Fiat (Un) Professional dealers.

[Dall]

I have an Aircon problem on a 7 month old Ducato and today I tried to get our van booked in for a warranty inspection on the Aircon. We live in North Cumbria and our local Fiat Professional dealer in Carlisle, North East Truck and Van told me they only accept 2 Fiat appointments per week, so it's the end of July before they can do anything. Were booked out of Harwich mid July, so no good! Much the same at Blaydon and Billingham and Vanworld, the dealer who sold us our van in Chesterfield, say they are short on mechanics, so it's August. Finally NE Truck and Vans at York offered me this week for a visit to their Aircon specialist and if it's a Fiat part that's faulty, next week for the work.
What a palaver and a totally rubbish situation where little Ducato's get sidelined in the queue by MAN trucks.. ...... Hopefully you don't have a Ducato under warranty that needs any work and you live in the north of England.....

 

[Lenny HB]

Our local one is very good but they are 40 miles away. When I had the airbag ECU done I phoned up Thursday afternoon, they were doing it 8 am Friday.
Phoned up Friday to see about getting the clutch fluid changed (Comformatic) apologised because they were busy and the eairlist they could do it was Thursday this week.

 

[Dall]

Our local one is very good but they are 40 miles away. When I had the airbag ECU done I phoned up Thursday afternoon, they were doing it 8 am Friday.
Phoned up Friday to see about getting the clutch fluid changed (Comformatic) apologised because they were busy and the eairlist they could do it was Thursday this week.

I think that counts as "it's grim up north' Lenny...

 

[lorger]

I have an Aircon problem on a 7 month old Ducato and today I tried to get our van booked in for a warranty inspection on the Aircon. We live in North Cumbria and our local Fiat Professional dealer in Carlisle, North East Truck and Van told me they only accept 2 Fiat appointments per week, so it's the end of July before they can do anything. Were booked out of Harwich mid July, so no good! Much the same at Blaydon and Billingham and Vanworld, the dealer who sold us our van in Chesterfield, say they are short on mechanics, so it's August. Finally NE Truck and Vans at York offered me this week for a visit to their Aircon specialist and if it's a Fiat part that's faulty, next week for the work.
What a palaver and a totally rubbish situation where little Ducato's get sidelined in the queue by MAN trucks.. ...... Hopefully you don't have a Ducato under warranty that needs any work and you live in the north of England.....

I visited NET in Carlisle a couple of weeks ago and won't be going back, I was there to have a recall job done that took 30 minutes, I asked them if they would have a look at my TPMS as warning light was on and all pressures fine. I arrived at 9am as agreed to be told they were really busy with breakdowns and they might not get to me until late afternoon even though I’d phoned the day before to confirm my 9am appointment, I told them fine as I'll just wait. After 30 minutes the service manager popped out to say they had more breakdowns and couldn’t promise they’d get to my van, as a sweetener he said he’d check the TPMS fault free of charge, I was happy at that and rebooked for two days later.
Again arrived at booked time and service manager popped out to see me and said it should take about an hour max, he then confirmed he’d check my TPMS. About 50 minutes later got a call to say van ready, arrived to collect to be told no issues with TPMS so must be my valves.
Went to local tyre centre who confirmed all valves are good but issue talking to TPMS, then to my local independent garage who checked and found 40 faults with my TPMS. Going to Motus in Glasgow on Monday to have new module fitted and mot done.

 

[Nanniemate]

I have an Aircon problem on a 7 month old Ducato and today I tried to get our van booked in for a warranty inspection on the Aircon. We live in North Cumbria and our local Fiat Professional dealer in Carlisle, North East Truck and Van told me they only accept 2 Fiat appointments per week, so it's the end of July before they can do anything. Were booked out of Harwich mid July, so no good! Much the same at Blaydon and Billingham and Vanworld, the dealer who sold us our van in Chesterfield, say they are short on mechanics, so it's August. Finally NE Truck and Vans at York offered me this week for a visit to their Aircon specialist and if it's a Fiat part that's faulty, next week for the work.
What a palaver and a totally rubbish situation where little Ducato's get sidelined in the queue by MAN trucks.. ...... Hopefully you don't have a Ducato under warranty that needs any work and you live in the north of England.....

