South County Fiat

LOVE THIS PLACE. LOVE THE PEOPLE. LOVE THE FIAT!
This dealership is the best I’ve experienced, hands down. And boy, have my husband and I had a lot of dealership experiences lately. No matter who you are or your circumstances, everyone is treated like a Maserati driver (they sell those too). We had a difficult trade-​in situation with a huge upside-​down amount, and other dealerships basically said a flat no. These guys worked with us, spending lots and lots of time trying to get us into a new Fiat, and really went above and beyond. Including, at the end, fighting with the lender who was financing our trade to get a payoff quote, which they refused to provide Fiat for weeks after we signed the paperwork and were even driving the car! They persevered and made everything work out despite the odds!
Much love for manager Ray, assistant manager Barrett, and salesmen Moe and Alex, all of whom helped to make this happen!
And the FIAT itself? Awesome!
If you are choosing between a MINI and a FIAT, go with the FIAT — husband and I have had both a Mini Clubman and the FIAT 500c Sport. FIAT has the same sporty handling, but is SO much more comfortable. In our former MINI, I kept hitting myself on something every time I got in and out of the car. The MINI’s heavy door kept thwacking me on the back or bottom when I tried to reach in and grab something. Not a problem with the FIAT! And as an added bonus, the tire pressure and alignment don’t go wonky every time you hit a pothole. FIAT feels insanely roomy for such a small car — truly bigger on the inside!

These guys are by far the best dealership in Orange County. I had my Fiat serviced here today and they are very efficient. There work is impeccable. Michael the Service Manager is one of the best customer focused people I have ever dealt with in any business.
Exceptional!

This dealership has provided truly exceptional service throughout the entire sales process. However it is after the purchase where most dealerships begin to stumble, not South County Fiat. It is a real pleasure to be able to state that the service department manages to exceed the already high bar set by sales. Jacob Varnes, makes the whole process seamless and his customer service is beyond fantastic.

I’d like to highly applaud and award the professionals at South County Fiat Maserati. Most notable are my sales professionals, Kyle and Nasser. I’m a car guy, and I like to switch out my cars often just for something different. I like sports cars, trucks, hybrids and some classics. Moving from a Challenger, I found a Yukon Hybrid at South County advertised online. I started by emailing concerning a trade in value and the availability on the Yukon. Shortly, Nasser responded, and answered my questions. We went back and fourth pleasantly, and within a couple days arranged to check the truck out. What was great about Nasser, was that when I was trying to submit the financing approvals, I wasn’t getting my confirmation. So I called Nasser who took my info for the financing with trade and full purchase. His email clearly broke down each costs and terms. Loved it; it saved me time and hassle because everything this far was done via email, text and phone only. I hadn’t even meet Nasser and our deal was essential done.
When I arrived to check out the truck, Nasser referred me to Kyle, who called to confirm my appointment in advance. Kyle was a pleasure dealing with (unlike every other car buying experience). He was personable and put no pressure on me. He is what the car buying public expects when shopping for a new vehicle.
After the test drive, I was sold. Nasser forwarded all my paperwork and financing etc., so I only need to sign and put the down. Painless! The entire deal went flawlessly and fast.
The sale wasn’t over when I drove off the lot. Both Kyle and Nasser followed up with me with phone calls and emails thanking me for my business.
10 out 10 with South County Fiat Maserati Lexus.
Thanks Kyle and Nasser!

I was not happy in the beginning of my relationship with Fiat. Buying a car is indeed a relationship. You will be taking you’re car in for servicing for a few years. It should not be somthing you dread.
Getting a car should be a fabulous experience from beginning to end. No matter what kind of car you get. The experience starts the minute a salesman greets you. They should remember you. This was not my first impression. I DO NOT have alot to say about the sales people but,
I will say:
That to date, Mike in the service department made my first service experience actually, fabulous along with all the guys that work with him. (They should be selling the cars).
If it stays this way I will be happy. I went in because they e-​mailed me that it was time to have my clearcoat re-​done as part of my warranty, on my 2016 500x Fiat. (Which by the way is fabulous so far). The service light went on just the day before. Since I was taking it in anyway, I asked them if they could check it out. I was told no problem we’ll take care of it. They gave me a car to use, (which is very important to me). They explained it needed a software update. So for anyone with this car it is sometimes that easy. So Don’t freak out.
They did the clearcoat and I was out of there in 15 minutes. I ran errands got home it was ready.
Thankyou South County Fiat. I believe everyone deserves a second chance.
Pina

After going to Carmax I decided to go to south county… they lower my interest rate more than half of what Carmax offered me they gave me the same on my trade and my car payment was lower than what Carmax was going to give me. the experience was very professional my sales man Jim made me feel very comfortable the whole experience was easy I can’t say more except for the fact that they save me thousands

I bought my car here and must say service was top my sales person was Aldo Baglioni… And he took care of me since. I recommend if you want to buy a car just ask for him!!!

