Hi all
Have had my 500 15 plate 2 months. Noticed at the weekend that the plastic end cap on the wiper blade had fallen off and the rubber was sliding about. Contact my dealer who point blank refused to replace it, fobbing me off with "not covered under warranty" .
I don't think I should be buying parts for a brand new car after 2 months, so then contacted Fiat Customer Care who took details and said they would call back within 48 hours, that was on Monday!!
Has anybody experienced a similar situation?
Very annoyed and appalled at that bad customer service.
It may not be a major fault, but it is the principle of it, I bet someone at Fiat wouldn't want to pay for something needing to be replaced on a brand new car?!

Get used to it, fiat dealers are a joke and will be the downfall of the company.

Doesn't sound good. I would feel the same as you if I had an issue. I've had my 500 about 10 days and would not be at all happy if this happened to me.

Call Fiat again maybe? I'd be on their case and not letting it go. Shouldn't have to though. You would think they would want to sort it reputation wise.

Are you on twitter?

If so get on there and complain tagging all fiat headquarters type accounts.

Twitter seems to be the only way to get results nowadays.

Yes I am on twitter , will try that. Bloody fuming about it. Are cars covered under the Sale of Goods Act? It;s not fit for purpose and if I had bought a wiper blade in a shop and taken it back broken after 2 months they would replace it with no bother.

You don't indicate which part of the country you are in.....might be worth trying another Fiat dealer if you have one within a reasonable travelling distance. Don't forget, just because you bought your car from one dealership, doesn't mean that you have to stick and be loyal to that particular one. If you are being treated like this before you've even had your first service, what exactly are they going to be like later on? To be fair they're not all bad, some though seemingly, deserve a rocket up their jacksies :bang:

I'm in Dorset. Will investigate ones further afield. That's what I thought, if they're like this now, what will they be like further down the line!!

There are a handful of good dealers (I've found a few) but a lot of them are dreadful. Main dealers for many brands don't seem great, but Fiat just seems to have unbelievably low minimum standards. Personally I think so long as the building has a roof and 4 walls then that'll do for Fiat UK, everything else is optional.

Fiat Customer Service has it's good moments but for the large part they're useless as well. Thankfully the 500 is usually very well behaved so you shouldn't have to speak to the muppets too much

In Dorset I've not heard much about the dealers, but SGM in Sarisbury Green (SO31) have a sister-garage in Sussex who get good feedback, so you would think SGM are also ok.

Failing that if you don't mind a bit of a drive, there's a Fiat Dealer in Chippenham (Wiltshire) called Pewsham Garages, who are excellent. It says they're about 50 miles from Bournemouth but I drive from Oxford to them for servicing on my car & think they're worth it if you can spare the time. A lady on here who had no end of problems with her dealer in the South West travelled up to them & they really looked after her too. That's the nearest one to you on Fiats dealer locator that I know are good, but we do have members in Dorset so maybe they'll be able to point you in the right direction closer to home if needs be

Just mention to the dealer principal that The Supply of Goods Act (Implied Terms) applies to all goods and services and these must be of a merchantable quality. That failing, tell them you`ll contact the local, then national, press.
Good luck.

Thanks for all your comments. I have sent a message to Fiat Care on twitter and they are going to prompt their call back. Wish me luck haha!!

I have to say that Sturgess of Leicester have been nothing but helpful, courteous, truthful and go out of their way to ensure we are happy with them and their service.

We have had various items that have not been up to standard like a faulty speedo display, windscreen wiper smears/streaks, scuttle panel came adrift, rear wash wipe pipe came adrift and a couple of other things. They all have been dealt with speed and efficiency.

From day one I tried to build a relationship with these guys, they know my name, my wifes and both my childrens name and most importantly my wifes' FIAT 500 name (LOLA). It seems that if you're open and honest with them and build that relationship and have a laugh, they are more inclined to help you in times of need.

I've been back since and bought a used Mondeo TDCi from them and got exactly the same standard of care from them even though it was bought outright and was half the cost of the 500.

Just wanted to give credit where credit's due and hopefully give back some faith in the brand?

deef1 said:

I have to say that Sturgess of Leicester have been nothing but helpful, courteous, truthful and go out of their way to ensure we are happy with them and their service.

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Nice to know. They aren't a million miles from me so if I have any problems with my dealer I know there is a plan B