I bought a 500SS from Guy and the whole experience was excellent. They offered a fair trade in on our CLK and Guy's enthusiasm for the cars was very catching! Ben was very patient while I ummed and ahhed about transfering the private plate from the part exchange. The atmosphere in both the main Fiat part of Research and the Abarth side was very pleasant with staff who actually seemed to want to be there - a nice change from many dealers. I bought a Monza exhaust Research were selling on Ebay and they had it all fitted and ready to go for the 1st April.

Absolutely love the car and no problems so far, so thanks guys.

have to give them a negative - i was promised a phone call within a couple of weeks regarding some warranty work they had to get approval to do.

never heard again, so they wont be hearing from me again either now. seems phoning/returning phone calls or emails is their achilles, as i was let down previously on a similar issue.

big minus for their communication skills (<sarcasm> unless you're a pre-sale customer, of course /sarcasm)

nothing but praise for these guys and receptionist, ian let me sign sold on the window of my new a500 the black one in the main show room within a week the stripes and mirrors were red,scorpian on the bonnet and 17 inch 10 spokes were put on.this car already had red leather,climate control and alloy gear knob fitted exactly what i wanted picked it up bank holiday monday.
the cars called tigger he is fun,bouncy (coventry roads) and has a nice growl
a pinstripe has been added round the front air intake (family tradition) just to add a personal touch.
flash your lights or wave if you see tigger we will do the same (abarth or standard)
oh sorry back to research,very helpfull and know all about blue and me tuned my phone in in seconds
all in all a realy nice bunch or people
ps hi to ian.

I have to totally agree with "AbarthAllison" regarding there returning of phone calls.

Many times I have contacted Research, the sales team, service and parts and not once have they called back, always me chasing after them.....not good at all it seems once they have got the sale then thats it ! 

Must add though that Ben is probably the only one who will call me and will always come and chat when I am over there 

Come on Research after sales and costumer raport is just as important as getting the sale !

A week has passed, having had the A500c. It is time I provided feedback on the dealer, having recovered from the excitement of collecting the car!

The handover on 12th October at Research Garage was a total pleasure and very exciting.

I made a conscientious decision to do the handover on a weekday rather than weekend as it meant more quality time. I also booked three straight days leave for the same reason.

When I arrived at the showroom having reseminated (?) the good times I had in the Fiat 500 over the last 30 months, there was no sign of my car. I met Ben and he looked after me very well, taking me through every page of every document to make sure I haven’t missed anything. I can tell you they were not itching for the funds but made it as if it was a pleasure dealing with them. Cue a number of crossing the 't's and dotting the 'i's and putting my signature on some papers.

Once this was done, he took me through to the workshop where my A500c was waiting. It stood there gleaming and with my reg no on it. I admit I was overwhelmed thinking ‘is it REALLY my car?’ but succeeded in not shedding tears. I inspected the car and everything met expectations. They had fitted the chrome door mirror cappings – a special Exoticaholic request – and branded valve caps. I sat in it and felt at home. The leather seats (£800 extra and linked to the bi-colour paintwork at £900 extra) were very comfortable and the thickly rimmed steering wheel a revelation to grip in my hands. As I was used to the gear shift knob in my outgoing Fiat 500, I forgot there wasn’t one in the A500c, having fumbled in mid air for the non-existent knob.

We returned to Ben’s office and it was time to do the transaction. Being deaf, I used my text phone to communicate with my bank on their dedicated text phone number to let them know of a large transaction about to be processed, using my debit card. It was fun running between two desks because the card reader was on the other desk at the service dept and I was in Ben’s office literally typing the conversation. Ben was on the phone next to the card reader to take questions firsthand from my bankers for additional security measures. I wrote my answers down for Ben to relay back to them. The ‘hum’ came through meaning my transaction has been authorised. Bingo!

The car was driven out of the workshop by Ben and parked next to my black and white Fiat 500. It was quite a sight to say the least. I took photographs for posterity and to record this particularly unique occasion.

Why am I saying unique? It is because in my nearly 25 years of holding a full driving licence, I have never owned a car over the 100hp threshold until this Abarth 500c. The nearest was the Streetka with 95hp between 2005 and 2008.

Just when I was about to get in, Peter Robinson, Abarth UK’s sales manager turned up! In his Campo grey A500. I found it a sheer coincidence, having had dealings with him at the Moving Motor Show.  He came over and complimented me on my specification.

Nearly two hours had lapsed, and it was time for me to hit the open road. In my own Abarth 500c. We said our goodbyes and I turned the key which brought the 1.4 turbocharged engine into life and there was a nice burble, just feeling the dashboard and that was when a new chapter was about to unfold.

That is another story to write.

I would like to convey my thanks to Ben and his team for what was an enjoyable journey from enquiry in March 2010 to collection in October 2010.

Anyone considering an Abarth should go to Research Abarth and they will be pleasantly surprised!

Cars back home after a mini problem with the ESP, hill holder ttc disconnecting problem

ups: the car is fixed after my mate got the car into fiat not abarth over the road

fault fixed: as above but there was another thats been kicking about, the car was braking while i accelarated (well the ecu told them that) so this explains my mystery lag/having to slip the throttle to gain response back

downs: Abarth had a 2.5 week waiting list, not happy mainly as they never called me back !! but my mate got me in good job he's 2nd in charge 

cars back jd

Picked up my white A500ss yesterday a sunday, All through my initial enquiry some months back then a test drive and finally doing the deal Ian was very freindly and nothing was trouble. The day i did the deal I had my wife and two children with me on a saturday morning, It was quite busy and Ian was dealing with a customer before myself. We sat at the abarth table in them lovely chairs and proceeded to do the kids homework while Ian was dealing with another customer, we sat and did the homework with the kids for a while and in this time the staff asked us if we were ok and offered drinks.

When signing some papers a few weeks later I went with my wife and had my puppy with us who luckily is very good. Again no problems, staff and customers talking to us about the dog.

On the day of pick up we were alll there wife kids and dog and Ian and the staff were happy for all of us to be there and it was a sunday morning!!

I would highly recommend Research and Ian who i dealt with to anybody.
I also had dealings with Kevin at Rockingham and again nice to deal with and no problems with any test drives or questions. In the end it fell down to location and a couple of quid.


 

Justin

A big thumbs up to Research, recently I had some warranty work completed, required parts ordering and a second visit - both occasions, car was washed/cleaned - I will definitely recommend the team at Research both sales and service department.  Great staff, friendly and helpful.