Why would a one off leisure vehicle take priority over a broken down commercial I think the clue is in truck and van
It's like me whinging about the bus not longer running past the end of my culdesac
I used it once
Look at it from the garage point of view
Commercial vehicle = loads £
Leisure vehicle = hassle for few £
Delay a leisure vehicle could loose a few £100
Delay a commercial vehicle could loose 10s of £1000s
Leading to end of business.
To you your leisure vehicle is important
To the manager continious cash flow and paying his employees would be his priority

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[MisterB]

I visited NET in Carlisle a couple of weeks ago and won't be going back, I was there to have a recall job done that took 30 minutes, I asked them if they would have a look at my TPMS as warning light was on and all pressures fine. I arrived at 9am as agreed to be told they were really busy with breakdowns and they might not get to me until late afternoon even though I’d phoned the day before to confirm my 9am appointment, I told them fine as I'll just wait. After 30 minutes the service manager popped out to say they had more breakdowns and couldn’t promise they’d get to my van, as a sweetener he said he’d check the TPMS fault free of charge, I was happy at that and rebooked for two days later.
Again arrived at booked time and service manager popped out to see me and said it should take about an hour max, he then confirmed he’d check my TPMS. About 50 minutes later got a call to say van ready, arrived to collect to be told no issues with TPMS so must be my valves.
Went to local tyre centre who confirmed all valves are good but issue talking to TPMS, then to my local independent garage who checked and found 40 faults with my TPMS. Going to Motus in Glasgow on Monday to have new module fitted and mot done.

We had a lot of issues with a TPMS system, albeit on a Nissan car. It was eventually solved by deleting the software and reinstalling it again, that was after installing new sensors to all wheels etc. No problems since

 

[Dall]

Why would a one off leisure vehicle take priority over a broken down commercial I think the clue is in truck and van
It's like me whinging about the bus not longer running past the end of my culdesac
I used it once
Look at it from the garage point of view
Commercial vehicle = loads £
Leisure vehicle = hassle for few £
Delay a leisure vehicle could loose a few £100
Delay a commercial vehicle could loose 10s of £1000s
Leading to end of business.
To you your leisure vehicle is important
To the manager continious cash flow and paying his employees would be his priority

I see your angle Nanniemate. However I am not trying to book in a "one off leisure vehicle", I am trying to book in a Fiat Ducato panal van into the official Fiat Professional dealer network for a significant area of the North of England and the Scottish borders.
All of the garages that I tried were official Fiat Professional dealers and anybody running a Ducato van for a business that relies on that van for their livelihood, is in exactly the same situation as I was.
I guess the problems are initiated by Fiat by not having a dedicated van dealer network, instead : tagging their commercial van business onto an existing Truck dealership.

 

[Lenny HB]

Adams Morey at Portsmouth the Motorhome side is seperate from the truck side but the labour rate for motorhomes is 50% higher than for trucks.

 

[Hagstrom]

TrudeandDall I had a terrible experience with North East Truck and Van York last summer. They kept putting business vehicles ahead of us in the work queue so that it took them over 10 weeks to finish the work. FIAT Camper Assist were not able to influence NETV. Ultimately, we couldn't believe anything they said.

 

[Nanniemate]

I see your angle Nanniemate. However I am not trying to book in a "one off leisure vehicle", I am trying to book in a Fiat Ducato panal van into the official Fiat Professional dealer network for a significant area of the North of England and the Scottish borders.
All of the garages that I tried were official Fiat Professional dealers and anybody running a Ducato van for a business that relies on that van for their livelihood, is in exactly the same situation as I was.
I guess the problems are initiated by Fiat by not having a dedicated van dealer network, instead : tagging their commercial van business onto an existing Truck dealership.

maybe that is why the ford transit is the panel van of choice for many small businesses better service? (other makes are available)

I'm just trying to think from the business POV and it all comes down to bottom line large fleet servicing is their bread and butter and I believe they are franchises so the management will choose what customers make them the most money

I'm thinking of all the one man band builders/trades near me there's not a ducato amongst them they all seem to be transits or mercs

But mine is an old girl and does not need to go anywhere near fiat but if ever I do change to a newer van with all the issues surrounding FIAT and the option was there I would think of something else as it appears the new van owners are getting a bit of a bum deal

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[Jim Schush]

We had an engine warning light come on a few weeks ago just outside Oxford. The 2 local Fiat professional dealers couldn’t see us for at least 2 weeks.
We ended up turning off the EML and we managed to get down to Portsmouth.
I must say the service we received from Adam Morey was very good. They fitted us in the next day to have a look at the van but because the EML was turned off the couldn’t diagnose the issue. We stayed around the area for 2 weeks and on Monday the light came back on just outside Portsmouth. We called them immediately (4.30pm), the van went in the next morning. Part ordered on Tuesday and fitted on Wednesday.
We live in Huddersfield and our local Fiat Professional dealer (Northern Commercials) gave up or lost there Fiat professional status at the beginning of June so I’ve no idea who will be the new dealer.

