Fiat Dealers to Avoid

[Koa]

Olympian Fiat,wallisdown road, poole, Dorset.
I recomended this dealer to my mum and dad because i thought they were really OK when I was looking for my Abarth... so they bought a Fiat Idea from them...now i feel really bad because the company haven't got a clue what they are doing once you've got the car.. they got the car pre reg and said on condition we can have a sunroof fitted after purchase..they said yes deffinately...turns out a sunroof can't be fitted to the car once its out of the factory... they paid £500 at the time of buying the car and was refunded only £350 after over a month of waiting.. theres an electrical problem that they have failed to deal with on the 4 occasions the car has been in..I asked them to look into the price of my car to buy it outright and a week later they had not even bothered because i dont think they believed i could afford it... just shows you if you have dreadlocks people judge you as poor or something..loads more attitude problems that im not even gonna go into..
Basically they lost an £18,000 deal as I have gone to Goddards Fiat Salisbury
where the service is 1st class and i will be taking my mum to visit them sometime in the new car ..

 

[James M]

Dreadlocks?

Cool

 

[James M]

Scruffy Student

Well I didn't get taken seriously either when I was looking for my car, Benfield Fiat just looked at my student attire, and my Girlfriends old Micra I was driving at the time, and told me to come back later for a test drive 'when they were less busy'.

Even though I was the only one in there

 

[Nuova500]

Oh no another Olympian story of woe!!!! They are awful dealers there, and I agree Goddards are so much better, I shall be going there from now.

 

[sheldon]

Continental Cars in Tuffnel Park (Vandals)

Car went in to have a couple small dents done on 3rd November, Collected it yesterday (13/11) Dents have been done but found, Lollipop on parcel shelf, stains on front drivers seat and back passengers seat, footwells & Mats covered in mud, What in god's name did they do to it, must have had a family day out, did not notice this at time of collection because it was dark, Called today but got answerphone, will call them on monday and complain but doubt they will admit responsibility, interior was like new when it went in, Will demand that they come and look because I dont want to take anytime of work to drive up there just to have an argument, If anyone from continental cars reads this "Thank you very much for ruining the car" "get it sorted or I will spend £75 in the county court to make you pay"

 

[sheldon]

Continental Cars Update

I have been forced to eat my words (So Far) Continental Cars have arranged for me to come in on saturday for a full valet at their expense. They didn't argue or moan but immediatley appologised, They said that the bodyshop that they used were responsible for the mess and that they had no right using the car, he also said that normal practice is for the bodyshop to fully valet the car after doing the work which they obviously did not. I was wrong to immediatley start shouting the odd's without hearing their response first, but I guess its because of all the scare stories that you hear !!.

Hopefully all is well that ends well !!

 

[Nuova500]

Im so glad, because from what Ive heard they have a superb reputation at Continental Cars. Maybe you should edit your post!!

 

[sheldon]

Im so glad, because from what Ive heard they have a superb reputation at Continental Cars. Maybe you should edit your post!!

Until they get the stains out of the seats I shall reserve judgement, whether they have a good reputation or not does not make them exempt from mistakes. At the end of the day they had no right using it for their own purposes and certainly no right to stain the seats and leave lolipops on the parcel shelf, I am perfectly within my rights to make a fuss. Maybe if they had written it off I should stay quiet as they have a good reputation.

 

[Nuova500]

woooaaa, calm down, you said it was the bodyshop that did the damage and continental arent making a fuss about your claim, so in my book thats pretty good service from them so far.

 

[Liz_Brindley]

Please avoid Thames Motor Group, Bath Road, Slough (Thames Fiat) - their aftersales "service" in terms of customer service is absolutely shocking. They (Service and Sales managers) are not interested in helping to change my Stilo even though I purchased it brand new from them in May 04 and it has now had 11 faults, most of them safety related and has spent a month in total in their delership being "fixed"!

Trading Standards are now investigating this dealership!

 

[Neptune]

Agree with the comments on Perrys, Aylesbury. I did not receive code cards with car so emailed them and then sent two letters. No response ! Developed an oil leak on the 5th gear cover and took the car to Curries in Kingston on Thames. Service was good and staff friendly.

