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Old 16th June 2014, 23:17   #1456
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Re: Fiat's India strategy revealed. Abarth, Jeep, new Linea & Punto coming. More insi

Quote:
Originally Posted by nim_peter View Post
FIAT should first focus on making the existing customers happy and retain the current no. of owners. The A.S.S has still not improved, even after 5+ years of ownership. Took 3 weeks for them to source a radiator and heating coil. hould first change their service problems before introducing any new vehicle. My dream of owning a Linea or Punto is gone now, thanks to horrible service.
ASS for pre-Stile Palio owners MAY not have improved, especially spares availability and prices. Although I do know at least one old Palio owner personally who's happy with the new FASS.

But from my experience ASS has definitely improved for Palio Stile, Linea and Punto owners, especially the availibility of spares and accessories, and the honouring of warranties.

Are they where we Fiat owners would ideally like them to be? No, not yet, but at least from my experience and that of a few friends and acquaintances: improvements are underway.

So no, you need not abandon your 'dream' of owning a Linea or Punto: the service standards for these two cars are much better than for the older Palios, whose parts are imported, still tend to be late and are expensive. I find their service to be adequate for now, given that there are definite improvements I notice.

Caveat: I won't generalize too much from these direct impressions and observations of mine, but neither should you! Fiat-bashing (as opposed to criticizing) is a temptation to not be given in to, because it is often exaggerated and unjustified, IMO
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Old 17th June 2014, 05:04   #1457
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Re: Fiat's India strategy revealed. Abarth, Jeep, new Linea & Punto coming. More insi

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Originally Posted by desdemona View Post
ASS for pre-Stile Palio owners MAY not have improved, especially spares availability and prices. Although I do know at least one old Palio owner personally who's happy with the new FASS.

But from my experience ASS has definitely improved for Palio Stile, Linea and Punto owners, especially the availibility of spares and accessories, and the honouring of warranties.

Are they where we Fiat owners would ideally like them to be? No, not yet, but at least from my experience and that of a few friends and acquaintances: improvements are underway.

So no, you need not abandon your 'dream' of owning a Linea or Punto: the service standards for these two cars are much better than for the older Palios, whose parts are imported, still tend to be late and are expensive. I find their service to be adequate for now, given that there are definite improvements I notice.

Caveat: I won't generalize too much from these direct impressions and observations of mine, but neither should you! Fiat-bashing (as opposed to criticizing) is a temptation to not be given in to, because it is often exaggerated and unjustified, IMO
@Desdemona, I do agree palio parts are problem, thats why I mentioned I can forgive that. It is the attitude of theirs which is the problem. Sending an overheating car home is not the right thing to do. And forgot to mention after coming out of service station, I noticed the steering wheel was at 45 degree when moving straight. Had to return back again to get it fixed. They said they tested the car long run to check overheating, didnt they notice the steering wheel was off? To add to that, the petrol tank was dry. After stopping 2-3 times on the way and countless jerks reached a petrol pump 2-3 kms away. Cant they atleast fill couple of litres of petrol and charge it in bill? Other A.S.S do that. These are nothing to do with palio, can happen to any car. These are simple things which can go a long way in customer satisfaction.
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Old 17th June 2014, 13:09   #1458
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Re: Fiat's India strategy revealed. Abarth, Jeep, new Linea & Punto coming. More insi

Quote:
Originally Posted by nim_peter View Post
To add to that, the petrol tank was dry. After stopping 2-3 times on the way and countless jerks reached a petrol pump 2-3 kms away. Cant they atleast fill couple of litres of petrol and charge it in bill? Other A.S.S do that. These are nothing to do with palio, can happen to any car. These are simple things which can go a long way in customer satisfaction.
Just curious to know, which brand fills fuel for the customer's cars when given for service? None of the brands I have been using so far go to this length. In fact it is unreasonable to expect servicing staff to start filling fuel in customers' cars as their duty. Tanking up the car with fuel is not their responsibility. Also, how would one keep track of exact quantity they fill in the customers' absence, even if he/she requested?? The service driver could fill for 800 bucks and claim that he filled for 1000, no one would know. Minute differences in the fuel gauge needle position could go unnoticed

Unless this was a case of the car undergoing accidental / warranty repairs for weeks together in the service station, it is the customer who ought to keep note of the fuel level and not let it go to dangerously low levels when giving the car for regular service. Just my opinion, no offense meant.

