Bishops Fiat Guildford

[professor_yaffle]

Despite having seen this garage slated back in 2003 by Forum member Gav, it's the nearest to me so I thought I'd give them a go.

Before Christmas, I tried to arrange a Panda test drive (both petrol and diesel) to be told by the garage they don't run a diesel but I could try the petrol.

Turned up to an empty showroom with no-one there - seems the FIAT salesman I had spoke to had gone out and not told anyone about the test drive...

However, this turned out to be a good thing because the Alfa salesman (Tork Butt - yes, that it his real name and I'm sure he's heard it all before) apologised, sorted out the test drive and off I went. Great little car, but I thought the diesel would be better. No problem, Tork arranged a diesel for me to drive a week or so later.

Decision made, now for the usual 'dance of negotation' with a car salesman - an utterly tedious process of posture, and counter-posture, at the best of times. Whilst you could easily pick Tork out of a line-up as a car salesman (suit, bright tie, hair gel etc.), it turned out he was actually quite a nice chap once you got past the 'salesman veneer'. Not only that but he was prepared to be competitive on price without the usual bull.

A couple of "this price", "no", "this price", "no", iterations later I got a competitive price - almost matching "DrivetheDeal" - and gave the business to a local dealer (not a faceless internet firm) and the whole process was fairly painless.

So not bad in all. But talk to Tork...

 

[Peerzy]

I've been trying to deal with this place for months now. I've been waiting 2 months now for a test drive having been told it would be 2-3 weeks. How hard can it be to get a Punto in diesel to test drive? No calls when promised, constant calls from Fiat HQ asking how my test drive and 5 minutes late a call from Bishops asking what car I wanted to test drive again and being promised one within 2-3 weeks.

The sales guy was nice when I was there, if a bit useless and the women manager didn't seem to take any notice of me (being 19 and looking to buy a new car she must have thought I was just wasting time).

I've only dealt with the Fiat guy (Errol I think) but it's been more pain than anything. Fiat HQ have been pretty bad as well, a few days ago they called again and I explained how annoyed I was getting he said he would look into it and 5 minutes late all he could offer was changing my dealer preference to Aldershot and they would call me within 2 weeks.

Great I've gotta drive even further now because Bishops is useless!

 

[Dogspods]

Age can be a great disadvantage - try Mill Lane in Aldershot (a little out of the way) but the guys there are excellent and very helpful.

You could always drag your Dad along when trying to get a test drive, Bishops my be a little more helpful if they thing you're getting a car bought for you.

 

[Shedbuilder]

After a recent dismal experience at a Fiat dealer, Bishops in Guildford, I thought I'd share the details here.
In March I bought a Panda 100HP from the garage. The car's mileage was advertised as 9600 but this had mysteriously jumped to nearly 10600 when I test drove it. I was told that this was merely an admin error when the details had been put together. The car had also missed its first service by almost a year. I was assured that this would not be a problem and that the car would receive a thorough check and service before the sale. I also noticed excessive wear on the rear brake pads. I specifically asked to have this looked into as I thought it unusual for a low mileage car. I was assured that this would be done and that any issues would be picked up and rectified during the pre-sale safety condition check and service.
When I eventually picked the car up, as I drove away, I noticed that the petrol tank was completely empty; the needle was below the 'E'. The petrol warning light had been on for my test drive a couple of weeks earlier and I was lucky to get to the nearest petrol station. Also there were several polish marks left on the plastic trim after the valet which I assumed would come off. They are still visible 5 months on.
Then a few days later I began to notice a whining noise coming from the rear brakes. I emailed the garage to ask what it might cost to investigate. I did not receive a reply.
I then took the matter to Fiat UK, who have been extremely helpful. They advised me to take the car to a Fiat dealer to have it examined. I did this with a different dealer who advised me that the car's rear pads had been fitted incorrectly and that this had caused the excessive and uneven wear. Both the pads and discs needed to be replaced immediately. This whole procedure cost £240 and leaves me concerned about the quality of the service the car received at Bishops if something as fundamental as this was not noticed.
A month ago I sent a letter of complaint to the MD of Bishops and a copy to Fiat UK. Fiat have told me that complaints from customers are taken seriously and can affect a dealer's franchise renewal. Needless to say I have not received a reply from Bishops. Judging by this, and by other reviews I have since read, it seems that Arthur Daley could pick up a few tips from this lot – beware.