nagoodch said:

Autoworld sheffield and chesterfield are to be avoided especially glen at sheffield

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Have a bad experience then

Nottingham Fiat is rubbish, I used them once for a service my multipla had doen 32k and was coming up to three years old. Dropped it off at 8:30am, they didnt ring me even thought I kept asking how long it would be. I turned up at 17:00 still not ready, got it back at 17:35 then was told it needed tyres and the turbo pipe needed replacing which I could have done on the warranty (somebody would get back to me to book it in when the parts arrived). 6 weeks later and 4 phone calls I am told the part was not ordered and was not covered on the warranty and if the car seemed to run ok then leave it. In addition it failed its MOT 5 weeks after the service with a brake pipe severely warn (MOT tester said it would have been like it for up to 9 months). I've complained to them but heard nothing.

Mansfield Fiat - had a couple of problems with them but this was because they had just been taken over and computer system down. Had it booked in to troubleshoot starting problems. Got told it was the battery so had it changed, fault still appearing on diagnostics so they tell me its the key (I didnt have a spare so had to buy one), waited two weeks for the key. Had the car back for a week now and it has developed the same not started fault. It does make you wonder if they know what they are doing since they are the ones with the diag machine?

LEADERS OF LIVERPOOL, COWBOYS. ANYTIME YOU TAKE YOUR CAR IN, FOR SOMETHING MINOR THEY COME BACK WITH A LARGE BILL, FOR SOMETHING THAT ISN'T COVERED BY WARRANTY. I ALWAYS GET A SECOND OPINION AND IT ALWAYS TURNS OUT THEY ARE TELLING PORKIES. I'VE HEARD OF GARAGES CHARGING CUSTOMERS FOR WHAT SHOULD BE WARRANTY WORK, BUT THEN GO CLAIM BACK OF FIAT. JUST A THOUGHT WONDER IF A CERTAIN LIVERPOOL GROUP DO THIS????

Can I asked what they said was wrong with your car?

Nearly all garages do 'health checks'...yes it generates abit of extra revenue but it's also a early warning for the customer incase tyres/brakes etc are needing done soon/before next service.

If i was to list all the problems i originally had with my car FF would need to buy a bigger server.

But recently - New discs and pads needed-The reason, the disc is damaged and its damaging the pad!!!!!!!!!!! , this contrary to the norm of the pad wearing and damaging the disc. told them they should therefore fix it under warranty as they openly admitted the pad wear was fine @ 60%
Next took it in for some paintwork as it had a fault, came back with even worse paint work, which they initially refused to fix- (luckiliy i had beofre and after photos- Which impressed em )
My skyroof never worked, i had it at a dealer in Derby (You all know the one) they said it needed a new motor. Took it to Leaders cause i couldn't wait in Derby (May have lost my wheels /k!), Leaders refused to accept it was a motor despite speaking to Derby' service manager. took my car for a week, stating not the motor, is the motor, not the motor blah blah blah........
guess what, it was the motor.

Front tyres completely worn by 10000 miles, (could have sold em to a formula one team), found the tracking was at fault, not a mark on any of my wheels, and i drive like a saint, never seen a speed bump, would they fix it under warranty (Which is what most people get done as its a V.common fault), would they hell, had to pay AVOID LEADERS LIKE IT HAS THE PLAGUE

To avoid: Sewards of Havant.

Had Fiats cars for many years, originally from Cannon's in Portsmouth (who lost their dealership to Perry's !) Cannon were the sort of garage that when they fixed it it stayed fixed. Even got a letter from my extended warranty peope asking if I was happy with the repair job. Didn't even know about it, Cannon had found a fault, fixed it and claimed! Shame they are no longer in business.

Perry's (Farlington, Portsmouth) were a big mistake. The only thing good about their service was the valet thrown in. I asked them to replace a non critical emgine part during a service. Not done when I picked it up. Asked why not and told that the part didn't exist. Got out the tech manuals and showed them the part. They then sent out the apprentice to replace the part.

