Technical servicing my car

[cliffstilo]

Hi,
Can anyone tell me about servicing my car, I have a Stilo Aborth it is two years old and it is just going in for its 12000 mile service, I have been given a quote by Caledonia Warrington of £195 yet if I take my car up to a Leeds garage which is not owned by Fiat
They are charging me £85. Can someone tell me; as long as the garage is approved, this do’s not invalid my warranty. In addition, Warrington has very kindly told me that they will reset my computer for the sum of £30 + vat. I bought the car at Caledonia, and they informed me that it had been serviced. The day after I got the car home I had to top up the break fluid and then a few months later the service light came on I took it back and they re set it for me something that the took 3 mins they are now telling me that it will 30 mins to re set. I can only deduce from this that they have grown more and more incompetent as the years pass by. Not unexpectedly, I have lost all faith in Caledonia Warrington
Therefore, the questions are-
1, was there a law that came out just recently that was saying we could go to any approved garage for a service without it upsetting the warranty?
2, is there anywhere I can get my trip computer set for a better price
Cliff


All singing All dancing Abarth

 

[twincamms]

I understand the 12000 mile service is a very basic one, ie. oil, filter and fluids, and FIAT have a uniform transparent pricing policy, it should be about £87, the full and comprehensive service comes at 24000 miles and should cost around £318.



FIAT Stilo Sport. Pretty Much Bog Standard Really. Rear Roof Spoiler,
Sill Protectors, Aluminium Foot Pedals, Eibach 30mm Drop Springs.

 

[pugwash]

DON`T USE ANY CALEDONIA GARAGE!!!!!!!
I bought a Saxo VTS from them once and when it was time for it`s first MoT I took it back.
They failed it because the indicators were not flashing yellow enough !!!!!!!. Cost me £67 for the bulbs and re-test.Car had only done about 18K.
Their workmanship is shoddy and despite offering you a courtesy car there never was one available.
This Caledonia was in Crewe in Cheshire, but I have heard of similar stories from other locations.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!!!!>

1.8 5 Door in Sassi Grey
Comfort Pack 1
Bog Stnd.

 

[cmc]

I just bought a used Stilo and paid Fiat £23.50 admin fee to tranfer the warranty into my name. The letter that came back says the following:

"Fiat recommend that all servicing should be carried out in line with the manufacturer's recomendations from the date of first registration by a Fiat approved dealer, or by an independent VAT registered service/repairer (if in doubt please call the FiatCare Office for clarification). If you have your vehicle repaired or maintained by an independent repairer during the warranty period, the warranty may be lost if the work carried out is faulty. the following also applies:

- Any service must be carried out within +/- 30 days or +/- 1,000 miles (whichever comes first) of the time or mileage specified.
- Any part(s) fittedand materials used should be Fiar genuine parts or of any equivalent high quality"

In short as long as it's done to the right timescales and by a VAT registered garage who use deent quality parts you can get it serviced anywhere without it affecting your warranty - and that's the law. This has been law for a while now (block exemption regulations) but needless to say the car manufacturers don' advertise it. If anyone wants let me know adnd I'll scan the letter in and e-mail you it.

As for the service computer it looks as if they are trying to bill you for 1/2 an hours labour (dirty barstewards). The minimum most garages will bill you is 15 minutes. There will be a way to reset this manually (i.e. without the Fiat diagnostics examiner) but I'm not sure how yet see this ealier post.

https://www.fiatforum.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7864

Cheers

cmc

1.6 Dynmamic 5 door.

 

[cmc]

Meant to say, independent dealers are good for the simple stuff like oil changes, plugs and filters, but they probably won't have the Fiat diagnostic machines unless they are Fiat specialist independents. This is obvoisly more relevant if you have an electrical fault.

I servied my old Brava for years at Halfords (which despite what people say were actually pretty good). The only time I had to book it into a Fiat garage was when I had an immobiliser fault and an airbag light fault. This needed the diagnostics machine to sort them out. [!]

Cheers

cmc

1.6 Dynmamic 5 door.

 

[cliffstilo]

Hi Twincamms,
Were you getting the £87 price tag from? I asked Caledonia if they could mach or get any were near the £85 that I am going to pay and it was a “no way it’s a fixed price of £195” and as you very rightly say that’s for the very basic service. So I am protesting with my feet and taking my business else were. Not all cowboys are plumbers and at least Dick Turpin wore a mask
Add Caledonia Warrington to you must miss book

Cliff

abarth mudd flaps, sill protectors and go's like s+*t of a shovel

 

[cliffstilo]

Thanks cmc for youre reply I thought there was a law out about servicing at real garages.
I hope Fiat owners take notice and go to proper and fair garage, and just maybe Fiat will be forced to review there price policy if there is enough people protest with there feet. Sorry got carried away there just take another tablet and put the strait jacket on.
Many thanks again cmc

Cliff


All singing All dancing Abarth

 

[Lester Piglet]

A friend of mine bought a magic box to reset the computer on his BMW 3 series, cost him all of £15.

Les Ross
Certified by a Professional.
03 Stilo 5d JTD80 Active
PSI Powerbox and go-faster turtle.

 

[twincamms]

Cliffstilo, those prices were quoted to me by AC Williams FIAT Grantham.

FIAT Stilo Sport. Pretty Much Bog Standard Really. Rear Roof Spoiler,
Sill Protectors, Aluminium Foot Pedals, Eibach 30mm Drop Springs.

 

[bigdob]

try forwards at st-helens they are often cheaper than calidonia .
also the standard of wokmanship and customer service at calidonia warrington leaves alot to be desired