dealer (lack of) woes

1559 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Triumph, Jun 5, 2011

panther76

Discussion Starter · Jun 2, 2011

i WAS excited that my 500 is almost here...until i called what would have been the closest dealer for service at 80 miles away and was told they are in limbo and may not be opening a studio (merrillville, IN).

i could have barely lived with a qualified service center 80 miles away, but now the closest will be the outer reaches of chicago (at 130 miles).

the dealer is still listed on the fiatusa website as opening on 6/1/11, so im feeling pretty pi**ed off right now. i dont mind at all buying from the detroit area at 220 miles away, but now im thinking hard about the prudence of buying a car without a dealer remotely close.

just ranting i guess. i know some of you have dealers pretty far away as it is.

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Domdil

· #2 · Jun 2, 2011

. If you'd ever have a situation where the car isnt driveable then getting the car 120 Miles would be a really annoying problem. On the other hand Lots of dealerships now a days have express lube stations where they can change oil on any make and it wont affect your warranty and with the maintanence intervals that need to be performed, youd just have to do a bit of planning for that day to work out a way to get there and back. Personally I would still go for it, the car is definetly worth the little extra hassle!

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panther76

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jun 2, 2011

Domdil said:
. If you'd ever have a situation where the car isnt driveable then getting the car 120 Miles would be a really annoying problem. !

actually, towing to the nearest dealer is covered while under warranty. i would just have more peace of mind to have something more local.

i called fiat directly and while they cant guarantee anything, they expect more dealers to be operating eventually. i guess that depends on how well fiat is doing here.

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Dean_Fuller

· #4 · Jun 5, 2011

Our closest dealer is 130 miles away....I wish it was closer but its not. We live in BFE...I still want to drive what I want to drive. I will NOT allow my location to dictate what I buy.
Go for it.

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Triumph

· #5 · Jun 5, 2011

My dealer is 8 miles away and from what I can see it is actually a Dodge/ Chrysler/Jeep dealerships. Anything they have done on my car has been a first for them. Fiat is so new I dont think your experience would be much different if you took it to the closest Mopar facility. Since it is the same company... you may even be able to work out warranty issues.. That would be the deciding factor for me. Check that out.

Good luck

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