Well...
After some cruising around the forum and several discussions with members and particularly John H I decided to order the A500. The pre- order customer service and advice was excellent and although convincing was not too pushy. He went out of his way to find and secure the exact car i was after to avoid the delays with a new order, saving me a good 10 to 12 weeks. The numbers all added up even taking into account the distance, and John offered me a guaranteed part ex on my motor in the event i didnt sell it.
Because I was taking the finance (a conscious decision to use the resale value of my car for other things!!) I was able to take advantage of the low rates at the moment and even include some "wish" items like the Konis and Monza on the initial purchase with the same rate. It also meant that i had to pick it up rather than have it delivered (although a transporter was offered to drop off and pick up mine i still needed to sign all the documents)
I was surprised (very pleasantly) and delighted at the level of customer service and information that i received, with sometimes daily updates on the status of my car. I even got photographs when it arrived at the dealers.

When the car was nearing the completion date I arranged to visit and pick up ( and at this point i was still selling my own car). John was flexible about invoicing in regards to mine even up to the last day which took some of the stress out of the nightmare of selling my car privately.

At this point i decided that the custom stripes I wanted would be better applied before pickup so called John with a question/ suggestion. He was more than helpful and suggested a local firm that they had used. I discussed the pricing and arranged the work to be done with John who acted as my quality assurance / liaison with them through the process. He even sent me pictures of the work being done as i was travelling down!)
I ended up getting the train down and just let John know the train times and he was waiting for me in the train station car park in a gleaming white 500 esseesse.
My lovely gleaming car was waiting for me with some large Abarth boxes in the rear for the oem items to take home.
A near painless experience ( i ended up buying the scorpion alloy fuel cap - i have no will power  ) of signing the documents and inspection / car tour followed and John was extremely helpful and friendly through the whole process. There was even a decent amount of fuel in it for my journey home 
In all the experience has been an enjoyable one and the deal and service i received more than made up for the long journey down.

I will certianly be giving John a call when it comes time to swap for my next Abarth 

Last September 2010 I decided to pop into Vospers Plymouth and ask about the Abarth Punto Evo, I had already decided on the build requirements.
Scorpion black, full sun roof, dual climate control, full leather interior, red stripes and red wing mirrors.
I meet John Hutchinson for the first time and felt totally at ease, he got me a coffee before we launched into his sales pitch! It came as a surprise that he did not use one; instead he listened and answered my questions with fantastic clarity. John pointed out all the options and explained the way forward should I decide on ordering my APE from Vospers.
John did a search for a car matching my requirements and explained that due to the specifications I wanted it would have to be built in the factory in Italy. John explained that it would be 10 to 12 weeks at least due to the sun roof being fitted etc.
 I went away that day with all the information I needed to go through it with “her in doors”.
After all she will have to sit in it at some time, I might even let her drive it (only if I am sleeping).
I talked it through with my lovely partner ( all of 5 minutes and the decision was made, spookily John phoned to say there was a build slot on the production line if I was still interested. The next day I handed over my deposit and the deal was done.

The start date for the build was the 20th of September (again spooky because that’s my birthday) and now my new cars birthday.

I was delighted at the level of customer service and information that i received, with updates on the status of my car.

To cut along story short after weeks of waiting and a few minor problems which John using his contacts at Abarth, eventually after many weeks on the forum my car arrived at Vospers.

True to his word John phoned me and I went along to have a look see, still in its transportation wrappings it looked great, I still had to wait for the PDI checks that John had to sort out but the pick up day came.

I got a lift to Johns showroom and saw a mysterious shape covered over under a canopy, I went into Johns office all smiles and full of excitement. The mandatory coffee was offered and accepted.

John the true professional went over all aspects that are legally required signing the documents etc, then after his card machine raped my debit card for the outstanding balance we set off keys in hand.

John did the honours and slowly pulled away the cover and there it was “GUS” my new APE!, my new best mate.
John showed me everything in detail explaining all the in’s and out’s,
A lot of information was given and most of it stuck, we sat in the car and John went through the interior fittings.

I was not sure if there was a fire but the main alarm in the building and everyone piled out, I did not take much notice of the alarm but felt really proud sitting in Gus with all those people stood there, I wanted to shout “It’s all mine!! Ha”.

I shook hands with John and off I went straight onto the A38 and on with the sports switch, o what fun I had.

That was back in November 2010!!, so sorry about the delay (it’s the 5 of May 2011 today), but what can I say, sorry, John Hutchinson at Vospers Plymouth is a credit the Mr Vosper and the Abarth dealership.

He is a gentleman who cares, he’s professional, polite and “customer service” should be his middle name, and I trust him without question.
I look forward to a long friendship with John at Vospers, cheers mate.

I bought a 58 plate AGP SS in white with no stickers (all White) back in april and when i picked it up the car was looking stunning. However after loving the car with problem free driving for a few days i then heard a strange knocking coming from the front end. Booked the car in with the service department and it went in, the techs found some loose heat shield and a bent exhaust bracket which they said was causing the noise. i got the car back however the noise was still there so i rebooked it in once again, i then recieved a phone call saying they could not hear the noise so i went for a test drive with the service manager who funnily enough heard the noise right away. i told him it was either bump stops or top mounts and it turned out to be the bump stops all replaced and noise gone, peace at last! well for a few days then the brakes started to grind and squeak the car was then booked in once again along with some other bits like rusty wheels nuts and split rubber trim. the car then went in for 2 and a half weeks whilst i had a 500 1.2 pop 
when i got the car back the brakes were then squeaking 10 times worse so they had to rebook the car once again and i had to wait a week and a half for a shim kit! the brakes were still squeaking after having a brand new set of front discs and TWO sets of front pads i had suggested it was the rears making the noise as i said it was from the beginning. the rear pads were changed and the squeak gone!
i then got the car back and everything seemed fine for a while until now the door locks are rattling like hell and i have a worrying misfire!

all in all since may the car has been in 13 times and a total time of just over 5 weeks in which i had to chase what was happening all the time as nobody would keep me updated and the attitude towards myself was very negative in my opinion an extened warranty was then given to me as a means of some compensation however the problems seem to keep coming. the car is booked in to have more work done soon.

