Had my 2nd year oil/filter & brake fluid change done at Research last week. took a couple of hours and total came to £166 inc. No complaints about the work, and they washed and valeted the car at the finish too.

Assuming I get no problems in the final year of the warranty it'll be the last time I visit them (distance, cost reasons) but have to say I have been impressed on the whole.

Not hugely impressed. They were good when I phoned in with the fault and let me take it in straight away, but the 2-3 days for the part and a quote for new front tyres has been 9 days and no quote for tyres. Also the person I spoke to didn't seem to understand that I can't just pop in for an hour of a day as taking 2 hours out if work at less than a couple of weeks notice isn't possible. I don't want to drive around for 2-3 more weeks with a fault in a year old car to get it done at a weekend.

It probably wasn't sensible to buy a car with limited dealers and an unproven reliability as an essential work use vehicle I guess.

Hopefully Chris will be able to arrange something to get it done.

Paula

Just an update to say that Research have sorted the problem mostly to my satisfaction.

Paula

Car went to research today for its first oil and filter change due to work commitments the wife had to take it (thanks  )

This was our fist visit to Research as we usually use Platts but they wanted an extra £50 for the oil and filter

Oil and filter changed with no problems = £144

There were also a number of warranty issues to look at

B+M not working inc flashing odometer = New B+M unit on order

Squeaky climate fan = done 

Rattle from drivers door = will be looked at on next visit

Steering feeling odd = tracking checked and fine, inside edge of tyres quite worn so il swap wheels around this weekend and see if this cures it

Monza valve seized  and whole exhaust rusty = Valve seized tight so photos taken waiting on Permission from Abarth for replacement box

Scratched leather where seat tilts forward = Photos taken waiting on Permission from Abarth for replacement

From what the Mrs has told me they were very friendly and professional and took time to make sure she was happy with everything that was done 

They also picked up that the rear pads were low  after only 9000mls ,car has been back to the dealers to have the squeaking rear brakes looked at before (Platts) so im guessing this is a result of the rears poor calliper design?

We asked Research to be careful of the side skirts (no probs) and not to wash or valet the car (that my job) 

All in all really pleased with the staff and the service there and i hope to taking the car on its next visit 

Had another trip to research today to get the B+M fixed

B+M fixed with no problems 

Had the use of a courtesy car 

Only a standard fiat punto 

Work done quick and they were friendly and professional 

Even vacuumed  the mats 

I liked the visit there and will try my best to use them in the future 

£250 for a set of brake discs/pads for the front...and that was with a discount from their regular price of £320 as they were taken off a new, ss-bound a500. as if that wasnt enough for their pound of flesh, they whacked on another £50 just to strip and clean out the back brakes. crazily steep pricing, not good.  

only paid as they were going to charge me a £45 'diagnosis fee' if i took the car away. great way to put you between a rock and a hard place eh?


after 2 years of on the whole decent after-sales service (of course they're great pre-sales...all car dealers are) - research just went down in my estimation big time and its one place i wont be visiting again.

We've had more problems with the wheels they damaged. They were repaired but the finish used discoloured badly. For some reason we were sent to the Abarth body shop who said they didn't do it (we knew that) and they wouldn't have done a shoddy job like that. So Research sent the wheels back to the guy who did do it and they've not really fixed the problem.

Chris picked it up and there seemed to be a new service manager who basically said - "well we're not doing any more". So poor Chris has been back and forth to Nuneaton half a dozen times and now we've had to put a load of time into a formal complaint letter to the garage and Abarth - so buying a brand new car to reduce hassle was pointless.

As I said to Fiat when they called - they spend all that money on the flashy dealership, but then can't get the basics right. I know I'm pretty laid back about these things as to be honest no one died - but now I feel like they took advantage of this and did a cheap shoddy repair and are saying "what are you going to do about it?".

Good service from Research over the last week or so. I notified them of a couple of minor warranty issues by email including photos.

They acted on my email and obtained consent from abarth to complete the warranty work without me having to make a specific trip to the garage 

The work was completed within 30mins yesterday whilst i waited