Last edited by KarthikK : 17th June 2014 at 13:27.
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Old 17th June 2014, 13:28   #1459
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Re: Fiat's India strategy revealed. Abarth, Jeep, new Linea & Punto coming. More insi

Quote:
Originally Posted by KarthikK View Post
Just curious to know, which brand fills fuel for the customer's cars when given for service? None of the brands I have been using so far go to this length. In fact it is unreasonable to expect servicing staff to start filling fuel in customers' cars as their duty. Tanking up the car with fuel is not their responsibility. Also, how would one keep track of exact quantity they fill in the customers' absence, even if he/she requested?? The service driver could fill for 800 bucks and claim that he filled for 1000, no one would know. Minute differences in the fuel gauge needle could go unnoticed

Unless this was a case of the car undergoing accidental / warranty repairs for weeks together in the service station, it is the customer who ought to keep note of the fuel level and not let it go to dangerously low levels when giving the car for regular service. Just my opinion, no offense meant.
There was enough petrol in the car when I gave it, definitely more than 5 ltrs as there was no orange light blinking at that time. And I'm pretty sure they do it. I've seen it in the invoice before, amount of fuel added and cost. Just not able to recollect. Either it is Hyundai, B.U.bhandari in Pune, Mahindra first choice or somewhere in U.K. But it has been done once to one of my car. Very easy to keep tab, just need to ask for petrol pump bill.
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Old 17th June 2014, 13:51   #1460
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Re: Fiat's India strategy revealed. Abarth, Jeep, new Linea & Punto coming. More insi

Nim_peter, for Palio, better to find a good independent workshop well versed in Palio & older Fiat models, rather than visiting the new FASS who are mainly trained on Punto and Linea.
For spares, we have 99rpm.com
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Old 17th June 2014, 15:34   #1461
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Re: Fiat's India strategy revealed. Abarth, Jeep, new Linea & Punto coming. More insi

I understand (like many reviews here) that theres a big difference compared to a few years back, but unfortunately there still are quite a few loose ends.

Saturday(14th) I got a Glow Plug warning, but I couldn't remember whether/when it was changed before. My mail to FIAT requesting a soft copy of the service history didn't even yield an automated reply.

So I visited FASC yesterday, & it took them 2.5hrs to change 1 Glow Plug! Honestly, it seemed to be a 30min job (max 45mins). And then billing took another 1/2 an hour! Theres sheer apathy for us owners, and this is when they had just 3-4 cars to work on.

I also wanted the Service History, but the SA declined my request! I insisted & offered to speak to the general manager, but my request was eventually ignored. By then I was tired & I couldn't care anymore.

They don't usually have drivers in short notice for pick-up, so to & fro itself took almost 2.5 tiring hours in heavy traffic. In short, my FASC visit was a pain and I'm not really willing to withstand this and waste half my day next time.

Really hope FIAT & FASC's do some serious introspection. They've even stopped 'Post Service Feedback' calls like before. Such reviews won't come with feedback forms that service centers print themselves!
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Old 17th June 2014, 16:16   #1462
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Re: Fiat's India strategy revealed. Abarth, Jeep, new Linea & Punto coming. More insi

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Originally Posted by mkpiyengar View Post
They tell me during Test drive of Linea 2014 Diesel that they have demand for New T-Jet so no cars for TestDrive.