Just a quick note to thank John501 and Mr Vosper for providing me with my 695. After all the horror stories regarding the supply chain process posted by other Abarthisti, I was expecting the worst but needn't have worried. I didn't have to lift a finger. Everything was taken care of  

I'd recommend them to anyone.

Thought I should pop up a post up about my experience at Vospers

After experiencing other dealers, and spending my time with them trying to convince all that I did need an oil change @ 9k, then having them not know what oil I needed, plus coming up with some interesting pricing structures and wildly varying additional bits and pieces that needed to be charged for at my 9k when they were convinced by me that, yes, it had to come in.   I thought I'd give Vospers a bash.

John501s input on the forum being the convincer, this had got me in their showroom sometime back when I wanted an AGPSS, the Jo(h)ns, had helped me back then with good info and test drive etc, good car, driven over good routes but I didn't bite due to knowledge of the incoming Evo, ultimately a local dealer opened up which was clearly more convenient so never used Vospers for my purchase.

Bit of a trip for me to Plymouth, I'm under no illusion, an Abarth doesn't need special treatment, but faced with some of the hassles above I decided that even so it does need to be serviced correctly and it sounded like Vospers know what they are upto. Booked the car in and as it turns out, my time aside, it was cheaper to fill the tank and do the 300 mile round trip than it was to go down the road to Bristol   I guess the labour rates and pricing the right items for the service helped keep the price down, or is that correct

Aside from booking the service, I have to admit initial impressions weren't good, I had called a number of times to Vospers ( in fact most dealer within the same radius) to try and get quotes for the SS kit prior to going down for a service, got passed around a bit and left numbers but never got any call backs, apart from my supplying dealer who were in fact very responsive I think the main difference here was with Bristol I was talking to sales and with the rest I was passed through to service, parts, bodyshops all sorts

At this point Vospers aftersales felt like your typical ineffective big car dealer   Had some comms with John through the forum as it wasn't going to be long before I hit the 12k limit for the esseesse kit so I enquired and was quoted a cracking price for that too,  I decided to kill two birds with one stone and got my service and esseesse healthcheck done at the same time.

Once John was dealing with me there was a distinct change in response from the service side, particularly with Simon on the case, the sort of level I expect   the cynics out there might connect the extra dough I was spending on the kit with that change but I don't think that was the case, I spent the large part of a day sat in the service centre whilst my kit was fitted listening to a lot of customers (it's very busy in there) and it all seemed pretty good really, must have got some one on their off day.

While esseesse kit was being fitted John gave me a manual 500C to pootle around in, it was nice to get a decent car, a cheeky Abarth, rather than some pap, bugged me at my supplying dealer when they gave me a Venga,  Unfortunately due to boring stuff like deadlines for a chip release at Christmas (who is it thinks that is a good idea??? ) I couldn't play much in that little toy and had to sit in the dealership on my laptops, while Vospers staff got me coffees etc, all in all a very pleasant experience  

The guys helped to load up my motor with the old bits, I say helped, they mostly did it, I'm lazy like that and off I popped, mostly painless apart from the whole having to pay for it bit  

Its not been plain sailing as I picked up an issue with my motor which I noticed on the way home, bit of vibration at uuumm speeds it was unlikely to be tested at that I'm still working through, but I've not had much chance to get it sorted, real life has a knack of getting in the way of your fun sometimes still the support I have had from Vospers has been very positive and the car will no doubt be sorted once I get back in to my old routines, first day back in my motor today after driving my family bus for a week and you forget how quick it is and how hard it is not to go silly.

Bit long winded, short summary, nice dealership, great staff, friendly generally not just in the Abarth bit where they were taking my dough, a clearly enthusiastic sales guy in John, it makes a change to talk to one who knows what he is selling and on the service side Simon is quite enthusiastic and helpful too

Just wanted to sing my praises about John501 and Vospers.  Living in Norway with the nearest Abarth dealer far away in Germany some stuff has proved to be difficult.  Espescially getting the B&M Map unit working when it turned out there was no map of scandinavia on it...  The local Fiat dealers did not want to even hear what I was talking about...  An idea got in my head that there might be a SD card with a map out there, but dealing with german dealers can be a challenge due to language problems. Finding out stuff online can also be a challenge due to everything being italian.  Aiming blindly I shot of a PM to John and lo and behold his parts manager located a part number for a SD card with the Scandinavian Map on it.  He even ordered it and had it shipped to me in Norway!  Just service above and beyond what can be expected.  Thanks John!

C

Picked up my second A500 (an A500c this time) a few weeks ago from John H at Vospers.

What can I say that hasn't been said before on these pages, the process from ordering through to collection was completely trouble free. John H has got to be the most enthusiastic Sales Manager out there, his enthusiasm for the brand is infectious.

If you want an Abarth John is definitely your man

The lengths John goes to to make his customers happy is extraordinary, including sorting out the weather!!!!! it hasn't rained once since I picked up the car so the roof has been open every journey

I'm lovin the Monza with the roof down    I'll be back down for the Konis soon hopefully

Thanks again John.