What a dodgy main dealer. Avoid like the plague.

I took the GF's 53 Fiat Seicento there to have some warranty work and when i came to pick up the car the woman handed me the keys and as i was walking out she said "oh by the way....the handbreak cables snapped".

I was like WTF???? I said it was fine when I bought it in. She said she new and recommended that when I take it away, to leave it in gear when I park. She told me it would cost £200 to repair...

I said “hang on so you broke the cable and now I have to pay for it”. She said that she didn’t break it. It snapped when the mechanic put the hand break on. I asked if it was covered on my warranty and with out checking she told me it wasn’t. I asked what I was supposed to do and she said that she’ll book it in next week.

I asked to speak to the service manage and she asked him to come to reception. He walked in, all cocky, and with out even asking what the problem was he said “I’ll tell ya what. I’ll be generous and we’ll go 50/50 on it” He knew what to say before I even told him about the problem. I told him that wasn’t good enough and he said he could do no more. I asked him if I could have a courtesy car over the weekend and he told me I couldn’t as I hadn’t booked it in and they didn’t have any spare anyway.

I’d had enough at this point and handed him back the keys and told him I was going home to seek some legal advice. He wished me good luck so I told him I’d heard about garages like this before and he just smiled and told me he’d worked in loads like it.

I got home and called Trading Standards who were shocked to hear how a main dealer had acted so badly. They told me that as the cable broke whilst in there care then they have to repair it for free.

I phoned the Desira back and told them I’d spoken to Trading Standards. Told them that under the Supply of Goods Act they where liable to pay for the repair. I warned them that I would take the matter higher. After hearing all this the Service Manager put me on hold for a wile and then came back and told me they’d replace the cable for free. I asked about a courtesy car and was told I could have one as one was due back today and WAS free all weekend.

Anywhoo all was fine untill the exhaust went on the Seicento the other week. I thought.."should i run it past Desira to see if it's coverd on waranty" Anyways i ran it over there just to check, as the only other main dealer is 20 odd miles away. They told me it wouldn't be coverd...so i asked how much it would cost (so i'd have an idea) and was told £365!!!

I asked why it cost soooo much and was told that i needed a new Cat aswell and that the exhaust came as one complete system. I thought that can't be right and said i'd go to a local exhaust garage and was told if i had a 3rd party exhaust fitted it would void my warranty!!! I thought "fudge it..theres only a few weeks left on it anyways"

I ran the car elsewhere and was told it didn't need a new cat, just an exhuast system and that a new exhaust would cost £100. I booked in the car and gave the other Desira a phone call and asked them about the exhaust. I told them where it had gone and they told me it would only cost £175 and that it didn't need a new cat and that they couldn't understand why the Gt Yarmouth Desira wanted to fit one!!!!

I've also now heard some other horror storys about Desira in Gt Yarmouth...

They had sold someone a new car and when it arrived it had a dent the size of a tennis ball in one of the doors and they refused to replace the car (it had already been paid for) and offerd to fill the dent at (guess what!!!) 50/50...

They also sold a used car as "perfect condition with no bad history" only for the new owner to discover it had been in a smash and been filled, repaired and re-sprayed...

They had a new Punto in once and one of the front springs had snaped (faulty from the factory!!) and the resulting collaps of the front suspention buggerd up everything under it...but they only replaced the snapped spring for free and tryed to billed the poor sod for the rest of the work!!

I've now heard T.Standards are investigating them!!! So be warned peeps.....

Fiat don't come bottom of the JD Power customer surveys for reliability and customer service for nothing.

Rule number 1 dont buy a car in Gt Yarmouth i'm afraid, sorry to the honest dealers there but thats the case

Very poor experience with desira Yarmouth - bought secondhand there with promise of free service, tank of fuel etc. but was not carried out, book not stamped and so on. Complained in writing and received an envelope containing cheque, no letter, for 35. Got my garage to carry out service and won't go anywhere near Desira Yarmouth in this lifetime.

You have posted on a thread that is 6.5 years old, if you have issues may I suggest you start a new thread.