 

[sheldon]

Went to continental cars on saturday for them to clean the car, arrived at 9am as per agreement, They began by denying all responsibility saying that it was impossible for them to have caused the marks and stains inside the car, this was after profusely appologising and saying that they would clean the car last monday. Argument went on for about 30min, they refused to give me their details so I could sue them then I started to call the trading standards out of hours service and they changed their tune and agreed to clean the car. Must say they did an excellent job inside and out, the director then told me that he hadn't looked inside when the car was returned from the bodyshop and their policy is not to clean the cars anyway in case you accuse them of stealing something from the car. The best bit was when they said it must have been coincidence and the stains were lying dormant and only came out when the bodywork was being done !!. I will use them again for mechanical work but wouldn't let the bodyshop work on it again (3rd Party).

 

[gralegrrrrr]

mangoletsi!!!!! dealer in cheshire absolute bunch of to.ssers took my grale there for some work after they assured me they knew what they were doing work seamed ok but i say my car overtaking a truck as i was going (early) to collect it lets just say i dont think having a cam belt change needed a full thrash road test!!

 

[gadge]

So basicly your all just saying "dont go to fiat dears" cos i think everyone in britain has been named and shamed!!!!

 

[sheldon]

So basicly your all just saying "dont go to fiat dears" cos i think everyone in britain has been named and shamed!!!!

Every dealer has their good and bad points regardless of who the manafacturer is, I could point out numerous ford dealers who have fallen short of their target !!. I will be using continental cars again but would give careful consideration before using their bodyshop again, but should push come to shove, I probably would but would also pay for a valet before return which would prevent me from complaining !!.

I entrust my car to a fiat dealer as they should know the car inside out.

 

[Nuova500]

I entrust my car to a fiat dealer as they should know the car inside out.[/QUOTE]

Ha ha ha ha!!!! Sorry but that line just cracks me up, should being the operative word here! Might as well ask your local Dixons to service it, they would have as much a clue. Drove past my local one last week and saw a mechanic wheelspinning a Punto sporting out onto the main road then thrashing it down the road, lucky customer!

 

[muttleysdad]

Following my search to buy a Stilo Abarth, I woudl advise against the Derby and Nottingham Fiat dealers (Co-op Motor Group), had soem problems with Chesterfield and Mansfield although willing seemed to have problems getting my a car to test drive, fairly essential, Derby Co-op hard sell, and silly part ex price

Yes i would totaly agree, my 1.6 came from the co-op, they are a bunch of idiots, the car would go in to have one problem cured and come back with another 3 caused by the incompetence of the mechanics, I now go to JCS at kegworth, brilliant dealership, always sort the problem first time, and how many time have you picked your car up from a service to be told we've found a problem, the parts on order bring it back next week and we'll fix it under warranty? a first for me!

 

[Lorddean]

Dont avoid Shortfield garage near farnham, surrey. Very good. Never had a problem. no smarmy b*stard salesmen either! Most of time works actually cheaper than they quote!

 

[specs78]

Don't go anywhere near Priory Fiat in Cambridge, they're crap! I took my Punto into them today for some minor work. It took them 5 hours to do nothing! They asked me to take the car in today so they could have a look at some paintwork that they buggered due to some muppet not cleaning the car properly, and they said to me that it won't be covered under the warranty!

Also my windows are covered in grease due to Fiat over greasing the runners. They said they can't find any problem with them (Shame you can't even see through the window due the bloody grease!)

I've also been having a problem with the supension squeeking all the time, and they told me to forget about it! I told them to grease it, and they said it's not worth it because the noise will come back in 3 months! (No wonder Fiat are going down the ****ter......

I asked them to "buff" a scratch out of the roof, and they made it worse!

I REALLY need to find a good dealership in Cambridge, because it's driving me mad!

 

[faster4_tec]

Want to shame Keswick Motor Co for their pathetic attempt at service. I've already commented elsewhere on the indepth of my 'problems' with this dis-organtisation.
Am not even going to bother trying to get a service there as they have already proved themselves worthless layabouts.

I am getting a feeling in general that Fiat and their tw@t like dealerships are not worth the hassle, Audi, Seat and BMW dealers are much more friendly, but then their jobs are a little more secure, and some of the prices are lower.