Geneva Motor Show launch for Delta!

[toby2449]

well apparently the Geneva Motor Show will have two very important launches for italian car lovers, the Lancia Delta & Alfa "Junior" ( i know its been named but i hate the name & i think Alfa will change it!)

So, i've booked my flight tickets & hotel tickets, Geneva here i come!!!!!!!!!!

[A1.6HPE]

Grazie Deo !!
It has taken long enough. Its a bit like the launch of the Mk2 Delta which was delayed and delayed and then arrived too late - hope not !

I understand that Lancias in the UK will be sold on the same premises as Alfa Romeos - seems a bit odd as the Delta uses Fiat Brava bits. I'm hoping that they end up in the Fiat Dealers because there is one about 2 miles away from me. Would be great to see my local area with lots of Lancias around :-)

[fay66]

I hope not if my latest dealings with Fiat (not the Dealer) are anything to go by while waiting for a Grande Punto to arrive.
over a month later than promised.
The customer care line goes through to Italy so you can't speak to anyone at Fiat UK direct, even then for 3 weeks no one was able to tell us where the car was, or when it would arrive at the Dealer, while the information the dealer was looking at on the system was 10 days out of date.
When it finall did arrive, I knew before customer care at Slough. Need to really get their act together, God help anyone who's ordered a new Fiat 500.

Brian
8227

[ncundy]

Brian,
I couldn't agree more ! Nothing has ever gone wrong with our Multipla (which we have had from new), but just booking it in for a service is a lesson in incompetence and "laissez faire" attitudes. Even buying the car was a painful experience, and I have legions of stories about trying to get parts for my Thema in the mid nineties - things just haven't improved. I know levels of customer service can be regional, but my experience is that a severe bout of recalibration is needed when dealing with FIAT - I carry a small padded pillow around so as not to bruise my forehead when heading the wall !
I believe that in an effort to correct the "preminum" brands, FIAT Group have extracted some good AR dealers from the franchised network and have taken them back into the company (much as MB have done). These will benefit from investment, training etc - and these halo centres willl sell AR and Lancia.

see page 27:
http://www.fiatgroup.com/comuni/php/file_get.php?w=1195121551KSKQJRAPCR

[toby2449]

Grazie Deo !!
It has taken long enough. Its a bit like the launch of the Mk2 Delta which was delayed and delayed and then arrived too late - hope not !

I understand that Lancias in the UK will be sold on the same premises as Alfa Romeos - seems a bit odd as the Delta uses Fiat Brava bits. I'm hoping that they end up in the Fiat Dealers because there is one about 2 miles away from me. Would be great to see my local area with lots of Lancias around :-)

i think Fiat are using Alfa dealers for the Lancia range due to the fact they'll appear more upmarket, if Lancia's were placed along side Fiat's then theres a chance people will see them as just restyled Fiats (which they are!)

[toby2449]

i have to say though, my experience here with Fiat dealers & service centers is for the most part quite good. I've bought 2 new Fiats through dealers & although the first one wasn't without its problems, the 2nd one was a faultless affair. But i think i've been lucky with regards to parts as i've gotten hold of a dealer who's been with Fiat for over 40 years, they really know their stuff & parts are easily obtained, even for my Dedra!

[fay66]

Thanks Neil,
I've just downloaded the report to have a good read, but at quick glance looks very interesting; Particularily the Lancia comments on RHD & the return in 2009.

Brian
8227

[Scarpia]

It would be easy to generalise on these sorts of discussions but I do think the quality of service is most dependent on the mentality and working culture in a particular dealer.This may be kept alive by just a few key individuals. What i also believe is that this climate is heavily influenced by the directives and communication within a corporation and head office which can lead to even well intentioned dealerships just going with the flow in the end.It's probably reflecting the loss of a sense of direction in Fiat in recent decades. I must say, my dealings with fiat dealers in service terms have been less than happy despite been a persistent customer...Our other car makes have actually been often more problematic but the service and customer treatment was generally better.

My problem is to pursuade my wife we would ever buy another.The ducato and the stilo are great but the tactical engagements with the dealer have been a pain.

An example is the 3 year guarantee.We have a warranty card from Fiat for 3 years.At 2 years 6 months during a service there was some extra work that was clearly not wear and tear.we were presented with a bill for the parts and labour. I questioned this and they said Stilos only have a 2 year guarantee. I produced the dated warranty card and they said " ah, but that's issued from another belgian dealer , you should have gone to them if you wanted the work done under warranty..."

they checked with italy and the car was also only showing a two year guarantee on the system so they wouldn't budge.I expected them to resolve this between dealers but they wanted payment first before trying to recover the costs from another fiat dealer.

in summary, we thought we bought a car with 3 years coverage, but only 2 are in practice issued by the factory and the third is at the risk of the selling dealer.So other dealers won't recover these costs if you take it anywhere else but the garage you bought it.Nice if you know in advance but its not in the small print and your well buggered if you break down on holiday. 
The fact that they did the repair without checking first that I agreed with the costs was clearly wrong and I ended up in an exchange of registered letters.
After 2 weeks of arguments they cancelled the bill and sorted it out internally but they were happy in the beginning to let me pay till they saw they got their costs back from Fiat.Not exactly customer friendly.
to be fair this is common practice with other makes (the 2+1 warranty) also but most don't realise it and the application of the policy is more customer friendly in other cases.

The cars are great though....