Picking up my Prima Edizione

[rbrf2]

Hi guys,

I live in Ontario, Canada.
My wife is picking up her new Fiat 500 Prima Edizione in a couple of weeks. We just got back from the dealership filling out all the paper work required in advance but I have 2 questions.

Should I purchase the extended warranty, currently it's bumper to bumper for 3 years so I'm paying for an additional 2 years to make it 5 years. This will be a 3rd car in the family so it will be driven maybe 10,000 km a year. $1400.00 cost

Also they wanted to sell me the rust proofing for $600. They said it's for the life of the car. I plan to keep the car forever. I know they used to be rust buckets in the days but I know cars now a days have gotten better and usually don't rust.

Thank you in advance for any advice.

[sjmst]

Wow, so dealers will be dealers. No to the rustproofing, IMO. If the warranty covers everything (not just drivetrain but electrics, HVAC etc), than maybe I would consider it.

So, Canada is getting calls before the USA!

What color is your car, and can you tell us if the dashboard is color keyed? We are trying to figure out what Graphite Bezel means.

[Mike S]

So the Canadian dealers are much better organized than the U.S. dealers! Things shouldn't be this screwed up. There has really been no contact with anybody from Fiat.

We finally have some press only to lose momentum. I still EXPECT delivery within the next two weeks.

[sjmst]

I have my current car to sell. I'd like to try to sell privately to make a few dollars more. I don't dare put it on the market in case it sells in a week or two and our Primas don't come in for a month or more.

[rbrf2]

Thanks for getting back to me.  Yes dealers will be dealers.  They said the extended warranty covers bumper to bumper excluding the normal wear and tear, such as tires, brakes, bulbs, oil changes.

I got Bianco (White).  They said my due date for arrival is Feb 27th, they said I will be the first in Ontario.  They were actually able to track it on there system and as of yesterday Saturday Feb 5th my car was being loaded on the rail car in Mexico.  Also, there will a big event when I pick up the car so to be prepared for photos and so forth.  

Regarding the Graphite Bezel, I'm assuming you are talking about the Liquid Graphite Dashboard.  If that's the case, the manager wasn't 100% what the Liquid Graphite Dashboard meant, but said more likely it means the front dashboard will match the colour of your exterior car which in my case should be white.

[rbrf2]

I'm actually going back tomorrow to confirm a few other things. The warranty that comes with it was 3 years bumper to bumper, 3 years rust/corrosion, 5 years on the powertrain and 8 years on some limited corrosion which I wanted some more clarification.

Then on the invoice they had registration fee of $699.00
Pre-Delivery Expense (PDI) - $199.00
They had removed the Administration fee of $399.00

I need clarification on the registation fee and what it is?
The registration fee is not the license fee, as that's something additional.

[sjmst]

rbrf2 wrote

Then on the invoice they had registration fee of $699.00
Pre-Delivery Expense (PDI) - $199.00

Hello? What's all that about? Sounds like a rip off.

[rbrf2]

It's some standard fees from the dealership.  I tried to get an explanation regarding the fees, but the PDI is standard they said on top of the freight.  Whenever you buy a car it's says additional freight and PDI to be added on later.  The registration fee is something I've never seen.  They couldn't give me a clear answer what it was.  
I've tried to google it to see if anyone in North America knows what this fee is on any car purchased from a Chrysler dealership but with no luck.  
How can you even negotiate to remove the Registration fee?  To the dealership it's either you take the Fiat car or you don't.  Someone else will buy it.  It won't be hard to sell, it's a collectors car.  

If you read the fine print on any terms of condition with Chrysler it says additional fees can or will be added.  

Anyhow, tomorrow I'll get a better explanation what the registration fee is.

[Gavin]

Pdi
Is common with scooter purchases...
Add fluid to battery, add oils and other fluids, chck lines for leaks, attach mirrors, maybe wheels...etc etc... Basically the  unboxing and getting scooter ready for the road...for cars it is usually destination and prep....all cars need some prep going from truck to showroom, or truck to driveway.../
Usually the dealership will eat minimal prep (taking off shipping clear protection covering, washing car, checking fluids and lines, adding a bit of gas, charging the battery.

