Can I claim compensation?

[Nugget]

Hopefully just a quick one, but I was curious as to what people thought.

As my little friend homealone will tell you, before I changed the car in May this year, I had an S reg Fiat Seicento (1999). Now, anything that could go wrong with the car pretty much did, but the worse was when the petrol tank developed what can only be described as a flood (as opposed to a leak).

As a result, the car had to travel back from Birmingham to Grimsby on the back of a lorry (thank God for breakdown insurance!) and it cost me 200 quid to get a new tank fitted – therefore, £200 down and my breakdown premium went up.

Yesterday, I received through the post a product recall notification from Fiat advising that they wanted everybody with an early model Seicento to take it to their nearest Fiat dealer as they had identified that there was a risk that the petrol tank could corrode. What I want to know is, even though I’ve changed the car, does anybody think that I have a fair case for some form of compensation from Fiat, seeing as I’m effectively over 200 quid out of pocket (surprisingly, I’ve even kept the receipt from the garage who did the work).

TIA

Im not sure as you dont say if you had the tank replaced by a fiat dealer. If you did then yes you should get your money back. IF you didnt then it might be a bit more difficult unless you have the old tank.

Basically you need evidence to prove that the problem you had was caused by the fault that the recall notice was supposed to repair.

I would suggest to contact the people issuing the recall notice as opposed to the dealer. When recall work is required the dealer does the work and the bill is paid by the manufacturer.

[Nugget]

Originally Posted by gary_580

Im not sure as you dont say if you had the tank replaced by a fiat dealer. If you did then yes you should get your money back. IF you didnt then it might be a bit more difficult unless you have the old tank.

Basically you need evidence to prove that the problem you had was caused by the fault that the recall notice was supposed to repair.

I would suggest to contact the people issuing the recall notice as opposed to the dealer. When recall work is required the dealer does the work and the bill is paid by the manufacturer.

Cheers for that - yep, I had the tank fitted at the local Fiat dealer so, hopefully, that should be covered.

Originally Posted by Nugget

Cheers for that - yep, I had the tank fitted at the local Fiat dealer so, hopefully, that should be covered.

Yes, most dealers record why the word was carreid out and hopefully they will have recorded that the tank failed due to corrosion and not other reasons.

I think they will probably refund you the full amount and claim their money from the recall notice

GL anyway

[andygrif]

Originally Posted by Nugget

Hopefully just a quick one, but I was curious as to what people thought.

As my little friend homealone will tell you, before I changed the car in May this year, I had an S reg Fiat Seicento (1999). Now, anything that could go wrong with the car pretty much did, but the worse was when the petrol tank developed what can only be described as a flood (as opposed to a leak).

Did your tank actually suffer from the symptom that was described in the recall? If it was then I think you would have a reasonable case to ask for that cost to be refunded. I doubt it will be an easy ride (no pun intended) so you might want to get Trading Standards involved if you don't suceed at first.