Thread: Fiat "complimentary" maintenance program

Just an FYI for all you other car enthusiasts out there and the typical BS associated with auto manufacturers and dealers.

As you all know, I love buying/collecting cars and I love buying european vehicles. Last month I bought a brand new 2012 Fiat 500 Sport for daily driving to add to the collection. Fiat had a 3 year/36,000 miles "complimentary" maintenance program that covers all maintenance during this time frame. Note, I have quotation marks around the word complimentary.
This program is portrayed as a no cost complimentary incentive to the consumer.
Dictionary.com lists complimentary as:
given free as a gift of courtesy

Dealer (which I won't mention, PM if you really want to know) does not honor internet price because if you want the 3 year/36,000 mile complimentary maintenance program you need to pay $500 extra.
Really? Last time I checked complimentary, no cost means offered at no charge to the consumer. Not factored into vehicle purchase price and try to market it as complimentary.
Dealer again mentions: "there is a $500 rebate given to consumer if they choose to not go with the maintenance program."
I again ask: "How do you offer a rebate on something that is complimentary?"
Dealer's response: "It's complimentary because it is included in the overall vehicle price and you're not paying extra."

As you can see you can only beat a dead horse so many times as to what the word complimentary means.

I call Fiat USA to see if I can shed some light on this false marketing of the complimentary maintenance program.
I get the same response:
Fiat USA: "Yes, it is complimentary."
My response: "Then why do your dealerships offer a $500 rebate if you choose to not want the program?"
Fiat USA: "Because it is already included in the car purchase price."
My response: "If me, the consumer is paying for this, how can you market this as a complimentary incentive?"
Fiat USA: "Because you're not paying extra for it."
My response: "If someone else who buys a fiat and declines the program gets $500 off the purchase price of their car, how is that not paying extra?"
Fiat USA: "Well, we no longer offer that incentive as of January 4, 2012 but people who purchased before that, we will still honor the program."

How ironic? They won't give you a reason as to why they dropped the "complimentary" maintenance program on vehicles purchased after January 4, 2012. Only that they now offer service contracts in lieu of the complimentary maintenance program.

As you can see, Fiat dealers nor Fiat USA will man up and take responsibility on the false marketing of the "complimentary" maintenance program.

Now, this is not about a small sum of $500, it's about false information marketed to consumers. Don't try telling us you're giving us complimentary no cost maintenance programs when we are paying for it.

A famous quote comes to mind:
(Scarface)
"You know what a hasa is? It's a pig and it don't fly straight."

An update:

Fiat dealer acknowledged the incorrect use of "free, no cost, complimentary" in marketing and reimbursed. Now why couldn't they just admit the error in advertising/marketing from the beginning instead of leading me on? I wasn't looking for refund, just someone to stop telling me it was a zero cost to me.
Smart move on their behalf, as I am a strong candidate for consideration of the Abarth.

good job

i love the Abarth!

is there any aftermarket tunes out there for the turbo 4 in the Abarth?

Actually, it's a very old marketing trick, bud. All the "free" $hit that you got is either built into their advertising/marketing cost or into the COGS (cost of goods sold). So technically they are not wrong when they said that the complimentary stuff is already factored into the price of the car when they sell it to you.

It's a little bit like if you go to a cell phone shop and the shopkeeper told you that if you are willing to pay full MSRP for that phone and not haggle on the price (not that you ever would), he's going to "throw in" some "freebies" like anti-glare screen protector, accessories, extra battery, etc.

Don't you know that nothing is ever really free especially when a business transaction is involved?

Originally Posted by Seven11

good job

i love the Abarth!

is there any aftermarket tunes out there for the turbo 4 in the Abarth?

There is some tuners in europe so I am sure we will see more tuning options as the year progresses.

Originally Posted by jtanoyo1

Actually, it's a very old marketing trick, bud. All the "free" $hit that you got is either built into their advertising/marketing cost or into the COGS (cost of goods sold). So technically they are not wrong when they said that the complimentary stuff is already factored into the price of the car when they sell it to you.

It's a little bit like if you go to a cell phone shop and the shopkeeper told you that if you are willing to pay full MSRP for that phone and not haggle on the price (not that you ever would), he's going to "throw in" some "freebies" like anti-glare screen protector, accessories, extra battery, etc.

Don't you know that nothing is ever really free especially when a business transaction is involved?

I am very well aware of the tactics they use, that's why I called them out on it. I could have just agreed, but I call things out that are not true. What annoyed me was he insisted that I am wrong and that it is not a cost to me. So then I told him I don't consider something free if someone else can buy same car and opt out of the program and get $500 refund. Mind you, it wasn't about a small amount of $500 but more so about the way they continued to try to sell me the "no cost" idea. So I closed the conversation with telling the salesguy that if the dealer took the hit on the price of the maintenance program then it would be truly "free". So what do you know, about a week later I get a check in the mail.

Originally Posted by jtanoyo1

Actually, it's a very old marketing trick, bud. All the "free" $hit that you got is either built into their advertising/marketing cost or into the COGS (cost of goods sold). So technically they are not wrong when they said that the complimentary stuff is already factored into the price of the car when they sell it to you.

It's a little bit like if you go to a cell phone shop and the shopkeeper told you that if you are willing to pay full MSRP for that phone and not haggle on the price (not that you ever would), he's going to "throw in" some "freebies" like anti-glare screen protector, accessories, extra battery, etc.

Don't you know that nothing is ever really free especially when a business transaction is involved?

Although true the "Complimentary" service is included in the price, it's factored in there when Fiat or any car company sells the car to the dealer i.e. invoice price. Not the price the consumer pays.

If you buy a car which has a sticker price of $50k for $40k, the dealer can't leverage the warranty to bring the price down. BMW offers a complimentary (whether you want it or not) warranty on their new cars it doesn't matter if you paid $10k over or under dealer invoice. It's there. I think that is complete B.S. on Fiat's part.

Originally Posted by Domesticdemon

Although true the "Complimentary" service is included in the price, it's factored in there when Fiat or any car company sells the car to the dealer i.e. invoice price. Not the price the consumer pays.

If you buy a car which has a sticker price of $50k for $40k, the dealer can't leverage the warranty to bring the price down. BMW offers a complimentary (whether you want it or not) warranty on their new cars it doesn't matter if you paid $10k over or under dealer invoice. It's there. I think that is complete B.S. on Fiat's part.

Exactly. But what do you know, for "no reason" they drop the program on new cars purchased after 1/4/12.

Way to go! It's just too bad that most people will never realize that they paid extra for something that was supposed to be "free". Glad you got your cash back

Originally Posted by sprix!

Way to go! It's just too bad that most people will never realize that they paid extra for something that was supposed to be "free". Glad you got your cash back

Exactly. If I see BS, I call it out.