Thought no one could be worse than Perry's and glad when dealership transferred to Sewards. False hopes. Problems from the start with ABS warning errors but nothing in the log, wouldn't investigate further. They reported tyres worn at first service after a year, 9,000 miles. Reception said that this was normal for this type of car. Read this forum and complained bitterly and eventually new tyres fitted for free. Reported tyres wearing again after another 4,000 miles. Suggested that I come back in a month to see how they were and also told, after a quick check, that the tyres were overinflated and they had been reset to the correct pressure (I had them at 2.1 bar). Later check showed that the tyres had been set to 20lbs instead of 2.0 bar! Since had an independent check and the tracking is way out. Looks like the tyres were changed and no other work done.

Found the sills on the car damaged, both side, next to the jacking points. Complained that they had jacked the car up incorrectly, told that it must have been something thrown up by the wheels, but offered to give me the name of one of their suppliers who would repair at discount. Insurance assessors report needed to get them to repair the damage.

After second year service (£350 !!!) was charged for screen wash. As I'd just run out two days before and refilled I don't know how they found the space to get the fluid in! Small item but indicative.

Now waiting (after 18 months of complaining) to get the ABS/ECU unit changed. They hadn't found a technical bulletin about problems with the ABD/ECU, pointed out by the FIAT rep. Will ask about the tyres again (and the other outstanding faults).

Any one read the "Sale of Goods or Services to Consumers Regulations 2002"? Might be invoking that if not resolved.

In general found Arnie's (Birmingham) to be dis-interested if you did'nt buy the vehicle from them... now using Sunwin (Derby) and find them to be very good and knowledgable about the Stilo

have to agree with member philmgro , avoid reg vardy at springburn, glasgow, had my car in last year for a service (£121.00) and the mechanic said it needed new brakes which I thought a bit odd as the brakes had just been replaced all round less than 6 months before at nts alexandra parade glasgow (good place to go) he suggested i tke it up with them (had only did 900 miles since refit) took the car down to them and explained what he had said ,they threw it up on the ramps and let me see that there was NO wear at all and to go back to reg vardy which i did and saw the managress ,mhairi ,who after some cajoling agreed to do a full new service free if took within a month but no mention of repaying the £121 i had already lumped out on a botched service just done. Needless to say they have lost my trust on them ever doing things right again. Also while i was waiting i heard her tell a mechanic as regards 2 other customers ,tell him he needs a new water pump, tell her she needs new brakes which seems strange that the managress is telling the mechanics what to say to customers. (see my latest problems with them in the repair forum re dashboard)

Things like this give dealers a bad name & there is no need for it except to meet monthly targets or make 'bonus'.Fortunally the old 'bonus' system of more you sell you get has largely gone as it is obviously open to abuse & more often the old parts are left for customer to see if required or left in boot.
Unacceptable that the tech told you (or manageress?) as I always urge customers to speak to the tech,hope you haven't let this lose all trust in larger dealers as there are some good ones in your area.

hello there- newbie here but just wanted to give another big thumbs up to grays warwick, I got my first used seicento from there, then ordered a brand new one, then changed to a stilo - I needed a bigger car, had a chat, he got 2 stilos in from other dealerships for me to choose from and the aftercare has been great. my salesman is manager now which helps as I still e mail him with any queries. I have moved from warwick to milton keynes but still take it back there for services- now it has a flat battery I might get to try out souls in milton keynes, though I am tempted to get the aa fella to take it home to warwick if needs be!!:slayer:

baldybloke said:

I'm contemplating adding Wilson's of Epsom to the avoid list, but I'll reserve final judgement just yet.

Story so far.....
THe boss books the car in for 24000 service. They ask if anything else is wrong, so she gives them her first stab at a list. Next day she rings them back to complete the list. "I'm sorry", they say, "you're not booked in". So, rebooks and gives them complete list of foibles.

Car goes in Thursday and they give her a Panda - what a laugh (but that's a different story). We know the car needs front tyres, but have left them to show that there's a problem of uneven wear. Gave them a quote for new tyres we'd had. Said they'd call back with their quote. You can guess that they didn't. The boss rushes back to collect the car in the evening to be told she couldn't have it back because the tyres are illegal. "Why didn't you phone me and tell me that?", she asks. Stunned silence. Mr's Dischuffed has to endure the Panda for another day.....[}]

Next day, goes back to collect car, but not everything is fixed because they didn't have all the parts, even though they knew the problems up front. On the plus side, they did beat the quote we had for tyres, so goo marks there .

I'll give an update after the next visit next Friday......

Our next closest place is Bishop's in Guildford - any feedback on them?