 

[Nanniemate]

We had an engine warning light come on a few weeks ago just outside Oxford. The 2 local Fiat professional dealers couldn’t see us for at least 2 weeks.
We ended up turning off the EML and we managed to get down to Portsmouth.
I must say the service we received from Adam Morey was very good. They fitted us in the next day to have a look at the van but because the EML was turned off the couldn’t diagnose the issue. We stayed around the area for 2 weeks and on Monday the light came back on just outside Portsmouth. We called them immediately (4.30pm), the van went in the next morning. Part ordered on Tuesday and fitted on Wednesday.
We live in Huddersfield and our local Fiat Professional dealer (Northern Commercials) gave up or lost there Fiat professional status at the beginning of June so I’ve no idea who will be the new dealer.

Seems these guys have seen a niche and are meeting the customers needs , good on them

 

[Dall]

maybe that is why the ford transit is the panel van of choice for many small businesses better service? (other makes are available)

I'm just trying to think from the business POV and it all comes down to bottom line large fleet servicing is their bread and butter and I believe they are franchises so the management will choose what customers make them the most money

I'm thinking of all the one man band builders/trades near me there's not a ducato amongst them they all seem to be transits or mercs

But mine is an old girl and does not need to go anywhere near fiat but if ever I do change to a newer van with all the issues surrounding FIAT and the option was there I would think of something else as it appears the new van owners are getting a bit of a bum deal

Once our van is out of warranty, based on my experience so far with Fiat Professional dealers, all of our servicing will go to our local independent garage. Fortunately or unfortunately, whichever way you look at it, being a German conversion our base vehicle warranty is 2 years (unless I have read that wrong) then I will not even have to get the first service done by a Fiat dealer... And if it was a 3 year warranty, my local independent would get my business, using genuine Fiat parts etc....
I'll keep my fingers crossed for no more warranty problems....

 

[jockaneezer]

The only good thing about NETV Carlisle is that their parts department stays open into the evening, which I found useful when my son was running his Iveco Daily, but gee do they know how to charge for bits !

 

[Threesheded]

I have an Aircon problem on a 7 month old Ducato and today I tried to get our van booked in for a warranty inspection on the Aircon. We live in North Cumbria and our local Fiat Professional dealer in Carlisle, North East Truck and Van told me they only accept 2 Fiat appointments per week, so it's the end of July before they can do anything. Were booked out of Harwich mid July, so no good! Much the same at Blaydon and Billingham and Vanworld, the dealer who sold us our van in Chesterfield, say they are short on mechanics, so it's August. Finally NE Truck and Vans at York offered me this week for a visit to their Aircon specialist and if it's a Fiat part that's faulty, next week for the work.
What a palaver and a totally rubbish situation where little Ducato's get sidelined in the queue by MAN trucks.. ...... Hopefully you don't have a Ducato under warranty that needs any work and you live in the north of England.....

You could try SG Petch in Darlington, it is still a trek but they are fiat "professional" dealers and service Ducatos, Like most Fiat "professional" dealers they know how to charge for their services.

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[SpeedyDux]

We had an engine warning light come on a few weeks ago just outside Oxford. The 2 local Fiat professional dealers couldn’t see us for at least 2 weeks.
We ended up turning off the EML and we managed to get down to Portsmouth.
I must say the service we received from Adam Morey was very good. They fitted us in the next day to have a look at the van but because the EML was turned off the couldn’t diagnose the issue. We stayed around the area for 2 weeks and on Monday the light came back on just outside Portsmouth. We called them immediately (4.30pm), the van went in the next morning. Part ordered on Tuesday and fitted on Wednesday.
We live in Huddersfield and our local Fiat Professional dealer (Northern Commercials) gave up or lost there Fiat professional status at the beginning of June so I’ve no idea who will be the new dealer.

There may be a trend for fewer Fiat Professional dealers in the UK. My nearest one closed suddenly in 2019 and there has been no replacement in the local area. I have a 100 mile round trip to get mine serviced and need to book several months in advance. Fingers crossed I don't need an emergency repair.

 

[Dall]

Update on NET&V York. What a difference to Carlisle, there were 9 Fiat Moho/campervan In the yard - ranging from A class to PVC. Some in for warranty, others looking a bit sad with longer term problems....
The service manager has respect and you are treated as a valued customer. I dropped off our van and within the hour I got a call to say it was not a Fiat component issue and they were taking it to the Aircon specialist. Shortly after that I got another update detailing the problem and the solution. It was fettled and we were back on the road by mid afternoon..
Very happy with York branch!

