As the title to this post states "Why I would never buy another Abarth!"
I purchased my Abarth 124 Spider from Motorpoint in Birtley sometime around August of last year 2023, after trading in my Abarth 595 Competzione. As with all my other cars that I have owned, there has been no expense spared in either servicing or in modifying my car. I always use top end products, for washing and cleaning, and it was upon cleaning my car some 7 months ago, and I will now explain how the 7 months is relevant.
You see it was a hot day and after washing my car and going on to dry her around the boot area, I obseerved the rubber boot seal appeared loose. As I took my duster to mop up any residual water the seal moved and I noticed what appeared to be signs of rust under the seal. Upon lifting the seal up, sure enough the paint was blistered.
Following the drying of my car and giving it a good polish I decided to pop to a local garage, and the friendly chap took a look at the area and informed "You should get intouch with the main dealer, as this should come under warranty". He advised I check my service book and look under the warranty section. So when I got home that is what I did. It clearly stated the car is only warrantied for 36 months against manufacturing defects of the paintwork, this was on page 9. However when I turned the page and looked at page 10 it stated that the car was covered under warranty for "Perforating Rust" and this is for 8 years. Now my car is a 2019 so if we go to 2024 that means it is 5 years old, so I thought " Get in I am covered". I mean the area the car was rusting could not have been caused by stone chips, or other accidental damage. The paint is blistering from what looks like to me the inside to the outside. It is as if the car has had a spot weld on the panel and not enough protective paint had been applied.
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| Paint Warranty for 36 months |
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| Not worth the papaer its wrote on |
I did a quick search on Google and Perforation was described as
"perforation, is corrosion forming from inside a metal panel which is rusting from the inside of the panel and works its way through the panel from inside to out".
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| Start of rust forming |
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| Start of car cancer |
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| What do you think ? |
Anyhoo I contacted my local Abarth dealer Richard Hardie down at Silverlink and after a little chat was advised to take my car to their approved body shop, which was Fenham Garage Services in Newcastle. Upon the paint guy inspecting my car and taking some photographs, my dad being with me the guy clearly stated "Ahh yes it looks like the paint has blistered and is perforated".
Fenham Garage Services then issued an invoice to Richard Hardie, as far as I am aware, and I got back in touch with Richard Hardie to confirm what FGS had said. I then waited, and waited and nothing from Richard Hardie. A call to Richard Hardie and I was informed that Abarth Customer Care had not been back in touch with them. Anyhoo 2 months passed by so I decided to get in touch with Abarth Customer Care myself. I was issued a case number, and then another few months went by with no communication. I got back intouch with Abarth customer care and was informed, that they had been having problems talking to the person involved at Richard Hardie, he just wasn't around. More time ticked away.
Eventually some roughly 7 months later I received an email to say that my claim had been refused, as the "Photographs didn't support the warranty claim for perforated paint". I wrote back saying I didn't agree and commented on the terrible customer service, I had received, I mean come on 7 months, not only that but to be informed by the approved body shop that the paintwork was defective and then not have anyone look at it in person from Fiat or Abarth or whoever I thought was shocking. I then received an email today to say the case was at its conclusion as
"Additionally, certain criteria must be met for us to investigate further, including factors such as the age of the vehicle, which unfortunately falls outside the parameters we consider."
"Err hold on the warranty clearly states up to 8 years for perforating rust, and if they are just going off pictures, surely someone should look at the car in person". Its a bit like these damn insurance companies, they are only to willing to fleece people for high premiums, however then not willing to pay out the true price of a replacement vehicle like for like, when you have informed them of how much money and care you have gone into looking after your motor.
Now I know my car was second hand, however it has a full service history and came with a warranty, that is in my opinon not worth the paper it is written on. The service by both the main dealer Richard Hardie and the Abarth customer service has been shocking. Oh and upon further research if you check the Abarth Forums, this doesn't appear just to be a one off, as in just my car. There are many people complaing of the same areas, where these cars are rusting.
In ending I would say the Abarths are a great little car, however like anything else if you aren't looked after by the after sales, well it certainly puts you off any future investments. So I guess this is a tip and words of advice if you are intending on purchasing am Abarth 124 Spider, check under the boot rubber for signs of rust.
