I bought my Doblo new from my local Fiat dealer ('06) and I've only ever had it serviced by them. I'd never had a new car before so I thought it was the right thing to do, but money is tight now so I thought I'd start doing it myself.

The first thing I find is the sump plug is almost completely rounded off. Luckily I drive coaches for a living so the mechanics at work sorted that for me.

The second thing I found was a lot of oil around the filter. I went to undo the filter and found I could unscrew it with just finger and thumb.

I think this is disgusting behaviour from a franchised dealer.
I know it's easy to make mistakes but if you accidentally round off a sump plug surely you should replace it? And maybe you should make sure the oil filter is tight?

They are, or were, a Subaru/Fiat dealer, so I imagine that if an Impreza comes in, the senior techs do the service, and if a Doblo comes in... "give that one to the work experience kid"

I hate to think what else they have, or haven't done.

It just shows that a fully dealer stamped service history means absolutely nothing.

Would you take this further, or put it down to experience?

sometimes position and ease of gripping and tightening with oily hands can seem tight but not tight enough,i remember years ago a certain brand was used and o ring shrank
loose filter.yes best to replace worn sump bung,but do you have 1 in stock,no here in 2 days

... just changed fuel filter and air filter.
Fuel filter-no problems,
air filter- The filter had been incorrectly seated inside the airbox.

I'm wondering if there's anything this "Fiat Dealer" can get right?

As a minimum; you should tell the dealership what you found. If they have problems in the workshop they need feedback to put it right.

If they then don't care less, you have lost nothing and you know to avoid.

B.E

... it's not only confined to Fiat Dealers!

Last year Golf Plus post service by VW Dealer 1, (car purchased new from them with 3 years free servicing package) develops an oil leak. VW Dealer 2 locally diagnosis is oil filter was incorrectly fitted, so replace oil filter and clean the mess up and invoice Dealer 1 for it. Checked oil level day after, quarter inch above max! Rang Dealer 2 whom sheepishly ask me to pop it round in my lunch hour so they can check. Were most apologetic and drained excess oil out.

Left me thinking, 2 VW Dealers failing on something as basic as fitting an oil filter and topping the oil up properly... what are the chances?

To be fair thousands of services go 'to plan' daily however IMO there are too many targets to reach and as a result standards suffer.

I have personally become very dissolusioned with the industry as a whole. I want someone who genuinally cares about my cars not someone who wants to appear as if they care.

T14086 said:

To be fair thousands of services go 'to plan' daily however IMO there are too many targets to reach and as a result standards suffer.

I have personally become very dissolusioned with the industry as a whole. I want someone who genuinally cares about my cars not someone who wants to appear as if they care.

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Previous experience says that FIAT dealers are Terrible,
recent experience shows that they are not alone..,

I'm doing DIY servicing as long as I can,
that way my oil filters stay screwed on , and my directional tyres are set up for forward driving rather than high-speed reversing..!!,
Charlie

T14086 said:

To be fair thousands of services go 'to plan' daily however IMO there are too many targets to reach and as a result standards suffer.

I have personally become very dissolusioned with the industry as a whole. I want someone who genuinally cares about my cars not someone who wants to appear as if they care.

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I'm sure they get most of the work they do right.
Maybe it's because they are selling and servicing 3 different makes and the techs are more experienced and better trained with Subaru and Suzuki.

I should have had alarm bells ringing about 2 years ago when they told me I had a number plate light out but they couldn't get the bulb holder out. I did it myself when I got home.
And another time I asked the mechanic if he could show me an easy way to change a tail light bulb, which is notoriously awkward on a Doblo, and he looked over the car for a minute or 2 then declared that he didn't have a clue and walked off.

I want someone who cares too.

The mechanics lose out almost as much as the owners, did they now it, because whatever you do for a living there is always a pride to be had in knowing you have done your work well.

I'm not so sure that the simple business of fitting a flter or somesuch should make any difference. Whatever the make the processes are the same and I'd have thought any diligent mechanic would check as they go along. I expect the Subarus are just as negligently serviced.

Ulpian said:

I want someone who cares too.

The mechanics lose out almost as much as the owners, did they now it, because whatever you do for a living there is always a pride to be had in knowing you have done your work well.

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I reckon about 1% of technicians are happy at work, the other 99% would gladly leave the trade. I would never buy a new car (couldn't afford one anyway) and would certainly not pay £75+ per hour when the person actually working on the car gets a tenth of that amount...greedy springs to mind!

Highly trained techs are restricted to mundane servicing/repairs (resulting in many leaving the trade) because of high hourly charges which no one wants to pay. The motor trade needs to reinvent itself, start afresh from a new angle...ladies & gentleman I am the man that can do this

We use a garage in the next village. A village business dare not get a bad reputation. Labour is about £50/hr and I have known them suggest putting jobs off if your car is elderly and the work will be expensive.

I object to paying for the salesman's suit, the showroom carpet and bling - adds nothing to the service on offer IMO.

B.E

I don't mind paying for good service (which does involve equipment,techs training etc, I understand this) however I expect a service back in relation to my financial input.

You can't beat a good local independent garage. Trust is an important commodity that dealerships often just don't offer.

Robin_Whitby said:

You can't beat a good local independent garage. Trust is an important commodity that dealerships often just don't offer.

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I agree with that.

From now on I'll try to do as much of the basic stuff myself as I can, and anything else I'll trust to a local independent.

Robin_Whitby said:

You can't beat a good local independent garage. Trust is an important commodity that dealerships often just don't offer.

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I concur. (The pads on SWMBO's panda still have plenty of meat on them after 2 years)
(Hi Paul :wave::wave

my stilo has had one service at a fiat dealership since i bought it new in 2004 they tried to charge me something like 350 quid for an oil change since then i've done every single job on it myself.

including

subframe bushes, drop links, discs, pads, filters, shocks, springs.

i'm not a mechanic but i'd rather get my hands a bit oily and know the jobs been done properly than trust a dealer.

What service was it, timing belt?
If this is true and they wanted 350 for a oil change then name then so we can avoid and laugh at them!

T14086 said:

What service was it, timing belt?
If this is true and they wanted 350 for a oil change then name then so we can avoid and laugh at them!

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long time ago but i think it was a basic service oil and filters at the time i'd just got the car and thought i should get it done to keep the warranty.