oh, and sorry, my point was, (in reply to the 'individuals can make or break' comment) the salesman was pants, his manager was pants, the finance guy was pants, the technician was pants, the service receptionist was pants

but the parts department were very efficient in their response to my query!

oh, and neither the salesman or the sales manager could answer my questions about servicing .. .

excellent :bang:

still love the car though

andyBBB said:

have to say I wasn't / am not impressed with many aspects of my local dealer.

The salesman fibbed about the interest rate on fiat's finance, as did the finance person (rate finally disclosed 2 days after we'd signed for the car / finance) (he also fibbed about the trade in)

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Part ex price and finance rate should be on the order form.

indeed they should, and in a way, more fool us for not asking for a copy of it (should it not be given?).

what happened was, we went in, they told us 3k for the trade in. We went back, still 3k for trade in, ordered car, agreed to take the finance package, paid a deposit to remove car from sale

With no official ID on us, we had to return the next day, by which time the deposit had gone from account, credit checks had been done, credit agreed.

When we went back we finally received the actual order form / finance agreement, I noticed the total amount payable / APR was different to what we'd agreed and the trade in was £300 less (and bear in mind we'd already paid a deposit by this point)

Like I said, more fool us for not asking for copies up front. Guess we trusted what we were being told

Felt pretty ****ty at the time

andyBBB said:

the trade in was £300 less

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Was the balance due the same?

they hadn't disclosed the balance due before the deposit was taken, the talk was of monthly payment amounts etc etc

with it going through, at that time, fiat finance, it somehow didn't occur. Price is XXXX, trade in is XXXX, payments will be XXXX over XXX years

It felt daft asking the balance at that point, on reflection, a daft thing not to do

We were told the loan would be 5%, which we commented was amazing (try getting 5% off a bank), turned out to be much more like 12.9% overall, which aint too amazing

It's no consolation, and I'm certainly not trying to justify what appears to be shady behaviour on the part of your dealership, but it does go to prove that you should always demand to see a fully completed order form, showing all the relevant figures, before paying a deposit

agreed, it seems silly on reflection.

it did nothing for the trust side of things, I'm now wondering what else they'll try to bull**** me with along the way (see clutch fault)

was half expecting them to say the clutch fault wasn't warranty, that'd have got the juices flowing ha ha ha

andyBBB said:

We were told the loan would be 5%, which we commented was amazing (try getting 5% off a bank), turned out to be much more like 12.9% overall, which aint too amazing

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Flat rate versus APR.

The Beast said:

Flat rate versus APR.

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Flat Rate is roughly half APR, so 5% isn't even close to 12.9% APR.

Besides, quoting a Flat Rate instead of an APR is against FSA regulations. Hopefully a few hefty fines being dished out when the FSA start mystery-shopping dealerships this year will stop the shady Business Managers from hiding behind them.

My first experience of "after sales service" with TJ Vickers telford was disapointing.

I had dropped my Grande in to get the brakes done, was given the suzuki swift (which I loved), the lady on the service desk told me I could pick it up at 3pm the next day.

So the next day, I decide to ring them at 3 to see if its sorted, and I was told that it was ready and I could go and collect. Now as we were short staffed at work that day, one of my colleagues said he'd stay on and wait for me to get back before going home himself which I was grateful for.

I get to TJ Vickers to be told that my car wasnt ready because the brake pads hadnt arrived yet. This was despite the job being booked in 2 weeks in advance. They told me to come back at 5, which I couldnt as I'd be working.

So I then argued that Id have to keep the courtesy car another night as they'd be closed by the time I finished work, I was told "you cant have it because it has to go out to other people tomorrow".

So i literally said to them "well give me my car back then". After I said that I was told that they could give my keys to the security gaurd so I could collect my car (with job done) after everyone had gone home.

That really pissed me off, telling me it was ready over the phone and when I get there its not. Luckily for me I only work 10 mins away, imagine if I lived miles and miles away though?

