Fiat Warranty on Adria (T)WIN

[Guest steve Shaw]

Has anyone had any problems getting warranty work done on the Fiat section of a Adria Motorhome. We were told the usual 2 years Fiat Warranty applied when we bought our Adria Twin 18 months ago , but our local Fiat garage now refuses to do the Warranty work we require without payment .

[Guest Derek Uzzell]

This sounds like the dreaded 'vehicle-warranty begins when the chassis is sold to the converter, rather than when the completed motorhome is handed over to the first owner' situation. This is regularly complained of in motorhome magazines (and has been mentioned previously on this forum). Only a fortnight ago I read a letter about it in a French magazine and the editorial reply was essentially "That's quite normal and you should have been aware of it." Well, it's certainly not normal, but it does seem to happen quite frequently. If this is indeed the warranty position in your case, then I don't think your local Fiat garage will be able to alter it. I suggest you get in touch with your Adria's original vendor and demand that they get the start-date of the Fiat warranty adjusted to the motorhome's purchase-date. Fiat usually seems prepared to play ball, but the motorhome owner may have to play merry hell to get them to do so. Suggest you consult your local Trading Standards office to get their advice. A buyer of a new motorhome should always confirm the start-dates, durations and terms of all the warranties that apply to it before parting with the cash. It's far easier to sort out any warranty anomalies at hand-over time rather than later. Easy for me to say this, of course...

[Guest Steve Shaw]

Derek ,I also wondered if the registration could be the problem - rang the dealer where we purchased the WIN - he is attempting to investigate . But according to Sunwin Motors of Halifax it does not appear on the Fiat computer to have 2 years warranty as it was imported from Slovenia ! I await developments - its a wheel bearing that needs replacing - quoted price £150

[Guest Derek Uzzell]

I've got a 2004 model-year UK Adria brochure but, as often seems to be the case with motorhome bumph, this gives no details of any of the warranties that apply to these vehicles. My understanding is that the terms of the base-vehicle warranty of motorhomes marketed in the UK will normally mirror the warranty offered on that 'chassis' in the country where the conversion to a motorhome takes place. So (say) a UK-built Fiat Ducato-based motorhome will attract the warranty terms Fiat apply to Ducatos marketed in the UK, whereas an Adria on the same chassis will have the warranty terms applied by Fiat to Ducatos marketed in Slovenia. I'm a mite surprised that (presumably) there is nothing specific about the warranty in the Fiat-related documentation that came with your Twin. Out of curiosity, when Sunwin Motors checked Fiat's database, what were the details recorded there for your vehicle regarding warranty start-date and duration?

[Guest peter windle]

steve, I had the very same problem with fiat,on a brand new hobby dec.2002.they told me the warrenty started the day the base vehicle left their factory,which was 8 months prior to it leaving the hobby factory.I ended up with only 16 months warrenty on a brand new vehicle.fiat are the worst firm i have ever delt with,god only knows how they ended up with 80% of the motor home market.I think they rip us poor customers off so they can pay schoemaker his fee.

[Guest Keith T]

Hi Steve - yes also had this problem on my Rapido. local Fiat garage (worse than useless anyway) swore blind my van was not covered by warranty, and only due to the excellent help from Rapido Wokingham, who provided a copy of the origianl warranty certificate from Rapdio France, would they accept that not only did it exist, but it ran from the date I bought it from Rapido. Perservere, and don't take no for an answer. I would not buy FIAT if I had an alternative due to their seemingly inability to provide a decent customer service.

[Guest Mike]

I've recently had a warranty problem with Ford. When the vehicle is left standing for more than two weeks the damn thing won't start. I turn the ignition key and nothing happens despite the fact the battery is fully charged. Eventually the thing bursts into life but by the time I get the vehicle to the Ford garage they are unable to diagnose the fault. This has been going on for two years. They do not seem interested in spending time in diagnosing faults. The 3 year warranty has now expired but the problem persists. Last week in France I very nearly failed to get the thing going. Yesterday I spoke to the Ford warranty people to explain the position. They were totally unsympathetic. They told me that they could only reimburse the dealer for warranty work on diagnosed problems and as my vehicle's problems have not been diagnosed I will have to pay for any further work. Ford do not reimburse dealers for investigative work so no wonder my local Ford dealer is not interested. This is a major flaw in the Ford warrany in my opinion. As far as Ford is concerned they just shrugged their shoulders and told me that despite the fact I have had a problem for 2 of the 3 year warranty period they will not pay for any further work to be done to my vehicle. Mike ( a very frustrated Ford owner)