I had a great experience purchasing my Fiat 500 Abarth at South County Fiat. The process was quick and easy. Aldo Baglioni was a pleasure to work with and I would certainly buy another car from him and the dealership.

Almost a year ago, I leased my Fiat 500e from Aldo Baglioni. He was very knowledgeable with the Fiat brand and was able to explain to me what made the Fiat 500e special. At the time, there were many rebates available that not only lowered the price tag of the car, thus lowering my monthly payments, there was also a $ 2,500 California Clean Vehicle Rebate I was eligible for. I was very happy when I received that check! I was a little concerned that if a road trip presents itself, I won’t be able to go because of my car’s range (85 miles give or take for a fully charged car) but lo and behold, Chrysler-​Fiat also provided 12 days of free car rentals per year for the duration of my lease.
Fast forward to the present, I am still happy with my little car. I love being able to take the carpool lane and cutting my commute time by half and also saving over $ 300 a month by not using the toll roads and avoiding gas stations.
Thanks again, Aldo Baglioni, for convincing me that the Fiat 500e was the way to go. You were professional, informative, patient and. you were right.

Didn’t have a great experience today. Salesman was too pushy and got a nasty attitude when we wanted to leave. Only reason you lost the sale was your attitude and for talking down to your coworker in front of us. When you left the room with her at one point, we both agreed it was getting very uncomfortable and it was time to leave. It made for a very awkward and uncomfortable experience. Yvonne is very sweet though and helpful. Only positive part of our visit.
We called another dealership who were very helpful and going to stop by tomorrow.
What a shame, we were excited to get a fiat today

I was looking for a specific configuration for a Fiat 500e, and another dealer told me that this configuration didn’t exist — just the one they had on their lot. I went online and found six of them at South County Fiat. Called them up to ask if they could have the vehicle ready for pickup and to make it snappy as I didn’t want to wait around all afternoon. They were great! They had me in and out in an hour — super easy and they were all very nice to deal with. Oh, and my 500e is absolutely awesome!!!

I leased a Fiat 500e from this dealership in March and I have no complaints about the car, it is a great little commuter car!
I received a «safety recall» notice in the mail and yesterday when I attempted to schedule an appointment to have it fixed I was advised that the first available appointment wasn’t until July 7^th. This is unacceptable. It was a «safety recall» notice.
Apparently between the Lexus’s and Maserati’s South County Fiat doesn’t have time for their lowly Fiat customers?
I took my Fiat to Orange Coast Fiat and they readily handled the recall in less than 20 minutes. They will be getting my business from now on.

We have had nothing but trouble with our 2015 Fiat 500 EE electric vehicle. We’ve had to take it in for complete battery replacement and now it’s making a loud humming noise that will not go away. when I contacted Teresa at the local dealership she told me that there was no manager available for me to speak to as they were busy. She told me to call back tomorrow even when I explain to her the vehicle does not sound safe. Absolutely no sense of urgency based on what I would consider something pretty serious.

Great place and extremely friendly. I just stopped by to ask where I can charge my Moms new 500e and they offered to charge it. Made me feel welcome and offered me coffee and snacks. As if I was their customer. I would definitely buy a car from them.

Very professional and efficient. We were taken care by Langdon and he was on top of everything!

Came in here after receiving poor service at OC Fiat.
Spoke to Phil, who I believe is the sales manager, over the phone and he told me to come down and he’d take care of me.
Was introduced to Matthew Molus who sold the car to me. Very professional people and they value your time. This dealership is fairly new but they know what they’re doing.
Matthew was great and had me in and out of there quickly, which is what I wanted. Very detailed and he took care of all of the paperwork (applying for clean vehicle rebate/​HOV stickers). Thanks Matthew!
Definitely go to South County Fiat rather than OC Fiat and ask for Matthew.

Do they have a zero star review? I wish they did.
I went in here to look at a 500e (Was willing to buy that same day).
Salesman came out, was friendly, but when informed we wanted the 500e, his face fell. All of a sudden he wasn’t so helpful. He started saying thing like ‘Go read the maunal’ or ‘check out the internet’ or ‘don’t touch anything’.
I got worried.
So I decided to ‘test’ him. I started to look at the 500L. His face brightened, he was all of a sudden ‘sprinting’ over the 500L and demoing all the features and showing all the things that were ‘in the manual’ of the 500e.
Told him we still wanted the 500e, that ‘mask’ came on again, all of a sudden, no cars were charged, don’t touch anything commands came out again. During the test drive it was obvious to me that he didn’t even want me to ‘try it out’ as he was in a hurry to return to the dealership.
At the end of the day it turned out they didn’t even have the model I wanted (it was sold that same day while I was ‘not touching anything’.
So off I went to a competitor (You can see my Unilocal review of them) and had my brand new Fiat 500e by that same evening.
PS: Did I mention they are a Maserati Dealer? Wonder what the commissions on that are compared to a 500e.

