I've had my Ulysse Eleganza (pretty much every extra added - would have had a Prestigio but it only came with 6 leather seats, and I wanted 7 non-leather seats). It was ordered in March, and Fiat even refused to build it twice ('why not order a Prestigio?'). Eventually got it in September, and the dealer even fitted a twin-electric tow bracked as compensation for the messing around (I wanted one anyway, so nice touch).
It was ordered with long load cover - finally got that a week ago. I wonder if Fiat didn't place the order on the manufacturer of the part until they had enough customer orders to meet the minimum order requirements from the manufacturer? It's nice to be able to put things in the back without them being on display at last, and with a bit of careful positioning, I can even leave the 3rd row of seats (folded up) in and have the cover in place!
Regarding the warning message on start-up - there's something the dealer can do on the diagnostic rig to turn that off (mine did it for me a couple of days ago - I was so glad to loose that 'feature). They were finally told how to do it by Fiat after chasing for nearly 3 months!
Regarding the Connect Nav Plus thing - I also took a while to get connected. Dealer didn't have the set-up forms that needed to be completed. Finally got all that done yesterday, and agree with everyone's comments on the service. Looks good, but best done before you start the journey. Used it on a trip from the Midlands to a place near Heathrow this morning - got fog warnings, an accident alert, and a couple of "how's the journey going" calls to boot - and they programmed the SatNav system for me to save me faffing around with that dial! I hope I end up speaking to Daniella a lot - sounds nice, and very helpful!
Not had any real problems with the car yet - I've been driving MPVs for some time, almost exclusively Renault Espaces, until they changed the style for the new version released this year. I think it's now one of the ulgiest cars they've done in a long time, so wanted to switch to something else. After doing some research, decided that the Ulysse/C8/807 was the best competitor out there, and the Fiat option was cheaper than Peugeot and Citroen, so as a company car driver, taxed on the value of the car (and emissions), I went for the one that I could get the best set of options in and still not have it cost as much as my old Espace. Also, the 2.0 diesel from Fiat is slightly better on emissions than the ones from Peugeout and Citroen....
It's also nice to see a company supplying a proper alloy spare wheel rather than one of those poxy space savers!
I have three niggles (although one is more of a feature request).....
1) Wouldn't it be nice to have the 'lock' button close the electric doors then lock the car?
2) I have an annoying occasional internal squeak when turning left. Not managed to isolate it yet.
3) I'm getting fed up with the occasional bursts of silence from the radio/CD when it picks up an RDS transmission that it can't lock on to. Most RDS radios do that in the background then interrupt you when they have the broadcast. Apart from not using RDS, is there any way to stop this?
... and thanks to all who have explained about the tyre sensors - I did wonder about them.
John (forum newbie!)
