Anyone know of there is any reason for delay in getting a 500L?

My wife's was supposedly ordered 28th February by our local fiat dealer ready for my wife's motability change over last week. We phones at the beginning of the week as we hadn't heard anything, to be told they haven't even built it yet!

I'm going to phone the dealer again tomorrow to see what's happening as they're saying it could be another month, and don't seem too bothered if its later still. Is there an order number/ build number I can get of them to phone fiat UK with?

Thanks!

Solel said:

Anyone know of there is any reason for delay in getting a 500L?

My wife's was supposedly ordered 28th February by our local fiat dealer ready for my wife's motability change over last week. We phones at the beginning of the week as we hadn't heard anything, to be told they haven't even built it yet!

I'm going to phone the dealer again tomorrow to see what's happening as they're saying it could be another month, and don't seem too bothered if its later still. Is there an order number/ build number I can get of them to phone fiat UK with?

Thanks!

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Pretty shoddy of them not letting you know. Some FIAT dealers do themselves no favours at all.

The last time this happened ISTR even FIAT UK couldn't come up with an answer. It was in the end (and from memory) an issue to do with industrial relations in the factory in Serbia where these are built.

Could be the same issue. But try FIAT, you shouldn't need an order number but if you do ask the dealer for it and explain why you want it.

This seems to be a UK dealer thing not specifically Fiat.

All the cars I've bought from Fiat/Alfa have turned up within the 8
weeks that was put on the order form. In France this is a binding date
and failure to deliver by the data agreed means the customer can pull out
without loosing the deposit.

It's the Melfi site for 500L? Rumour is that it's maxed out with the renegade and 500X too.

I'd agree with the other comments that it's pretty damn poor for the dealer not to even phone to say the car is running late. Fiat usually take 8-12 weeks for a factory order. However there have been delays recently, mostly with getting cars from the factories to the UK, because Fiat have been overrun with demand for the new 500X and Jeep Renegade, which are built in Melfi, Italy for all markets Worldwide.

It's true that the Melfi factory in Italy is also flat out. However that only builds the 500X, Jeep Renegade and (for now) Fiat Punto - The 500L is built in Serbia and I don't think they're under the same pressure as Melfi. They were pretty busy when the 500L was launched, and it sells a lot better in mainland Europe than it does in the UK I believe, but I doubt that'd be the cause of the delays.

If your 500L is actually built (and the dealer is just being a bit OTT saying it's not built yet), I would put money on it being logistical problems because of 500X/Renegade demand - I think all/nearly all Fiat's go to the ports in Italy and then onto the UK, rather than direct from Serbia to the UK etc, so the Italian ports could be the bottleneck. If not, it could be a component shortage holding up the build, or just the dealer not placing the order for a while after you requested it, which is their fault, not Fiats.

See if the dealer has a chassis number or order number when you phone them, and then phone Fiat on 00800 3428 0000. They should be able to speak to the relevant team & find out when the order was actually placed, and what status code it's currently at. From this they can tell you if it's a long time away from being built, about to be built, built and at the factory, or at the port, etc etc. If you have any order paperwork or the date you placed the order with the dealer, have that ready for when you phone Fiat, so that you can quickly see if they placed the order in a timely manner. Placing it a few days after the customer isn't too bad, but if they've waited more than a week then obviously it means the dealer has questions to answer.

Thanks for all the replies. It seems the garage hadn't checked the progress until we asked!


As chance would have it, we got a phone call this morning saying it's been built. Just got to wait for it to make its way to the UK now..

Just an update. Arrived at the dealers last week, and collected today.

Is that a record for slowness?!

Solel said:

Just an update. Arrived at the dealers last week, and collected today.

Is that a record for slowness?!

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That's horrendously slow. When I worked at a dealer it was usually no more than 3 weeks after being built that it'd be at the dealers. 6 weeks you've waited?! Crazy!

Are you getting the first service free or anything to compensate?

JTD_Liam said:

That's horrendously slow. When I worked at a dealer it was usually no more than 3 weeks after being built that it'd be at the dealers. 6 weeks you've waited?! Crazy!

Are you getting the first service free or anything to compensate?

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Nah, it's a Motability car, so services aren't paid for anyway. And who is the 'customer' becomes a bit of a grey area.


I thought it might be the colour as it's Backbeat Blue, and I've not seen any in that colour, but the dealer said he had a 500l Trekking in a different colour came in on the same delivery that was ordered two weeks later than ours.

Solel said:

Just an update. Arrived at the dealers last week, and collected today.

Is that a record for slowness?!

Click to expand...

I ordered mine last year in March and picked it up middle of July.


That sucked big time as they ended up changing models slightly and took one of the most important things I wanted out which was the rear Power Supply.

Hm, strange ....

I bought mine from a dealer here in Austria who had several cars in stock. It is quite common here that dealers register cars for one day, so that they can sell them as used cars (but zero miles), apparently to reach sales goals set by FIAT. I paid EUR 19k instead of the list price of 26k. And did not have to wait

Brandy

Ez2517 said:

Hm, strange ....

I bought mine from a dealer here in Austria who had several cars in stock. It is quite common here that dealers register cars for one day, so that they can sell them as used cars (but zero miles), apparently to reach sales goals set by FIAT. I paid EUR 19k instead of the list price of 26k. And did not have to wait

Brandy

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I ordered a 500l in mid June 2015 via Motability for delivery late August.
Just had a phone call saying there is a long delay and it will be end September or even mid October.
Apparently 500l are having a facelift and different engines so production is confused and delayed.

Italian car factories are shut through August.

A delivery date in August is an outright fib.

There are loads of pre reg pop stars around at the moment if anyone does not want to wait.Around £5K off also.

Thought they were built in Serbia?

The 500L is built in Serbia. However I don't know if they still shut down in August or not. I suspect even if they don't, because the Italian part of Fiat does, it might cause a knock-on effect.

Also, the 500L has had engine changes in the last month or two (1.3 diesel unit now 95bhp instead of 85bhp, 1.6 diesel now only available as 120bhp, not 105bhp as well), so all this is probably having an effect.