First Service

[MichaelT]

Was this salmon ? The fiat garage you recommended, I spent most of yesterday on the phone trying to find someone.

Mickey

Hi @Mickey1 yes it was D Salmon at Weeley Broken Link Removed there is always a MH or 2 there and they are helpful fixing anything you need done or upgrading SW etc.

If you do go there about 150m further on is a Caravan place with a good cafe you can go to while you wait....

 

[Mickey1]

@MichaelT , just called salmon and the cost is £460, I’m having a bit of a nightmare trying to find someone. I know it’s £140 cheaper but it’s over a hours drive opposed to 20 minutes to bury.

Mickey

 

[MichaelT]

@MichaelT , just called salmon and the cost is £460, I’m having a bit of a nightmare trying to find someone. I know it’s £140 cheaper but it’s over a hours drive opposed to 20 minutes to bury.

Mickey

Did you ask for the low mileage service???

 

[SpeedyDux]

I get the impression that our local Fiat Professional outfit would prefer to not service A Class MHs. When you book for recall work or a service you get asked: what type of MH is it. I had to explain to Service Reception that mine is a PVC with the same basic cab as any Ducato van before they were happy to accept the booking.

Last year they charged £225 for the low mileage service.

 

[MichaelT]

I get the impression that our local Fiat Professional outfit would prefer to not service A Class MHs. When you book for recall work or a service you get asked: what type of MH is it. I had to explain to Service Reception that mine is a PVC with the same basic cab as any Ducato van before they were happy to accept the booking.

Last year they charged £225 for the low mileage service.

Yep I just said I have a Fiat Ducato Based MH

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Mickey1]

Someone told me to ask for the breakdown of the service, this is it.

Mickey

 

[Mickey1]

Did you ask for the low mileage service???

It’s a first service which is either 30,000m or 2 years whichever comes first.

Mickey

 

[AXO66]

Bit off topic but Going to open a thread about low milage services.

Mine’s ford based , 2nd. Service around £240 from memoary but does include ford assisst , European wide break down service.
My handbook says sevice every 2 years. Fotd garage says every year.

 

[Deneb]

It’s a first service which is either 30,000m or 2 years whichever comes first.

Mickey

But as your mileage is less than the average expected mileage that the normal service schedule is designed for, you can get away with a low mileage service. You need to ask for it and get a quote.

Oil and filter change is important and in fact for lower mileages would benefit from being done annually.

Unless you've been using your van in very dusty conditions you almost certainly won't need an air filter. You can check it yourself before taking the van for a service. Even if it looks a bit dirty on the side nearest the intake port in the filter box, it may at the worst need a quick vacuum with a soft brush attachment, or if not just turn it so that a clean section of the filter faces the intake.

Cabin air filter should also be good for at least 4 years, again unless you've been motirhoming around the Sahara.

Brake fluid unlikely to need changing at 2 years but you could ask for a moisture reading before deciding.

Engine flush is not required and just a money making exercise on the part of the dealer. In fact, unless you haven't run the engine or changed the oil for a much longer period than the age of your van I would say an oil flush is to be avoided at all costs, and even then it's benefit Vs risk would be dubious.

Fuel treatment ditto.

 

[Mickey1]

@Deneb , I’m not mechanical minded plus I asked if there was a cheaper service and they said no.

Mickey

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[MichaelT]

@Mickey1 I agree with what @Deneb said. And in fact that is what D Salmon told me, low mileage (circa 11k for ours) does not need all the above only oil & filter and general safety check, even at 4 years you are unlikely to have covered the 40k miles that a commercial vehicle would have done...
Of course it is your choice and your cash but I guess at least you have a cheaper option now..

 

[Deneb]

@Deneb , I’m not mechanical minded plus I asked if there was a cheaper service and they said no.

Mickey

Mickey,

Please don't take this the wrong way, as I mean it as advice, not as criticism. You obviously have access to the internet as you are posting here. Presumably you also have access to a search engine.

Whilst I'm not in any way suggesting that you can teach yourself to be a master mechanic via the internet, you can at least do a bit of research on things like engine oil flush and fuel treatments.

Just putting "Engine Oil Flush" into Google brings up numerous posts on the first page, which can roughly be divided into those advertising or describing the alleged benefits - almost entirely posted by manufacturers, distributors or others with a financial interest in the products - and those advising against them, also setting out the reasons.

You can at least with an hour or so's research make yourself informed enough to decide if you want to be ripped off (sorry, I should perhaps say unnecessarily invited to part with your money) by professionals who rely on your lack of knowledge to maximise their profit margins at the expense of customers such as yourself

 

[Mickey1]

@Deneb , really appreciate your advice but it’s all down to the fiat warranty. At the moment I have a choice of paying over the top with a 15 minute drive away or £140 cheaper but with over an hours drive.

Mickey

 

[MichaelT]

@Deneb , really appreciate your advice but it’s all down to the fiat warranty. At the moment I have a choice of paying over the top with a 15 minute drive away or £140 cheaper but with over an hours drive.

