Vehicle Safety Recall Notification

MagicMarker

Got one of these today from the Fiat Group. Saying something along the line of...

On some early model Fiat Punto vehicles may be the subject of anomalous rust of the underbody brake pipe resulting from the presence of particularly aggressive weather conditions and salt wash. The brake pipes, made by our supplier, could be perforated in time and braking system efficiency could be effected.

Basically it tells me to have it checked out by a local Fiat dealership (free of charge).

Is this not a little strange, seeing as my car is now 13 years old? Is this some sneaky way of tempting people in the door with a free 'inspection', with the intention of generating more business in the long run, either by selling actual cars or maybe this 'inspection' could lead to further work that all of a sudden needs to be done?

I am a cynical fúcker aren't I?

L1011

Entirely legit, and as many of the places authorised to do it on the list you'll have got with it don't even sell Fiat cars, its not even a sales ploy on Fiats part.

-Corkie-

MYOB wrote: »

Entirely legit, and as many of the places authorised to do it on the list you'll have got with it don't even sell Fiat cars, its not even a sales ploy on Fiats part.

Exactly same thing happened to sis in laws polo. She took it in to a vw maindealer as the car (99) wasnt running right. Turns out that there was a load of recalls on it that were never fixed. They kept the car for the day and replaced a lot of bits and pieces foc.

crosstownk

Completely normal and quite common. Do as the letter says and have it checked out. If additional faults are found you can always take it to your regular mechanic to have the work done. Any work that is required as a result of the recall will be FOC at the Fiat dealer.

GTE

Perfectly normal.
Rust takes time to develop so it would make sense that they are only finding it now.

disco girl

I'd bring it along and let them have a look.

I got a recall from Fiat about the ABS unit on my Panda, brought it to one of the garages on the list and the unit was replaced foc.

Hotwheels

Not unusual this, if the car was never checked they will try to trace the current owner....

Indo Article

Owners of 163,000 cars sought over defects


National News Home

By Treacy Hogan Environment Correspondent

Friday June 25 2010

The details of more than 160,000 Irish car owners were tracked down by manufacturers in the past 12 months due to potential defects.

Transport Minister Noel Dempsey yesterday confirmed the registration details of 163,495 vehicles were requested from the national vehicle and driver file between June 2009 and last month relating to 86 recall scares.

And the number of car owners affected is likely to be even higher as manufacturers' records have up-to-date ownership particulars.

Labour Party TD Tommy Broughan described the disclosure as "alarming".

"Well-known car manufacturers, including Toyota and Honda, have had to recall hundreds of thousands of cars worldwide because of alleged serious brake and other design problems," he said.

"In the US and UK, governments and parliamentarians have already begun to investigate the scale of this defective vehicle crisis given the profound implications for national and public road safety," said Mr Broughan.

Mr Dempsey disclosed the details in a Dail reply, but stressed that not all vehicles for which details were provided may be subjected to a recall as the manufacturer might determine they were not affected.

Faults

The National Consumer Agency informs the public of recalled products. Its website contains details of the products and the nature of the faults or defects.

AA spokesman Conor Faughnan said the recall of cars was relatively routine as it was not uncommon for something to go wrong with them. "This is not always concerned with safety. It is very common," he added.

The figures come in the aftermath of Toyota's recall fiasco earlier this year which saw millions of cars around the world pulled due to a variety of problems -- ranging from faulty brakes to issues with stuck accelerators.

Toyota president Akio Toyoda yesterday held his first meeting with shareholders since the recalls -- in which he promised to give regional markets more of a voice in global operations.

- Treacy Hogan Environment Correspondent

Irish Independent