New 2nd hand car broken down....

Rew

I bought a car (Fiat Punto, 3dr, 31K miles, 00) from a garage on the 18 th of Aug. They gave me a 12 mth full warranty. Had the car back with them this morning to do a few small jobs (very minor stuff like fixing a lose wing mirror etc.). When I droped it in I told them that iv been getting an intermitent engine temp light and was reving high when idleing from time to time.

They did the small jobs said they couldn't find a reson for the light or the reving but topped up oil and cleaned somthing (they wernt specfic TBH).

I drove the car from Coolock to Dalky this evening. When I got to Dun Laoaighire (sp?) we got a constant engin temp warning (previously it went out after a few seconds but this time stayed on). We couldn't pull in straigt away as there was no where so we went a bit further (5 mins) and pulled in. Car stalled when we pulled in and wouldnt start again. We left it for 10 mins then it started agin. We were close enough to where we were going so we carried on. It came on agin so we pulled in and turned off the engine. 10 more mins and then carried on. 50 meters up the road it stlled at a junction and we started it agin to get out of the road. At this stge it was sputtering and jumping and stalling. We started it for the last time and got horible noises from the engin. At this stage we had it pulled off the road and out of the way of any trafic or entrances so its still there (with absoulty nothing in it in case someone is planing to flease it after reading this!).

I live and work in Waterford but both my self and my GF are from dub so we were up for the weekend. We have put 1k on the clock since we got it and it came up from Waterford yesterday no probs.

I plan to go back to tha garrage tomorrow and shout but what are my rights. I know I have a warrenty and that it was in with them less the 12 hours ago remember can I demand my money back (we have had it a month and a week)? I was thinking of insisting on a temp car and give them a week to get me a wrriten report on whats up with it then deciding if I want my money back.

Any help would be appricated.

Nuttzz

"I know I have a warrenty and that it was in with them less the 12 hours ago remember can I demand my money back "

in a word, NO

x in the city

your a worse fool botherin with a fiat.

why couldnt u get a nice reliable 1.4 litre honda civic hatch..... not a boy race marque. just a rock solid car

personally, i would never buy a fiat. too bland and dodgey


take the car back to the garage, tell them the engine is screwed and fix it up.

else see the small claims people or somethin.

$lash

its a common problem with the 1.2 8v fiat engine the thermostat goes & its more than likely done in your head gasket

enough fiat bashing I think fiat make great cars & yes I have owned a civic!

Rew

Insurance company laughed at the word honda and fell off the chair at civic and im over 25. Anyway I went back to the car last to move it in case it got towed on us and it started agian no probs. We were staying 30 meters up the road to I put it outside the house.

Popped the bonnet and had a good look with a torch. There was coolent (i reckon) leaked all over the place. Looks like they cleaned out one oh the rubber hoses and didnt put it back right. Not sure how much damea has been done though. Have digital pics but no way to get em off the camera where I am now.

The garage arnaged for it to be towed back to them and have aranged a rental car BUT im not sure the rental company will deal with me on a 2nd provisional. They said they would sort it but I dont know how it will play out.

So looks loike dodgy workmanship from the garage not dodgy Fiat....

John R

Rew wrote:

Popped the bonnet and had a good look with a torch. There was coolent (i reckon) leaked all over the place. Looks like they cleaned out one oh the rubber hoses and didnt put it back right. Not sure how much damea has been done though. Have digital pics but no way to get em off the camera where I am now.

So looks loike dodgy workmanship from the garage not dodgy Fiat....

No. Sounds like a dodgy fiat. Head gasket has most likely gone.

pedro ferio-vti

As above, the head gasket is gone and its an unbelievably common problem with that poxy punto. For gods sake don't drive the car while its in this state or you'll do more damage to it. As it stands, when the car was over heating you drove it more than you should've and now the head will probably be warped/cracked as well which will require more work to be done to get the car going properly again.

I'm suprised watchdog or something never done anything about the head gasket problem on the puntos. They done a report on the Rover 1400 16v engines head gasket problems before but not on a fiat before.........

Rew

I dont know enough about cars to say its not the head gasket. Iv attached a pic looking down past the coolent container (have others form diferant angles). Had a look in the coolent bottle and there was dribble in the end. I checked the coolent (because of the intermittent engine temp light) before I came up from Waterford the day before and it was full.

Ill be looking for written reports on what was done the morning before it broke down and whats up now. The garage has rented me a car and their used car road side assistance package covered getting it towed back to them.

