SGM fiat trying to rip me off- advice please

I have finally decided to part ex my Grande Punto and buy a fiat 500. After experiencing extremely poor service from my local dealer PDH in Hassocks near Brighton, I decided to try SGM Fiat in Segensworth near Southampton not far from where I work.

I went to their showrooms on Wednesday of last week and spoke to one of their salesmen. Wasn't sure quite what I wanted, but they had a lovely 1.3Mj Lounge with lots of extras in the showroom, already registered (in Feb 08 looking at tax disc) but with delivery miles as it was a cancelled order. The salesman advised me it was £11,400. Unsure of whether I wanted a diesel or not, I decided to take an identical car for a test drive. That was the clincher.

Arriving back at the showroom, I told the salesman I wanted to buy the pre-registered Lounge and asked what they could give me for my GP in part-ex. He disappeared for a few minutes to speak to his manager.

"Sorry the lounge is £11,975" he said.
"I thought you said it was £11,400?" I replied.
"Yeh sorry I was wrong- it's £400 off list price I got confused" he said
"Right... ok so what are you going to give me for mine?" I asked, already a bit miffed that the price had increased.
"£6000 we will give you which is above book price" he replied.

Thinking I was getting a bargain, I signed and paid my £500 deposit. I then left for work as I hadn't time to finish the paperwork. I promised to return the next day to sign the dotted line. On returning home, I thought i'd check the list of extras and was annoyed to discover that £11,975 was in fact the normal list price and NOT the £400 discount the salesman has told me I was getting.

The next morning (Thursday) I returned to sign the paperwork. The guy who had served me the day before wasn't there and neither was the manager. I spoke to another salesman and told him I wasn't happy that I had been told that I was getting a £400 discount when, in fact, I wasn't. He looked at me as if to say "well what do you expect me to do?". I had asked for a spoiler to be fitted to the car as an extra, and this salesman said they would probably add it for free to make up for the misunderstanding. He wrote this on the order form, but also wrote that it would be subject to confirmation with his manager who was uncontactable that day. Happy with that, I left.

The next day, the original salesman I had dealt with called me to say that they would NOT give me the spoiler for free. I pointed out that he had a) increased the price of the car after I had agreed to buy it and b) lied to me that I was getting a £400 discount off list price, but his reply was that they were giving me above book price for my GP. I pointed out that this was irrelevant as that price was agreed AFTER he had tld me that £11,975 was a £400 discount off list. So I said that I may as well buy a brand new unregistered 500 and he said fine but we cant give you £6000 for your GP ona new one. A heated discussion ensued on the phone during which I threatened to pull out of the sale and take my £500 deposit back. He didn't say it, specifically, but he more or less hinted that they wouldn't give me my £500 back.

So what would you do? This whole experience has left a really sour taste in my mouth and I don't actually feel as if I want to spend £12k on a Fiat any more. I love the pre-registered Lounge but when I think about it I feel as if they are trying to take me for a mug and I don't want to give SGM Fiat a single penny of my money.

I'd pull out, they cannot legally refuse to return your deposit.

they must give back you'r deposit if you pull out within 14 days of original agreament ( this is you'r statutory right) send a solicitors letter (£30 ish) stating why you are pulling out and asking for a refund of the 500 pounds deposit you have left. also contact fiat uk and let them know how this dealership is representing them...

Sounds like a typical experience to me and not at all, peculiar to SGM. I would ask to see the dealer principal and explain your situation. If they have told you its £400 off list price then it should be.
Have you added up all the options on this 500 to see how much it would cost new?
I have ordered my car from them, was initially impressed.... however after 4 months of waiting they have never once phoned me, Ive always had to phone them and very often they dont return a call.
I hope you resolve this, but first make sure you know exactly the full price for the exact 500 you are buying... just to be sure. If you get no joy then phone Fiat customer services and explain to them.

Yes its a 1.3Mj Lounge in Cha Cha Azure with
-black leather seats
-front fogs
-tinted windows
-side rubbing strips
-16" multispoke alloys

which comes to £11,975 on fiat configurator. £11,975, they told me, was £400 off list price which it clearly isnt.

Ironically, the first thing I said when I walked in was that I lived in Brighton but I was so fed up with PDH Fiat that I wanted to buy one from somewhere else, yet SGM are turning out to be just the same! I can't believe they are prepared to let me walk away from a car that has been sitting in their showroom for 4 months, all for the sake of a free spoiler!

I didnt realise about that 2 week cool off thing so I think i'm gonna ask for a refund... not even sure I want another Fiat at all now if all their dealers are this bad.

