Opened Fiat Dealers

[5*(10)^2]

AgentP wrote

I went to the Downtown LA Village dealership today.  There were about 5 or 6 on the 3rd floor and they are all Sport versions in the color Silver metallic (one was a grey) - very boring.  There was one salesman (Mitch)...

AgentP,

We met Mitch as well. But we feel that Mitch wasn't really into selling cars. He's quite dazed, lackluster towards the Fiat 500. He took us to the second floor to view the demo cars. And he left with my wife through the elevator. That's right. He shut the elevator door before I could walk in. That was quite rude no?

Worst part is the test drive. There was nothing to talk about. It's as if he's not into selling a car or any car. At the end of the drive, he actually asked me "How much is the Fiat Prima Edizione?"

I am actually very surprised he's one of the Fiat reps. Until, we met Michael Passage who's more energetic.

I am still mixed about getting my delivered at Motor Village LA.

[MrJones]

Found this perspective from a dealer's point of view (not necessarily Chrysler):
http://www.dealershipforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=23405

[CaliberSRT4]

MrJones wrote

Found this perspective from a dealer's point of view (not necessarily Chrysler):
http://www.dealershipforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=23405

According to Soave they have done some market research and the people interested in Fiats want a different purchasing experience than the regular Chrysler dealer. With their current strategy, they are attracting new customers into the dealership (ones that wouldn't otherwise go to a chrysler/dodge/jeep dealership) and also focusing on areas where Fiat 500's will sell in higher volume. I think it's the right approach, rather than simply putting a Fiat 500 in every Chrysler showroom with no specialized salespeople.

[sjmst]

CaliberSRT4 wrote

MrJones wrote

Found this perspective from a dealer's point of view (not necessarily Chrysler):
http://www.dealershipforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=23405

According to Soave they have done some market research and the people interested in Fiats want a different purchasing experience than the regular Chrysler dealer. ..

Wow, who wouldn't want the classic Chrysler dealer approach!?!

[Giallo Edizione]

CaliberSRT4 wrote

MrJones wrote

Found this perspective from a dealer's point of view (not necessarily Chrysler):
http://www.dealershipforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=23405

I think it's the right approach, rather than simply putting a Fiat 500 in every Chrysler showroom with no specialized salespeople.

 So the sales manager at my dealer was a salesman from the owner group's Lexus dealership down the street. He drives a MINI. I asked him if he's thinking of trading the MINI for a FIAT 500. He told me not a chance.....

Specialized.

[KellyFIAT]

Kelly FIAT is open in Danvers, MA!

You can visit us online at www.kellyfiat.com or call us at 1-800-NEW-FIAT from anywhere in New England.  I have included our hours below.  


Monday - Thursday
9am - 8pm

Friday and Saturday
9am -6pm

Sunday
11:30am - 5:00pm


See you soon!!

[FiatDude]

I just got off the phone with Patrick from Kelly.  He was very helpful and informative.  The PEs should be in within the next couple of days.

I stopped in last Saturday and they seemed to have a nice place with helpful Salespeople.  I can't wait to get my car.  I've waited 27 years to buy a new Fiat.  I have an '83 Spider that wants company in the garage...

[einy]

For any Cincinnati area forum members, King's Fiat is moving into the old Mitsubishi dealership building in the King's Automall.  They have a Rame Sport 5 speed available now for demo drives, as well as a Rosso Sport 5 speed that is currently undergoing minor repairs following incidental damage at the recent Cincinnati auto show (where it was, at the last minute mind you, on display!)  The dealership is currently open, but I was told the building will be limited access soon, as they are starting the remodeling work to build it out in the studio motif.  Sales staff is two people at the moment, and they seem to have pretty good product knowledge compared to most auto dealers.  When it stops raining here, I'll be in for a drive of one of the demo models, for sure!

[ciddyguy]

As I mentioned in my review of the 500, the Fiat of Kirkland dealership appears to be in business, unofficially I would say and are temporarily working out of their parent Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge dealership as their new studio gets built in an already existing building they own across the street. It'll be open by May the last I heard.

And Fiat of Tacoma has their Russo demo and I think they are probably also working out of their Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge dealership, the former Tacoma Dodge only dealer and just north of them on South Tacoma Way in Tacoma way in the former Evergreen Tire Center will be the new Fiat of Tacoma studio, they are in the process of remodeling the space now. I think they are taking test drives but at the moment, weekends aren't the best times, according to their Facebook page. I believe they'll have their studio up by early spring.

Have not looked in recent days but the Autonation dealership on Aurora Ave here in Seattle still had no website presence or anything indicating that a Fiat dealership is in the works so who knows on that one although it WAS mentioned on the dealer list via the Ciao Fiat website.

