Choices choices

Speedway

hey everyone,

sorry for the long post but just looking for some advice.I'm a recently graduated student and I've moved from Cork to Dublin for a new job. I bought a 2004 1.4 Fiat Stilo 3 door Coupe for €10000 (17K miles) about 6 months ago for driving around dublin and back and forth to Cork at weekends to the girlfriend.

The car has been great most of the time but there's been an intermittent problem over the 6 months that it randomly would decide not to start. Give it a half an hour and it would then start fine and work perfectly. Just once every couple of weeks this happened. Its been back to the garage nearly 7 times now for the problem, they've replaced the fuel pump, ECU and tried everything. Thought they had fixed it when they replaced the ECU cause it worked fine for a month but on Sunday it died again.

Basically I told the garage I've had enough and they can have it back. They've offered me a 04 5 door 1.2 Stilo which i don't want because it's a big ugly beast of a car for a 23 year old to drive.

OR they offered me a 2006 1.2 Grande Punto with 17K miles for an extra €1500

I told the guy I wasn't interested at all in either option cause I don't like the 5 door stilo and i don't really have €1500 extra to through to a new car.

is the 2006 punto worth the extra money or should i try to get him down on the price of it?

Or how easy is it usually to get a refund for a used car and if I do get a refund what car would you guys recommend? (I was thinking a 1.6 alfa 147?)

nialler

Not sure if it's relevant, but I had a similar problem on my car (not a fiat) and it was a crank shaft position sensor, basically a magnet on the end of a lump of plastic that cost about €90 to buy and about €50 to fit, not sure if the stilo has it but could be worth asking it this could be it.

Speedway

cheers nialler for the advice.Id say at this point i wont even bother waiting for them to see if that is the problem cause 6 times now i've been told the car is fine and it's gone again.

mack1

Not 100% sure on the law here, but as far I can remember if the car was not "of merchantable quality" when you bought it then you're entitled to a refund. If you've been having constant problems I guess this could be the case, and if the garage is offering replacements then they probably know this too.

As for advice, I have to say, you shouldn't be that surprised - this kinda thing happens a lot to Fiats, randomly not starting when there is a full moon out, electrical problems when there is high-water in the Solomon Islands etc. Say what you want about playing to stereotypes , more often than not, they are true. So i'd steer well clear of the Italians, another Fiat, or an Alfa (as much as I love them) will probably behave in much the same way. Buy German or Japanese!

FOGOFUNK

Try get some money back and run as far away from fiats as possible!!*
:rolleyes:

Get an octavia, loadsa room in the boot!


*cue the "not all fiats and alfas are bad brigade"

Speedway

mack1 wrote:

randomly not starting when there is a full moon out, electrical problems when there is high-water in the Solomon Islands etc

AHHH so that's my problem!

ya i know Fiats are still Fiats alright, just for the spec of the Stilo I got for the price it was great

rowanh

How are fiat still in business? Is there any chance of you getting money back form the garage? If so then do it if not take the swap and sell it or trade it in. Seriously though how are fiat still in business?

RobAMerc

Do you always return to the same dealer ?
Perhaps you should try another, cars do go wrong but 7 times without fixing the problem is a bit much.

Speedway

ya always to the same dealer cause i got a 12 month warranty on the car with them when i bought it

prospect

I think the dealer replaced (or said he replaced) the wrong part 6 or 7 times.

I would bring the car to an independent specalist and have them look at it. If they can determin the problem, then let the dealer know and either have them fix it (and pay the cost of the inspection) or have the specalist fix it and send the dealer the bill.

Unfortunately this is alot of the problem with Fiat/Alfa. The cars reputation suffers from the poor dealer network in Ireland.

Speedway

ya im really fed up with it.in fairness its a grand car apart from the problems, really love it. And the guys in the service center are really sound they have been very genuine and have tried hard to fix it.maybe theyre just not skilled enough.

if i was to get a refund for the €10,000 what would people recommend in a similar car (smallish, tiny bit sporty ie not something like a fiesta)

RobAMerc

rowanh wrote:

How are fiat still in business? Is there any chance of you getting money back form the garage? If so then do it if not take the swap and sell it or trade it in. Seriously though how are fiat still in business?

How are "Fiat Ireland still in business" should be the question - Europe wide they are doing great and will probably have their best year ever in 2007 - Unfortunately Irish dealers are just rubbish it seems.

prospect

This is a double post. Perhaps it would be better merge this with the longer thread that already exists...

Speedway

oops ya just spotted that, dunno how it was doubley posted,i'll pm a mod there

mack1

10k can get you plenty of car.

Solid, reliable choices include:
- Focus (I will argue til the cows come home that this is THE best allrounder for this money for ANYONE, its cheap to buy, cheap to run, while it's not japanese it's pretty reliable, it's a cracker to drive, there's lots of them about and its practical - what more does one need!)
- Civic/Corolla/other jappo-box (unbreakable, but can be a little more expensive than similar Focus etc, but it wont go wrong)
- Golf (or some Golf in drag, ie Seat/Skoada - top quality built motors always a good choice - goes for the Seat/Skodas too - but can be expensive and down on spec)

Now, as for sporty, if I had 10k to spend I would be looking for:
- Puma (great car, especially the 1.7 - has all the benefits of a fiesta but none of the dullness, will shame cars costing 3 times the price on a twisty road too!)
- MX-5 (all things considered, arguably the greatest sports car the world has ever seen, japanese relaibility too!)
- Alfa GTV (still look amazing - but this one's for me, not for you after your Fiat experience!)

Hope this helps!

unkel

prospect wrote:

This is a double post. Perhaps it would be better merge this with the longer thread that already exists...

Done!

RobAMerc

mack1 wrote:

10k can get you plenty of car.

Solid, reliable choices include:
- Focus (I will argue til the cows come home that this is THE best allrounder for this money for ANYONE, its cheap to buy, cheap to run, while it's not japanese it's pretty reliable, it's a cracker to drive, there's lots of them about and its practical - what more does one need!)
- Civic/Corolla/other jappo-box (unbreakable, but can be a little more expensive than similar Focus etc, but it wont go wrong)
- Golf (or some Golf in drag, ie Seat/Skoada - top quality built motors always a good choice - goes for the Seat/Skodas too - but can be expensive and down on spec)

Now, as for sporty, if I had 10k to spend I would be looking for:
- Puma (great car, especially the 1.7 - has all the benefits of a fiesta but none of the dullness, will shame cars costing 3 times the price on a twisty road too!)
- MX-5 (all things considered, arguably the greatest sports car the world has ever seen, japanese relaibility too!)
- Alfa GTV (still look amazing - but this one's for me, not for you after your Fiat experience!)

Hope this helps!

Wow - I think I have met my soul mate or did I write this ?

Speedway

ya i looked at a puma alright. would it do for long drives back and forth to cork from Dublin do you think?