currie motors watford

as per this thread in the panda(new) section :

http://www.fiatforum.com/showthread....730#post671730

the short version:
problem with sticky gearchange and clutch not returning after being pressed, they took the car in straight away, thought it would take the weekend to order parts and return to me the following monday. all under full fiat warranty. in reality, was returned all done within 24 hours. so kudos to curries for job done!

however my bugbear about cleaning cars (as with continental) continues, don't wait to see if the customer wants a valet, just do it, even doing the outside would be nice.

btw : they have a stilo schumacher for sale (listed as 1 of 100) for £13500, if anyone wants one....

You got lucky there. They are without compare for the worst dealer I have ever had to experience and thats in 7 years of 3 Fiats with many a problem!

I had countless problems with them and would NEVER let them near any car of mine again. I have had great satisfaction at work sharing this with many FIAT owners who will now also never go near the place.

They are also the most expensive dealer for miles, even Pinneys in Luton are cheaper and they are very expensive!

must have been my winning smile!!!

Hornet, I just bought a car from the Fiat garage in Watford, (Curries). They offered me free mot's for life if I get the car regularly serviced there. Are they really that bad that I should avoid them? I live in Harrow, but am another who works in the Business park at Croxley and thought it would be very convenient to drop the car off before work for servicing. Should I think again? What alternative do I have in Harrow?

gazzak, theres a very small fiat/alfa/lancia specialist behind iceland, northolt road, south harrow, it's name escapes me for now, but drive into he carpark, and at the far end you cant miss it, last time i was there they were building a monster y10 trackday racer

Gazzak did South African Neville sell you your car....he is enough to put you off ever going back! Did you buy a new car from them & was everything OK on the day? Mine was a nightmare

It seems all down to luck and who deals with your car on the day. I just know from all of the following - Perrys Amersham & Aylesbury, Souls MK and Pinneys of Luton they are a lot worse in the experiences I have had over 7 years. They are the only one of those listed I would never step foot in again!

But they fixed turboned's car and he was satisfied with them so it shows experiences can be very different.

Post on here when you next use them as I'd be interested to know if they have improved, although my nightmare was less than a year ago...aftersales manager was Jock Smith.

Nice one. I know the place as I regularly park in the Iceland car park to use the Post Office opposite, (don't tell Iceland)! I'll go and have a nose about next time I'm over there and ask for some prices. Thanks.

We dropped in a few weeks back to look at the Ulysse as we'd tried every other MPV you can think of. The salesman who dealt with us was a young guy who's name I've forgotten but I'll edit this when I get home. To be honest he couldn't have been a nicer bloke. He wasn't pushy, kept his distance and gave us the space to explore the car. Even smiled at the kids When it came to negotiations for the P/E of our 2 cars he went through the manager for the figures and all negotiations, but don't know if it was because he was newish or they all have to do that. He even rang me yesterday to see if the car was OK since we've owned it which was a nice touch. So can only sing the praises of the sales side from what I saw.

We found a problem with the alarm as soon as we got it home, way too sensitive. Curries got it back in right away and found a fault with the alarm unit, have ordered one now and I'm currently waiting for it to arrive at Watford. Again the service I received was friendly and curteous, and everything was explained in detail. So from what I've experienced from them so far I can have nothing but praise for. However, I will keep this thread informed of any updates regarding the alarm.

I'll always shout from the rooftops like you if I get bad service somewhere to stop others experiencing the same, but I'll gladly sing the praises if I'm happy with someone. So far so good

PS. have you booked tickets for the final in cardiff yet, I'm taking the Ulysse if we get there for beer holding abilities!

Car should normally be washed on outside if time/someone available but inside? nah too many folk complain of things stolen from cars etc not worth the aggravation...plus the state of some of the cars I see are unreal...seatcover protects me not the seat

Yes ticket for Tueday and will go to Cardiff when we win on Sat & Tues!!

Regarding Currie Motors in Croxley Green/ Watford. I haven't used them much, mainly because I do all the servicing and work on my own cars.

However, recently I had to deal with a friends Multipla which needed an MOT and had an engine fault. Being a modern design, there was no way I could deal with the 'Engine Control faulty - see dealer' warning message!

I went to Curries on a Friday afternoon and asked when they could fit it in. They then said if I could bring it round within 20 minutes they could diagnose it that afternoon!

Brought the Multipla to them and dropped it off. A couple of hours later they called and said they had located the problem and needed to order a part for it. They also arranged to swap the front suspension springs as part of a recall (no charge for that). This was on a Friday afternoon.

By Monday the car was all done and sorted, and the price of the diagnostics was taken off from the price to fix the engine fault. All seemed very reasonable to me.

They did also locate a number of other faults, none that were that serious. They quoted for parts and labour for these fault, which came to over £3000! I think they were a little overzealous with regards to that, as though some of the parts would need changing at some point none were serious enough for it to fail the MOT the following Tuesday.

They were polite and efficient, which was a surprise after previous experiences. I think they have really pulled their socks up!

Prior to this I'd only really used their parts department, and when I got served by one chap there, though he wasn't that knowledgeable about older Fiats he did his best to help and the parts normally arrived within a few days.

I did find the sales staff a couple of years ago to be unfriendly, but I think they've all changed since then.

Oh, and the Service Manager, Mr. Khan I think, was incredibly helpful and nice. He couldn't have done more so a big pat on his back.

So yes, I would recommend them based on my experience, but double check if they advise any other work to be done/ parts to be replaced. It may not be strictly necessary.

Hope this helps!

Chas

The dealer principal was David Lazurus and the Aftersales manager Jock Smith have these two been replaced? Anyone know? May have to give them a ring and find out as if things have been changed at the top then that would explain things.

I still wouldn't let them touch my car, from past experiences and have you seen their workshop its the darkest and smallest I've seen at a franchised dealer its like a little cave, but currently more positives than negatives on here for them.

Maybe I spoke too soon! Popped back in there Thursday just gone and asked when I could expect a call? They'd forgotten all about it! Just like that. How does that happen? You promise a customer a call then forget about it? Part hasn't even been ordered.

Well I'm very much on the case now, dog with a bone etc. I'll let you know what happens over the next week as I ring them every day!

At least their honest though! Could of used the 'parts on back order/delivery lorry never arrived/sent wrong part' excuse.

Probably would have if I'd phoned. Bloke remembered me but I sat and watched him as he went through the computer screens and his service book. Couldn't really lie to me and have got away with it as I could see everything he did.