How long should a new car last?

[CrossPanda]

Hello All, I am an old timer (even made it into the first book!). I have set up a new profile, as today we are going public with our car troubles.

I have owned my Fiat Panda Cross for three and a half years and it has been one issue after another. Am I being unreasonable to think that a new car should last more than three and a half years and that a car with this service history is not fit for purpose?

The basic service history is below and the Q code is on fb and Twitter.

Right now my husband is sat outside the local Fiat garage with the car and signs (with Q code) in the window.

We have a twitter account

twitter.com/whyismypandacr1

And a Facebook Page

m.facebook.com/CrossPanda

www.honestjohn.co.uk Is always worth a look too.

This car’s service history:
When 7 months old, rear differential replaced.
Since then, this car has had two engine control units replaced, the turbo refurbished, two sets of wheel bearings replaced and a boot repaint due to an incorrect part being fitted prior to sale as new.
Now, after fewer than 60K miles, and 7 months after warranty expired the gear box is grinding and struggling to go into gear.

So trusty Mumsnet, am I being unreasonable to think this car is not fit for purpose?

My last new car (bmw) lasted 7 years before becoming uneconomical to repair, my mums last new car (Toyota) lasted about 18 years, colleague at works new car (Vauxhall) lasted 3 years. So does vary significantly.
That said I do a lot of miles (20000 a year) my mum would be lucky if she did 2000 miles, colleague probably 15000 and didn’t get regular (i.e any) services.

You definitely got a Friday afternoon car, my latest seems to be panning out to be the same as well as possibly the unluckiest car in the world. Either that or it has some unexplained tractor beam which just draws other cars towards it when it’s parked/stationary.

You got a lemon. One of our cars is 14 and the other is 12. The car before the 12 yo one was 11 when we replaced it.

Not all cars are made to go on into their teens but three years is an outrage.

I hope you get satisfactory resolution

My Mazda 2 is nearly 10 years old. I bought it new. It's scratched and dented and the CD player stopped working after a year but the car itself has never broken down.

I'm too scared to replace her in case my run of good luck ends.

I believe new cars are built to last seven years before they become obsolete.

My Clio is 16 years old.

Suffice to say YANBU.

I don't understand how it is acceptable, especially when cars are such high price items. There doesn't seem to be any protection in place either, when you do get unlucky.

The car is parked near the dealer now and they have been seen trying to open the doors!

This is the first new car we have bought, all the others have been a few years old already when we got them and we have never experienced this level of issues.

We have 4 months payments left and then the settlement figure at the end and we have been told by the dealer it is worth less then we owe on it.

I love this car and am gutted by this whole scenario.

Before my Mazda I had a Micra which also never broke down. I think Japanese cars are best for reliability.

2006 Toyota Avensid D4D - 225000 miles, wear and tear only. Still going.
2004 Toyota Corolla 1.8vvt - 108000 miles, wear and tear only. Still going.
Had Fiat that packed up at 75k and an Astra the same.
I think it's fair to say we'll be a Toyota family for the foreseeable future. Built in UK too.

I have a Fiat 500 (abarth).

9 years old.

Not spent a penny on it other than tyres (touch wood)

My next car will be a fiat 124 spider (abarth). Funnily enough an ad has just appeared!

i have an 8 year old vw beetle (last ones before the face lift).literally tyres and brake pads. just turned 80000.
i had a fiat multipla from new. it had a fault that put it into limp home mode on every holiday we took. we had it 6 years, did 80000 miles. it looked knackered by the time we parted and i refused to drive it anywhere.
i also had a toyota from new for 4 years. it looked brand new and felt brand new when i part exed it. again literally tyres had been the only money spent.

15 years at least in my opinion.

is it on hp?

For design their larger 4.0 and 5.4L cars to last 300,000 miles.

Small engine’s work harder and don’t last as long so expect 150,000 miles

That is ridiculous. I would be going to Watchdog or Which or something. I would expect a car to last at least 10-15 years and 100,000 miles. At LEAST.

My Corsa is 7 years old, bought nearly new (3000 miles), has done nearly 60,000 miles and other than new tyres last year, has never needed any work doing.

Along side trying to get this resolved, we now need to chose which company to go with next and I am finding it so hard as all trust is gone.

Unfortunately Fiats are shit. Hence the nickname

Fix
Immediately
Again
Tomorrow

google voluntary termination. basically you can hand car back after you have paid 50 percent. good friend of mine did this. doesnt affect credit rating, useful bit of consumer protection. read your agreement.

Yes on hp still have four more payments, with no guarantee they will take it back at the end of that without us paying the mechanical work.

We have looked at agreement and discussed and we can early settle but still need to pay the four remaining payments and they will send someone out to look and charge us for any work they see fit. It is not clear if the mechanical element will be their or our responsibility.

We have been advised we should go to small claims. If any one has any information on all the things we need to gather, what we need to be claiming for etc. that would be great. Do we need to keep the car in our hands while doing the small claims? Or do we hand it back make the payments and then claim?

I had a VE Fox from 5 years old to 10 years old when it finally became uneconomical to repair, before that it was just tyres that needed replacing. I was once told by my friends dad to buy the most basic car possible, that way there’s less that can go wrong with it!

O know nothing about small clams court, but I personally, would not hand over money then try to claim it back; if you are fighting to not pay the money, if you have already handed it over, you have no bargaining power.

Its like anything else; you get what you pay for. Expensive marque cars last longer; my son's BMW is 16 or 17 and going fine.

Gosh, that sounds really awful. Try your local Citizens Advice. They might be able to help you.
My Honda CRV is 12 years old and (touch wood) passes the test every year never needing anything other than an annual service, replace brake pads etc. and the occasional wiper blade. It's so reliable that I'd be scared to swap it now.