Well thought Id share and asking for suggestions please! Im in Perth and My Fiat Ducato, Jayco conquest MH! Motor Home, has her gearbox on the Fiat workshop floor. Not going anywhere and lead time for parts from ITALY????? Is 6 weeks. OK Im grateful its all under warranty. BUT in the meantime Im homeless! Been on the road 3years and thats my NFA home! So wanted to warn any other Fiat owners to please check your Clutch fluid reservoir! Didnt even know where it was!!!! So hoping for Ken Tame insurance help and Fiat customer care, but in the meantime! Thought about Housesit? backpacker Place near public transport? farm stay? hire a little hippie van! Any suggested or offers to help, please.  Homeless Lynette.

Hi,

Try asking Ken Tame or Fiat customer service if the will cover the cost of tilt- traying your motorhome to the nearest caravan park & back again when the parts arrive

David

1 - Six weeks off road for a vehicle under warranty simply waiting for spares!? Not acceptable. Have a word with one of the free legal advice centres and tell them your situation.

2 - Offer to pay for DHL or similar shipping to Oz - will cost a hundred or two but well worth it in your case.

When it's over may I suggest you sell the motorhome and buy a caravan, having seen a friend who lived in his motorhome in a similar situation for six months I swore that when I go on the road it will be a caravan. If the tow car fails you get the caravan towed to a caravan park and sit it out.

Hi David Oh thats an interesting idea! Gypsy Lady dont look like she could go anywhere now!  No front wheels! Big blue bar pulley holding up the engine and the gearbox on the ground! I wanted to camp in the workshop, but thats a WHS Issue! 

Hi Mike! Wishing you were here to bat for me! But Monday will be the telling! Phone calls- Ken Tame and Fiat Customer Care!

Yes 6 weeks for a commercial vehicle under 3 years and no parts anywhere in Australia! Unacceptable! And of course they dont care that its my home back of the drivers seat! I do appreciate your advise to seek legal help if I dont get satisfaction! 

Yes I will ask Insurance about offering to pay for freight but been told its already a priority order!  

But sorry couldnt buy a caravan Tried that Once! Bloody reversing Haha! And didnt like the security for a single woman! luv my motorhome so many places I can go that a caravan cant! 

Thank you for your advise? I appreciate. Let you know how it all goes! 

Morning Lynda

Don't take any crap from them! Leap up and down and tell them you damn well will not accept that your vehicle is going to be off the road for six weeks plus!

Don't *actually* threaten to go legal or public, at this stage, but state very clearly that you will not let the matter rest here. The people you're dealing with at this level just want a quiet life and they simply want you to go away and be a good girl and wait. Be a bad girl!

Six weeks! For a "Priority order"! How the hell long does an ordinary order take!?

If those parts are on the shelf *anywhere* in the world then they can be in Perth in about three days.

Ask them to pay your hotel bills for the duration - they won't, but it's a pressure tactic.

Again: talk to one of the free legal services, just to find out where you stand.

The current head of Fiat for Fiat Chrysler Australia is Fulvio Antonelli if you have no success with the locals then don't mess around go directly to him - I can probably get his e-mail address from an insider if you cannot find it.

"Fiat made me homeless and at risk, says woman" is a headline he's not going to want to see.

Stand your ground, insist on much faster service or hotel support - don't give them a quiet life - make a noise Lynda!

Good luck.

What an awful predicament to be in, Lynette. Unfortunately FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) has a terrible reputation in AU for indifferent customer service (both from FCA and their dealers) and poor parts supply. FCA embraces Fiat / Chrysler / Jeep / Dodge and as a Jeep owner I know it's a head banging exercise when you want anything done in a hurry. I've sourced independent Jeep parts suppliers and mechanics for my car who are infinitely more reliable than dealers. I got the same dealer response as you when needing an alternator for my Jeep (couldn't give an ETA on the part or the job). I got the part and job done immediately by using the independent guys. I came across some independent Fiat parts suppliers (links below) that might be worth you talking to, even if only to supply the parts faster. I don't know these suppliers Lynette, or their scope of supply as they are for Fiat not Jeep, and therefore I can't speak for them. Anyway it might be worth a couple of calls to at least see if parts might be available locally. If you find they are available, get onto the dealer and tell them to damned well get on with it! Best of luck with it all.

www.italianautomotivespares.com.au/

www.italianjobauto.com/fiat-parts.php

A couple more thoughts:

1 - The Fiat Ducato appears still to be a current vehicle and I assume either Fiat or one of their dealers will have stock of at least one vehicle on Australian soil - ask them to remove the gear box from the new vehicle and fit it to yours. If they refuse then the situation has changed to one of "Yes, we can fix it but we don't want to".

2 - I note it's a Jayco body: when/if you feel you can go no further with Fiat get on to Jayco - not the complaints dept. but the CEO and give them hell too. They'll be a bit sensitive to consumer complaints at present as the ACCC (I think it was) gave them a slapped wrist recently.

What you need is sufficient senior management phoning/e-mailing one-another asking "How can I get this bloody woman off my back?" and *then* things will happen.

Gday...

I can really feel your angst and understand how you must feel, Lynda. 

I am sure all of us who live in our van/RV full time have the same fear of being stuck somewhere through no fault of our own.

It is almost impossible to cover all the bases that would negate being stuck as you are now. This is a real problem when your mode of transport and place of abode are all in the one vehicle. I understand your reticence to revert to a caravan.

However, I think it does highlight to us all that dealerships/manufacturers do not stock those items that are not 'fast-moving' 'service' items.

Major items such as gearboxes and many other parts that may only be called on less than once a year are rarely kept in stock - very rarely at dealerships and often not even at their main store in a major city.

