Manufacturer's Warranties

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Manufacturer's Warranties

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My car is due it's first service and I wanted to ask if anyone here has confirmed whether we need to get our cars serviced at a Fiat Dealership?

I called my dealer and they told me yes, but they would say that! Has anyone been able to confirm this restriction independantly?

From what I can gather, according to this report by the OFT, I may not have to use a Fiat dealer to keep my warranty valid. Section 3.7 lists the manufacturers that include a restriction on their servicing - Fiat is not on that list. (The annex lists all manufacturer's that responded to the report and Fiat was one of them.)

The main reason for knowing is the reduced servicing costs, but I have just had a thought. Will having the car serviced at an independant garage effect the resale value of the car. I imagine a car with a full manufacturer's service history may command a higher price than the alternative.

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2003 Stilo 1.6 Dynamic 3dr, Orion Grey, 17" Alloys, Dual Zone Climate Control, Aluminum Sills, Clarion DXZ928R, Kenwood DualMags, Clarion SRX1784, de-badged.
I accept no responsibility for the content of my posts, nor any decisions you make based on them.[^]
 
full manufacturers warrenty is a strong selling point,if it doesnt add value it will make it easier to sell. things like paint warranties etc are AFAIK dependent on a dealer service history but with mechanicals you wouldnt be penalised on recalls etc but would get an absolute conformation on the fiat warranty as to the servicing requirements

The Fiat Cinquecento
Fun While It Runs
 
It's so wrong isn't it...my dad's scenic is supposed to be serviced at the Renault dealership but all they do is charge you £200 odd to kick the tyres, walk around it, change the oil and filters...! He has this mechanic to do it and he does a seriously proper job and doesn't just give it a quick once over, it costs the same approx but only when some decent work has been carried out. Yet as you say - people prefer cars with full manufacturers service history yet IME that never means it has been well serviced.

My opinion anyway.

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Uno 1.0ie Start. Standard.
Uno_sign.jpg
 
I think it depends on the manufacturer but we took it to a private mechanic for servicing and that has voided the warrenty in our case. on the other hand it was a fraction of the price and it only had 1 year warranty anyway.

"The new rules are very simple, the FIA will keep them to themselves until such a time as Ferrari needs them" Patrick Head

http://www.geocities.com/drpepperdionysus
 
Here's the response I received from emailing Fiat UK, via the Fiat website:

Thank you for your enquiry.

You are welcome to take your Fiat car to any garage that you would like. In order to keep your Warrantee valid the garage should be VAT registered and use Fiat parts. If you are happy that the work done by the garage will be up to standard then there should be no problem with your warrantee.

A problem would arise if a Fiat dealership were to do work that is covered by warrantee and then discover that sub-standard work or parts had been used on your vehicle. At that point you might find that the warrantee had been invalidated.

If you are happy that the work will be up to standard and that fiat parts will be used then there should be no problem with keeping your warrantee valid.

Best Regards

Fiat UK

_________________________
2003 Stilo 1.6 Dynamic 3dr, Orion Grey, 17" Alloys, Dual Zone Climate Control, Aluminum Sills, Clarion DXZ928R, Kenwood DualMags, Clarion SRX1784, de-badged.
I accept no responsibility for the content of my posts, nor any decisions you make based on them.[^]
 
Nice one that's good to know.

"The new rules are very simple, the FIA will keep them to themselves until such a time as Ferrari needs them" Patrick Head

http://www.geocities.com/drpepperdionysus
 
Their first reply (which was posted 3 hrs before the one above) totally failed to answer my question! But it might be of help to someone, sometime, so I will post it too.

Thank you for your enquiry on our website.

Vehicles distributed by Fiat Auto UK and registered -

Before 1st October 2000 Fiat vehicles were supplied with 1 years manufacturers warranty - 3 years paint warranty - 8 years anti-corrosion warranty and one years AA cover.

From 1st October 2000 Fiat vehicles were supplied with 1 years manufacturers warranty - 2nd and 3rd year dealer warranty (supplied by Warranty Holdings) - 3 years paint warranty - 8 years anti-corrosion warranty and one years AA cover.

From the 1st of December 2000 Fiat vehicles were supplied with 1 years manufacturers warranty - 2nd and 3rd year dealer warranty (Warranty Holdings) - 3 years paint warranty - 8 years anti-corrosion warranty and three years AA cover

From the 1st of September 2001 Fiat vehicles have been supplied with 2 years manufacturers warranty - 3rd year dealer warranty (supplied by Car Care who can be contacted on 0870 7527029) - 3 years paint warranty - 8 years anti-corrosion warranty and three years AA cover. (The AA can be contacted on 0800 622313).
The Fiat Stilo range is supplied with 12 years anti-corrosion warranty.

Please note: All Fiat extended warranties are now dealt with by Car Care.

IMPORTED Fiat Vehicles From the 1st of September 2001 have been supplied with 2 years manufacturers warranty, 3 years paint warranty and eight years anti-corrosion warranty. The Fiat Stilo range is supplied with 12 years Anti-corrosion warranty.

Further enquiries about particular items covered by warranties should be directed to your authorised Fiat dealership.

