Rockingham Cars.

Most of my purchase was done over the phone and by email, I didn’t actually get to see the car until the day that I picked it up!  Which I should say was down to me, and I was invited down on several occasions. I dealt during this time with Kevin Cudby the Abarth Specialist at Rockingham, during the time leading up to me picking the car up (which was in stock) I have to say Kevin and I were in almost daily contact, nothing ever seemed too much trouble for him to find out or indeed sort out, all my questions were answered in a knowledgeable and enthusiastic way.

The day came for me to pick the car up and 100 miles / 3 hours later I arrived at the showroom, and what a fantastic place that was, from what I gather typical Abarth layout, but it did give that instant feeling of you were somewhere a bit special, there was no hurrying along, I had a really nice long chat with Kevin over a cup of coffee, while the paperwork was being sorted out, and was then taken to see the car, which was presented at perfect as I have ever seen in my  30 or so year driving career, there was no sign of wax on any of the trim or in-between the gaps, the interior was spotless with not so much as a speck of dust to be seen. The car had been fitted with carpet mats, but not Abarth ones (normal GP mats) although a promise was made to sent Abarth ones on when they had them in stock (I was told they were on back order) I haven’t seen those yet (will update if / when I do) but from what I have read it seems to be a common problem, I should add I wasn’t going to be charged for the mats, and indeed wasn’t charged for the GP ones.

I then got my first drive in the car (with Kevin) and went to a local garage where I was treated to a full tank of petrol. Plenty of time was taken explaining about the car, and then I left for my 100 mile journey home.

Since having the car I have had a small problem with the ASR / ABS but the car was picked up and returned to me within two days, I should add that on its return the car had been valet and topped up with petrol. The only other issue I have had is with the climate control switch lights (as posted in this forum) this turned out to be me thinking far too logically about a light coming on when something is switched on, and I was given a though explanation by the Abarth technician (by email) so there was actually nothing at all wrong with them at all.

In summery I can honestly say that Rockingham cars are in my mind as near to perfect as you will get, in fact although we have several main Fiat dealers near us in Norfolk my wife is fully intending to get her GP from Rockingham Cars, well worth the 100 miles / 3 hours for the top quality service.   
Thanks Graham.

I suppose Grahams first post sums things up for me.

Kevin has at all times been extremely helpful in all communication, and as promised he gave me a follow up call to check we had got home from Corby and the car was OK. Being collected from Peterborough station by Rockingham was superb and really helped on the day.

As I said to Kevin in an email afterwards, I was quite surprised that no mats were included with the car at all as I never noticed at the time of collection. Having spent £15,400 on the A500 (especially with no part exchange) and paying cash on the day I thought that it was quite poor but maybe that's standard these days. I will have to get a set ordered at some point.

Otherways, fantastic service and highly recommended!

Keith

The car had been fitted with carpet mats, but not Abarth ones (normal GP mats) although a promise was made to sent Abarth ones on when they had them in stock (I was told they were on back order) I haven’t seen those yet (will update if / when I do) but from what I have read it seems to be a common problem, I should add I wasn’t going to be charged for the mats, and indeed wasn’t charged for the GP ones.

I should have really updated this a few weeks ago (sorry Kevin) I got an email saying that they had the Abarth mats in stock and a set were sent out to me .... So a big thank you to Kevin for that!
After reading the other post though I'm a bit gutted I didnt get a hug  Still back in September for the first service, maybe then 

I picked my car up finally on 31st and have already in a couple of posts mentioned my very good experience so i will give a bit more detail here.

I could have taken the easy route ordered my car from the groups own dealer Fiat Marylebone but i though let me give one of the FGA networks more commited dealers an opportunity to have some business without geographically going to far afield from where i live. I made calls etc and even had a test drive in one of the dealer cars. It was though Kevin Cudby who's name appears on Rockinghams web site which surely is a very good thing as a customer it gives you a name of someone to ask for to deal with what you are enquiring about rather than getting passed around from person to person, who i delt with.

Everyone i spoke to at Rockingham was very polite and helpful and Kevin responded to emails very quickly returned phone calls within the day and provided the information i required. I had considered GH at CH but when i am talking about an Abarth to be offered a deal on a 500 1.2 Pop wasn't what i was interested in so it made up my mind to go with Rockingham and i am so very pleased by my experience.

The pick up was as described by Graham and olopboy and like olopboy my cheap and old phone wouldn't B&M properlly but my wifes Sony E did and it works very well. Kevin even emailed me to check if i had any more joy in trying to get my phone to work. When kevin went through the FSA stuff in the showroom he did  it all correctly (i do have a great deal of knowledge in this area) he gave the correct information on servicing and warranty work.

In fact a week or so prior to pick up i had a requirement for an other FGA product for someone and Kevin responded fantastically on this matter although in the end the order went to Research but there was a geographical reason for that.

In summary very very professional. If all FGA dealers were like this one then the brand would benefit substantially.

I've had my car for 15 months now and everything with Rockingham has been great. I went in and test drove the AGP when it first came out. Kevin was extremely helpful and made my first new car purchase a very pleasurable one. I have been back several times for a service, modifications and warranty work- which was all sorted and done to a high standard. Will continue to head there for any work I need doing on the car. Great, friendly and knowledgeable service all round 

I had a very good experience at Rockingham Cars yesterday.

They charged very reasonable 98 GBP to do the 6000 mile oil/filter change and pollen filter change, inc parts and vat. They confirmed that was all that was required on an A500 SS to meet the warrranty terms.

Whilst the car was there there took some extra time (they hadn't counted on) to run through my warranty issues. They addressed one (windscreen washer jet) on the day and agreed that all the other items I'd identified were genuine faults that would be covered by the warranty, so the car is booked to go back there to have them rectified.

I was very pleased that they gave the car a good look over and altered me to the fact that my front damper top mount/bushes both needed replacing too, which will also be covered by the warranty.

Good dealership and they put up with Tania (My O/H) who was buying the 500c so well done Kevin