Still not received Test drive for T-Jet. Waiting !!
Regards
MKP
As Karthik has already told it is best to request for TD through the Fiat website (I know you did) and it is purely your decision to pursue it or not. But I would like to tell you that Fiat sent a TJet for me from 250KM away under a similar circumstance in 2012. It came all the way only for me.
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Old 17th June 2014, 16:51   #1463
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Re: Fiat's India strategy revealed. Abarth, Jeep, new Linea & Punto coming. More insi

So let's treat these as two different issues!

Quote:
Originally Posted by nim_peter View Post
There was enough petrol in the car when I gave it, definitely more than 5 ltrs as there was no orange light blinking at that time...
They might have done some "spirited" testing because of which the fuel might have been used up.

Quote:
Originally Posted by nim_peter View Post
...And I'm pretty sure they do it. I've seen it in the invoice before, amount of fuel added and cost. Just not able to recollect.
This happens if they use fuel for cleaning some components. If you notice, most of the times, this will be to the tune of .5 to 1L max. It's NOT that the dealerships fill fuel for the customers.

Edit::

Quote:
Originally Posted by WorkingGuru View Post
I understand (like many reviews here) that theres a big difference compared to a few years back, but unfortunately there still are quite a few loose ends.

...

Really hope FIAT & FASC's do some serious introspection. They've even stopped 'Post Service Feedback' calls like before. Such reviews won't come with feedback forms that service centers print themselves!
It will always be helpful if you put down the name of the dealership / A$$ too.

1. Other members will get a feedback on the centre
2. Others who might have had good experience at the same centre might point you to a better SA
3. If the company is following the forums, they might initiate a corrective action against the errant centre.

Last edited by swiftnfurious : 17th June 2014 at 16:58.
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Old 17th June 2014, 17:12   #1464
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Re: Fiat's India strategy revealed. Abarth, Jeep, new Linea & Punto coming. More insi

Quote:
Originally Posted by finneyp View Post
Too bad :(
If you still have patience, please report this issue to: service.india@fiat.com
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sommos View Post
As Karthik has already told it is best to request for TD through the Fiat website (I know you did) and it is purely your decision to pursue it or not. But I would like to tell you that Fiat sent a TJet for me from 250KM away under a similar circumstance in 2012. It came all the way only for me.
As Finney suggested I posted an email to them. Received an acknowledgement. Let's wait and see. I'll still consider if the exchange offer is tempting.

By the way Sommos, The customer care from FIAT was calling me continuously to check if test Drive was done and kept pushing the Dealer till i finally got the test drive, but come on, how long can customer care be pushing if Sales force are not Proactive. And that too from Fiat Caffe, Koregaon Park, Pune.

Cheeers
MKP

Last edited by mkpiyengar : 17th June 2014 at 17:16.
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Old 17th June 2014, 17:13   #1465
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Re: Fiat's India strategy revealed. Abarth, Jeep, new Linea & Punto coming. More insi

Quote:
Originally Posted by WorkingGuru View Post
I understand (like many reviews here) that theres a big difference compared to a few years back, but unfortunately there still are quite a few loose ends.

I agree. My limited interactions with the service center here in Pune, has made me realised that although the intent might be there, Fiat is still a long way away from the kind if service that is provided by say Maruti. This despite the fact that number of customers handled by a Typical Maruti dealer is much more than Fiat.

I am benchmarking against Maruti because my 3 year experience with them in Delhi has been much much better than what I have seen in the last four visits to the Fiat service center in Bavdhan. As a matter of fact I am talking of a 9 month old Punto run 12K Kms. So four visits itself is on the higher side. Ideally it should have been just the one free servicing.
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Old 17th June 2014, 17:39   #1466
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Re: Fiat's India strategy revealed. Abarth, Jeep, new Linea & Punto coming. More insi

