Had Enough Of Crap FIAT Bodyshop - Warranty Work.

My car went in to have the bonnet sorted, it had some imperfections in the paint, they said they would polish it out.

So I get the car back and they have polished through the paint to the primer in a couple of spots, and dented the the L/H door step by seemingly dropping something heavy on it.

Car goes back in to have the bonnet painted & the dent fixed in the door step & comes back thus......

1. Bonnet has rubbish shine & fish eyes in the paint (as a result of contamination).

2. Bumper has been re-painted & arounf the DLR's the paint is matt, am there are scratches under the L/H headlight.

3. both front wings have been painted, and now have fish eyes, scratches beneath the paint, hard edges as a result of **** poor masking.

4. The door step has been repaired, but the rear edges has matt paint.

5. The chrome bonnet strip is lifting off.

6. The rubber trim on the top of the wings has laquer on the rubber on both sides.

Basically the car looks like it's been involved in a front end accident and repaired very poorly with regards to paint finish.

I feel I may be pushing for a replacement car as it went in needing the bonnet sorting under warranty, and now has had in total 5 panels painted to a low standard. As it stands I can see that it has been devalued as it's obvious it's had a fair bit of work done (none of it through any fault of mine)

Sorry to hear about the problems. Is this something Fiat organised? If so then its they're muck up and they should sort it, or give you another 500 because it now sound's like it will never be as it should

Jon.

That is disgraceful! Complain, complain,complain!!! I really hope you can sort something out Mark. On the other note, did you have a good holiday?

This must be totally gut-wrenching. Most of us (especially us DW members) take so much trouble to keep our pride & joys in tip-top shape only for some couldn't give a sh*t, inept idiots to completely ruin your car.

If it was me I know I wouldn't be happy until I had the car swapped; there isn't a snowflakes chance in hell these morons will ever get it right otherwise you wouldn't have got it back in that state in the first place.

Push, push & push again to get a replacement, don't let them win.

I really feel for you Mark & I wish you the very best of luck & hope you get sorted.

That's appalling service Mark. I wouldn't settle for anything less than a replacement new car. Keep badgering Fiat customer care'till you get a new one. Best of Luck with it all.

Push hard for a replacement. I had the same on a Stilo. Parts of it painted 3 times, wrong shades & fisheyes everywhere. Got it replaced. Fishyes can be avoided if the panels are wiped before flatting. Flatting first just grinds the polish into the paint.
Trouble is there are so many crap bodyshops out there.

Sorry to hear this, in my experience of bodyshops they never get it right first time. Can you speak with the manager and voice your concerns? My 500 has a couple of paint flaws, one of which Ive sorted now and Ill leave the other one.

really feel for you Mark, what a crap situation to be in hope however it gets sorted, it's to your satisfaction

we had our old MeganeII repaired at a garage that was 'approved' by our insurer, after mum drove into a lamp post

they got paint all over the plastic rubbing strips and failed to fix part of the suspension - which was life-endangering until a separate mechanic noticed it at a service

you can't believe how slack some people can be

Mark, this must be particularly upsetting for you, being so fastidious about your car, I really don't understand where the tradesmen who had pride in their work have all gone.

As we all know it is the preparation that determines just how good the final painting will be and you have been unlucky with both.

When I had my garage/bodyshop it was always the sprayer who was complimented for doing a great job even though the panel beaters/fitters were the ones that had put in all the time consuming work, but they all appreciated that it was a joint effort.

This can still be resolved to your satisfaction providing Fiat allow you to use a bodyshop of your choice as I am sure that you will have some excellent contacts. If they don't then I agree with everyone else that the car has been devalued to such an extent that it warrants a replacement vehicle.

Good luck

Yep, I'm really peed off at the moment.

On one hand I have added the sub & componant speakers, they would need swapping over, so I don't fancy changing the car, on the other hand I need it sorted properly.

Difficult one this one
I would ring fiat hq customer services tell them your problems ,you have lost trust in this garage.
You will give them one more chance for all these problems from one to be sorted or you would like a replacement vehicle!
This way you are giving them a chance to ammend the problems possibly at a different garage,then im sure a replacement would not be out of the question
If you need any advice on this difficult matter contact your nearest consumer advice/trading standards hope this helps.

When I had the same problem I actually managed to get Fiat Finance ( in 2003, although called Fiat Finance they are or were an independent company ) to help push for a replacement. They owned half the car and therefore it was in their interest not to part own a car that had been devalued due to shoddy workmanship.

rkt2003 said:

Difficult one this one
I would ring fiat hq customer services tell them your problems ,you have lost trust in this garage.
You will give them one more chance for all these problems from one to be sorted or you would like a replacement vehicle!
This way you are giving them a chance to ammend the problems possibly at a different garage,then im sure a replacement would not be out of the question
If you need any advice on this difficult matter contact your nearest consumer advice/trading standards hope this helps.

Click to expand...

Customer Care are already involved, they are considering 2 options at the moment.

Mark Elvin said:

Customer Care are already involved, they are considering 2 options at the moment.

Click to expand...

Do tell....What are the 2 options then

Well, when I said to FIAT I see only 2 options left, 1 one being take it to a bodyshop of my choice, the other being supply me with a new car, they said they need to consider both options.

I'm not keen on taking it to another bodyshop as if there are further issues it becomes my problem to sort out, not FIATs.

Fiats approved bodyshop down our way is very good, Westover Bodycare they are called. Ive used them a few times and their paintwork has always been superb. If you ask Fiat to send the car to them and stress yove been messed with Im sure they can help.

Here's some photo's showing the magnitude of the problem.....

That really is p.poor.

I really feel for you, I know you like the paintwork immaculate, as indeed I do. When the result from a bodyshop is as poor as this, it just makes you feel physically sick.
Don't despair yet, I had a £300 insurance job done at an independent 3 times on the instruction of an insurer, they eventually lost the chance to put it right, it went to Audi, and the original repairers got the bill... £2000.

I really hope you get it sorted.

Martin at Fiat customer care has called me tonight, he has e-mailed the letter I sent to him to the zone manager, someone that has something to do with bodyshops & also the customer care director.

He is pushing them hard to make sure I am satisfied.

ffs even the white tubs paint job is better than that.....

maybe i'm being naive here....but surely when the work is done, lets say by the paint/body shop bod, a manager/supervisor checks over and quality controls the work, and signs it off as reaching acceptable standard?

perhaps asking for the paper trail too would help?