Fiat Ducato Buyer Beware

For the benefit of Fiat motorhome owners:

My Fiat Ducato developed a problem with the fuel gauge which started to give erratic and incorrect readings. I took the vehicle to a Fiat dealer within the 2 year warranty period and the fault was duly registered.

6 weeks later the dealer had not traced the fault as it was intermittent. I was charged £ 288 to investigate the fault without it being resolved. I paid the bill under protest and took the vehicle away on two long consecutive road trips. The problem persisted and I took the vehicle back to the dealer with a full tank of fuel and the gauge reading empty. The vehicle is still at the dealers and I await developments.

Fiat maintain that the vehicle is now out of warranty and they MAY pay for any repair costs as a goodwill gesture. They decline to cover the cost of the fruitless investigation.

The warranty states that Fiat, with certain exceptions, will replace defective parts including the labour cost. 

I have had a dialogue with Fiat Customer Care by phone but with one exception they decline to communicate in writing. They ignored or claimed not to have seen or read a long message I had sent setting out the issues and asking for a response.

My request to speak to a manager or team leader was declined.

My request to send transcripts of the phone conversations was met with silence.

My request for an explanation for their stance that the vehicle was out of warranty was met by silence.

After taking legal advice from the Club, I have now requested these transcripts, citing the appropriate legislation. I have asked for the competent authority which oversees their warranty agreement and I have asked for a copy of their complaints proceedure.

Importantly, I have notified Fiat that if the cause of the fault is due to extraneous factors I will withdraw my claim and accept responsibilty for the costs. I say this because the vehicle suffered some damage by mice while in storage and this may be the cause.

My issue with Fiat is not for the first time I am experiencing very poor customer service. 

Last January I phoned them 3 times to enquire how to disable the speed radar warning function as it is illegal in France. On each occasion I was promised a call back with the answer - I am still waiting.  Informatively, I discovered that the function is disabled automatically in France.

If anyone has similar experiences to share, pleased to hear.