[sam500]

Actually had a couple of really weird interactions with Motor Village people over the phone today. Just called to confirm ETA for the Prima (seems like Friday?), and started getting this somewhat improvised talk on how I should think about which kind of 500 I'm looking for, in case I don't end up getting a PE... I don't really know. Kinda difficult to figure out what he was trying to say. I'm guessing he just didn't really have a clue about the Prima Edizione, or what the reservations are about. For some strange reason his go-to response was to rant about something he really didn't understand.

To be fair, I've had mostly positive exchanges with people there that DO know what they're talking about. Francisco is my guy, but Edwin, and Michael have been pretty great. This is also one of the most closely monitored dealerships by FIAT (since it's "owned" by them) so I feel fairly safe getting my PE here. I guess it's all about knowing who to talk to.

[5*(10)^2]

sam,

I have a feeling you spoke to Mitch on the phone. When you called did you ask to speak to a Fiat rep? Cos somehow he's the default bloke.

Like I mentioned, Mitch didn't know what is going on. Then I spoke to Edwin a couple of times on the phone and he was a bit confused. Eventually, I sent an email to clarify the matter such that if there are no news of my PE, I will have it delivered to another dealership. That's when things started to pick up.

Joel is the general manager and he actually sent me an email yesterday to let me know the car is arriving. He wanted to assign a Fiat specialist to me. I am already working with Michael. So that's all good. Michael reckons the car should arrive Friday or latest Monday.

There are some other things about MVLA that I'd rather talk offline.

[sam500]

I actually had a chance to talk to Joel briefly a few days back. He seems like a nice guy; took my information and said that he would give me a call. Just wish that the people that pick up the phone knew to direct those interested in the 500 (esp. the PE) to FIAT specialists, and not to someone who might be giving out misleading information.

This is actually a concern that one of the senior people at FIAT shared with me re:MVLA.

Also, about the last bit:

5*(10)^2 wrote

There are some other things about MVLA that I'd rather talk offline.

I totally understand!

[sam500]

Okay, some more info. I got into one of the most heated arguments I've had re: the delivery process of the PE, with the same sales rep from yesterday at MVLA. He told me that he was frustrated with so many people calling to ask about the car, and I pretty much bit his head off. You know, because we love having to wait until the last minute to find out about when we'll be able to get our cars. Eventually, he told me that they do have the Prima Edizione cars at Motor Village (confirmed by Michael via Facebook), and that they'll be prepping them (whatever this means), servicing them? (just repeating what he said), contacting owners (finally), and getting ready to release them sometime next week (unofficially wednesday).

There will be some sort of "event" for reservation holders, which would be a nice gesture if we had known about it/knew to wait for it. It's understandable that considering the volume of cars that they're handling, and the plans they had for delivery, that it would take a little longer than say, those dealers handling only one or two cars. However, they have to own up to the fact that it's their responsibility to stay in touch with their customers, and not the other way around.

Now, I must say that this is all "unofficial" information, since he only heard talk of this, but it's not set in stone. Also, I have no idea how reliable a source he is (he asked me what number on the list I was. What list?). I asked him to tell one of the people I've talked to (Joel/Edwin/Michael/Francisco) to contact me as soon as they knew officially.

Also, per facebook. Michael Passage apologized for the lack of information, and said that neither he nor Edwin had been at MVLA these past couple of days, and they are the point people for FIAT there.

[5*(10)^2]

Sam, Thanks for the update. Saw the pictures that Raul posted as well.

I am curious...who is this sales rep? Is it really Mitch? I can't believe he mentioned he was "frustrated".

[sam500]

No, wasn't Mitch. Just didn't catch his name, I was to busy listening to him complain about how hard his job was.

[Giallo Edizione]

#210 wrote

I just got off the phone with Patrick from Kelly.  He was very helpful and informative.  The PEs should be in within the next couple of days.

I stopped in last Saturday and they seemed to have a nice place with helpful Salespeople.  I can't wait to get my car.  I've waited 27 years to buy a new Fiat.  I have an '83 Spider that wants company in the garage...

I'll second that. So far they have been very open and communicative. I'm going to take a field trip up there today to see how I fit into a non-sunroof model. I may have to abandon my PE because of the sunroof clearance.

I don't blame the dealers or salespeople for not know what is going on or being able to trace cars etc. This all falls squarely at the feet of the marketing folks at FIAT, and ultimately Laura Soave. It's a bungled roll-out by her team from the beginning. If I were Marchionne, I'd clean house quickly and do what I needed to get folks in place who know what they are doing before FIAT USA becomes a Merkur or any of the other myriad of failed new automotive marques.