Stilo 1.6 Dynamic in that nice pale metallic green & Volvo 850 T-5 Battle Cruiser (with f. expensive new tyres!)

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Just come across this one, Wilsons of Epsom are cowboys. the place burnt down and I for one was glad. Never ever again. They sold me a car which I think had been in an accident when I asked the question it was no sir of course not, all HPI is clean. i should have insisted on seeing the checks but didnt, such bare faced lying is unnecessary and they got what they deserved.

(dear mr policeman it wasnt me who set fire to the place!)

check out www.NiceDeals.co.uk for Fiat replacement parts

platts in stoke.. should be called pratts, because thats what they employ.. useless gimps

trigxm said:

platts in stoke.. should be called pratts, because thats what they employ.. useless gimps

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if you could expand, would help a great deal, get an idea of what and where they are going wrong, cheers

turboned said:

if you could expand, would help a great deal, get an idea of what and where they are going wrong, cheers

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Right well..

My brava had a problem with fuel consumption which turnt out to be a faulty lambda sensor.. Platts had my car twice and both time rejected that anything was an issue. They also tried to say that the spark plugs that were in use were causing an issue but they didn't know what.. So they charged me for new plugs, even tho i was using new NGK's... Total they charged me over £200 for finding nothing..

Also, I know someone who had a punto from new there and it kept going wrong and everytime they couldnt fix it or when they did it cost a fortune

Helz said:

My local dealers (County Motors Carlisle) are also always willing to look at the car and sort out any problems - then charge the earth for it. I WILL NOT be going back.

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Two years later I decided to try them again, see if they had improved any. All I did was phone the parts department looking for some black washer jets and a dash centre panel from a post-2000 Bravo/a HLX/ELX. I would have given them the part number myself but for the fact Eper was down Got some stroppy woman who wanted a chassis number - except I can't give her one for the dash panel because I don't own that car and mine won't do because it hasn't got that dash panel (obviously). So no, stroppy missis can't find out how much one will cost or if they have it in stock. Such polite and helpful service

avoid fiat glyn hopkins ltd buckhurst hill epping new road ig9 5tz if u buy a car from here cheq this sales advisor ahmed sabet masive scratches and loads of chipped black matalic paint work on my brand new fiat punto grandas first one deliverd he was using a black marker pen to touch it up what a muppet i said what r u doing he said nothing 41 days later still waiting for the car to come out of the spray shop i have had two calls in all that time BEWARE

barryburns said:

avoid fiat glyn hopkins ltd buckhurst hill epping new road ig9 5tz if u buy a car from here cheq this sales advisor ahmed sabet masive scratches and loads of chipped black matalic paint work on my brand new fiat punto grandas first one deliverd he was using a black marker pen to touch it up what a muppet i said what r u doing he said nothing 41 days later still waiting for the car to come out of the spray shop i have had two calls in all that time BEWARE

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Discgraceful, reject the fookin thing. Marker pen, heard it all now. Sorry for you pal, really am.

Hello,

Just coming back from Dockgate Fiat in Southampton and funny enough the exhaust is still NOT fixed.
I own a 1.8 Bravo and love my car - except for when it needs to the garage!!! (Doesn’t everyone??)
Anyway the exhaust box fell when the plastic support broke and obviously the all system needed replacement.
£250 later AHF handed me my car back and I was (foolishly?) hoping that the car would be back to normal with the nice normal bravo noise...
NO NO NO - major rattling and vibration when changing gear and reversing - hence back to AHF where I was told that they had fitted the wrong holder (how can you admit that ???)
Anyway they agreed to change it for me and got the car booked in again was replaced but didn't make any difference. Was told they had to order a different one and still not fixed !!!!!!!!! It has been 6 months and they can’t work out why it is still rattling.

So any ideas on a DECENT garage in Southampton or surroundings ????
I would advise to avoid Dockgate !!!

There was me thinking that I would take the Seicento to a main dealer to have it serviced so that it will be all sorted for the daughter to drive (we pick the car up from the seller over the weekend). It looks as if I am going to be hard pressed to find a dealer that is any good, AMC Chelmsford is my nearest (I think) and they are pretty near the bottom of the "FF preffered dealers list". I have a preference to use a main dealer, quite possibly the wrong mentality but to each their own and all that. So come on, there has got to be a good dealer in my neck of the woods, surely!...Dave