tjet bravo
New member
I'd like to share a recent episode concerning my Bravo with you all. I'll try and be as concise as possible.
I purchased the Bravo in July 2009 from a local Fiat dealer. The car is on a 57 plate and I was informed, by the dealer, that the car was first registered in Feb '08. Therefore, tucked away in some dark recess of my mind, I knew the car wouldn't require an MOT till sometime in Feb '11.
Imagine my dismay, therefore, when last Friday (17th Dec) I tried to tax the vehicle online -the car tax runs out at the end of this month - and I was refused on the grounds that the vehicle doesn't have a valid MOT!
Please imagine me sat at my PC open mouthed with a feeling of shear dread sweeping over me on receiving this news!
I quickly ran upstairs to locate the V5 and sure enough printed in black & white next to the words: Date of first registration are the numbers 29-11-2007 not the ??-02-08 like I'm expecting. I'm like Whaaaaat?? I'm now very, very puzzled.
Anyone reading this would probably think the simple explanation is that the dealer has wrongly informed me of the date of registration and/or I've failed to take notice of the actual true date on the V5. The second point no doubt applies. Not so sure about the first tho.
Following the grim news on the Friday, regarding me being unable to tax the car, I quickly decided that I needed to get the car booked in for an MOT assuming the date on the V5 was correct. Which, by the way, I tended to think that it must be.
This was done for the following Saturday morning at a local MOT garage. As explained earlier, the car is on a 57 plate and has approaching 28,000 miles showing on the clock, which is some way under average mileage for a 3 year old car.
Guess what? It FAILED the MOT!! I was given a refusal notice for excessive play on both lower ball joints on the front suspension arms. As well as an advisory notice for two worn front tyres which are just above the legal minimum apparently. My god, more bad news!
Upon hearing this news, I went home in somewhat of a huff and promptly telephoned the dealer who I'd originally purchased the car from.
After explaining the situation to a service manager, who was quite surprised to hear that the car had only 28,000 on the clock, he advised me to contact Fiat Customer Care to open a complaint case with a view to them contributing something towards the cost, (approx. £500) or preferably Fiat standing the whole cost.
Having done this Fiat Customer Care are now telling me that the car was in fact first registered in the UK on 11-02-08 and therefore still has a Dealership Warranty in force till Feb '11. Obviously if the Nov '07 date applies then the Warranty has gone. When I explained that the V5 is showing 29-11-2007, I was told that prior to my taking possession of the car, the vehicle was an ex Hertz car, and the November '07 date is when Hertz actually acquired the vehicle.
Can anyone help with this please, I'm not sure what this means? What is the difference between acquiring the vehicle and registering the vehicle? I would have thought when a vehicle is acquired it would also need to be registered? Any help/advice on this would be appreciated.
The complaint case is ongoing as I write and has yet to be escalated to a Fiat executive apparently. I will post again if anything changes.
Regards - Shaun
I purchased the Bravo in July 2009 from a local Fiat dealer. The car is on a 57 plate and I was informed, by the dealer, that the car was first registered in Feb '08. Therefore, tucked away in some dark recess of my mind, I knew the car wouldn't require an MOT till sometime in Feb '11.
Imagine my dismay, therefore, when last Friday (17th Dec) I tried to tax the vehicle online -the car tax runs out at the end of this month - and I was refused on the grounds that the vehicle doesn't have a valid MOT!
Please imagine me sat at my PC open mouthed with a feeling of shear dread sweeping over me on receiving this news!
I quickly ran upstairs to locate the V5 and sure enough printed in black & white next to the words: Date of first registration are the numbers 29-11-2007 not the ??-02-08 like I'm expecting. I'm like Whaaaaat?? I'm now very, very puzzled.
Anyone reading this would probably think the simple explanation is that the dealer has wrongly informed me of the date of registration and/or I've failed to take notice of the actual true date on the V5. The second point no doubt applies. Not so sure about the first tho.
Following the grim news on the Friday, regarding me being unable to tax the car, I quickly decided that I needed to get the car booked in for an MOT assuming the date on the V5 was correct. Which, by the way, I tended to think that it must be.
This was done for the following Saturday morning at a local MOT garage. As explained earlier, the car is on a 57 plate and has approaching 28,000 miles showing on the clock, which is some way under average mileage for a 3 year old car.
Guess what? It FAILED the MOT!! I was given a refusal notice for excessive play on both lower ball joints on the front suspension arms. As well as an advisory notice for two worn front tyres which are just above the legal minimum apparently. My god, more bad news!
Upon hearing this news, I went home in somewhat of a huff and promptly telephoned the dealer who I'd originally purchased the car from.
After explaining the situation to a service manager, who was quite surprised to hear that the car had only 28,000 on the clock, he advised me to contact Fiat Customer Care to open a complaint case with a view to them contributing something towards the cost, (approx. £500) or preferably Fiat standing the whole cost.
Having done this Fiat Customer Care are now telling me that the car was in fact first registered in the UK on 11-02-08 and therefore still has a Dealership Warranty in force till Feb '11. Obviously if the Nov '07 date applies then the Warranty has gone. When I explained that the V5 is showing 29-11-2007, I was told that prior to my taking possession of the car, the vehicle was an ex Hertz car, and the November '07 date is when Hertz actually acquired the vehicle.
Can anyone help with this please, I'm not sure what this means? What is the difference between acquiring the vehicle and registering the vehicle? I would have thought when a vehicle is acquired it would also need to be registered? Any help/advice on this would be appreciated.
The complaint case is ongoing as I write and has yet to be escalated to a Fiat executive apparently. I will post again if anything changes.
Regards - Shaun
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