T,

The reason they gave was 'it's worn out'. Makes you wonder what they mean by 'unlimited mileage warranty' - obviously not unlimited in the normal sense to anyone used to speaking english. As previously stated I needed the vehicle back on the road for business reasons and couldn't afford the time and trouble to take them to court. I just paid their bill knowing that it was the last of my money Fiat will ever see.

If its childish to not want to do business with a company which treats its customers like 5h1t then I guess I'm childish - not a mug.

You obviously have a much rosier view of Fiat than me. Would I be correct in suspecting you work for them or a Fiat dealer perhaps?

OK....i'm not 100% sure about the unlimited mileage warranty,I thought(perhaps incorrectly)vans(doblo/scudo/ducato)were covered up to 100,000mls,like I say I suspect I might be wrong here.No I dont work for Fiat.
'worn out'? not sure what they mean by that because I would assume it would be covered under warranty after all I can see little advantage the dealer will gain by hoping you would pay for the linkage after all Fiat would pay the dealer anyway...maybe not the same amount but it seems stupid to what is in effect turning work away!
Yes maybe you have a bad dealer or perhaps a bad person in a dealership but its unfair to say Fiat & its dealers are bad because they are no worse than anyone else.Fiat (behind the scenes out of public view) has been doing its upmost to increase the image of itself as car makers & its dealerships,this is why I have a 'rosier' view because I have seen the effort by Fiat from the top right down to the technicians who all have to undertake intense training but the public dont often see this because all they are interested in is not wanting to pay & demanding their car is fixed 'now' which is a rather selfish attitude considering others have booked weeks in advance! Obviously taxi & other business operators are catered for & a 'good' garage will do its upmost to get the vehicle back on the road.
Why did you not try another dealership? I understand you need the van for business but surely you must of known there would be a time when due to unforseen circumstances the van would be 'off the road'? Accident,vandalism,breakdowns etc and this applies to whatever make of van you purchase.
Take half a hour to write to Fiat again,explaing the situation without being cheeky or aggressive (nobody likes/deserves to be treated like that...do you?) and hopefully the matter can be resolved to your satisifaction after all Fiat want you to remain a Fiat customer!

T,

Appreciate your positive comments. Our Doblo Cargo JTDSX came with a 2 year unlimited mileage warranty. Its obviously not worth the paper its written on in Fiats eyes.

In the first instance the dealer told me he was sure Fiat wouldn't pay for fault to be fixed. I asked him to contact the warranty department who said they wouldn't pay as the van had covered 128,000 miles (2 months left on 'unlimited mileage' warranty). I asked him to speak to the manager of the warranty department and he got the same answer.

The van was serviced at a Fiat dealership throughout its warranty period always at the correct mileage. A complete waste of money as it turns out.

I accept that Fiat may be trying to improve their reputation with training etc but in our case their attitude has lost them 2 customers for life. We anticipte buying replacement vehicles every 2 - 3 years and Fiat have lost any chance of those sales. Small numbers I know but still lost sales.

You know what they say - A happy customer tells 2 other people.
An unhappy customer tells as many people as possible. There are at least 60 other owner drivers that subcontract for the same company as my wife. Guess what she tells them when they enquire about the Doblo.

Good Van + Crap Customer care = Poor Package.

Niall.....your wiper linkage was covered under warranty! Why it was refused only that particular dealer can answer,however please dont see your experience as a representation of all Fiat dealer garages & their employees.

Niall_G said:

I accept that Fiat may be trying to improve their reputation with training etc but in our case their attitude has lost them 2 customers for life. We anticipte buying replacement vehicles every 2 - 3 years and Fiat have lost any chance of those sales. Small numbers I know but still lost sales.

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Small numbers yes but just as important as a fleet buyer! Small consolation I know but dealers do change & staff in those dealers change.
There seems to be less complaints against the technicians themselves which hopefully is due to intensive training,now other staff in dealerships will (some are already) have to attend training in their relevent field hopefully resulting in a all round better experience for the customer.Yes there will be 'teething' problems & things do go wrong sometmes as happens to us all,in your case a parcel goes missing or is late? but I do hope you will give it another chance & hope your next visit will be less stressful

Oh joy!
Not only was the radiator leaking there now appears to be combustion products in the coolant pointing to head gasket failure.....Hooray £130 for the rad replacement and a possible £1100 for a head job...... don't know if the two were inter related.
How long is it till Nov the 5th????? I think I've got the basis for a very good bonfire. '03 1.9JTD with 92k on the clock, almost made it to three years old.

If Iveco aftersales is so much better than Fiat commercial, you may be interested in the following Fiat statement (after saying the new Doblo was responsible for a huge spurt in Commercial sales):

"To cope with this increased demand, Fiat Commercial Vehicles has embarked on a programme of strengthening its network aftersales support, ensuring that it meets the requirements of major fleets and retail buyers.

