Hi Fellow Fiat Owners

I hate to join the forum on such a bad note but I'm truly miffed with FIAT customer care.

I have a Fiat Bravo top of the range with all the trimmings in white - NICE - but the steering wheel badge has corroded - what a mess it is too. I have complained to fiat who say its a trimming. It had been a problem within about six months of purchase but I thought hey I'll sort as and when its only a bit of plastic no worries. So when it went in for it's first service I pointed it out - well actually I didn't need to point it out as the service manage pointed out what a mess it was. He tried to claim under warranty but they said it was a trimming. No worries I said I'll pay it's only a bit of plastic. Well not it's connected to the air bag. So doesn't that make it a component I asked? NOOOOOOO said fiat absolutley not. Proceeding to try and cover themselves by saying it must be the polish I use. Well I don't use polish as I have ME and it has given me MCS, so I NEVER use anything smelly in my car. Plus the corrosion is within the badge. You cannot feel it on the outside of the badge at all. It is within. Either under the top layer of the badge or even further down. I argued that maybe the air bag is corroded too. Nothing. I spoke to some dumb useless customer service person that hasn't touched or seen the mess and simply work for fiat to save them money.

The short of it all is that it will cost me £550 to fix and fiat won't help in any way. I paid them over £23,000 for that - their customer service is utter rubbish.

Has anyone else had this problem and can anyone make any suggestions as to how I can get my case heard.....

Feeling well and truly let down and pissed off. I WILL NEVER EVER EVER BUY ANOTHER FIAT CAR AGAIN NOR WILL I PAY FOR THEIR SERVICING OF THE CAR NEITHER AS THEY PROBABLY HAVE SOME HIDDEN 'RIP YOU OFF' CLAUSE ...

You are never buying another fiat again because your steering wheel badge is damaged? I completely agree they should change it free of charge, but if you like the cars, that's one hell of an over reaction.

Someone more in the know will be able to tell you, but I'm fairly certain that there will be some legislation covering you for this kind of thing.

Also someone actually charged you £23000 for a bravo?

Beauty said:

I WILL NEVER EVER EVER BUY ANOTHER FIAT CAR AGAIN NOR WILL I PAY FOR THEIR SERVICING OF THE CAR NEITHER AS THEY PROBABLY HAVE SOME HIDDEN 'RIP YOU OFF' CLAUSE ...

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Give us a break and stop shouting.

Anyone in his right mind would take this kind of issue calmly, hell it's just a freaking badge, go to a breakers and he might even give it to you for free so you can stop whining and go away.

There are people who purchase £200.000 ferraris that end up burning down the same day they bough it and they still don't go ranting like this, and your issue is a stupid badge?!

looks like a manufacturing fault so ring fiat customer service and they will be able to help
call

00800 3428 0000

insist that it is assigned a case number and escalate it if required

alternatively get a badge and stick it on

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/sis.html?_nkw=FIAT Badge&_itemId=190519405459

Well actually I don't like the bloody ****ty car - in fact I wish I'd bought something that held it's value like a Kia Sportage for instance.

No I don't think it's an over reaction at all. The previous year I bought a brand new Fiat 500 by diesel limited edition and I won't tell you about the poor customer service I had with that car. But the car leaked in and the water ruined all the electrics and fiat didn't fix it properly or dry it out properly neither so then power steering failed and they didn't know why - duh - and all they offered me was my part ex - i lost £5000 on that deal for this bag of **** and the worse customer service you can imagine. so i'm afraid a badge is not the problem it's the icing on the cake.

Short of calling you pretty dumb for buying a car you don't like for full price from a brand you don't trust, my only advice is to seek help from bodies like trading standards and see if there are are any rules surrounding parts not coming close to their life expectancy.

Again, people more knowledgeable than I will come along and tell you if that is worthwhile or not.

Anyway

I think you deserve some kind of special prize for managing to spend over £20k on a Bravo

yes Rob I do have a case and a number but i'm afraid they won't accept it's a manufacture defect they are trying to blame it on cleaning chemicals, when they haven't even seen it and they are saying that the local fiat dealer who initially reported the problem is being awkward with them - but i was there when he told them what a disgrace it was and that warranty wouldn't cover it.
i guess i'm in the wrong place here to complain and i'm sorry because i realise that maybe you are all fiat followers and yes the car looks fab, it's shape etc but for me customer service is everything - that's so what is wrong in England. British people accept all kinds of 'anythings' and i'm not doing it anymore. i expect to get what i pay for and when you are paying almost £23000 for a car you expect a little more.
what i wanted was to complain and moan and shout and be heard not have the members minimize my desire for my car to look beautiful inside and out ...

