(G) Car went to dealers today

And im more than a little miffed....

1stly the rattly suspension, it was test driven (for 2 miles, in the city at 20mph???) and declared as fine, and I was told, oh they all do rattle like that sir its a characteristic of the car, well not the 1 I test drove...

Failure to fix my dodgy electric window as 1 tech couldnt understand what the other tech had written on the job sheet!!

Nothing else mended, heater fan still sqeaks, door locks still creak, rear end still rattles and my mismatched piece of B pillar trim still not replaced. Tech says because its a manufacturing error they must get approval from Fiat before they can even order a little piece of shiny plastic!!

So once again I will be without a car next week because they only have about 3 courtesy cars and being a Fiat dealer they are always being used.

But more than the problems with the car which have ticked me off, was what the guy said to me, I think the service manager actually. He said, it will always rattle, its a Fiat and if I want a high quality car I should buy something German for more money!! Now that got my goat, as it did the saleswoman who sold it to me who was trying in vain to get me to buy an ex demo Bravo they have there! Looks like no more Fiats for me, and when my car needs its 18k service I will not be giving my money to Colliers.

All this after being without a car for the day, ended up borrowing my dads 7 series (nice car, even 10 years on) and the car came back dirty so yeah, not happy. He hinted that at 8 months old and 15k miles my car is now getting on a bit and all that should be expected! All ive got to say to that is bull****, ive had many cars with over 200k on them that have had no rattles!!

Im pretty incensed to be honest, I know its not an expensive car in the grand scheme of things, but is it too much to ask, to have what problems it does have mended??!! And to not have the very idea of a car lasting at least a few years with no issues mocked!

i think a call to Fiat HQ is needed, tell them your problems and that the customer service from your dealer is ****e. you have a 3 year warranty for a reason.

I think it's a shame this occurs as the reputable Fiat dealers will eventually suffer as a consequence if this happens too often. Telling HQ is absolutely the right thing to do, however I would say that the problems I've had with Fiat are when you go to the top (Customer Services) not the actual garage. The trick is to keep phoning and ask if your problem is being looked into as I reckon it's easily be forgotten.

My dealers techs have sorted out similar problems recently and they spent a great deal of time finding out where a rattle was and sorted out some other minor problems with no fuss.....when I picked the car up it had been washed and polished within an inch of it's life and looking great.

Funny how one thing can spoil the rest. Fiat have recently done very well in the 'What Car' reliabilty survey and came 12th I think. They quoted that Fiat in general had improved but the 'Multipla' model had so many recalls that it effected the result and they could of come even higher.

Usual suspects Renault (Anything French probably), Landrover Freelander/discovery were very poor and at the bottom as per usual. This is where the Fiat brand was....so it great to see them improving!!

Fiat HQ are worse than the dealers in my experience!

Phone call 1 - "Oh no sire, definately your car should be in the lower tax band, it must be a mistake, I will look into it and get it sorted for you"

Phone call 2 - "No sir, your car is in the correct tax band and we cannot help you even though the dealer said it was in the lower one when they sold you the car"

auto_blanco....sorry to hear of your problems also alot of what GPS is right,the poor dealers are spoiling it for everyone else.Please dont think all dealers are like this because they aint.

(ps moving to main GP section as not technical related)

I think ive found a good dealer for my 1st service now, hopefully I will have time to take it to Startins which I believe is fairly new in Redditch and they will be able to help me more, im the kind of person that can understand problems happen, but really I do want them fixed, and for the guy to insult the brand he works for is really not good enough!!

We shall see about calling Fiat HQ though, if they fail yet again to get a bloody piece of trim replaced I will definately ring up to complain.

very true, my dealer is excellent, took it in for a problem with my steering wheel controls, they booked it in the following day and was given a courtesy car with a full tank of juice for the day. went and collected the car later and the problem was sorted.

Shortly after taking delivery of my GPS i recieved a call from Fiat HQ, i told them about my issue with the paint run, they said they will speak to my dealer and call me within 48 hours with an update. recieved a call back the next day. so fiat service from my dealer and HQ gets a 10 out of 10 for me (so far). lol

I'd love to know how they get paint runs.... the chassis and parts are dropped in a paint bath arn't they using static electricity to bonding the paint to the metal?

exactly my words to the dealer, oh well its bein sorted now.

From when i used to work in a car factory, they only dip on the undercoat. The colour and laquer coat are sprayed on electrostatically, but can still run if the coats are too thick.
Wow..for a minute then i sounded like i knew what i was talking about!!!

indeed you did, what car manufactures did you work at?

rover?

auto_blanco, i live in solihull too and have had similar poor experiences from Colliers on the few occasions I have dealt with them. Grays in Warwick although they are a bit further away I find are worth the drive as there customer service is spot on 95% of the problems I have had they fixed in one visit with minimal fuss. Andy the service manager there is a top bloke too.

Just to back this up....some guys I know in the Midlands with GP's use Grays garage too and say exactly the same. Very good reputation....