Greetings All

Thought I would say hi as I have finally joined the 4x4 TA club.

I was on the phone to the dealers at 4.30 yesterday placing the order, it was a bit tight as I was going for the 2.3K privilege discount, but all went through okay!!!


My order...

4x4 TA in White with Sand Olive/Olive interior
4 Seat Flex pack - sliding seat and comfort pack etc
Winter pack
Parking sensors
Space saver
Climate control
Leather wheel/knob (what the hell!!!)


So, my questions...
For the sake of £50 is it worth getting the predisposition for Blue&Me as i quite fancy adding the FULL integration of the Fiat/TomTom satnav OR does a third party satnav interface via bluetooth in a similar fashion (steering wheel, voice etc) but need a separate power cable.

Is the interface panel mount thing on top of the dashboard the same, but without predisposition fitted a blanking plug is in place?

Will I get the infamous R68 port or is that the Aux socket fitted as standard, or do I have to request that specifically?

I have spent most of this evening looking for info on this and think that perhaps a third party solution may have less integration. Also it seems that the R68/Aux port is now fitted as standard but.........

Thanks in advance
Rob

Get the predisposition option, without doubt! Its only 50 quid. U can add the TomTom unit later if needs be....
Good spec. Almost same as mine

We got it fitted in ours, just in case. As you say it's only £50.

Very very interesting...
Because the discount is supposed to apply to cars registered / delivered during the period... So unless you also picked up yesterday, it is starting to sound like a fiat / dealer scam to me; maybe they can just give the discount anyhow.

I wonder, does anyone have experience of missing the quarterly deadline and having to use the next / following offer etc?

Ps. If you are buying via their pcp scheme, check the interest paid by taking the car over three instead of four years... It saves a packet.

Great choice btw.

Hi again, thanks for your thoughts i spoke to the dealer this evening and no probs adding the predisposition.

Thanks for your confirmations.

I don't foresee any problems with the discount but who knows!!

Time to think about mats and mudflaps and doorsills etc now

I am also researching DAB stuff watch this space!

Did you discuss the discount with him already or not?

Do you already have a voucher code from fiat? ( if not I would get on and get one pdq)

Sure it will work out for you and you will be happy with that car no matter what; would be good to know.

Hi, yes i did get a voucher, but will check all okay with salesman on Monday

Hello RobertG

The blue&me predisposition is cut into the dash top, if you didn't select it, there would be a smooth dash top, so fitting it later would be a massive hassle.

Other third party satnavs, even Tomtom bluetooth ones will not integrate with the cars blue and me system. Only the tomtom blue&me will give you steering controls and Eco/trip computer info. Be aware though that even that satnav will not play turn instructions over the car speakers.

As for the discount on cars registered before the end of a quarter, don't worry, it'll roll over to the next quarter.

RobertG said:

Greetings All

Thought I would say hi as I have finally joined the 4x4 TA club.

I was on the phone to the dealers at 4.30 yesterday placing the order, it was a bit tight as I was going for the 2.3K privilege discount, but all went through okay!!!


My order...

4x4 TA in White with Sand Olive/Olive interior
4 Seat Flex pack - sliding seat and comfort pack etc
Winter pack
Parking sensors
Space saver
Climate control
Leather wheel/knob (what the hell!!!)


So, my questions...
For the sake of £50 is it worth getting the predisposition for Blue&Me as i quite fancy adding the FULL integration of the Fiat/TomTom satnav OR does a third party satnav interface via bluetooth in a similar fashion (steering wheel, voice etc) but need a separate power cable.

Is the interface panel mount thing on top of the dashboard the same, but without predisposition fitted a blanking plug is in place?

Will I get the infamous R68 port or is that the Aux socket fitted as standard, or do I have to request that specifically?

I have spent most of this evening looking for info on this and think that perhaps a third party solution may have less integration. Also it seems that the R68/Aux port is now fitted as standard but.........

Thanks in advance
Rob

Click to expand...

I use TomTom on my iPhone and it plays the driving directions through the car speakers as long as it's plugged into the USB.

each 1/4 the discount can differ... if not and it does roll over then the rules seem strange indeed and it could just be a ploy to have folks think they are getting something special when in actual fact they are not (which would seem v. strange)

Hi all,

All sorted and the predisposition is included, thanks for the advice on this.

Just the endless wait left now.....

I asked the dealer if he can track down an owners manual as a PDF, unless anyone her knows of a link ?

Thanks again
Rob

RobertG said:

Hi all,

All sorted and the predisposition is included, thanks for the advice on this.

Just the endless wait left now.....

I asked the dealer if he can track down an owners manual as a PDF, unless anyone her knows of a link ?

Thanks again
Rob

Click to expand...

The handbook PDF is in the downloads section of this website. You can also get it through the Fiat mobile app "Ciao Fiat" but it's a slightly truncated version (the PDF on here is the full manual afaik).

well done you!