Fiat Commercial Vehicles network now has 11% of its dealers open 24 hours-a-day for service and repair work, and a further 10% of the network has flexible and extended opening hours. There are also currently 63 specialist CV dealers, a number which is set to grow to 75 by the end of this year.

In addition, Fiat Commercial Vehicles has also been working closely with its sister company, Iveco, to take advantage of the obvious synergies the Iveco dealer network provides. This activity has resulted in the appointment of 15 dual Iveco/Fiat sales and aftersales facilities, with a further five Iveco/Fiat aftersales-only points now operational.

The plan is that by the end of 2006, a total of 20 dealers will be dual Iveco/Fiat Commercial Vehicles sales and aftersales, and an additional five will be aftersales-only."

And who said Fiat wont last much longer

Stephen Carter said:

If Iveco aftersales is so much better than Fiat commercial, you may be interested in the following Fiat statement (after saying the new Doblo was responsible for a huge spurt in Commercial sales):

"To cope with this increased demand, Fiat Commercial Vehicles has embarked on a programme of strengthening its network aftersales support, ensuring that it meets the requirements of major fleets and retail buyers.

Fiat Commercial Vehicles network now has 11% of its dealers open 24 hours-a-day for service and repair work, and a further 10% of the network has flexible and extended opening hours. There are also currently 63 specialist CV dealers, a number which is set to grow to 75 by the end of this year.

In addition, Fiat Commercial Vehicles has also been working closely with its sister company, Iveco, to take advantage of the obvious synergies the Iveco dealer network provides. This activity has resulted in the appointment of 15 dual Iveco/Fiat sales and aftersales facilities, with a further five Iveco/Fiat aftersales-only points now operational.

The plan is that by the end of 2006, a total of 20 dealers will be dual Iveco/Fiat Commercial Vehicles sales and aftersales, and an additional five will be aftersales-only."

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In england 24 hrs a day... are they employing easteners.... (with respect) . opened up by a 24 hr macdonalds ?.... Who would want a service carried out at 2.30 am ...

I suppose it's ok for people who work nights, or need the vehicle ready for next morning if it's nothing too major. For example parcel companies, a Doblo could break down in the evening at 10pm and be fixed by say 2am to although late the courier can carry on their journey!

But I agree, I don't think they'll get many visitors after 10

My Iveco 3.5 ton van is on a maint contract with my local Iveco dealer.

It is subsidised by Iveco to the point of being so cheap its not worth going anywhere else.(£45 a month for upto 100,000 miles of servicing per year! - service intervals 18,500 - new cam belt every 3rd service).

Luckily they have 2 branches near my home. The quality of work carried out by the night shift at the main site is terrible - on several occations I have had to cancel my work on the following day because of faults introduced by the morons that did the overnight service. The other site, although not perfect, is much better and I've only had 1 problem with them that they sorted within minutes.

Overnight servicing is obviously of benefit to those of us that use our vehicles to generate an income. Mrs_G's Doblo could be serviced by the Iveco dealer (now also Fiat commercial dealer) but I won't let them anywhere near it. My local independant garage does a first class job (See clutch thread) on the Doblo so I'll be sending it there for its services (Approx every 6 weeks) and any adhoc repairs that need doing. - He's also just sorted a fault on the Volvo V70 air con - I was expecting a bill for a couple of hunderd pounds but it turns out to be less than half that!

Find a good independant garage and support them - they a worth their weight in, in, in.....in ......... in Bishops Finger Real Ale.......burp.. pardon me...

I couldn't agree more

I will try to find an independant garage once my warranty is up (although I know it's not worth much Niall) but the trouble is finding one :chin:

Guess I need to ask around to find one...

Ozzie1989 said:

I couldn't agree more

I will try to find an independant garage once my warranty is up (although I know it's not worth much Niall) but the trouble is finding one :chin:

Guess I need to ask around to find one...

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A top tip:

Keep your warranty paperwork handy on the bathroom. If you ever run out of toilet paper the warranty paperwork will be worth far more as a bum wipe than it will ever be as a way of getting you Doblo fixed.

.

Ozzie1989 said:

I couldn't agree more

I will try to find an independant garage once my warranty is up (although I know it's not worth much Niall) but the trouble is finding one :chin:

Guess I need to ask around to find one...

Click to expand...

There's one in Newport Ozz at the bottom of Steve 1219s street there are always loads of fiats parked there does work for SW-CC members as well I believe

PNL said:

There's one in Newport Ozz at the bottom of Steve 1219s street there are always loads of fiats parked there does work for SW-CC members as well I believe

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He is in the garage section, well worth using

Steve