Oh well....guess I better defend myself
poggy said:
I have had the same problems with lot's of other manufacturers apart from BMW & Volvo.The BMW dealers will bend over backwards to sort out your problems and the service costs are a lot less than our Fiat. They also always collect & deliver the car and it comes back spotless inside and out.
BMW aim for a more prestige market though than Fiat.Lets not forget the initial purchase price of a BM/Volvo is substantial compared to a Fiat & it doesn't all go on the car.Collection/delivery is nearly always available upon request & availability of drivers.Cars are washed,but not inside I will admit.
poggy said:
So it can't just be a money issue, the quality of service has to start at the top and work down through the chain. If the managers and directors of Fiat UK don't aim for higher standards then there is no driving force for the dealers to do so.
I have mentioned before the love/hate almost power struggle that goes on with major makes & huge dealerships.Both are very powerful & do not like beig told what to do,they need each another but at the same time use each another for profits.
poggy said:
This is the same story at Volvo, although service costs are horrific.
Tell me about it,last time I ever buy a volvo!
poggy said:
The one thing I can't accept is changing components to try and cure a fault and then charging the customer even if they turn out not to be the cause of the fault. If it is not the cause, you can't charge the customer for the work as it was not necessary. Apart from intermittent faults which I accept are much harder, every component can be tested.
Unfortunally most manufacturers use this method of subsitution,it's not right but can be effective.The customer should be refunded for any wrongly diagnosed parts,this is then charged to the service department & comes out of their budget.
poggy said:
at £7-8 per hour you aren't always going to attract the best engineers as they get better pay in other sectors. Fortunately many people love working on cars (like the one's on this forum) so despite the poor pay they still want to work in the industry and those are one's you hope are working at your dealership. Our local dealer had one, but since he left (for a better paid career) things have gone downhill.
It always was/and always will be a poorly paid job unless you work every weekend & overtime everynight...which just makes the managers bonuses bigger!
poggy said:
By the way if you think Fiat are not the best, they make Ford look like Rolls Royce.
My dealings with Ford are very poor,last time I buy a Ford!
sammiboo said:
Now tell me why do i keep buying fiats
Because you love this forum so much.
sammiboo said:
It wasnt a sparrow scratch as someone mentioned earlier, I have never seen a sparrow sratch
It was ment as sarcasm against the habitual professional complainer or to put it another way a right sad bas*ard.I dealt with one that cobstantly made up something just about every day.Agter one visit when he claimed we scratched his alloy we photographed every wheel/panel in wait for his next visit.As expected he returned 2 days later about a scratch on his bumper & door,the photos were downloaded to the computer complete with date & he was promptly told to f*ck off & never return.
sammiboo said:
I dont know why people go to dealers when its out of warranty, especially when many of them are known to be incompetent.
Because alot of dealers are good & alot of customers are happy with them.
david palmer said:
i cant really see the benefit of paying Fiat rates for a service that any time served mechanic can do
Because a good Fiat tech would know the places/known problem areas to look,would you get a ariston service engineer to look at your faulty hotpoint washing machine?.....ok the wifes hotpoint machine
david palmer said:
Out of interest, how many of the forum would go to a Fiat dealer to carry out their first 3 years serviceing if it made no difference to your warranty.
It makes no difference,your free to go where you want for servicing aslong as Fiat parts are used.
thepottleflump said:
For me I've given up using the dealers though. I just get my car serviced at a local specialist and they do a better and considerably cheaper job. The benefit to me is I'm dealing directly with the guy who is maintaining the car so I can ask questions etc. As a specialist, if they are crap they go out of business, they can't rely on the benefits of being a dealer and therefore the pretty much guaranteed 3 years worth of service revenue.
Why not speak to the Fiat techs then,I encourage this & think it should be the norm.As for cheaper,maybe in the short run but one day you will have a more complicated problem,then what?
Dealers are not guaranteed any revenue from servicing (see above) however it is extra work generated from servicing (tyres/brakes) that make the money not so much the service itself.
Right i'm off to rest my finger....must learn to type using more than one digit