If you got the full 2300 discount on a new car ordered for delivery later, just goes to show the cut off dates are actually a load of old tosh.

Aikidoamigo said:

well done you!

If you got the full 2300 discount on a new car ordered for delivery later, just goes to show the cut off dates are actually a load of old tosh.

Click to expand...

The order date is the relevant factor for the Affinity scheme I believe. The voucher is presented when you order & pay the deposit, and that's when all the discount paperwork is completed, so delivery later is quite usual.

Palio said:

The order date is the relevant factor for the Affinity scheme I believe. The voucher is presented when you order & pay the deposit, and that's when all the discount paperwork is completed, so delivery later is quite usual.

Click to expand...

That's not what I was told! According to the privilege website, the car has to be registered before the cut-off date in order to get the deal. When I found out that I couldn't get a 4x4 in the spec I wanted registered before the end of September, I gave up. If I'd realised that the deal could be rolled over for a post-September delivery, I might have gone ahead and ordered. Very p*ssed off.

gar074 said:

That's not what I was told! According to the privilege website, the car has to be registered before the cut-off date in order to get the deal. When I found out that I couldn't get a 4x4 in the spec I wanted registered before the end of September, I gave up. If I'd realised that the deal could be rolled over for a post-September delivery, I might have gone ahead and ordered. Very p*ssed off.

Click to expand...

What website is that? The Affinity scheme is not widely published (in fact I am not allowed to publish the details as it's commercially sensitive info, though I know the Police website do!) & afaik Fiat don't have it on a website.

It is very unusual for deals to get worse going into a new quarter, so it's not usually an issue. More likely is a better deal in the next quarter just after you've ordered particularly on something like the Cross - but it's a chance you take. I guess there may well be special finance deals which have a date of reg deadline (though similar offers are likely in the next quarter too), but certainly the discount part of the scheme is usually administered when you order and pay your deposit.

Every scheme administrator will have a contact at Fiat & can check anything like this (and see what can be done if it's causing a potential problem), and any decent dealer should also be happy to phone their Affinity Scheme manager for advice in that situation. Fiat are very helpful in my experience - they want people to buy cars & will discuss any issues with the Affinity deals if you go through the scheme administrator - they wouldn't want to lose a customer because of a build delay (presumably that was your issue?), I'm sure. Hopefully you've now got the car sorted?

gar074 said:

That's not what I was told! According to the privilege website, the car has to be registered before the cut-off date in order to get the deal. When I found out that I couldn't get a 4x4 in the spec I wanted registered before the end of September, I gave up.

Click to expand...

This is correct. The code on the voucher is used when registering the car on AFRL (Automated First Registration & Licensing), which doesn't happen until the car is physically on site at the dealers or at least at the UK docks. The code entered at the AFRL stage determines how much Fiat pay the dealer. Some dealers might honour a deal done in a previous quarter but that's up to them and probably depends if they A) have enough money in the deal to do so or B) if the deal is continuing into the next quarter.

If there's been a delay to delivery Fiat will sometimes honour older deals too, but it's not guaranteed, hence why offers often say 'Vehicle must be registered by' and then state the end date, usually end of quarter.

Finally the Affinity scheme is for set groups of people, such as those belonging to British Cycling and Institute of Advanced Motorists or to people in certain jobs like NHS staff. It is not for everyone, otherwise Fiat would just offer the higher offers on their website. Incidently the Panda offers on fiat.co.uk are already strong without the Affinity Scheme.

Palio said:

What website is that? The Affinity scheme is not widely published (in fact I am not allowed to publish the details as it's commercially sensitive info, though I know the Police website do!) & afaik Fiat don't have it on a website.

Click to expand...

My error - not a website - the information on the registration deadline came in the material I got via the IAM, and was confirmed in an email from the person at Fiat who administers that scheme. So from the horse's mouth.

gar074 said:

My error - not a website - the information on the registration deadline came in the material I got via the IAM, and was confirmed in an email from the person at Fiat who administers that scheme. So from the horse's mouth.

Click to expand...

Ok thanks - thought there was a website we'd not seen! Yes, always check with your scheme administrator - we've never had an issue with Fiat honouring the deals where the car's on order, whatever 1/4 it ends up in, and the deals usually continue at at least the same level tbh.

Palio said:

Ok thanks - thought there was a website we'd not seen! Yes, always check with your scheme administrator - we've never had an issue with Fiat honouring the deals where the car's on order, whatever 1/4 it ends up in, and the deals usually continue at at least the same level tbh.

Click to expand...

But I checked with the scheme administrator, and was told the car had to be registered by end-September (which wasn't possible because of the delay on factory orders) but I now find that apparently others "in the know" are getting their deals honoured after the stated deadline. That stinks to me, tbh.