Motoring Discussion > Motorhome fettled Miscellaneous
Thread Author: tyrednemotional Replies: 17

 Motorhome fettled - tyrednemotional
>> Are these Fiat professional dealers ones that only deal in motorhomes/know what they are doing
>> with them?
>>

...no, it's the Fiat commercial vehicle dealers. Most/many of the largely separate car dealers won't touch the commercial stuff (particularly the Ducato-sized ones, and more particularly if they have big bodies on them). They don't do any work on the conversion, just the base vehicle.

They all know how to charge. Top-whack labour rates regardless of location. I'll use them for the first service at two years, which coincides with end-of warranty, in order to retain potential of another two-years goodwill. If it's relatively low-mileage, you often get away with just a "low-mileage service" at that point. An oil and filter change which is still eye-wateringly expensive, though easy and quick to do, and about 1/3 the price if done by myself even with expensive Fiat oil (which the dealers never use: it's usually bulk Fuchs, which is about 1/2 the price retail).

The "Professional" dealers are often multi-marque commercial as well, and I've encountered a lack of Fiat-specific knowledge at every one. I had to take one van back after it's first oil-change to have the service counter reset. It has two - one general interval, and one condition-based for the oil. The latter is important since it will eventually send the van into limp-mode if it trips the condition. At the mileage most motorhomes do, the general service interval and an oil change generally synchronise at two years. I had to tell the Fiat "expert" that it had two values to reset, and eventually show him how/where to reset the (untouched) oil one (It's in a different ECU). I now have the software to do all that myself.

The first service on the current van (at two years, as per Fiat spec) had the head mechanic at a different dealer insist Fiat's requirements for oil-change were annual (they're not, they're condition based with a maximum of 2 years, though I do an oil and filter change annually). They're also an Iveco dealer, and Iveco's service schedule for essentially the same engine is annual.

It doesn't inspire confidence.

Conversely, I had a van based on a Ford Transit. The local Ford dealer who serviced my Mondeo was also a Transit specialist. Absolutely excellent service, and book in at the commercial end of reception and the labour rates were around 2/3 of the car end!
 Messages Author Date
 Motorhome fettled new tyrednemotional 6 Sep 22 16:25
 Motorhome fettled new Bobby 6 Sep 22 17:34
 Motorhome fettled new Zero 6 Sep 22 17:57
 Motorhome fettled new legacylad 6 Sep 22 21:29
 Motorhome fettled new tyrednemotional 6 Sep 22 22:08
 Motorhome fettled new R.P. 7 Sep 22 09:11
 Motorhome fettled new sooty123 7 Sep 22 09:20
 Motorhome fettled new tyrednemotional 7 Sep 22 09:49
 Motorhome fettled new sooty123 7 Sep 22 11:30
 Motorhome fettled new Bobby 7 Sep 22 09:25
 Motorhome fettled new Zero 7 Sep 22 10:09
 Motorhome fettled new R.P. 7 Sep 22 11:31
 Motorhome fettled new MD 7 Sep 22 11:43
 Motorhome fettled new tyrednemotional 7 Sep 22 12:57
 Motorhome fettled new legacylad 7 Sep 22 17:22
 Motorhome fettled new Boxsterboy 8 Sep 22 13:01
 Motorhome fettled new legacylad 8 Sep 22 13:31
 Motorhome fettled new tyrednemotional 12 Sep 22 21:23
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