Oh dear what a lovely bunch you are - not

goodbye

Beauty said:

yes Rob I do have a case and a number but i'm afraid they won't accept it's a manufacture defect they are trying to blame it on cleaning chemicals, when they haven't even seen it and they are saying that the local fiat dealer who initially reported the problem is being awkward with them - but i was there when he told them what a disgrace it was and that warranty wouldn't cover it.
i guess i'm in the wrong place here to complain and i'm sorry because i realise that maybe you are all fiat followers and yes the car looks fab, it's shape etc but for me customer service is everything - that's so what is wrong in England. British people accept all kinds of 'anythings' and i'm not doing it anymore. i expect to get what i pay for and when you are paying almost £23000 for a car you expect a little more.
what i wanted was to complain and moan and shout and be heard not have the members minimize my desire for my car to look beautiful inside and out ...

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bad luck, you chose to complain to the wrong people...

Beauty said:

Oh dear what a lovely bunch you are - not

goodbye

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*dodges toys coming from beauty's pram*

:wave:

maybe as well as changes my posts you might also want to delete my account please

Beauty

I had the same issue. You have two options.

One, cause the airbag to go off without having an impact, thus stating that the airbag was faulty and went off, not only will they have to replace the badge but the whole steering wheel too, on the grounds that they supplied you with an unsafe vehicle.

Two, get a bespoke badge made that sits over the original, that's what I did and I think it cost me about £15, ask Jack21 to post a photo of it as he has my old Bravo.

Hope this helps....................

Well i hope Beauty hasn't been scared off by other forum members just yet.

I can fully understand your frustration regarding the badge on the steering wheel and would suggest the following:

1. Write to Fiat Customer Services and your dealer (cc'ing each other in telling them that you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint and that you want the matter re-visited. Point out that to your knowledge only the dealer has assessed the cause of the problem and you are not satisfied with their explanation. Tell them (as long as you are certain) that no chemicals have been near the badge when you have been in owndership of the car and therefore the fault must logically be in the manufacture of the badge. Tell them that they have four weeks to reach a resolution otherwise you will take them to the small claims court for the the cost of the repair quoting the price you have been told it will cost to repair. State that any product purchased in the UK is covered by the sales of goods act 1979 which states that goods must be 'as described, of reasonable quality and last a reasonable length of time'. From your description the dealer has failed on both the reasonable quality and length of time part.
2. Go to another Fiat dealer and ask them to investigate the issue. Another dealer may have more experience of this issue and have more sway with Fiat UK.
3. If that fails then take them to the small claims court. It only costs £30 to do and could be money well spent.

Things i would point out though are:

• Are you certain the steering wheel has not been washed with chemicals? If you have taken it to a hand car wash they may have used a chemical on it.
• You have never said how old the car is?
• Remember that your complaint is with the dealer not Fiat UK. Legally they are responsible because they sold you the car. Fiat only provide the warranty. Therefore if you try to take them to the small claims court it is the dealer not Fiat that you take.

Rant over.

Beauty said:

maybe as well as changes my posts you might also want to delete my account please

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looks like the only edits to your posts are yours, and the auto swear filter

I don't understand why there not interested in replacing them. I had my front and back Fiat badges replaced under warranty at well over 4 years old. People have had their whole steering wheels replaced because of peeling so I have read (mine needs doing also haven't got round to it yet)

Have you tried a different fiat dealer or rang other dealers to see what they think?

Oh dear!
It looks like something has splashed on that badge and eaten into it?
I can understand you being very upset after spending that sort of money and getting nowhere with the customer service, have you tried another dealer?

I bought a new Punto Evo Sporting, had it for two years and loved it but now I have a little boy and a baby girl I wanted some back doors and a bit more boot space so changed the Evo for a '58 Bravo 150 T-Jet and I just can't like it. Everything squeaks and rattles, the suspension setup is way too stiff for an english B road, the Blue&me system is very temperamental and the gearbox whines in 5th and 6th. I want to like it, from the sound of it, it's like yours in terms of spec, leather, skydome, climate control etc but can't help thinking I should of followed the masses and got a mk5 Golf GTi.

sismithin said:

I don't understand why there not interested in replacing them. I had my front and back Fiat badges replaced under warranty at well over 4 years old. People have had their whole steering wheels replaced because of peeling so I have read (mine needs doing also haven't got round to it yet)

Have you tried a different fiat dealer or rang other dealers to see what they think?

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How did you manage that?! The badge on the boot of my '58 is crazed, I don't think there's any way my dealer will entertain changing it.

sismithin said:

I don't understand why there not interested in replacing them. I had my front and back Fiat badges replaced under warranty at well over 4 years old. People have had their whole steering wheels replaced because of peeling so I have read (mine needs doing also haven't got round to it yet)

Have you tried a different fiat dealer or rang other dealers to see what they think?

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They don't want to replace it because it's not just the badge, they have to replace the whole airbag cover and it's not such a simple job especially if the customer is extremely rude and racist asking for all kinds of VIP treatment because he bought the car for £20000.

At the end of the day it's just one freaking badge, and if this guy's not brain dead, he has about 20 solutions for fixing the problem without breaking the bank.

I say great job fiat UK.

Racist??