Not all fiat dealers are bad, I had a few problems to start off with upon ordering but to be fair Vospers looked after us. We could of said "stuff it" but really wanted a 500. Well that was 4 months ago and we've finally got our 500 and all I can say is get your deposit back and go find a decent dealer as the car is well worth it!!

Not wanting to tout peoples buisness's but these guys come highly recommended on various forums & do have stock : http://www.wessexgarages.co.uk/ or 01452 317273 ask for a Mr Kerr .


Good luck

Yoshi

ps drop a line to fiat customer services about the dealer...it really knarks me that they have such an excellent product being ruined by a few crap dealers

I brought my 500 from PDH in Hassocks and they were really helpful with me but i brought my first car there so they knew me. Maybe try going there again i can try look up name of my sales guy he was really nice.

xxxx
xxx
xx
x

it's such a shame...always the biggest problem buying a new Fiat - the dealerships. ive used 3 since i had my seicento from new:

Cheltenham - gave wrong info, supplied wrong spare key after sale and took several occasions to even acknowledge demonstrable faults.now closed, surprise surprise.

Worcester - massively overpriced servicing on my ex's panda, rude ignorant staff.

Gloucester for a test drive in panda 100hp - fine at first, but turned extremely unpleasant after we returned saying we had decided against it. Reasons we gave he said we were wrong and just laughed at us. Driving license literally thrown across the desk at us and he walked off without another word.

all of them - truly appaling customer service treatment.


i thought fiat were supposed to be sorting this kind of thing out, they've admitted to knowing the dealer service is the weak link. how hard is it to resolve??!!

i'll probably still be buying the 500 abarth, but even with them only being sold through supposedly the best dealerships its not an experience pre or post sale that im looking forward to, as im sure do others feel who have experience of the company. Glad i wont have to use any of the 3 aforementioned one at least, dont they realise they alienate customers permanently with one bad experience? its pretty basic stuff.


koksy, demand your deposit back off the scum and go elsewhere, their loss.

Hi Koksy............
Gotta agree with Miss sporty on this one, PDH at Hassocks have given us great service too! Both with the sale and aftercare, so far.

Sorry you've had a bad time with them, Maybe give Paul Golds a bell, he always looked after us o.k.

Good Luck...........Don't give up on a 500, just negotiate the price and px before signing on the dotted line.

If you haven't signed a contract they can't keep your £500. The 14 day cooling off period is only for 'distance sales'. If you have gone into their showroom, that is not a distance sale.

Cheers

Gormless Cretin

Try cancelling the card transaction with the bank before it goes through if possible!

PDH Hassocks were unable/unwilling to rectify various faults on my Grande Punto. I was fobbed off with rubbish that I knew wasn't true from reading this forum. Not ONCE did they EVER return any of my phone calls or call me when parts arrived.

For example, i went into garage at 3.30pm one day and booked car in to have brake pads changed the next day as original ones were grinding after only 1500 miles. Pads were confirmed as in stock so I took a morning off work to take the car in at 10am the next day to have it done whilst I waited. Sat around for an hour before being told they hadn't got the pads in stock after all (only 4 working hours after they told me they had them)!!!!! They promised to call me when they were in stock. A week later I had heard nothing so I called them and they denied all knowledge of me ever having been in to see them!

And thats just one example in many of why I won't ever buy a car from PDH.

Get your £500 back and tell SGM to take a hike. This sorta thing is what really makes me angry about Fiat, as im sure id evident in some of my other posts.

Ive only used a couple of Fiat dealers (Mangoletsi in Knutsford & Mellors of Challow in Oxfordshire, both pretty good) for small things like parts, coz i can't be arsed with putting myself in the possible line of fire from these p**s poor excuses for customer service that Fiat have representing them in some parts of the UK.

However, i understand you could do with using a main dealer for the purchase of the 500, so why not either try PDH again (not heard bad things bout them before, unlike SGM) or go to Alan Gibson in Basingstoke. It's abit of a drive from Brighton (and you shouldn't have to do it coz Fiat UK should've got their arses in gear & sorted ALL the dealers by now) but if you want a decent dealer, this one seems to be the one to go to in the South Central area. He (or they) came 2nd out of about 30 in the Fiat Forum dealer survey, so they must be decent.

Get away from SGM anyway, they don't deserve ur money if theyre carrying on like that.

sounds like the usual fiat dealership stuff. god i hope i can manage to overcome my loathing of them when im ready to get my 500!

does any1 no what the one in finchley is like