Judgeing by the problems experianced by those in the Stilo forum
I think it's about time we had a Pressure Group to Sort things out with FIAT UK.

Many of us here have had problems including myself.

Whilst many have been able to deal with things with various success levels depending on your Dealer and ones ability to take things on there are many more who are not so inclined.

Do any of the Forums Members have contact or know someone with the Press at a National level. A combined effort is needed to bring pressure on FIAT to make them listen and react to our concerns as we have paid a considerable amount to them for our cars.

Any one have any suggestions on how we could set this up.
FIAT seem to not take stock of what is happening to us consumers and
it is time they did. There is such as thing as Consumer rights and goods that are of Merchantable quality.
Yes, I know things are not perfect but a reasonable standard of support and action to rectification of problems are no more than we as consumers deserve.

What have the members to say on these issues...?












Fiat Stillo MW. 1.9JTD
Met. Blue. all Electric. Skywindow..SatNav+
17" 7 spoke alloys.
Rear Parking sensor and Puddle Lights.


......Ham............

Is Fiat really that bad?

I had the misfortune to have to deal with Nissan a couple of years ago and I can tell you that in my experience Fiat are helpful compared to some other dealers.

All this is likely to do is give Fiat unnecessary bad press. If you have a problem with a dealer try contacting Fiat directly and get them to intervene. Alternatively try and find a good Fiat dealer out there and go to them, they do exist.

Steve....

www.irishfiat.net
www.puntoforum.co.uk

The issues are with FIAT and it's network of dealers and not with other Car Dealers.
The posts here are specificaly related to FIAT and your point is noted.

My last car was a Nissan, purchased from the same dealer as the FIAT.

I am on good terms with the Dealer and I have even been in touch wiht FIAT direct and I can assure you the response most of the time has been one of total apathy from FIAT themselves.
I really had to try hard to make a complaint and that is the issue irrespective how one might be treated by other Car Dealers but with the network of FIAT dealers and FIAT UK themselves.

One should not have to cover miles to find a dealer that is ameanable.
Nearest dealer to myself after the one I use is 50 miles one way and it is not down a Motorway either.

I have no wish to travel that far for something I should be getting localy.




Fiat Stillo MW. 1.9JTD
Met. Blue. all Electric. Skywindow..SatNav+
17" 7 spoke alloys.
Rear Parking sensor and Puddle Lights.


......Ham............

My point was that compared to other manufacturers Fiat provide service on a par with most of them.

In the UK and Ireland shoddy service is accepted and is regarded as the norm. In the US or most of Europe it wouldn't be acceptable. It's a cultural thing.

Steve....

www.irishfiat.net
www.puntoforum.co.uk

It is not a question of how well FIAT compare to other
Manufacturers, but how well it treats the FIAT consumer.
As you say it would not be tolerated in the U.S.A.

So why should we.
I am suprised that more people are not complaining and posting their support here.



Fiat Stillo MW. 1.9JTD
Met. Blue. all Electric. Skywindow..SatNav+
17" 7 spoke alloys.
Rear Parking sensor and Puddle Lights.


......Ham............

A brave post - so how does one go about organising a pressure group then?

I've had (actually, still having!) no end of problems with my Stilo - not to mention probably the worlds worst brouchure that is so innaccurate my Stilo barely matches the description!!!

<blockquote id="quote"> face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by kevin.peirce
A brave post - so how does one go about organising a pressure group then?

I've had (actually, still having!) no end of problems with my Stilo - not to mention probably the worlds worst brouchure that is so innaccurate my Stilo barely matches the description!!!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

That is the purpose of this posting is to see if anyone has any ideas.
I feel we as consumers and Forum members have to start the ball rolling.

Fiat Stillo MW. 1.9JTD
Met. Blue. all Electric. Skywindow..SatNav+
17" 7 spoke alloys.
Rear Parking sensor and Puddle Lights.


......Ham............

If I wanted to let the world know about the bad service I have received from Fiat, I would first write to the dealer, copy the letter to Fiat HQ (this I have done); I would also write to trading standards; letters to the motoring press would probably get a better response than consumer columns of national papers, but they are worth writing to aswell.

_________________________
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.[^]

Personally I think that any bad service that I have had has been with the dealer not with FIAT themselves.

The Stilo is a good car but has a few teething problems as all new models do. The dealers either seem reluctant to fix or be able to diagnose and sort the problem. The main theme that seems to run through this forum is that when there is a problem with the car it takes a lot of effort to get fixed.

My own Stilo has had a new computer, a new battery, a new window motor, a new rear subframe and a new petrol cap. In each instance once the diagnosis has been made it has been fixed quickly and efficiently with the exception of the rear subframe where it took about a year to convince the dealer there was a problem. I didn't even have a problem or get charged for them making the indicators flash with the central locking (no alarm).

I have got roomy full 5 seat vehicle that is capable of cruising at illegal speed and returns an average of about 35 MPG when most of its life is spent on short urban journeys and am quite happy.

My current other car is a SAAB that is about 6 months older and has never had a problem but it did cost 3 times the price of the Stilo, has got less passenger space and other than climate control has no features that the Stilo hasn't got. In fact the stilo is better equipped by a long way.


Stilo Active 1.2 5 Door/ Panda 4X4

I partially agree, although Fiat's processes seem to be lacking in several departments.
For instance, when I bought my car (March 03) I understood it was pre-built - but I was never told quite how old it was (Jul 02, if I had known this I would not have ordered it!).

After much to-ing and fro-ing it turned out that Fiat were incapable of telling a customer two simple facts when ordering a pre-built car. 1) How old it is. 2) What the _exact_ specification is.

And a second point - their various issues of brochure never tally, are confusing to the poor customer and never quite match the inadequate information on their web-site.

However, I agree that of the dealerships I've dealt with two out of three have been utter rubbush in terms of customer service, technical knowlege, and the will to investigate things further with Fiat (judgement is still to be made on number three and the other two both had the odd member of staff that stood out if I was lucky enough to speak to them.)

if i have to ring reg vardy one more time to get my door handle sorted i am likely to drive the car up their back sides!
[!]

There was an interesting article in the Daily Mail yesterday (15th October 2003) about 'Lemon Cars' (as they are apparently called in the USA) and this poor ladies experience with a Citreon.

I was considering email the author of the article and asking him if he's got any tips or can even help (and directing him to this URL for some interesting reading!!!)

That would be good idea Kevin, point him to these posts and this part of the forum.

Fiat Stillo MW. 1.9JTD
Met. Blue. all Electric. Skywindow..SatNav+
17" 7 spoke alloys.
Rear Parking sensor and Puddle Lights.


......Ham............

I'm suprised we haven't got one yet! FIAT UK are fine, but why the bloody hell do I have to contact them to give my local dealer a kick up the arse in order to get anything done? Let's get a Focus Group going, and get FIAT UK to listen to it's customers!