Be very careful when buying a FIAT Tipo

Fiat Tipo - I am deeply disappointed with the quality of this vehicle. I bought it in 2018 and have a full-service history. My problems with the car started on 24 January 2023. I went to pick up my son and heard a rattling noise. I thought one of my tyres where flat, but this was not the case. After checking for an hour, I noticed that the engine was loose. I booked a tow truck to take the car home. The following morning the car was towed to Fiat Bedfordview. The staff were very friendly and the service was professional. After an assessment they told me the engine mountings came loose and had to be replaced. The car was just out of warranty and the mileage were 64177 km. I don’t understand how the engine mounting can break after 64177 km. I was charged R8208.11 (4.5 hours labour at R870.00 per hour) for the repair. I believe that my vehicle was the fifth one that came in for the same issue. Are there a manufacturing fault with this component? I was not happy to pay for the repair but needed my car. See invoice attached.

Two months later I had another breakdown(28 March 2023). This time the pipe on the thermostat housing came loose. I thought it was just a matter of reattaching the pipe to the thermostat housing, to my surprise I saw that the plastic part attached to the thermostat housing and pipe completely broke. Once again, I had to book a tow truck to take my vehicle to a Fiat service centre. This time it went to Fiat Midrand as the car broke down close to work. The service I received at your Midrand service center was terrible. I had to phone them continuously to check the status of my repair. They would make promises to call back, but I never received a call. They established that the whole thermostat housing had to be replaced. I was also charged for 2 hours labour(R925 per hour). I asked the service manager Francois if they could give me a discount as the car was just out of warranty. He dropped the labour price per hour by R25.00. I was promised that the car would be ready for collection on Friday 26 March 2023. I made +- 7 calls that day to check if my vehicle was ready for collection. I did not receive one phone call from them. When I went to pick up my vehicle, I asked the service consultant why their service was so bad and why they do not return calls. Her response was “sorry” with no explanation. When I confronted the service manager Francois about the same issue, his response was very arrogant and dismissive. I asked him for a report on how the part just broke, they could not answer me but himself and the mechanic hinted to wear and tear. I will never ever go back to that branch. See invoice attached

I received a call from your call centre to check how my experience was and told the lady exactly what happened. She advised that someone would call me and to date I am still waiting for that call.

I am very disappointed with the service that I experienced with your service and call center.

It looks like fiat cars are only designed to last till the warranty expires and then the customer must pay for all future repairs. How can motor mountings and thermostats only last for 64000 km. When the car is being sold the sales person promises you the world and assures you that the service and the quality is of the highest standard. This is obviously not the case after the warranty expires. I mostly use my car to travel from home to work. I drive mostly on the freeway so I did not expect these components to break after 60000km