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I agree. My limited interactions with the service center here in Pune, has made me realised that although the intent might be there, Fiat is still a long way away from the kind if service that is provided by say Maruti. This despite the fact that number of customers handled by a Typical Maruti dealer is much more than Fiat.
Certainly Fiat has plenty of scope for improvement and they have shown signs of improvement in the last one-and-a-half years after parting from the tatas, but you certainly cannot expect a Maruti like service from them. Maruti is the leader in the country and that reputation has been built over the years. But I feel Fiat service is better than some of the other european brands like VW and Skoda.
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Old 17th June 2014, 20:23   #1467
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Re: Fiat's India strategy revealed. Abarth, Jeep, new Linea & Punto coming. More insi

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Originally Posted by Sommos View Post
but you certainly cannot expect a Maruti like service from them. Maruti is the leader in the country and that reputation has been built over the years. But I feel Fiat service is better than some of the other european brands like VW and Skoda.

I agree Maruti has been the leader for some time now. Fiat service may be better than other Europeans, I dont know and wont comment either.

However, I disagree that we cannot expect the same level of service from Fiat as is provided by Maruti.

Why?

Because if we are only talking about the spread of service, then well an early head start does have an advantage, but for a service center that has been set up, I fail to see how not being around for long is a hindrance towards providing good service. I am not at all saying that all queries should be solved at one go or anything, nor am I implying that all Maruti service centers are better than all Fiat.

No, I just shared my experience. And I do not expect Fiat to have the same reach as Maruti has in the country, but I certainly do expect that in the service centers, that they have set up, they provide service that matches the best. Because I as their customer deserve that.

There are many here who have reported that service tends to get better once you get to know the staff at the centers or even prod Fiat after sales for lingering issues. However I believe that having bought a car, the manufacturer is obliged to ensure that the customers are taken care of. I agree once again that there is intent from Fiat's side and things may have improved which I cant comment upon since I am a new customer. However, in my last 9 months, I feel there is a long long way to go based on my own subjective experiences and opinion.

Last edited by vibbs : 17th June 2014 at 20:26.
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Old 17th June 2014, 21:20   #1468
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Re: Fiat's India strategy revealed. Abarth, Jeep, new Linea & Punto coming. More insi

Just curious, is there much regional variation in service quality? Are any Chennai customers unhappy with Fiat service? I'm happy enough with Ramkay and previously with Concorde. I also see lots of Fiats on the road, more than one would think going by the terrible sales numbers -- but maybe Fiat is stronger in some cities than in others? Most of the horror stories seem to be from the north (though I'm surprised to see Pune above, it being the HQ).
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Old 17th June 2014, 21:45   #1469
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Originally Posted by rsidd View Post
Most of the horror stories seem to be from the north (though I'm surprised to see Pune above, it being the HQ).
Hi, just to make myself clear here.

Mine is not yet a horror story. It is just my observation vis a vis my previous experience with Maruti.

Though it does bother me that I had to leave my 9 month old car at the service center overnight for suspension problems.

I am just not pleased at the professionalism ( or lack of )with which the service center guys handled my case. I had to visit them three times, when the issue was already diagnosed at the first visit.

I have generally heard good things about Fiat service in Pune and sincerely hope mine is a one off case.

I absolutely love the car though and would purchase another Fiat if needed without second thoughts.
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Old 18th June 2014, 00:23   #1470
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Re: Fiat's India strategy revealed. Abarth, Jeep, new Linea & Punto coming. More insi

I feel there are two major factors at work vis-a-vis (perceptions) of Fiat ASS.

(a) fiat owners tend to be vastly better informed, vigilant AND vocal. Hence there is a statistical quirk of more negative comments of FASS performance entering the internet etc, relative to other brands. Also, happy Fiat owners, and they may be the majority, are not as motivatedly vocal as those who feel they are not getting their due from FASS.

(b) A propos Maruti or Hyundai service being better: it is to a large degree a function of not just the age and experience of the ASS managers and technicians, but also of the volume of sales per dealer/per ASS centre. I am certain FASS practices and efficiencies will improve in tandem with rising sales per dealership, something the new Punto, Avventura and/or 1.6 mjd Linea will hopefully ensure.
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