Will have to wait and see if its dodgy Fiat or dodgy garrage...

Rew

Well it turns out to be a faulty thermostat and the head gasket is intact. Looks like the job will be done tomorrow.

Just to top it all off the guy in the service dept in the garage who i talked to today knew nothing about them hireing me a car and started tellin me that it would probably be €30 a day despite the fact that they offered without being asked (and put them selfs down as the billing contact on the forms). Will have to see how it pans out.

K2

on the subject of fiat bashing here's to opposite examples:
my dad has a 00 fiat from new and has never had a days problem with it.

my next door neighbour has a 01 punto, from new (average mileage, never crashed), and has had nothing but problems. This was not an expensive situation to live with when the car was under warrenty but this has expired and so has the car. It is with Fiat in Dublin (mayo reg car) having €1800 spent of sorting the electrics. She hopes to get it back after being with them for two months!!!! Once it is driveable it will be traded in and she will never look at another fiat again.

Obviously there are serious quality control issues with this car manufacturer, so personally I would not have one if it was given to me, on the basis that at some stage it will cost money to have fixed.

egan007

Indeed - It's just a quality control problem

I have had two fiat bravos - and they are anything bout bland as x in the city suggested the 1.4 and 1.2 push put far more prower and are much higher torqued than anything equivalent, i have drove a civic,clio,206,fiesta, and a rover 200 and only the rover comes close preformance wise.

The first i bought privately - a risk i took and ended up replacing the clutch.
The second, i have never so much as had a rattle it's been very solid and a joy to drive. Plus like the 206 it's not every second car on the road.

Insurance companies love them

Rew

Garage has come through for me anyway. Its all fixed they rental car cost is being covered by them and they are doing a couple of small jobs that are outstanding since it was in with them on Friday. It will get a good run going up and down to Waterford a few times in the next few weeks as well. I aslo still have 11 monhts warrenty left.

BrianD3

My opinion on FIATs is that they are not nearly as bad as people say. OK, reliability may not be up to jap standards but then again neither is reliability of french/british/american/german cars. Yes you read right - GERMAN cars! Surveys show that modern VWs are not nearly as reliable as people tend to think.

Also, with FIAT you get very good value both new and secondhand. A FIAT Stilo is generally a better equipped car than the equivalent priced Golf or Corolla. Nicer to look at too plus it's a bit different and has a bit of character. There may be a tradeoff in terms of reliability but after all it's a case of pay your money, take your choice.

The final thing about FIAT is that due to the good value I believe that many FIAT owners are basically tight bastards who go for FIATS because they're cheap and then neglect servicing and maintenance (more so than owners of more expensive cars) resulting in reliability problems.

BrianD3

Interceptor

I'm with BrianD3 on this - the 1242 Punto engine is desperate for blowing head gaskets (find one in a breakers yard, I dare you). Apart from that, modern Fiats are as good as anything out there. Has anyone seen a rusty Fiat made since 1989? thought not.

The myth of Japanese build quality being superior, or German engineering beating all others has to be dispelled since most European Nissans (and Hondas) are built in the UK and lots of VW's are built in Poland. If you bought a small Ford recently it was probably built in Portugal. BMW went to Mexico for the engine for the new Mini and build the X5 in North Carolina, neither area being famous for its 'German engineering'

Rew - I hope you enjoy lots of trouble-free motoring in your Punto and PM me when you want to sell it for parts in five years time!!!

'c

unkel

Sound post BrianD3

Taking your argument a bit further and thinking about Alfa's (=FIAT). The best recent car review I've read was between a BMW 318 Ci and an Alfa GT (both 2.0 liter 4 Cylinder 16v petrol engines). The result was close, very close, with no definite winner. The Alfa was not as cheap as you'd expect, about the same price as the BMW, but equipment levels were way higher

interceptor wrote:

most European Nissans (and Hondas) are built in the UK

Had I known about this, I would not have bought my Nissan Primera (I know now it was built in Sunderland) years ago. Reliability? My ar$e :rolleyes:

Anyway, reliability is not the be all and end all. Was driving a new model Toyota Corolla for a few weeks and I have no doubt that, if serviced annually, that car will not break down once in 15 years. Having said that, it was the most boring car I have ever driven. I'll take an early 80's Renault 5 or a mid 90's Fiat Punto or a late 80's Peugeot 205 (all with the smallest petrol engines) for driving pleasure any time compared with that Toyota...

mike65

If a car grabs you here you'll put up with any amount of hair-tearing flakey build frustation!

Mike.