The first service on my 500 TA is due in 2 k miles. Recently moved to South Wales and notice CEM Day's are the dealer, a dealer I have bad history with dating back to 1998, a Ford Orion & a small claims court

Recently used Waterfall in Bridgend for work on two of our Alfa's. Very impressed. I take it you can still opt out of the dealer network for service, subject to schedules being adhered to / genuine parts being used without affecting warranty

Cheers,

Simon

PS, when I say unknown, I mean as a new Fiat dealer.

Yes, so long as VAT registered. Won't help you if you need support form Fiat in the future, or if you intend to sell the car in the short/medium term.

Appreciate I'll lose goodwill but in my experience, Fiat don't do that well anyway.

Interesting comment about sales. A fully stamped & receipted Indy SH has never affected resale. On a private sale, an Alfa Dealer history is probably seen as a negative amongst Alfisti

I hear what you're saying, but I can just see a punter (or dealer if you are trading in) saying "Well I would give you more, but it doesn't have a full main dealer history, everyone expects that these days...."

With it being a TA make sure they use 5-40 oil anything else will make it sluggish or not run correctly or at all but dealers will do extra service requirements that other garages might not

A good alternative might be to take it to a another non fiat main dealer with good rep, youll still get the main dealer service quality an as long as they use genuine parts warranty wont be effected. :thumbup:

jordan1293fiat said:

A good alternative might be to take it to a another non fiat main dealer with good rep, youll still get the main dealer service quality an as long as they use genuine parts warranty wont be effected. :thumbup:

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I guess I don't equate good service with a dealer, in general. There are notable exceptions though but I no longer live in the Midlands.

My only other suggestion is that maybe you do go to a good fiat main dealer thats worth travelling a few miles too an have the service done while you wait. Seen as its only a intermediate service should only take about an hour :thumbup:

Squadrone Rosso said:

The first service on my 500 TA is due in 2 k miles. Recently moved to South Wales and notice CEM Day's are the dealer, a dealer I have bad history with dating back to 1998, a Ford Orion & a small claims court

Recently used Waterfall in Bridgend for work on two of our Alfa's. Very impressed. I take it you can still opt out of the dealer network for service, subject to schedules being adhered to / genuine parts being used without affecting warranty

Cheers,

Simon

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Hi Simon,

We used to live in Cardiff and always dealt with Griffin Mill near Pontypridd.

I know it is a little bit of a trek, but they are IMO a really good dealer and have always been great to deal with.
deeyup is mates with one of the sales guys there; I know that may sound biased, but they do seem to look after their customers, much more so than some main dealers anyway.

All depends if you want to stick with a main dealer or not really, but it is well worth the extra petrol. I have to travel nearly 40 miles to my dealer in Barnstaple, it's not great but at least I know I am not dealing with chimps!

I've found them great at Griffin Mill, but then I do know them there now so maybe they go the extra mile for me?

They've not found the answer to my intermittent start stop fault yet, but when my 500 was delivered new with a split fuel tank, they instantly gave me another 500 TA+ to drive around in until the new tank was here. They fixed it with no drama too.
Then when my Panda went in with the rattly when cold dash (plenty had this on the Panda section) they sorted it out straight away (loose heating matrix from poor assembly at factory)

I've not yet had a service from them as I've not got to the increment, so can't comment on prices, but the 3 year service plan seemed good value at £300 odd when it was offered.

These guys are in stark contrast to the last dealer I used, Lee and Turner Bridgend who were an absolute joke trying to fix yet another brand new Fiat delivered with assembly faults. They were returning it every time with more problems which they had created.

As Super Uwe says, it may be a fair trek for you, but if CEM Day are anything like Lee and Turner were it could be worth your while?

Oh, just remembered. J&J Motors in Bridgend seem pretty decent too, but not had any real 1st hand experience.

Just an update. Decided to go with the dealer option so after speaking with FGA's zone manager, it's booked into CEM Days on Friday for the first / 18k service.

The cost is a bit eye watering though. £360 all in. Includes oil, air, fuel & cabin filters, the oil & spark plugs.

Sound about right??

Also asked them to look at the creaky clutch pedal & the rattling drop links. Hopefully the warranty will cover this as these are significant factors in sticking with a dealer.

Will keep you posted

Squadrone Rosso said:

Just an update. Decided to go with the dealer option so after speaking with FGA's zone manager, it's booked into CEM Days on Friday for the first / 18k service.