This is my first experience with a Fiat dealer. Having only had experience with Saab's dealership I can say its like chalk and cheese. Purchasing a car is supposed to be enjoyable and this hasnt been. Its has also taken far far too long (placed order in Dec arrived at dealer last Friday~17weeks).
Now there are excuses, lots of them :bang: from Sales rep promising a delivery time around March which later was wrong, Sales rep leaving and the new guy starting. No paperwork (even now), confusion over purchase price (linked options i wasnt told were to be paid for) , lack of information of product & options, five year warranty not available (yet).
All in all pretty annoying and not what I had previously experienced from Saab, and exactly what my mate said would happen if I ordered a Fiat !!

I hope the car sitting at the dealership waiting for my money is worth the wait !

you both should of read out dealer 2007 poll

https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto/127473-dealer-ratings-2007-results.html

Jake_in_notts said:

This is my first experience with a Fiat dealer. Having only had experience with Saab's dealership I can say its like chalk and cheese. Purchasing a car is supposed to be enjoyable and this hasnt been. Its has also taken far far too long (placed order in Dec arrived at dealer last Friday~17weeks).
Now there are excuses, lots of them :bang: from Sales rep promising a delivery time around March which later was wrong, Sales rep leaving and the new guy starting. No paperwork (even now), confusion over purchase price (linked options i wasnt told were to be paid for) , lack of information of product & options, five year warranty not available (yet).
All in all pretty annoying and not what I had previously experienced from Saab, and exactly what my mate said would happen if I ordered a Fiat !!

I hope the car sitting at the dealership waiting for my money is worth the wait !

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In fairness some of the points you cite are new model issues from Fiat and not the fault of the dealership.

ensonricky said:

In fairness some of the points you cite are new model issues from Fiat and not the fault of the dealership.

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I know but that souldnt make any difference to the customer the dealership should be proactive and get all the info they need from Fiat if they cant get it then expalin and dont bullsh.t people.

My biggest mistake I made was not to find this site before going to see my local dealer and placing my deposit. :bang:
This site has been invaluable to shows what can be done if anyone asks about buying a Fiat I would point them here first !.

Jake_in_notts said:

I know but that souldnt make any difference to the customer the dealership should be proactive and get all the info they need from Fiat if they cant get it then expalin and dont bullsh.t people.

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One of the problems, certainly in the initial launch period was that Fiat were not patricularly forthcoming with information. I am aware that there have been some dealership staff who have been less than enthusiatic in embracing the new product and the differing options associated with it.

I've got to say my dealer fibbed slightly.

• When adding up the figures for my 500 we got to a figure that was £7325 left to pay. (taking into acount trade in etc). I said is there anything we can do to round it off a bit. He went away and said we can knock £125 off making it £7200 to pay. On day of collection he had no recollection of this but after me moaning he added another £100 to the trade in value (£25 pound short of original price)
• 500 mats promised. When I got the car, stoneacre mats were in. Still not got the 500 mats. Doesn't remember promising me the 500 mats when leaving deposit. He said he paid for these out of his own money. Surely a dealer wouldn't make anyone pay (customer/dealer) for mats with their advertisment on them?!
• Full tank of fuel promised. Just over half when collected.
• Dealer never phoned me even after saying they would phone many times. I always had to chase them.

I didn't kick up a fuss, I was just happy to get my car but looking back now why should I have accepted it?

I'll be more aware in the future.

Jake_in_notts said:

My biggest mistake I made was not to find this site before going to see my local dealer and placing my deposit. :bang:
This site has been invaluable to shows what can be done if anyone asks about buying a Fiat I would point them here first !.

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This site probably represents around 1% of fiat buying population therefore its a untrue representation.

I just think nowadays you have to get it written down on your order form, we did with mats full tank fuel etc we got all that was promised today, you can't trust anyone get it in writing no arguments

andy armitage said:

I just think nowadays you have to get it written down on your order form, we did with mats full tank fuel etc we got all that was promised today, you can't trust anyone get it in writing no arguments

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:yeahthat:
It's all about covering yourself. When it's there in black and white there is no argument.