Needing to rant somewhere other than FB or Twitter as Mrs W doesn't know about this yet.....

 

She got into her head that she wanted a Fiat 500x to replace the Kuga she's only had 11 months that was, at that time, the dogs doodahs according to her. We've had a tough few years so I didn't object. She also moans that I hate all her cars (true - I did hate the Toyota Corolla Verso, the Mazda 5 and I didn't much like the Kuga, but I plead not guity on the counts relating to the Citigo and Octavia) so I didn't add my lifelong bias that Fiat build quality was poor and reliability even worse. After all, Skoda were rubbish once, right?

 

Drove this little thing last weekend at a Fiat main dealer in Wakefield. A 16 plate with 8800 miles on it. To be fair it drove nicely, if a bit loud. The switchgear felt flimsy and cheap but like a dutiful hubby kept schtum. The keyless entry didn't work but the salesman said "I've only been with Fiat for two weeks, I expect it'll be the battery." We agreed to buy it as I didn't want to burst her bubble. They confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the battery in the key but that he'd been doing it wrong.

 

She went into hospital for a planned op on Wednesday, meaning that I went to pick the car up yesterday for her. It was raining hard but I still couldn't get the keyless entry to work. "It might be because it's wet" they said. I couldn't get all of the DAB stations up on the list. "Oh, the reception round here's carp" they said. Dodgy DAB is a fact of life in Yorkshire so I didn't think anything more of it. The mark on the headlining that they had promised to remove hadn't been done so they did it there and then. The rear mats that we had asked to be thrown into the deal weren't there. "We haven't any in stock. We'll post them to you."

 

So I drove it home, and all the way home I tried to find DAB stations in places where I KNOW my BMW gets them fine. Nothing. Not a single station.

 

Once home it stopped raining so I went out and tried the keyless entry again. Still nothing. Being a naturally curious (read, suspicious) person I tried the passenger side, and that worked exactly as I would have thought. Back to the driver's side. Nothing. Not a peep.

 

Back on the phone to Fiat. The salesman I dealt with wasn't available so I spoke to one of the managers. "ooh well, we can't do anything now till Tuesday. And those mats you asked for, we don't give those away but we'll let you have them on this occasion to make up for the inconvenience."

 

They're coming to collect it on Tuesday and return it when it's done. Might be later that day, might be three days. As it turns out, Sharon won't be able to drive for a few weeks following the op so it doesn't matter its not there - from that point of view. We don't need a courtesy car.

 

She's been in such pain since the operation I haven't had the heart to tell her that it's got to go back. She's so excited about it.

 

I'm absolutely fuming about it. I feel like I've been deliberately sold a lemon.

I've started a case with Fiat UK Customer Care who started with words to the effect of "Sorry about that but pre-registered cars are the responsibility of the dealer. What do you want us to do about it?"

Have also just emailed the Fiat UK MD, Ashley Andrew. Still fuming.......

Sales people sell things, 

Dealer Principals are responsible for their branch,  the Selling, the purchasing, The Aftersales care, the workshops, the service desk and workshop manager and technicians.

 

If you have issues and faults deal with the Warranty Manager or the Dealer Principal not a salesperson that likely knows nothing about cars and cares even less, 

they sell them, and only the good ones are caring about repeat purchasers.

You know in your heart it's a lemon,if it's not 100% when it's returned get your money back.

I wouldn't be too upset and angry about it,

 

You've not bought a 10 y/o car from a back street dealer, it's a relativley new car with a warranty and purchased from a franchised dealer.

 

Annoying yes, but give them time to rectify the issues before mentioning rejection etc etc!

 

Strike it up to experience, never buy the first car you see!

I'll keep an eye out for your Fiat when we move, we won't be very far away.................

FIAT = Fix it again Tony

 

Actually in all honesty my old man had a few Fiats in the 80s and they were no bother at all.

But that was 30yr ago and they were simple things.

1 minute ago, Aspman said:

FIAT = Fix it again Tony

 

 

 

 

Fix it again Tomorrow

Just now, Auric Goldfinger said:

 

Fix it again Tomorrow

 

I think the sentiment stands

Had 2 FIATS for 9 years, 1 gearbox linkage and 1 head gasket failure.