If you require further information about Fiat please do not hesitate to contact the Customer Service Help line on: 0800 717000. Our office hours are Monday- Friday, 8am-9pm and weekends, 10am - 4pm. Any one of our Customer Service Representatives will be happy to assist with your enquiries.


Best Regards,

Fiat Auto UK

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2003 Stilo 1.6 Dynamic 3dr, Orion Grey, 17" Alloys, Dual Zone Climate Control, Aluminum Sills, Clarion DXZ928R, Kenwood DualMags, Clarion SRX1784, de-badged.
I accept no responsibility for the content of my posts, nor any decisions you make based on them.[^]
 
What ever you do KEEP that e-mail about the warrentee as you know what FIAT dealers are like! the standard at your loacl garage will probably be better than most fiat garages any way.

Chris
 
In Italy:

Under warranty you must go in an official Fiat garage, if it isn't the dealer where you bought the car isn't essential, but it must be FIAT...

When the warranty expires you can go where you want...

In UK for me is the same...

R. :)

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Fiat Brava 1.4 12v sx
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Originally posted by ChrisLusty
What ever you do KEEP that e-mail about the warrentee as you know what FIAT dealers are like! the standard at your loacl garage will probably be better than most fiat garages any way.

Chris

My thoughts exactly.

Makes me wonder though - can an independant garage get genuine fiat parts? For example, if they want to change the spark plugs do they have to go to a Fiat dealer and buy theirs, or can he just fit a set of Bosch, Champion, whatever? I suppose I need to ask the garage...

My Fiat dealer wants £130 for the service. So I need o find out how much 'my mechanic' will charge.

_________________________
2003 Stilo 1.6 Dynamic 3dr, Orion Grey, 17" Alloys, Dual Zone Climate Control, Aluminum Sills, Clarion DXZ928R, Kenwood DualMags, Clarion SRX1784, de-badged.
I accept no responsibility for the content of my posts, nor any decisions you make based on them.[^]
 
My loacal garage uses Fiat parts if they have to, i had new rear suspension arms recently and they had to get them from the local fiat garage as their suppliers didnt do them.
You will just have to ask the garage to use fiat parts.

Chris
 
the fiat parts are not the problem they are nearly as cheap as other outlets.....
oil depending on quality say £10
oil filter £5
plugs £10 not allways changed by the way
air filter £10 aprox
now it depends on what you call a service or what fiat call it and it should be made clear to you exactly what sort of service you are getting to confirm their cost, if i did the above your bill would be aprox £50 depending on oil and thats cheap, and then you need to get the book stamped and not all garages can do that so watch what you are doing ( no stamp = loss of warrenty )so in a nutshell is the warrenty worth anything or is it just the stamp that has value, a history and a warrenty are two different things...
when you buy a car with a warrenty then you have to keep it right for repairs but when the warrenty is over i would go on the history and as long as you keep reciepts regardless of garage who does it or even your self then the value will remain and thats what i call a good history

1.6 elx 16v my baby
 
I've just had another email off Fiat. It doesn't really say anything new, but it does confirm what has already been said.

Thank you for your email.
You can indeed take your Fiat vehicle to a non-authorised garage- this will not invalidate your warranty.
However if a fault develops whilst in the garage, and this is found due to non-Fiat parts being used or procedures that are not sanctioned by Fiat then you could invalidate your warranty.

Hope this helps.
Fiat Customer Information Centre.

_________________________
2003 Stilo 1.6 Dynamic 3dr, Orion Grey, 17" Alloys, Dual Zone Climate Control, Aluminum Sills, Clarion DXZ928R, Kenwood DualMags, Clarion SRX1784, de-badged.
I accept no responsibility for the content of my posts, nor any decisions you make based on them.[^]
 
As part of the "deal" on my new Punto I have the first two 12,000 mile services thrown in free, so I guess that decides it. Whether that includes consumables such as fluids and brake pads etc. the salesman was a bit vague so I can see them recouping costs by charging £20 for the oil and filter, £50 for brake pads etc. etc.

The same deal also includes two "free" MOT tests when they become due, but I don't fancy paying £50 an hour to put right whatever they might find!

Assuming I keep it beyond the warranty, however, there are a couple of excellent independent car service centres in the area who will be getting my business.
 
My Punto's just had its second MOT, and it sailed through it, just like the first - so as long as you maintain the car, really it ought to pass without any problems. I get my Punto serviced at a Fiat dealer because its near to where I work, and seem to be a good one (unlike my local dealer). I'm not a mechanic, but having recently got hold of a Haynes manual I have a better idea of what goes on during a service, and could do the simple bits myself as the car gets older.

Fiat seem to be not too restrictive, but also covering thier backs against dodgy work and parts.

Punto Mk2 ELX 8v in Teseo Blue with the electric Sunroof and CD changer, doing 50mpg whilst passing down country lanes
 
I'm on my fifth Fiat. The first Punto van I bought new had a new NS front suspension arm when the dealer did its second MoT. To cut a long story short the arm fell off because it had not been fitted correctly and I found out the Fiat main dealer had actually bought the arm off Partco and sold it as genuine Fiat. So much for using genuine parts to maintain warranties.
 
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