In addition to the sunroof problem, I am having serious reservations about buying a 500 at all, not because I think its a bad car, but because it's not a daily driver for me and I have very serious reservations about it reasonably holding its value if the market uptake fails. 50,000 units and no buyers-not a good resale scenario.

Meanwhile, if you (PE 210) happen to be getting a non-roof Rosso PE from Kelly and want to upgrade to a roof model, give me a holler by PM or tell the dealer.

[AgentP]

I can't seem to do the quote thing for the time being - but I ddidn't realize you guys were posting over here about the MVLA.  I didn't want to say anything negative about Mitch.  When I was there Friday to get a test drive, I looked for him as he was the one who gave me the brochure when I went there the first time.  He does seem to not know as much as the bunch of us on this forum about the PE etc.  He'd told me for example that the test drive car was out getting banners put on it, but apparently it was actually at some Italian event (wished I would have known) that weekend.  Anyway, he said he'd been selling cars for over 30 years (he does look pretty old-school) and I liked the feeling that I was not being pressured. On the other hand, you could say he was somewhat disinterested, but I understand that they are not trying to be hardcore sales people like other dealerships.  When I showed up for the test drive, he handed me off to Michael who was very enthusiastic and told me about how him mom drives the car in Europe and showed me the differences between the Pop and the Sport and then showed me Jay Leno's car.  Very nice man but he seemed to suggest that when I go to order that I'd be working with Mitch?  Maybe Mitch is in charge and not really a salesman?  I don't know but the experience dealing with Mitch has not been negative and he's been very respectful if not terribly pushy on trying to sell me a car and for now that is appreciated since I have yet to get my husband convinced to get this car vs. a Mini.

[FiatDude]

Hi Finale Edizione,

Mine is grigio with the sunroof.  I was actually thinking about seeing if someone that ordered a grigio without the roof wanted to switch.  I drove one with the roof and sat in one without the roof and think I prefer one without the sunroof.

It isn't a deal-breaker but I wish the shade wasn't a solid rather than a mesh material.  The extra headroom without the sunroof is nice too.

Either way, it seems like a very nice car.  Roomier inside than it appears from the outside.  It was able to get up to highway speed quickly and held the road well even on a very windy day.  I was impressed.

The folks at Kelly continue to be very helpful.  I don't think the delay with the PEs is their fault.  I am convinced that they should be in next week.  The cars were in a lot in central Massachusetts.

Good luck with your decision.

[MrJones]

Finale Edizione wrote

Meanwhile, if you (PE 210) happen to be getting a non-roof Rosso PE from Kelly and want to upgrade to a roof model, give me a holler by PM or tell the dealer.

I am definitely passing on my rosso Prima (no sunroof)--I wonder if I can have them ship it to your dealer and then you can swap out. Want me to try?

[Giallo Edizione]

MrJones wrote

Finale Edizione wrote

Meanwhile, if you (PE 210) happen to be getting a non-roof Rosso PE from Kelly and want to upgrade to a roof model, give me a holler by PM or tell the dealer.

I am definitely passing on my rosso Prima (no sunroof)--I wonder if I can have them ship it to your dealer and then you can swap out. Want me to try?

Yes, ask! What the heck. However, I have been told two things about that by my dealer. First guy said if a PE is cancelled, FIAT will locate the next person on the waiting list in the delivery area and offer it to them. Another guy said, no, if a PE is refused, then the dealer is free to sell it to whoever. My sense is one of these two is true and FIAT would be unwilling to pay the transport cost for little old me to lose a sunroof.

In the meantime, I am eying an incoming Rosso Brilliante Sport 5 speed with convenience and sound/safety packages, for $19,100 delivered, ( plus the ususal nasty fees). But I am also drifting towards custom ordering a Rame Lounge with Marone/white luxury leather interior ( and heated seats!) and stir the manumatic.

Here's some interesting factoids: Of the 56 500's ( non PE) on distribution to my dealer (selected by FIAT), only 11 are manuals. All of the Pops are automatics (as are the Lounges of course). Only 12 cars have sunroofs. Exactly one, yes one, Rosso Sport 5 speed (it has roof). Yet, they have already sold out all of their 5 speeds with sunroofs on pre-orders. Also, none of the auto-Pop's are priced less than the manual Sports; Pop's are all $19,250 and up. They have a lot of customers thinking of sacraficing and getting an automatic, but none are laying down a deposit without seeing the car colors, interiors etc ( to overcome the manual issue) according to salesman.  Looks like FIAT may really have the marketing wrong, at least up here in New England. If they think they are going to woo away MINI buyers, they will never do it with automatics. Nobody up here buys a MINI with an automatic unless they simply do not know how and are unwilling to learn how to drive a manual. Salesman is hoping FIAT figures it out and starts distributing more 5 speeds to them. Meantime they will have a lot of automatics on the lot to unload.