I've thought long and hard about this but what is the point of FIAT supplying a brand new card with 2+1years warranty on the vehicle but only 1 years AA cover ?
This morning my 14 month old Croma had gone into shut down mode due to an engine management fault. On calling the AA I am told that because the car is over 1 year old they will not recover it under the Fiat policy as the cover has expired, dealer tells me it is not their responsibility either and I should have read the small print when I purchased the car ! So until the immobilised car magically gets itself to a Fiat garage at my own expense no one is responsible for a car that will not start due to a warranty fault, thank you Fiat, superb service
After a few calls I get a friendly AA patrol to come out who manages to start the car and tells me there is an engine management fault and the car needs to go straight to a FIAT dealer. He also tells me not to turn it off again until it gets there unless it starts misfiring or anything in which case I should stop driving it immediately - wow I'm looking forward to this journey already !
So I end up driving 12 miles to a local dealer with a car which will not drive faster than 40 miles an hour (I presume it has now gone into some sort of protection mode) not quite knowing if it will get there or not.
So to any other owners beware the second year warranty is only of use if you pay and arrange for the car to get to a fiat dealer yourself when it has broken down, even if it is a warranty fault. Obviously I wouldn't have expected Fiat to pay for the AA to attend in year 2 if I had simply run out of petrol but I think this was a little more serious !
Has anyone else experienced this ?

(By comparison, I also have a Nissan pickup which just before its three year warranty including AA cover expired developed a leak from a power steering pipe. The leak was not severe and the truck could could have been driven but the dealer insisted on getting the vehicle collected because it had a warranty fault and offered me a loan car within 2 hours which I turned down because it was not necessary).

Welcome to the world of FIAT my car had a 3 year AA cover but they stopped the 3 year cover on new cars 2 years ago I think.

Someone told me the reason but I can't remeber why now :chin:

croma150 said:

what is the point of FIAT supplying a brand new card with 2+1years warranty on the vehicle but only 1 years AA cover ?

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warranty and road side assistance are completely different things so why would you expect a 3 year warranty to include 3 years AA cover.

the first year of AA cover is just a sweetener to get people to buy the car, and because they know the car is very likely to break down in its firt year.

croma150 said:

I should have read the small print when I purchased the car !

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you should read it before you sign, after is a bit late to do anything about it.

dan-the-man said:

Someone told me the reason but I can't remeber why now :chin:

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because nearly new fiats were responsible for 80% of call outs probably

jug said:

warranty and road side assistance are completely different things so why would you expect a 3 year warranty to include 3 years AA cover.

the first year of AA cover is just a sweetener to get people to buy the car, and because they know the car is very likely to break down in its firt year.



you should read it before you sign, after is a bit late to do anything about it.

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Well 3 years AA cover would have seemed a pretty logical thing to run parallel with the warranty, Nissan obviously think it's a good idea it's not just me !

Thanks for the advice on the signing bit, I was well aware of that but thought there just might be a tiny bit of assistance from the dealer or Fiat somewhere down the line, it is obviously a warranty fault, even the car says so !

One piece of encouraging news from the AA patrol was that apparently only Renault have a worse customer service record than Fiat.

wow renault are worse than fiat now. WE'VE LEFT THE BOTTOM SPOT!!!!
thats amazing news, lets party!

Nissan can give 3 years AA cover because nissans are so reliable that the AA do them a very good deal, 3 years for nissan will probably cost less than one year for fiat.

generally you're lucky to get any roadside assistance on a new car, 1 year is still 1 year more than you'd normally get. if you buy a car and it breaks down half an hour later, it should still be your responsibility to get it to the dealer, just like any other item you'd buy.

jug said:

generally you're lucky to get any roadside assistance on a new car, 1 year is still 1 year more than you'd normally get. if you buy a car and it breaks down half an hour later, it should still be your responsibility to get it to the dealer, just like any other item you'd buy.

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Do you work for Fiat ??
At the end of the day I think it just comes down to a lower level of customer service which doesn't really give you the confidence to purchase the same make again. If it wasn't for the Punto buyers passion I wonder whether or not fiat would still be in the UK, at the bigger car end of the market it seems they have little to offer anybody who wants a different badge. In five months of ownership I've only seen 2 other Croma's on the road and one of those was at an Airport in France, perhaps I should have taken more notice of the motoring press and not searched for something a little different.

Actually Fiat's new (ish) one year cover is pretty mean.
Most firms offer three years to run alongside the warranty.

As you say, if the car is reliable it doesn't cost the manufacturer that much, and it encourages buyers.

Kia will soon offer seven year or 100,000 mile transferable warranties. Doubtless to lure buyers, but if their cars become desirable, and it seems they will, then the other manufacturers will have to either follow suit or go bust.

Fiat is working hard to produce desirable cars, and they are largely succeeding - I am particularly excited about the Panda Sporting and next year's 500, and their reliability is actually no worse than many other manufacturers. If you had my friends' Mercedes E Class you'd think yourself very lucky indeed. In five years it has conked out electronically and mechanically something like four times, and it has just has a respray for tailgate rust - carried out under Mercedes warranty by the way.

Fiat sales are booming thanks to the GP. Next year the Bravo and 500 hit the roads. But now there is competition again for the GP in the form of the new Corsa and Clio. Fiat will have to rethink warranties and further improve service. They know this; let's wait - not too long I hope - and see.

The only place FIAT are lacking in is cusomer service, they are just as reliable and well built as most other makes.

If FIAT had brilliant customer service they would have alot more people on their side.

Thanks Ulpian, I was beginning to think I was just expecting too much. I accept all vehicles break down and that is not really a problem for me, it is the no exceptions attitude that leaves me frustrated especially when you see what other manufacturers can do. I hope Fiat do get it together because they have a brand that is different, unfortunately for my level of patience it will probably be too late.
If Kia keep progressing they will probably be just as desirable as Hyundai who have taken a massive step forward in the last 5 years, one of my family have just gone from Audi to Kia and are very happy.