Gavin

[Fiat500USA]

rbrf2 wrote

Hi guys,

I live in Ontario, Canada.
My wife is picking up her new Fiat 500 Prima Edizione in a couple of weeks. We just got back from the dealership filling out all the paper work required in advance but I have 2 questions.

Should I purchase the extended warranty, currently it's bumper to bumper for 3 years so I'm paying for an additional 2 years to make it 5 years. This will be a 3rd car in the family so it will be driven maybe 10,000 km a year. $1400.00 cost

Also they wanted to sell me the rust proofing for $600. They said it's for the life of the car. I plan to keep the car forever. I know they used to be rust buckets in the days but I know cars now a days have gotten better and usually don't rust.

Thank you in advance for any advice.

Hi rbrf2, welcome to the forum!

Is that "registration charge"  a charge for your license plates?  Maybe a tax?  Seems pretty expensive, let us know how you make out.

[rbrf2]

I will let you know tomorrow.  No the registration is some fee directly from the dealership.  They tried to explain it but it didn't make any sense.   The license/registration fee is on a separate line on the invoice for $100 or so.  

[sketch]

There are few exceptions to my personal "no extended warranties" rule, and cars are not one of them.  Most extended warranties sold through dealers are relatively useless—they only cover certain items, and, worse, they'll often only be valid at the dealer at which you bought it, more than a minor inconvenience if something should happen on the road or if you should have to move.

[Springer2011]

I noticed when the Fiat Canada website opened they had listed the Fiat dealerships and their contact numbers very soon. This is great for Canada but the US still is waiting for a listing.

For warranties several things are important to be aware of.

1) You can always buy an extended warranty within the original manufacturers warranty period.
2) You may get a better price by buying an extended warranty later. It is a competitive market.
3) If you do buy an extended warranty at the time of purchase MAKE SURE the START DATE of the extended warranty is at the END DATE of the manufacturers warranty.
4) Many dealers but the start date of the extended warranty as the original purchase date. If you use common sense it is easy to determine why some dealers do this. Most likely money related.

Good luck on your car.

[Springer2011]

An additional note on extended warranties.

What I do is to wait and see how many times I have to use the manufacturers warranty during the manufacturers original warranty period. After owning the car a while and googling warranty related items and service bulletins you can then make your decision.

Their should be a lot of online info as to reliability after a couple of years, then make your decision in my opinion.

[Springer2011]

You are doing a good job of investigating the $699 registration fee. I have bought 18 new cars and motorcycles since 1972 and have never heard of this additional fee. I have never bought a used vehicle so I am very experienced and knowledgable on purchasing vehicles. My quess is that it is some type of hidden dealer mark up but I am not in Canada.

Usually in my experience the dealer charges dealer prep and this includes any work needed by the dealer to deliver the car to the owner. This look like pre delivery inspection in you case.

In the US there are advertising fees, local emissions fees usually by State, and State registration and licensing which you are aware of.

Administration fees of $ 399 and registration fees of $ 699 seem very questionable.

Call factory customer service and ask them what the factory charges are that are required for delivery to you. Any thing else should be the dealer alone and they should not be charging anything except dealer preparation which sounds like pre delivery inspection.

I will suggest that everyone purchasing a car from a dealership have all the fees listed at time of order and place a statement on the contract that these are the only fees that will be paid at time of delivery. I am going to be very careful here and thanks for the info.

Good Luck

[CaliberSRT4]

In the US we also have a "doc fee". The administration fee is maybe the equivalent of that, which is apparently being waived, so no harm done there. I have not heard of this registration fee in the US, it does seem a bit questionable to me. That wouldn't be the destination fee would it? Seems to be about the right amount for that.

[Carabinieri]

Yup.

IMO, "registration fee of $699.00" = "ADP," i.e., "Additional Dealer Profit."

I really like the 500, but I'll walk before I pay anything of the sort.  

Bill

[Springer2011]

I talked to Motor Village LA and they said the total fees above sticker price are $55 doc fees, 9.75% sales tax for their area, they do not charge for dealer prep. That's it. Pretty fair.

[sjmst]

More like it!

[prima 109]

I wonder if that fee is a Canadian thing?  I would call or visit with other manufacturer's dealers and see if this is a common fee for new vehicle purchase's in Canada, if he has never bought a new car before.  Sounds fishy.

Craig