Budgie
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I have a 2015 Ducato motorhone which I purchased from new in October 2015 and currently have an issue with it.
A couple of months ago I got talking to a fellow fiat camper van owner and he said to me if I have had "the dreaded instrument cluster problem" I asked what does he mean and he explained the dimly lit warning lights on the cluster when cruise control is engaged
After checking sure enough my van had the "airbag light,brake wear warning light & low fuel light very dimly lit when the cruise control is engaged, on looking closely it also has the ABS light permanently very dimly lit. These lights have been on for a couple of years at least, The reason I did not notice is I permanently have the night lights on and so dashboard lights on as I have great difficulty seeing the speedo when it is not backlit, so I mistakenly thought the dimly lit warning lights were just light pollution from the cluster back lights in general.
On reading online I was shocked to find that is is all over the internet and is a very common fault with Fiats , an inherent fault that by the amount of problems people are having should of been a recall in my opinion as it looks like the cluster is not fit for purpose.
There are even a few company's who specialise in repairing the fault
This fault could result in an mot failure if spotted, I think I have been lucky in that respect so far.
On taking the camper to my Fiat professional dealer in Darlington and explaining the problem they put a request in for a goodwill warranty claim through Fiat, as the camper is out of Warranty, Fiat offered to contribute 50% and so in my book are admitting there is a problem, which still means I will have to contribute £494 Including fitting, I find this totally unacceptable for an inherent fault, I have had the camper serviced at the correct service intervals by Fiat Professional from new at a great deal of expense thinking it is worth the extra cost and feel maybe the cluster problem should have been picked up then.
So I complained via the Fiat website Just had Fiat call me from Italy with there response, they would not budge on the offer of 50% so that is £495 I am expected to shell out, the person who called said she can just forward the reports and hope Fiat might have to do a recall eventually, which I very much doubt will happen considering it's not safety related, and advised me to go to Cartronix and get it repaired, and if I do go down the repair route to keep receipts and if there is a recall they will refund me, unbelievable!! I just don't think they will do it as would probably cost a fortune.
I think the problem is all cases are just individual, there is no public log as to how many cases there are out there, and therefore no public evidence to say start a class action or something like that.
Any advice from anyone who has the same experience will be much appreciated.
A couple of months ago I got talking to a fellow fiat camper van owner and he said to me if I have had "the dreaded instrument cluster problem" I asked what does he mean and he explained the dimly lit warning lights on the cluster when cruise control is engaged
After checking sure enough my van had the "airbag light,brake wear warning light & low fuel light very dimly lit when the cruise control is engaged, on looking closely it also has the ABS light permanently very dimly lit. These lights have been on for a couple of years at least, The reason I did not notice is I permanently have the night lights on and so dashboard lights on as I have great difficulty seeing the speedo when it is not backlit, so I mistakenly thought the dimly lit warning lights were just light pollution from the cluster back lights in general.
On reading online I was shocked to find that is is all over the internet and is a very common fault with Fiats , an inherent fault that by the amount of problems people are having should of been a recall in my opinion as it looks like the cluster is not fit for purpose.
There are even a few company's who specialise in repairing the fault
This fault could result in an mot failure if spotted, I think I have been lucky in that respect so far.
On taking the camper to my Fiat professional dealer in Darlington and explaining the problem they put a request in for a goodwill warranty claim through Fiat, as the camper is out of Warranty, Fiat offered to contribute 50% and so in my book are admitting there is a problem, which still means I will have to contribute £494 Including fitting, I find this totally unacceptable for an inherent fault, I have had the camper serviced at the correct service intervals by Fiat Professional from new at a great deal of expense thinking it is worth the extra cost and feel maybe the cluster problem should have been picked up then.
So I complained via the Fiat website Just had Fiat call me from Italy with there response, they would not budge on the offer of 50% so that is £495 I am expected to shell out, the person who called said she can just forward the reports and hope Fiat might have to do a recall eventually, which I very much doubt will happen considering it's not safety related, and advised me to go to Cartronix and get it repaired, and if I do go down the repair route to keep receipts and if there is a recall they will refund me, unbelievable!! I just don't think they will do it as would probably cost a fortune.
I think the problem is all cases are just individual, there is no public log as to how many cases there are out there, and therefore no public evidence to say start a class action or something like that.
Any advice from anyone who has the same experience will be much appreciated.