use it as a Taxi driver.

Just one of the main reasons why i would never have a Fiat for work, at least not if I had to pay for repairs or if I was to lose money when it is off the road.

More than the Zafira. Indeed look at the new Astra is strikingly similar to the 3 year old Bravo in bodyshape and design. Most modern diesels in Vauxhall's range are Fiats as the GM have a share in the engine unit in Turin from the failed merger. Fiat's engines, esp diesel are usually a strong point in the range.

Is the engine management light on related to DPF bunging up and causing issues? I assume diesel? I see a very large number of Fiat taxis in Glasgow area black cabs so they must be largely fine.

I'd definitely seek further action on this fault after 2 or 3 times of reoccurring.I'd annoy the Fiat head office, the dealer and the papers.

anewman

Fix It Again Tomorrow

cardinalbiggles

anewman wrote: »

Fix It Again Tomorrow

Oh 1970 was on the phone, he wants his joke back...

benham3160

FIAT lol

They're not as bad as they used to be, that said there was a mk1 1.2 petrol Punto in this house that made it to 134,000 miles before getting scrapped! Infact, it was probably one of the more reliable cars we had.

Nothing really wrong with it at the end, yet everything seemed to be broken... Difficult to explain, but that's how it felt!

Regards,
Andy

chunder

flyingscotno1 wrote: »

More than the Zafira. Indeed look at the new Astra is strikingly similar to the 3 year old Bravo in bodyshape and design. Most modern diesels in Vauxhall's range are Fiats as the GM have a share in the engine unit in Turin from the failed merger. Fiat's engines, esp diesel are usually a strong point in the range.

Is the engine management light on related to DPF bunging up and causing issues? I assume diesel? I see a very large number of Fiat taxis in Glasgow area black cabs so they must be largely fine.

I'd definitely seek further action on this fault after 2 or 3 times of reoccurring.I'd annoy the Fiat head office, the dealer and the papers.

....MOST DIESEL ENGINES FITTED IN VAUXHALLS ARE RENAULT......2.2 PETROL LUMPS WERE FIAT, NEARLY ALL MANUFACTURERS ARE IN EACH OTHERS POCKETS.......CLASSIC EXAMPLE IS THE POSH SNOB AND HIS JAGUAR X/S TYPE.......OH LOOK ITS AN OVER PRICED MONDEO AND IF ITS A DIESEL ITS GOT A TRANSIT ENGINE IN THE FRONT:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

anewman

Those transit engines are seriously good though

bigjl

chunder wrote: »

....MOST DIESEL ENGINES FITTED IN VAUXHALLS ARE RENAULT......2.2 PETROL LUMPS WERE FIAT, NEARLY ALL MANUFACTURERS ARE IN EACH OTHERS POCKETS.......CLASSIC EXAMPLE IS THE POSH SNOB AND HIS JAGUAR X/S TYPE.......OH LOOK ITS AN OVER PRICED MONDEO AND IF ITS A DIESEL ITS GOT A TRANSIT ENGINE IN THE FRONT:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Well the diesels are Fiats, unless you mean the Movano and Master which are pretty much the same van.

The diesel lump is the only X-type engine from Ford, but TopGear said for years that the MK3 Mondeo was one of the best family sized cars around, so why not save the development money, after all the Saab 93 was a Cavalier underneath and the Saab 95 was a Vectra.

And the S-type Jag has a 2.7 litre diesel lump from a Land Rover.

As far as the 2.2 (z22se) engine being in Fiats, it may well be, but I am certain that it was made by Vauxhall prior to the GM/Fiat agreement.

benham3160

The only true "Vauxhall" (ie. full GM) diesel unit I can think of is the old "low blow" 17D engine, which is for all intents and purposes an old Family II petrol engine, with a diesel head and a vacuum pump instead of a distributor.

Vauxhalls old 1.7TD Isuzu (1686cc) powerplant in my opinion is the finest "old school" diesel engine ever made in my opinion, even better than PSA's famous old XUD.

I took one to over 300k, and it purred.... So smooth, smother than any modern diesel engine, and over 50mpg out a Cavalier to boot, wasn't that slow either.

Don't make 'em like that anymore.

Regards,
Andy