just got a letter from fiat, seemingly on the old shaped puntos theres a recall for them, cos of corrosion to the brake pipes, seemingly the salt and grit on the road is causing cos for concern with fiat, they want them checked out, did the old shape punto not come out roughly 10 years ago, theyve took there time on this one.
The recall came out in 2001. I got my notice about a month after I had my suspension done at my local Fiat dealer 2 years ago.
punto recall history:
Get them done. Fiat will do it for free if they can be bothered to get off their arses. My brakes failed coming downhill due to an immediate and severe leak because of corrosion. I could have been killed. Forget their statement of "reduced braking efficiency", try "your pedal will go to the floor and may cause you premature death".
Fiat don't use DVLA records to contact the owners, just the name and address on their computer, so if you buy a second hand Punto, the recall notification letter goes to the original purchaser. Not very smart of them. Fiat are lucky that someone hasn't yet been killed because of this.
The area that corrodes is where the pipes to the rear pass over the petrol tank. This area always stays damp for longer, and given the grey plastic coating on the pipes is porous to water, the salt ingress and damp conditions accelerate corrosion, eventually resulting in a brake fluid leak and brake failure.
The official Fiat statement is "Prolonged exposure to the effects of road salt corrosion may result in perforation of the metal brake pipes and a consequential loss of braking efficiency."
To find out if you vehicle is affected, contact Fiat UK on 0800 717 000
A Quinn heeft uiteengezet op 3-4-2004 :
Scary....
Maybe where you live, but i (second owner) got the letter myself in Holland....
*cut*
If you want to see what failed pipes look like, check the following link:
A Quinn wrote "Fiat don't use DVLA records to contact the owners, just the name and address on their computer, so if you buy a second hand Punto, the recall notification letter goes to the original purchaser" - you are wrong!!!
DVLA sends a list to the dealer of vehicles in their postcode area and sends a letter to the registered keper.
Well maybe I am wrong, but I sure didn't get a letter!! (I am registered with them , I didn't move house etc.) What happens if you don't have a dealer in your postcode area?
Thinking about it, are the DVLA allowed to release names and address to a private company? This would surely conflict with the data protection act?
Number 7 on the list here :
Graham
As the data is being released in your intrests there's no breach, if it was being relesed to promote fiat products there would be.
Mike
So why is it taking so long for some of us? I bought mine in 2001 and the recall only came at the end of last week, which is why I have only just found all these posts about it, apologies for being a little late!
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