In many ways, I can understand why that is so given the high cost of maintaining stock levels that just sit on shelves.

We all need to realise that, no matter what vehicle we drive, if a major item fails, no matter where you are, there will be a 'lead-time' to provide the part.

However, at least when one has a tow vehicle and caravan I can structure my insurance coverage to ensure that if the vehicle fails, I have access to a hire car and I have a home that can be towed somewhere for me to live in ... and if the van 'fails' and cannot be lived in due to damage I am covered for motel costs etc.

Some of the previous comments are worthy of pursuing for sure ... and I particularly like the comment from Mike - talk to the dealer principal/service manager of the dealership and convince them to remove a gearbox from a new vehicle on the floor and replace that one with 'your' new one later.

Of course, that is dependent on whether there is such a vehicle on the shop floor AND it has the same gearbox as your model.

Cheers - and agen best of luck - John

Just wondering if u have a neighbourhood centre Nearby. They may have a social worker who can help u find somethIng. Or maybe a church or charity. U have just convinced me never to buy a motorhome. Good luck.

Hi Lynda

Have sent you a pm.  Willing to offer support re transport etc should you need it while you are stranded.

Pete and Marion

Gday...

RACV Total Care with Tow Pack which covers me for breakdown of vehicle - motel, towing, taxis, hire car etc. I would still have to wait for, and pay for, parts. Covers towing of van to a van park.

RACV Comprehensive Insurance which covers me for damage to vehicle from accident - towing (of vehicle and/or van), motel, taxis, hire car etc. Obviously, there's a couple of weeks off the road.

CIL Comprehensive for damage/repair of van - includes towing, motel, hire car etc.

Thankfully I have now been a member of RACV for over 50 years and their premiums are not just competitive but cheap - no other company can compare now on price.

CIL have been excellent - only had two claims in nine years and none required the van to be unavailable for more than a day.

It all adds up in total premium/s for the year ... but I reckon I would only need one 'major incident' and I would be in front.

Cheers - John

Hi again,

Make sure Gypsy Lady has all hatches etc closed up and weather tight as I cant imagine she will be kept where she is for the 6 weeks taking up workshop space - if the are going to move here outside etc. check how they intend to do it as the may put the wheels back on.

David 

Hi Aussie Kiwi! Thank you for your input! This 2015  Fiat Ducato is a comfomatic -that is drives as an auto no Clutch but drives like a little truck! Its lovely to drive! And That I Drove it round for so long with nothing unusual in the gear changes! And I should have been better informed that they were going to wreck her! Could have got me to a VPark and my home till the part arrived! Yes Im starting to feel taken advantage of! And will ask to have parts airfreighted! Ken Tame were helpful but it a Fiat under warranty and they need to sort my help! Fiat just saying its a commercial vehicle and just has to wait is not fair! Anyway Im growing a set of balls Haha and talk solicitors if I dont get a solution!!! 

Hi Daffy! I go see her most days wanting something I intended to be in their face! And yeah she is in corner of the workshop and plugged into power for the fridge! Ill sure be aware of what you say! If they can tow her outside then to a VPark so I can live in her till part comes!!! Thats one of my confrontation questions today!!! 

Ahh mike thanks again! Ive had the run around from Fiat customer service even a second No. with the same sooo young sweet sounding girl voice Buggar me? Im off to Fiat to sit a protest of something!!! Needs some answers TODAY!!! Ken Tame not interested but I like your Jayco mamangement! Thank you! 

The following may be of some interest (although not a lot, I suspect):

http://www.fiatchrysler.com.au/FCA%20Complaints%20Handing%20System.pdf

https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/chrysler-undertakes-to-remedy-customer-service-complaints-following-accc-investigation

Keep at the bastards!

They are more than happy for you to sit back and wait - give them a *really* hard time.

If nothing happens very soon I suggest we begin an e-mail campaign against both Fiat Chrysler and Jayco. I'm not on Facebook but I'll bet there is a Fiat/Jayco motorhome group on there - time they were alerted to this situation too.

Well its been a bit of a stressful time, but 10days later  and now the good news Im sorted! Found someone on my side at Fiat Customer Care and things have happened!!! even the time frame for repair is more than halved! Yes I did feel the Solo woman shame that Happens!  Ken Tame couldnt help! It wasnt a break down passed the buck there! Bit disappointed even though friendly and supportive with advise!

So will post again with the final outcome of the repair under full warranty! Looking forward in my Gypsy Lady home, Back on the road Again!!!! 

Thank you all for sharing your experiences and advise. Hope to see some of you out there in this great big country.

cheers Gypsy Lynda.

Good news Lynda! Glad that some action is forthcoming.  Offer of coffee etc still on table if wanted :)

Thank you Jules, yes Im very comfortable and thanks to FB friends I didnt need to sleep on the park Bench! WooWoo!

Thank you Pete! all good let you know when Im back on the road! 

Hi Everyone! So appreciated your input in my little???? problem with my Motor Home Gypsy Lady shes back on the road again!  and this weekend Im FC to give her a good run and get myself sorted and happy in my home again!

So 3 weeks 4days in the Fiat workshop with her guts on the floor! Gearbox and a replacement part of the Flywheel! So with your encouragement I got onto Fiat Customer Care and with help there i was taken care of till the repair was completed! So that hurried up the wait time from the original - 6weeks part from Italy! 

All was done under Warranty NO Charge, so that was a big relief for me. 

So look for me, and say Hi! out here in this big wonderful Oz! 

Gypsy Lynda

PS interesting to see other vans in the workshop looking in a similar state??????

Hi Lynda,

Good you got it all sorted in a better timeframe.