Mickey

@Mickey1 your warranty will run out at 2 years so no need to worry unless you have some problems needing sorting out. Try again for low mileage service explain your situation and advice given here. And another way to look at it is an hours drive each way equals 2 hours @£70 an hour......

 

[Deneb]

But you can still tell them not to carry out procedures or replacements that you don't want, and not to bill you for them. Oil flushes and fuel treatments are not required by the vehicle manufacturer and in fact some explicitly state they should not be used.

I had to have my van serviced last year to protect the 3rd year Fiat warranty, otherwise I would have done it myself. I asked if the low mileage service would be sufficient for that purpose, and the dealer said that as long as their stamp was in the book, that would be fine. I declined to have the cabin filter changed, but they gave me the part so I can use it when it is actually needed. I have a copy of the service schedule check sheet, all ticked and signed

My car is just due its second year service. The dealer states that it includes spark plug replacement and will almost certainly want to charge for it. The vehicle manufacturer states that the plugs should be changed at 40,000 miles based on distance driven only, not on time. The dealer includes them in the service because it's based on 2 years or 36,000 miles. If my car had done 36,000 miles, fair enough as they would be due to be changed before the next service was due. But it hasn't yet done 10,000 miles, so as much as the dealer wants to charge me for them, I won't be having them done.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Mickey1]

I’m probably wrong but I thought the fiat warranty was 3 years.

Mickey

 

[Gellyneck]

Our first service (low mileage as previously advised) was undertaken at just shy of two years. I subsequently had two dashboard consoles and clutch switch replaced with no issue on these being done under warranty.
These were done in year 3 as we had a 3 year warranty. Believe later vehicles had warranty reduced to 2 years but not sure when this was implemented.

 

[MichaelT]

I’m probably wrong but I thought the fiat warranty was 3 years.

Mickey

I believe it is 2 years for MH. http://www.mopar.eu/camper/en/warranty-servicing

 

[Howard H]

I’m probably wrong but I thought the fiat warranty was 3 years.

Mickey

Hello Mickey ,I made the same mistake as you had an expensive fiat dealer service because I wanted them to fix the broken screen washer .they told me after the service (low mileage oil and filter) that the warranty ran out at two years and as mine was just over that the washers weren’t covered . So I had a very expensive oil change at a main dealer for no reason when I could have it done anywhere for a lot less.

 

[Deneb]

3 years for a van imported and supplied through a UK Fiat Network dealer, 2 years in all other cases. In practice you will only get 3 years on a PVC ordered by a UK converter through a domestic Fiat dealer and subsequently converted.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Mickey1]

@Howard H ,we have the same van and I think we bought at a similar time, must check my Fiat Warranty.

Mickey

 

[Howard H]

Yes check it Mickey , I think if the chassis was brought over here and converted over here it’s 3 year warranty but the same chassis converted abroad is only 2 years ,makes no sense to me but that’s what Marquis told me but what do they know

 

[mfw]

Dont know why people worry about warranties half the time not worth paper it is written on - manafacturer defect is different ( boy found out hard way and had to pay himself bottom end on a nissan navara ) and problems occur out of warranty or mileage speculations they wont cover - bottom line jobs for the boys at top money for an oil and filter change !

 

[Mickey1]

It says 2 years in the handbook but I thought I’d seen 3 years somewhere, so the warranty will run out 2 weeks after I get it serviced, now that’s a different outlook.

Mickey

 

[mfw]

Might be wrong here but i think a monkey can change a filter and oil as well as the gorilla standing over him

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Deneb]

Yes check it Mickey , I think if the chassis was brought over here and converted over here it’s 3 year warranty but the same chassis converted abroad is only 2 years ,makes no sense to me but that’s what Marquis told me but what do they know

3rd year is insurance backed by the UK dealer network, not Fiat directly, hence only applying to vehicles imported and supplied by them.

 

[tonyl]

We also used Salmon's in Weeley for our first service at two years (coachbuilt Rapido). It was their suggestion that we only needed a low mileage service. We were at about 10k miles at that time. It was £210.44 in May 2018, so remarkably similar to MichaelT's bill.

As someone else said, the caravan shop down the road (Homestead Caravans) is useful to have a wander around while they do it and you can get a decent breakfast there, too. If coming from further away, they also have a campsite behind the shop

 

[Gellyneck]

This is what your warranty booklet will show (or similar) if you have the third year warranty -

ADDITIONAL FIAT PROFESSIONAL WARRANTY
Once the 24 month warranty has expired, Fiat Professional will warrant the vehicle for an additional period of 12 months from date of registration subject to terms and conditions available upon request.
Under this Additional Warranty, the Dealer is obliged to repair components which are DEFECTIVE due to manufacturing defects by replacing them with genuine Fiat Professional spare parts or reconditioned Fiat Professional parts free of charge.

 

[Spriddler]

I go for a short service; oils and filters because I've better things to do. I don't intend to pay a main dealer c£100+ an hour to top up the washer fluid, oil door hinges and locks, check coolant, lights, tyre condition and pressures, ..........

 

[Mickey1]

@tonyl , when I called salmon he told me it would be £460.

Mickey

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}