Styling Don't expect leather

Currently reading:
Styling Don't expect leather

Joined
Oct 1, 2016
Messages
11
Points
5
Well, disappointed isn't the word.

I placed a factory order for a Tipo with all the extras and toys I wanted in a car, the most luxurious of which were the heated leather seats.

This weekend, I get a call from the dealer's admin office who inform me that the factory has declined the order on the basis that leather seats are no longer available!

Turns out that the option was discontinued on the 1st August. Great news for UK customers who only saw the car launch on the 4th September :mad:

It seems that, like the saloon variant, leather seats were only an option available to Europeans. I wonder if we can blame Brexit for this one?

So now I have to change the order and resubmit it to the factory. Another delay :bang:

At least I'll save £575, but I'd rather have leather seats.

So now you know. The brochure in the UK might advertise leather seats, but don't get your hopes up; you can't have them.
 
It seems that the Dealers are unaware of this as I was poking around one on Friday and asked about the cost of leather and the salesman happily quoted for it. Or do they know and just hope it won't put you off when later deleted?
 
It seems that the Dealers are unaware of this
Yes, they do seem unaware. After I got the news from the admin office, I went in to see the salesman to discuss revising the order. Turns out he was off for a couple of days and hadn't a clue what I was talking about.

Anyway, UPDATE! I get another call today when they submitted the order for a second time without leather, and now the factory are saying that leather is available again! Also available is the DCT auto transmission now for those who are interested. So I don't know what's going on, I'm told one thing, then another, so watch this space. The Tipo with leather is on order (again!) and I'll believe it when I go to pick it up.

I'll keep you posted.
 
Yes, they do seem unaware. After I got the news from the admin office, I went in to see the salesman to discuss revising the order. Turns out he was off for a couple of days and hadn't a clue what I was talking about.

Anyway, UPDATE! I get another call today when they submitted the order for a second time without leather, and now the factory are saying that leather is available again! Also available is the DCT auto transmission now for those who are interested. So I don't know what's going on, I'm told one thing, then another, so watch this space. The Tipo with leather is on order (again!) and I'll believe it when I go to pick it up.

I'll keep you posted.
what's a dct? like a dualogic or a proper auto/cvt
 
I noticed on the Italian configurator that leather appeared, whereas it didn't on the UK configurator. I did try to download a brochure but it wouldn't work, so I concluded that, like the larger touchscreen for the stereo, the UK Tipo wouldn't have leather like Italian versions. Will be interested to see what happens with the second order with leather!

From working in a Fiat dealer a couple of years ago, the information regarding option availability did tend to arrive after the event, so I imagine the dealer wouldn't have had a clue until the order was rejected. However, Fiat do offer a huge number more options than other marques i've worked for & their model & option availability was actually far better. With some makes, a model would only be open for ordering for an infinite 'slot' then would close again. An option would become unavailable at the drop of a hat, then re-appear. Compared to some, I found the Fiat system brilliant as you could pretty much order what you wanted, when you wanted, and it'd arrive within 3 months.
 
that wiki says like the dsg in vw and they are know to be crap :(

That's because of the VW gearbox design. Similar issue to the M32 gearbox, except the DSG ends up exploding into a pile of parts. It seems though this was only related to the early DSG boxes, apparently they have revised the design to get rid of the weakness.
 
That's because of the VW gearbox design. Similar issue to the M32 gearbox, except the DSG ends up exploding into a pile of parts. It seems though this was only related to the early DSG boxes, apparently they have revised the design to get rid of the weakness.

Not sure how much truth there is in that. Only recently know of a friends Yeti DSG fail only days before the warrantee was due to expire! :eek:
 
As far as I'm aware, the DCT box in the Tipo and other Fiat's such as the 500X is the same box used in the Alfa MiTo & Giulietta TCT. It's been used in Alfa's since 2010/2011 and there's hardly any faults to speak of reported on the Alfa forums in relation to the TCT box, so with 5 years on the market I'd be pretty optimistic about durability of this gearbox, especially in the short-mid term.

It can't be any worse than a Dualogic, anyway! ;)
 
The chairs are the same, regardless of LHD vs RHD so it's a no-brainer to offer it. :)

Not so, will find the passenger seat will often have an Occupant Position Sensor fitted to see if a passenger is seated, drivers won't. Height adjustment is often only on drivers seat also.

As such the front seats will be LHD and RHD specific.
 
UPDATE! I get another call today when they submitted the order for a second time without leather, and now the factory are saying that leather is available again!

d6a1143f571184db25f94613edd43b40af6d3a629221aba00d9efdcfef5efd84.jpg
 
Was just having a nosey on Fiat UKs website & the Tipo configurator now has leather available on the Lounge trim level. It doesn't seem to be available on the lower trim levels, but this bodes well for BravoT150 & his Tipo order :)
That's great news! I've just tried it myself and it's finally appeared. Took their time with that though, didn't they? :confused:

There is no option for heated seats now, but the leather price is £750 which is the same as the "comfort pack" anyway which consists of heated + leather seats, which is what I ordered. The total price comes out exactly right, so we'll wait and see.

Still haven't heard back on a delivery date, though :(
 
Last edited:
Not so, will find the passenger seat will often have an Occupant Position Sensor fitted to see if a passenger is seated, drivers won't. Height adjustment is often only on drivers seat also.

As such the front seats will be LHD and RHD specific.

Yeah but.. imagine the factory where the seats are made.

You have one style of cushion, a left and a right seat back, and LHD and RHD seat brackets/adjusters and sensors... and the seat covers which are (?) identical for LHD and RHD.

When you build a seat, you are not bringing in any new parts to make a leather RHD seat that you don't already have in the factory for making LHD seats or for "non-leather" RHD seats. The component list is not increased by including an option for leather RHD seats.




Ralf
 
Yeah but.. imagine the factory where the seats are made.

You have one style of cushion, a left and a right seat back, and LHD and RHD seat brackets/adjusters and sensors... and the seat covers which are (?) identical for LHD and RHD.

When you build a seat, you are not bringing in any new parts to make a leather RHD seat that you don't already have in the factory for making LHD seats or for "non-leather" RHD seats. The component list is not increased by including an option for leather RHD seats.




Ralf

You could argue that on a 3-dr car, where the front seats would need the levers to tilt them forward, though I realise that doesn't hold here as the Tipo is a 5-dr car.
 
Back
Top