Fiat Refused to Cover Engine Failures on My Ducato Vehicles
In November 2023, I purchased two Fiat Ducato vehicles. One of them, license plate 39S14**, experienced a serious engine failure on December 22, 2024—just 10 days after its major 120,000 km service—due to turbo failure and turbo parts entering the engine. I had the vehicle towed to the authorized service, where it was disassembled the next day, and I was told the engine needed to be rebuilt, which would take about a month. For an entire month, we waited for approval from someone referred to as “Hoca.” During this time, multiple data points were downloaded from the vehicle’s computer and sent for analysis. On January 24, 2025, my other vehicle, 39S14**, also suffered an engine failure due to a lubrication issue. I contacted Fiat customer service and Koç Holding to report the situation. After upper management got involved, “Hoca,” who had failed to approve one vehicle in 35 days, rejected both vehicles within two days, claiming delayed maintenance. However, in July 2024, Fiat Turkey had no oil filters in stock. Even though we had appointments, our vehicles were turned away and only serviced 9–10 days later when the filters arrived. These are commercial vehicles and traveled 3,000 km during that waiting period. When we voiced concerns about potential issues, the service manager said, “We’re here, nothing will happen.” Yet this very delay was later used to deny warranty coverage. After eventually admitting that the delay was their fault, Fiat decided to repair one vehicle under warranty and offered a discount for the other. The one repaired under warranty (39S14**) took three full months to be returned. It still has an oil leak from the turbo and electrical issues, which they promised to fix during the next service. The other vehicle (39S14**) was delivered after 174 days. During this period, the fuel float was removed without my knowledge and used in another vehicle (I have photos and WhatsApp messages as proof). The replacement engine took four months to arrive, and we waited nearly another month for the new float. While the vehicle was sitting idle, the battery died and the pump seized—Fiat provided a new battery, but charged me for the pump. Then they claimed the wiring was burned and replaced multiple working parts unnecessarily. The total cost reached ₺352,000. I was offered only ₺188,100 in compensation for the commercial loss of both vehicles. My total loss exceeds ₺1 million. The vehicles being stuck in service for such long periods caused serious disruption to my business. I requested that Fiat cover the repairs under warranty or compensate me for the ₺352,000 expense, but my request was rejected.
The table of maintenance operations performed on the vehicles that were excluded from warranty on the grounds of neglected maintenance (later, 39S1422 was covered under warranty) is below. Sometimes, companies repair vehicles that have never been serviced or whose warranty has expired under the name of goodwill, but the company called Fiat excluded my vehicle, which had all its maintenance done at the authorized service, from warranty. That wasn't enough, they kept it at the service for 6 months, and that wasn't enough, they took parts off my car and installed them on another vehicle. There is no reasonable explanation for this. No one with common sense can accept this situation.
Despite many attempts and our efforts to reach a settlement, TOFAŞ did not make any improvements. Most recently, thanks to the efforts of the Lüleburgaz Service, two maintenance services were gifted for each of the two vehicles. From now on, I will not even buy a sunflower seed from TOFAŞ or the Stellantis group. I don't think any business owner who reads about what I have gone through will buy a car from this company either.
