Cinch - Fault with Fiat 500 where do I stand?

IndiItBelongsInAMuseum

Hi All! First time poster. 

My wife and I brought a car from Cinch and until now it’s been fine. 

It’s developed a fault with the instrument panel display cluster and will probably cost at least £1000 to fix. 

It’s pretty vital as it displays the fuel levels. 

The service center gave us two options they can repair it or replace it in full. The cost difference makes us learn more towards full replacement. 

The car really isn’t that old and it makes me suspicious that the one own sold it on so quickly. 

I guess if we could prove it was a pre existing fault with car we’d be in a better position?

Does anyone have any advice on if it’s even worth starting a discussion with Cinch?

Thank you all for any advice you may have

bluelad1927

How long have you had the car  how old is it, and what was the warranty.

If 'until now it's been fine'  how do you think that it was pre existing 

IndiItBelongsInAMuseum

The car is less than 5 years old and we’ve had it 18 months. Cinch offer a 90 day warranty 

mr_stripey

after 18 months, it's going to be on you. No chance of any comeback on Cinch

happyc84

Is the price from a Fiat approved dealer?, you might get a longer warranty but the downside it'll cost you more up-front.

photome

IndiItBelongsInAMuseum said:

The car is less than 5 years old and we’ve had it 18 months. Cinch offer a 90 day warranty 

Why do you think it is pre existing if you have it 18 months without any issue?

LightFlare

photome said:

IndiItBelongsInAMuseum said:

The car is less than 5 years old and we’ve had it 18 months. Cinch offer a 90 day warranty 

Why do you think it is pre existing if you have it 18 months without any issue?

Indeed - how old was the car ( or how long ago did the fault first appear)

In reality, most Italian cars have electrical issues way before 5 years old.

I can’t see you getting anywhere with this apprt from paying for the repair yourself

Goudy

I don't think you'll get much joy from Cinch after 18 months, but there is good news.
If it is the cluster at fault, it won't cost £1000's.
A couple of hundred at most to repair it.

These, like a lot of cars do have some cluster problems. 
I think some of the components in there aren't great quality so a repair is often a better option as most will use better quality parts.
The various 500's have there fair share of cluster problems.

There are plenty of cluster repair businesses, there might even be one local to you which might save you sending it away.

It's a little fiddly to remove the cluster, but it's not difficult.
A couple of trim screws (phillips head) and a couple of screws holding the cluster in (allen headed).
A magnet or magnetic tools will help massively.

There are guides on on Youtube to help but if you need anymore help, head over to here The FIAT Forum - For talk on all things FIAT

IndiItBelongsInAMuseum

Goudy said:

I don't think you'll get much joy from Cinch after 18 months, but there is good news.
If it is the cluster at fault, it won't cost £1000's.
A couple of hundred at most to repair it.

These, like a lot of cars do have some cluster problems. 
I think some of the components in there aren't great quality so a repair is often a better option as most will use better quality parts.
The various 500's have there fair share of cluster problems.

There are plenty of cluster repair businesses, there might even be one local to you which might save you sending it away.

It's a little fiddly to remove the cluster, but it's not difficult.
A couple of trim screws (phillips head) and a couple of screws holding the cluster in (allen headed).
A magnet or magnetic tools will help massively.

There are guides on on Youtube to help but if you need anymore help, head over to here

Thank you for this lovely reply I’m definitely going to look into this.