Fiat 500 - Clutch and Gearbox, advice needed.

clobeau_2

I have a 4 year old Fiat 500 which I have owned from new. It has 24k on the clock and has always been serviced and MOT'ed at the FIAT main dealership from where I purchased it. It passed the service and MOT last month but I was advised it required a new slave cylinder for the clutch. The quote seemed expensive and so I asked if it was OK to drive and they said yes it had passed the MOT but it needed doing. It has barely been driven since.

I took it to another garage for a quote and they have looked ant and driven it and said they can replace the whole clutch (which they would recommend) for less than the fiat quote for the cylinder but they felt far more pressing was the issues with the gearbox. I wasn't aware of any issues with the gearbox but the car has for as long as I can remember made an unusual noise in reverse, sort of tinny and something I have previously asked FIAT about but they said nothing was wrong. It has had at least 2 services and MOT's at the FIAT garage since I noticed the noise if not more.

The new garage have said that the car also needs a new gearbox but have said this isn't normal on such a young, low mileage car and have told me to take it back to FIAT for them to look at again as they feel they should see it and at least contribute towards the work as it will be a lot. Very honest of them and they have made no charge.

I am however conscious that the car is out of warranty an FIAT sounded less than helpful on the phone but have agreed to look at the car in January. I am not a confrontational person and am nervous of the coming conversation. 

Does anyone have any experience of out of warranty claims from car manufacturers at all or any advice?

Thank you






 

legionare64

Fiat will charge you to remove the gearbox to inspect. They will then have to contact warranty department for a decision on any contribution to repair. It is a year out of warranty so would not expect much.

My wife has one year old 4x4 Panda and one element of heated front screen isn't working, also a leak from front door seal causing carpet to be wet and condensation in car. I booked it in and asked them to make sure they had a screen and door seal in stock. I was told it would be £130 for them to look at it and determine if it was under warranty, they also said they wouldn't order anything until warranty dept okayed it. They want car for two days for this and then will want it back if they have to change screen etc,

Wouldn't buy another cheap car brand as aftersales is rubbish. Never had this problem with Landrover over last dozen years, they couldn't be more helpful on service and warranty.

AdrianC

The difference between changing the slave cylinder and the entire clutch is purely parts - you're into the same place, gearbox out, either way. So it's daft not to.

If the clutch has been dragging, rather than fully releasing, then that in itself can damage the gearbox internals.

No manufacturer will commit to any warranty work - let alone an out-of-warranty contribution - on something like clutch issues without doing the work to take it all apart and investigate the cause, simply because it's so prone to the cause being driver error. And if it isn't warranty covered, then you would get the bill.

custardy

clobeau_2 said:

I have a 4 year old Fiat 500 which I have owned from new. It has 24k on the clock and has always been serviced and MOT'ed at the FIAT main dealership from where I purchased it. It passed the service and MOT last month but I was advised it required a new slave cylinder for the clutch. The quote seemed expensive and so I asked if it was OK to drive and they said yes it had passed the MOT but it needed doing. It has barely been driven since.

I took it to another garage for a quote and they have looked ant and driven it and said they can replace the whole clutch (which they would recommend) for less than the fiat quote for the cylinder but they felt far more pressing was the issues with the gearbox. I wasn't aware of any issues with the gearbox but the car has for as long as I can remember made an unusual noise in reverse, sort of tinny and something I have previously asked FIAT about but they said nothing was wrong. It has had at least 2 services and MOT's at the FIAT garage since I noticed the noise if not more.

The new garage have said that the car also needs a new gearbox but have said this isn't normal on such a young, low mileage car and have told me to take it back to FIAT for them to look at again as they feel they should see it and at least contribute towards the work as it will be a lot. Very honest of them and they have made no charge.

I am however conscious that the car is out of warranty an FIAT sounded less than helpful on the phone but have agreed to look at the car in January. I am not a confrontational person and am nervous of the coming conversation. 

Does anyone have any experience of out of warranty claims from car manufacturers at all or any advice?

Thank you






 

When you say Fiat on the phone, I assume you mean the dealer?
They are not Fiat. It would be Fiat UK who decide on contribution based on the report from the dealer.

Gsaver1

Some years ago I was told do not buy a Fiat, was looking at a Tipo, Fiat supposedly stands for Fix It Again Tomorrow.

ontheroad1970

Gsaver1 said:

Some years ago I was told do not buy a Fiat, was looking at a Tipo, Fiat supposedly stands for Fix It Again Tomorrow.

That was a long time ago...especially if it was the first iteration of the Tipo.