The cost is a bit eye watering though. £360 all in. Includes oil, air, fuel & cabin filters, the oil & spark plugs.

Sound about right??

Also asked them to look at the creaky clutch pedal & the rattling drop links. Hopefully the warranty will cover this as these are significant factors in sticking with a dealer.

Will keep you posted

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How many miles exactly has the car done? I ask because I was under the impression with the TA that it uses iridium plugs which have an extended service life, or is that incorrect information?

£360 is steep for a first service. I notice that between Neath and Cardiff there are a total of four Fiat dealers. Have you called any of the others? I found that by calling several dealers I managed to negotiate a decent price on servicing with our last 500. Ok, I accept, travelling for some in not always an option, but if I'm going to save myself a hundred quid for instance, I'll travel 50 miles.

As has been mentioned, yes, you can go down the independent route, as long as they adhere to the service schedule and use genuine service items/parts, there shouldn't be a problem. For the record, I used an independent for the 2nd year service on our last 500 and saved about £280 by doing so. I sold the car to a Fiat dealer in part exchange for a brand new TA and they weren't remotely bothered by the fact the car had a non Fiat stamp in the service log. Best bet for independent though, is a Fiat/Alfa specialist and that is what I used.

Squadrone Rosso said:

Just an update. Decided to go with the dealer option so after speaking with FGA's zone manager, it's booked into CEM Days on Friday for the first / 18k service.

The cost is a bit eye watering though. £360 all in. Includes oil, air, fuel & cabin filters, the oil & spark plugs.

Sound about right??

Also asked them to look at the creaky clutch pedal & the rattling drop links. Hopefully the warranty will cover this as these are significant factors in sticking with a dealer.

Will keep you posted

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No it doesn't sound about right. I would say about half of that sounds right. That's very expensive, even for a main dealer!

It's done 17780 so almost there mileage wise so 16 months time wise.

Only hiccups in this time has been an air vent replacement (resulting in dealer damage), climate control flap replacement, some wiring loom tape coming lose around the rear hi-level brake light & the cool pack recall.

Picked up a few parking dings too but all sorted by my PDR man.

Squadrone Rosso said:

It's done 17780 so almost there mileage wise so 16 months time wise.

Only hiccups in this time has been an air vent replacement (resulting in dealer damage), climate control flap replacement, some wiring loom tape coming lose around the rear hi-level brake light & the cool pack recall.

Picked up a few parking dings too but all sorted by my PDR man.

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Squadrone Rosso, please read this thread and please don't pay £360:

https://www.fiatforum.com/500/323775-fiat-500-twin-air-1yr-service-3.html

Squadrone Rosso said:

Just an update. Decided to go with the dealer option so after speaking with FGA's zone manager, it's booked into CEM Days on Friday for the first / 18k service.

The cost is a bit eye watering though. £360 all in. Includes oil, air, fuel & cabin filters, the oil & spark plugs.

Sound about right??

Also asked them to look at the creaky clutch pedal & the rattling drop links. Hopefully the warranty will cover this as these are significant factors in sticking with a dealer.

Will keep you posted

Click to expand...

Hi Simon,

It sounds like an awful lot of money for the first 18k service, even for a TA. I mean, it's nearly £400 for goodness sake and they're not even doing the brake fluid!

Defo worth ringing up the other dealerships in the area, get the cheapest quote and ask Days to match it if they are nearest and most convenient for you. You are lucky in that there are a good few dealers in South Wales, which means more competition of course.

I'd be surprised if you can't save yourself at least £100 and still stick with a main dealer for all your warranty queries.

Sounds more like a second or third service price on an Alfa rather than a first service on a baby Fiat. I can't see why it's so expensive.

Parents paid £130 for an annual service (at 11,000 miles) on their TwinAir 500 last April. That was at the main dealer in Warwick (Grays). We got a bit of a discount because we'd bought it there and obviously there's not quite so much involved in the annual service as there would be in the full 18k service, but even so I can't see why it should be more than £250.

Any dealer that quotes me more than £250 for the first service on any Fiat would be told to take a hard look at themselves. A Ferrari they mostly definitely are not!

360? Are they taking the pee?

The Vauxhall 'Service Plan' on my Mokka costs a grand total of £660 for five services (paid monthly). WTF does this Fiat dealership think they are doing charging more than half of this for one fecking service!!!