 

Replaced them both with 2 SEATS for 2 years, 1 turbo failure and 1 A/C compressor failure.

 

About even then - but the SEATS broke quicker, the most expensive failure being the turbo - in the only one of the 4 built at Mlada Bolelsav!!

10 hours ago, Auric Goldfinger said:

I'll keep an eye out for your Fiat when we move, we won't be very far away.................

ooh - if ever a conversation was crying out to move to PM!

 

Drop me a line when you move Andy.

Update: Someone from the MD's office rang me this afternoon. As you'd expect, very apologetic and said they'd follow up with me next Friday to see if all is sorted. Funnily enough, about 3 minutes after they rang me the MD of the dealership rang me too! I was tending to Mrs W at the time so I couldn't take the call.

I hope they sort it out for you (& Mrs 2SF). 

 

I know it wont be any consolation at the moment but I find my Panda and some of the newer Fiats far better than the Fiats of old (my old MK2 Punto for example). I hope they sort it out, the I'm not a 500 fan but the 500x is a tidy little crossover, hopefully it'll be a decent car for you once fixed. 

25 minutes ago, matt1chelski said:

I hope they sort it out for you (& Mrs 2SF). 

 

I know it wont be any consolation at the moment but I find my Panda and some of the newer Fiats far better than the Fiats of old (my old MK2 Punto for example). I hope they sort it out, the I'm not a 500 fan but the 500x is a tidy little crossover, hopefully it'll be a decent car for you once fixed. 

That's very kind. Thank you.

You bought a FIAT ,which equals (car) Found In A Trance. Ford are (either) Found On Road Dead or Fix And Repair Daily.

14 minutes ago, VWD said:

You bought a FIAT ,which equals (car) Found In A Trance. Ford are (either) Found On Road Dead or Fix And Repair Daily.

Yeah I know...wouldn't have touched it with a barge pole if it'd been for me.

The best of all of this is that just before I left with the car they asked me to leave a review on Auto Trader. I may just do that... 

46 minutes ago, 2SkodaFamily said:

The best of all of this is that just before I left with the car they asked me to leave a review on Auto Trader. I may just do that... 

 

Wait until they've sorted the car before you review; don't put any unnecessary spanners in the works

Hopefully, they'll have it sorted sorted by the time Mrs 2SF is ready to drive it.

Wish her speedy recovery.

17 minutes ago, Robjon said:

 

Wait until they've sorted the car before you review; don't put any unnecessary spanners in the works

Hopefully, they'll have it sorted sorted by the time Mrs 2SF is ready to drive it.

Wish her speedy recovery.

Thanks mate

Many,many years ago, I was made redundant and returned to full time education, with a part time job in a petrol station on a Fiat dealership. Regular occurrence was a breakdown of one particular model - safety device on the fuel pump next to the fuel tank ( designed to shut off fuel in event of rear end shunt ) couldn't handle speed humps. And it was mostly on one particular road in the town.

Will wait to see what they do with it this week before making any further comment, although Mrs W and I are agreed that they're getting only one shot at fixing it before demanding a different car from them.

Hopefully the dealer will fix the drivers door & put the mats in & you can then enjoy the car,on my recent car purchase i pointed out a couple of minor issues that i wanted sorted before i collected the car,i mentioned them again when the salesman rang to confirm the collection date & even checked the car over before i completed the sale,thankfully for them all the jobs were completed,i can never understand why a dealer doesnt sort any issues before collection as it spoils the new (to us) car experience.Fiats have come on a long way nowadays,a friend has a 500 & loves it & it hasnt been any trouble. 

Thought of this post today, when I spotted a strange looking Fiat model. it was the Fiat IDEA. Says it all ,perhaps,  getting a Fiat could be an idea - a bad one.

11 minutes ago, VWD said:

Thought of this post today, when I spotted a strange looking Fiat model. it was the Fiat IDEA. Says it all ,perhaps,  getting a Fiat could be an idea - a bad one.

Also known as the FIAT IKEA, as you had to go round the car on a regular basis with a Phillips screw driver and an allen key to reattach and tighten all the parts that had worked themselves loose.