Last month, I dropped my 500e at South County Fiat because most charging stations wouldn’t work with my car. But other cars would pull up and use that same pod successfully. This meant I was confined to a 40 mile radius for the next three years (lease) if I wanted to avoid the risk of stopping at a charging pod that doesn’t work.
My ‘home dealer’ Orange Coast Fiat insisted there were no issues at all so there is nothing to fix. They actually refused to service me because they thought I was full of $#It… in comes Corporate and South County to save the day.
I reached out to Jonathan at the corporate office of Chrysler/​Fiat and he was very gracious and helpful. He asked me to drop my car off at South County Fiat (since my home dealership Orange Coast Fiat refused to help me any further). After multiple tests made by Phil at South County Fiat, he was able able to find a failure point and proceeded with the order of a replacement charging module.
Apparently the use of an extension cord could be bad for the module, so I do not recommend you using one. I just received my car yesterday and boy oh boy did I miss it! I’ll be testing it out this week as I have some business in Los Angeles. Thanks Jonathan and Phil for the amazing service and not giving up on your clients when your colleagues were so quick to.
I recommend South County Fiat and the Chrysler/​Fiat corporate office, they went above and beyond!

So I’ve had my fair share of car dealerships, and I must say, this is one where I actually felt the most comfortable. It’s still a car dealership, but hey, it is what is is.
I went in last week at 8:30pm thinking they closed at 9pm (incorrect on Unilocal– they actually close at 8pm), but the only guy there was one who worked in the service dept. I don’t remember his name, but he was SO nice. He still let us in the showroom to let us take a peek at the Fiats. Rodrigo, the Sales Product Specialist, was there [after close] completing a sale with another client, introduced himself, and apologized for not being available and gave me a quick rundown on info, and answered my questions.
I came back the next evening (before close this time) to test drive the Fiat 500e and fell in love. I wanted some time to think about it, and Rodrigo was super helpful in answering my questions. ZERO PRESSURE. NONE. He didn’t push anything one way or another. He didn’t even utter the words «let’s see what we can do with the numbers.» He was just helpful. I was in such shock when I got home, I couldn’t stop telling everyone about how amazing he was and how he was not pushy at all.
I emailed Rodrigo immediately with what I wanted: an orange 2015 Fiat 500e with a sunroof. He found one in San Diego and had it delivered to the dealership the next day so I could take a look.
The next day, I test drove it, and we agreed on finances and lease signed. All in all, the process was quick, easy and painless. And I freaking LOVE my car.
This was the complete opposite of my experience at Irvine BMW (you can see my experiences there), so I could not be more thankful for Rodrigo at South County Fiat. Don’t let the fact that Maserati is attached to the dealership deter or intimidate you. Rodrigo is extremely nice, responsive, and pretty awesome.

I honestly wanted to get a Fiat, I truly did. After much thought I decided to come check out the 500e with my mom. We were approached by a very nice gentleman and he showed us around and I agreed to test drive one out BUT only if I was told more information about the leasing program.
After that he brought out this awful lady who was so rude I haven’t even begun to describe this experience.
We walked around the lot at all cars and I had a hard time decided which funky cool color I wanted, I finally picked one and she went and got the keys.
Right after she came out, not only did she not explain the specs of the car, she got in the back seat and I got into the drivers seat. Well, this lady right off the bat started asking where I lived, where my mom lived, what was the address, OH and that she was ALSO a realtor. (seriously?) When asking all her stupid questions, she told me to only turn the key ONCE to turn on the car. the dashboard turned on and since it was hot out she said to turn on the A/​C. So I did. We sat there waiting while she kept asking her questions. I was starting to burn up so I started pressing whatever a/​c controls there were since the car wasn’t cooling down. She told me to stop and that the car needs to be ON. I told her that car WAS on and I that I turned the key ONCE exactly how she told me. She didn’t care to listen so I decided to turn the key again and of course the car turned on. We started driving up the road and of course I wanted to see how fast this engine was and when I started speeding up she told me OH WOW SLOW DOWN.
LADY, this car is electric, I wasn’t expecting a freakin turbo engine and start racing up the street. (The point of test driving a car is to TEST it).
She went on with her stupid questions that had absolutely no relation to the vehicle.
We got back, and I asked that I wanted to know more info.
We went into the office and she immediately pushed an application in front of me.
In the middle of filling it out she asks «oh would your mother like any coffee?» My mom said yes and the lady said «Oh go help yourself!» as she got up and walked away to her finance guy, not even caring to show us where this coffee machine was.
She came back and I told her I didn’t want my credit ran and that I just wanted information about the leases and that I had no intention on signing a lease this second, just wanted some info about the lease program, blah blah blah pretty much she said «Oh well why didn’t you guys just tell me this in the beginning?» in a completely annoyed tone. We got up and walked out.
Oh and the BEST part was getting a notification from Experian the next couple of days that my credit was ran the day AFTER I came to this god awful dealership.
Whoever owns this dealership, hire some decent people that actually know what they are selling. And how to sell it. In a polite way. Without the millions of questions.