[GT500]

Mods, as this is my first post, kindly move thread to appropriate section/merge/edit title/chop it off if need be.

I'll start with a little introduction, so you may skip this part.

Well, the car hunt started about a year back,and like most linea owners my family just fell for the looks of this beauty.
Long story short, Linea was finalized in the diesel active flavour.
We were warned by previous Fiat owners not to expect any wonders on the A** front but since Fiat was very aggressive with launching their cars after a rough patch I though fiat is going to improve ,since its serious to tap the evergrowing Indian market.I was proven wrong.

The car was bought from RAMA Motors a new dealership that came up in Okhla , and it seemed to be promising initially.The car ran smoothly, first service came up, no issues.

After 3 months of ownership, however things changed.

Soon after the Run In period , I decided to get a pollution check done.( Initially I was not aware that a new car does not require a PUC within 6 Months of Purchase), I went to the Petrol pump and got her wired up for the Test, and then the pollution testing guy tells me that the car has failed the test.I was like . How can a three month old car fail the pollution test. After gaining knowledge from the attendant that she needs to visit the workshop for some tuning.Sigh.Chose another car for the road trip.

OK then a visit to the work shop , took out time , went to RAMA. On reaching there , a camp called FIAT FIRST was there, with all the chaps from the Pune office trying to convince customers that FIAT has now pulled up its socks to give the ultimate customer satisfaction.I narrated my issue with the car and they said they'll look into it.

Infact on my first service I had ordered a part of the dash storage compartment that was not closing properly, this was also narrated to them.After some cards were exchanged I was told to contact them in case of any issues.Car checked and OKayed by them and I was told to get the PUC done,and they'll send the part within a week. Got busy with work, and a week passed, no part , no call, hmm, time to write a mail, mailed the chap at pune , he woke up, sent the part, part received, installed, and Im ok.Patience is the key here some one tells me.


Months passed and little niggles such as the front fog lamp cover falling off et all happened which were promptly fixed.Then suddenly the dash starts to display all sorts fuel consumption figures to the tune of 9-10 Kmpl,tankful to tankful comfirms this. I'm a little alarmed, off to RAMA again , they ask for more time , I leave the car, on returning Im told the ECU was reset and things should be back to normal.

They did not go to normal, and Im loaded with work now, cant take out time for this issue, and I push this to back of my mind, and note it down for the 2nd service list of issues to be addressed. LOL yes I made a list of issues, there were so many that I couldn't take the risk of multiple visit to the workshop.

Time came up for the 2nd service, went to RAMA with my list on a weekday,only to be told by the receptionist that the workshop is closed until further notice.
Closed!? what do you mean closed, for real!?
Saaar, there is some problem in the management and we would be opening up very soon.
Err ,how soon would that be?
A week or so. Sigh. Soon.
I hope you dont refuse the car If I cross the service interval deadline of 1 yr , No saar, we will take care of it.
On the way out, I asked some of the employees about the situation, and their explanations range from an all worker+mechanic strike against the Mgmt. to the owners firing all of them at once.
Hmm.( Isnt this the same location from where we bought Hyundai Accent from, oh yeah, same Dealer,Rama Hyundai, Yikes! I hope they dont repeat it again and close it for good, talk about coincidence)

I wait exactly for a week, and then called up.The receptionist goes , Saaar, Im sorry but we are not yet open, Will take some more time.
I weigh my options and just search for other dealers around me, Sanya came up, had a bad experience with them with a TATA car, but still hadn't experienced the "FIAT" serivice.

Went there,with my list LOL, had a hard time locating the service adviser.the place was full, probably due to the fact that Rama's load was transferred here.The place was thronging with radio TAXI's.

Located the adviser,narrated my list and he refused to accept the car as his maxxed his capacity and they would only entertain cars with prior appointment.