 

[Dall]

Update on NET&V York. What a difference to Carlisle, there were 9 Fiat Moho/campervan In the yard - ranging from A class to PVC. Some in for warranty, others looking a bit sad with longer term problems....
The service manager has respect and you are treated as a valued customer. I dropped off our van and within the hour I got a call to say it was not a Fiat component issue and they were taking it to the Aircon specialist. Shortly after that I got another update detailing the problem and the solution. It was fettled and we were back on the road by mid afternoon..
Very happy with York branch!

 

[Hagstrom]

TrudeandDall - pleased you had a good experience with NETV York. They must be trying harder.....

 

[dunnah01]

Are there any Fiat Amateur dealers out there that could the work

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[Mzracer]

Seems these guys have seen a niche and are meeting the customers needs , good on them

Adams Morey have got their heads around dealing with both the commercial truck market (big money) and collecting up a bit of beer money on Fiat based motorhomes.

They have a setup on the west side of Southampton as well and are efficient but not necessarily inspiring.

When I drive past Adam Morey Southampton there are always a couple of motorhomes in the line of vehicles going into the workshop, they also do night time servicing on the commercial vehicles, not sure about the FIAT professional stuff.

 

[Lenny HB]

Adams Morey have got their heads around dealing with both the commercial truck market (big money) and collecting up a bit of beer money on Fiat based motorhomes.

Their labour rates for Motorhomes is 50% higher than for trucks.

 

[Mzracer]

Their labour rates for Motorhomes is 50% higher than for trucks.

That is because there is a lot more faffing around with motorhomes than trucks, but at least they will work on MH's and are seemingly reliable.

MH's are funny beasts, they really sit between a car and a truck in terms of work and weights, I recently had the rear NS hub off our N&B which is on a Ducato 40 chassis, the hub nut torque was 330 lbf feet, that is a colossal figure in car terms but not commercial vehicles.

Everything is heavy on the Ducato 40 even the wheel takes some lifting.

Then you have the problem of MH customers thinking that their £100K MH is the most important thing in the World, in Adams Morey on any single day the motorhomes are likely to be the lowest value vehicles that they work on.

Nevertheless I know that the business (at 50% inflated labour rate) is worth them chasing, when they had a site on Millbrook Road in Southampton they actually had a motorhome picture outside to attract that business.

 

[Keep Right On]

Adams Morey at Portsmouth the Motorhome side is seperate from the truck side but the labour rate for motorhomes is 50% higher than for trucks.

When we had our Dethleffs on a Ducato, we used Adams Morey at Portsmouth and they were fantastic always.
Problem is they dont qualify as the north unless youre in Southsea or on Hayling......

 

[Lenny HB]

Nevertheless I know that the business (at 50% inflated labour rate) is worth them chasing, when they had a site on Millbrook Road in Southampton they actually had a motorhome picture outside to attract that business.

At Portsmouth they have recently separated the Motorhome entrance with new gates and armoco separating the drive from the trucks, you no longer have to weave your way through the trucks.

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[lorger]

That is because there is a lot more faffing around with motorhomes than trucks, but at least they will work on MH's and are seemingly reliable.

Surely that would just mean it would take longer to do, why would you charge extra for 1 hours work when it will be the same wage to the mechanic

 

[Mzracer]

Surely that would just mean it would take longer to do, why would you charge extra for 1 hours work when it will be the same wage to the mechanic

Probably have slightly different working practices between MH's and Trucks regarding cleanliness and exterior care, or that they are just charging what the market will stand, a bit like a solicitor.

 

[lorger]

Probably have slightly different working practices between MH's and Trucks regarding cleanliness and exterior care, or that they are just charging what the market will stand, a bit like a solicitor.

I understand that so might mean the job last longer than same jib on truck, why not then charge same hourly rate just more hours. If as you say it’s to do with the above then they are charging you twice. If they charge a set rate per hour I don’t understand why it’s different for a mh apart from ripping folk off, if I took a ducato mh in for oil change apart from cleanness which I’d hope they where doing on a truck how would it be any different from a ducato van?

 

[Mzracer]

Yes but the work they do will not revolve around oil changes it will be things like cam belt changes and gearbox problems and I can tell you that keeping a mechanics attention on doing a cam belt change under the bonnet of a motorhome (particulary A class) will be aided by cash, so what I am saying is that the best and cleanest mechanics will command a premium rate.
Porsche used to have a lower hourly rate for working on older cars because they were easier and less fussy, it is demand and supply.