My dealer went bust !!! But FIAT are still doing my order

[tonywalk]

Just rang my dealer - Caledonian, Salford (Manchester).

Took a while to get an answer on the phone. The girl who picked it up said "we've gone out of business 30 minutes ago".

I felt like I'd been hit with a taser.

She gave me the number for Fiat who are aware of them going tits up and are looking into it for me. If they have the order in the system, they will re-route it to another dealer for me. Unfortunately, I didn't have an actual Fiat order number.

So I'm in limbo until I hear back from Fiat.

Upset,
Tony.

[KPKalle]

Jeez that's a nasty surprise! I sure hope Fiat can track down your order quickly.

[Tino]

Oh no!! I sympathise Tony ... Is it just that branch of the dealership or the whole group? There is a Caledonia in Warrington. Hopefully your order will just be re-routed if the build for the car is scheduled or in progress

PS If it's any help, there is a Stockport dealer, or the one I use in Bury - Richard Cort Italia - although my 500 purchase experience with them could have been better.

[Tino]

Tony ... here's a forum discussing the Caledonia group and what has happened ...

Fiat Caledonia gone bust - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

[Love that 500]

Ouch!

If it's the whole Caledonia group that's gone bust then that takes out several Fiat dealers in one swoop, which will be very unfortunate both for customers and for Fiat in terms of dealer coverage at such an important time for the company. Fiat could (and should) honour the order with another dealer as a goodwill gesture, and I'm sure that Fiat could stand the loss of a deposit cost for each car from its profit margin (especially for the 500) in order to keep its customers happy.

Though at least on the bright side there may be (at least) three 500's available for sale pretty soon

[Mark Elvin]

Sorry to hear that.

How many dealers does that take out then?

[tonywalk]

Looks like the whole group.

Found this thread on the moneysavingexpert website:-
Fiat Caledonia gone bust - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

Tony.

[tonywalk]

Originally Posted by Tino

Tony ... here's a forum discussing the Caledonia group and what has happened ...

Fiat Caledonia gone bust - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

You posted that while I still had my post in edit mode while I finished reading that thread.

Cheers,
Tony.

[tonywalk]

Originally Posted by Tino

Oh no!! I sympathise Tony ... Is it just that branch of the dealership or the whole group? There is a Caledonia in Warrington. Hopefully your order will just be re-routed if the build for the car is scheduled or in progress

PS If it's any help, there is a Stockport dealer, or the one I use in Bury - Richard Cort Italia - although my 500 purchase experience with them could have been better.

Thanks Tino. I used to use Reg Vardy's in Stockport though I thought they went off. However, my sister has had several Fiats from Caledonian and found them excellent, hence me ordering through them.

Nearest dealer to me is Stoneacre in Hyde. I've heard runblings that Stoneacre aren't that good.

Regards,
Tony.

[Mark Elvin]

It would appear that Stoneacre are taking on some of the orders, although the bidding has yet to be finalised.