The list for niggling issues:-

1.PUC failed.
2.High fuel consumption.
3.Water seepage through the dash during rain, forming a puddle in rear passenger legroom.
4.Rusting( nuts and bolts)
5.Indicators not turning off automatically on turning the car.
6.AC grill entirely shut, failing to respond to the lever
7.Rear door lock not operating.
8.2nd service due

I try to reason with the advisor and tell him to fix atleast the puddle formation in the rear legroom as I cannot risk further damage during the rain.He agrees.Calls the mechanic and he Traces the source in drivers footwell. goes on to find that , one of the drains under the wiper comparment isn't long enough and is splashing water towards the firewall which in turn is going in the cabin, Im like isnt the firewall suppose to be err, sealed. He explains, Sirjee inki finishing kahan hoti hai? ( Sir, these things are not finished properly.)

Someone told me , patience is the key.I told him to fix ASAP.And then he says he has the perfect solution, runs with the black drain and comes back after half and hour with a white flexible pipe attached to the drain with brown tape . Jugaaad . Im a little apprehensive about the solution he has, since Im worried the temperature inside the engine compartment might melt the desi flexible pipe and I'll be left with a sticky plasticky mess.

After struggling with the jugaad he give up and says, sirji leave the car and we'll do R&D on it and come up with a solution.

No thanks, clearly your not fit for this job, so after 4 hours of me standing in the SANYA motors workshop ,I leave.

Sigh, Delay.

I search the forum for a good workshop, found one in gurgaon and one in patparganj.Gurgaon too far,Patparganj it is.

I reach there, give them the list, and Im gone.Sigh.Relief.
I go there next day, to pick the car up, car seems to be taken care off, but not ready.I tell them to wash it ASAP and bill it. Billing done , payment done,car ready,Quick is the word here.
I open the car and lo, the car is dirty on the inside and the cleaning boys did not clean it on the inside and went off for lunch,Im pissed, but since Im late, I drive off.

The engine much smoother after shelling out close to 6 K.Should be.

On the first turn, I engage the indicator, and it does not go off automatically!
Arggh, Not fixed.Should have checked before leaving.
Go back.Get it fixed.An hour wasted.I leave.
Reach home,lock the car, and I leave, forgot something in the hurry go back, open the door,
Hey! This should be locked, I just locked it and did not unlock it before opening the door.
ARRGH, should have checked before leaving, the mechanics did fix it.

Boy I'm pissed.Too tired to travel another 15 KM back to the workshop.

Called fiat's roadside assistance, hoping that they'll fix it at my place.Im told that
A.I am not covered under road side assistance.Wait a minute is this not a part of the warranty , No sir. Hmppf

B.And you'll be charged if we send our engineer,regardless of his capabilty to fix it or not. I tell them just lock it and leave it so that I can have a good nights sleep. Again, cannot assure if he can do it or not.

I decide to go to sanya, and get it fixed, the manger refuses outright, says his mechanic has left for the day and its too late.I'm like ,atleast lock it permanently, fix it later on, and after some heated argument he agrees, and gets it done.

And now the Icing on the cake,the incident which made me write this.
At night on the same day, Im returning after meeting a friend.I hop into my car. Tired. Put in the key and it wont turn,jiggle the steering to loosen the movement . No turn. I twist it. Hard. No turn. After struggling with it for 15 mins. and cursing my car to no end.I finally crank it. And now, there is some issue with the key slot. ARGH.

What a day.


I just tried to put some facts together.

1.Is this really a car that costs close to 8 Lakhs?

2.Cant Fiat produce niggle free cars , to improve its image and market share.

3.Why do they continue to provide such shoddy service, and that to in the capital!!

4.Why isnt the onroad support included in the warranty.

5.Do they expect to do R&D on the customer and then improve, after taking feedback from the customer about problems faced with the car?
A customer cannot be expected to run around reporting issues with the car again and again.

6.Can't the TATA dealers differentiate between a TATA and a FIAT customer, and understand the fact that yes the FIAT customer is not a TAXI wallah, not that Im saying that all TATA customers are such, no offence, but this is how they treat an 8 lakh ruppee car owner.

