Electric shock

I have owned a 2006/56 FIAT Panda 1.2 Eleganza from new, now 7 weeks out of warranty. An intermittent failure of PAS started yesterday. The nearest dealer will do a diagnostic check, but having checked on Google it seems that this is quite a common problem. Are you aware of any particular problems and what I should tell the garage. Per recall 5155, the ABS was put right 4 weeks ago and involved removing the battery. As the PAS is electric, is it possible the garage did something when dealing with the ABS problem? If not and as the car has done less than 7,000 miles, do you agree that if any of PAS needs replacing, then FIAT should pay?

Asked on 30 January 2010 by J.B., via e-mail

Answered by Honest John

The PAS motor life is not determined by mileage but by the amount of use the PAS motor gets. It follows that a car used for low mileage will be subject to a lot more wheel twiddling than one that just goes straight for hundreds of miles on motorways. But do push your FIAT dealer to try for some goodwill from FIAT. They might go halves, or pay for the part but not the labour. Where a car suffers a common problem due to a poor quality part, manufacturers and dealers should not seek to profit from the situation.

Tags: technical issues abs owning

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