07-02-2017, 12:37 PM
A friend of mine, slightly disabled, and his wife with mobility problems had a Fiat on the mobility scheme. From new the drivers door whistled at speed, the handbrake was hopeless, hill starts were almost impossible. On delivery it was noticed that the roof had a large soft dent, football size.
Now the rules on mobility are quite severe as regards maintaining the vehicle, damage has to be paid for at inspection time.
So the vehicle went from Lancashire to somewhere on the Yorkshire east coast to an Fiat appointed repairer.
It came back with a new roof, no paint inside over the rear window, just an ugly mig weld!
My friends could not get any satisfaction from Fiat. It went backwards and forwards from dealer to Fiat inspector for days.
I had a quick look at it, measured the front screen pillars to find that the driver's side was 7mm longer than the other side! No wonder the door seal whistled. I was surprised that the screen fitted or stayed in place.
In desperation my friend took the still new car to a Transport Vehicle Testing Station. They failed the car as being unroadworthy due to an inefficient handbrake.
It went back to Fiats, for good.
Now I am not saying that this is typical or that the new models are the same, but I would never buy a Fiat, no matter what name it had on the back.
Now the rules on mobility are quite severe as regards maintaining the vehicle, damage has to be paid for at inspection time.
So the vehicle went from Lancashire to somewhere on the Yorkshire east coast to an Fiat appointed repairer.
It came back with a new roof, no paint inside over the rear window, just an ugly mig weld!
My friends could not get any satisfaction from Fiat. It went backwards and forwards from dealer to Fiat inspector for days.
I had a quick look at it, measured the front screen pillars to find that the driver's side was 7mm longer than the other side! No wonder the door seal whistled. I was surprised that the screen fitted or stayed in place.
In desperation my friend took the still new car to a Transport Vehicle Testing Station. They failed the car as being unroadworthy due to an inefficient handbrake.
It went back to Fiats, for good.
Now I am not saying that this is typical or that the new models are the same, but I would never buy a Fiat, no matter what name it had on the back.
Boater Sam.