7.What does a company expect to give a NEAR problem free car.?


I seek you opinion, maybe its just my car, as is evident from the many satisfied ownership experiences I have read here.

I embark on my mission next week to again go to the service station to get this sorted.

Correct me where ever Im wrong as this is my first post and Im in experienced in such matters,just a little over the edge ATM, your guidance shall be appreciated

Thanks for reading.

Regards

GT

[phamilyman]

Man, just chill.

check your PM - i've sent you architect's number - he will give you the contact for Samyak/Elegant motors in patparganj (not too far from Sanya). They give excellent service. he's had 50,000km of peaceful ownership courtesy Samyak only.

Try them and then report back.

[EssYouWe]

Sad that you need to go through all this. I wonder if it is the dealership tie-up with Tata that is hurting ***, but I guess it was the best option they had.
Hopefully things will improve soon.

Just an FYI:

Rama and Sanya do not have very clean credentials. There is one at Wazirpur. Those guys have been very proactive on the sales front, I am not very sure if the same attitude will be reflected in servicing.
Do give them a try once.

[GT500]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Man, just chill.

check your PM - i've sent you architect's number - he will give you the contact for Samyak/Elegant motors in patparganj (not too far from Sanya). They give excellent service. he's had 50,000km of peaceful ownership courtesy Samyak only.

Try them and then report back.

Thanks for the PM , phamilyman.
As I said in the earlier post, I went to elegant, and I am satisfied with the services they offered me, they fixed all the issues I had mentioned except for the AC grill for which they have ordered the part required.

In fact ,to any FIAT owner, I would recommend them to check this place out, as I could myself see the number of FIAT cars being serviced as compared to the TATA cars, not that they dont service TATA's but the Fiats clearly outnumbered them ,a rare sight at a FIAT -TATA workshop IMO.



But, issues such as water seepage through the dash is simply not acceptable, though it seems that the guys at elegant have fixed this issue, still waiting for it to pour cats and dogs in delhi ,to finally see if this is the case.
The other issue of car's key not having a smooth movement in all keyholes, has been fixed by a stop gap solution.I just sprayed some aerosol lubricant , so that I could atleast crank the car.

Originally Posted by EssYouWe

Sad that you need to go through all this. I wonder if it is the dealership tie-up with Tata that is hurting ***, but I guess it was the best option they had.
Hopefully things will improve soon.

Just an FYI:

Rama and Sanya do not have very clean credentials. There is one at Wazirpur. Those guys have been very proactive on the sales front, I am not very sure if the same attitude will be reflected in servicing.
Do give them a try once.

Thanks EYW,
I believe that the showroom will go to lengths to materialise a sale , but as soon as the sale happens , you are no more than a street urchin for them.
Though I will drop by their station If I go by that area.


Point I want to make is that, FIAT just cannot continue to expand in the Indian market if it continues to provide A** under the TATA umbrella, its hurting its Image IMO, in the near future if it plans to introduce other cars in the luxury segment , if at all, TATA's A** will ruin it, their mechanics are simply not upto mark to handle expensive cars. Or by some Miracle TATA improves, which is higly unlikely.

[Lalvaz]

Sorry to hear about your experience GT500. Fiat is really not getting its act together. 3 months ago, I was in the market for a new car, looked around, TD'd the Swift, I20, Figo, Vista, Punto, and the UVA. Of all these cars, the worst sales staff had to be Wasan Fiat. Although Wasan sells both Tata and Fiat, there was a world of difference in the staff handling the two brands. Although the Tata guys tried hard to sell a bad product, the Fiat guys tried their best to not sell a Fiat. They refused to give a TD, they never called back when promised and they just plain did'nt care.

I understood that Fiat is not interested and promptly took my business elsewhere.
Fiat is a classic case study in how Not to sell a car.