I joined the club as I felt I was using the forum alot and wanted to contribute to its upkeep.

I let my membership lapse as I didn't really used the benefits (apart from the forum - which I could use for free).

I would like to see the traders who advertise on here offering a compulsory discount. Not a set amount, just a discount for club members. call it an advertisment fee if you will.

The same could be done for track days, ie offering a cheaper price for club members.

Finally, I think we should have an area for technical information for members - obviously you can get the information from other sources, but it would be useful if it were all in one place. I know most of the stuff is on here already, - was talking about eper, part numbers, wirirng diagrams etc.

I would pay for the above.

As a new coupe owner I am looking forward to becoming a member in April so keep it going.
I would like to see some of our more experienced Coupe owners organising ‘Lessons/demos’ in how to fix this and that…for example the Oil cooler and pipes, Thermostat etc.

You get the picture, these are simple for most of the long term members but this is my first older car and I could do with watching someone else do this to build confidence.

Just a thought and knowing you lot it’s probably on offer already…

Some interesting thoughts here guys.

Keep the Forum FREE

Any more? Your Board are listening

Although this does raise the interesting point of 'how is the forum paid for?' - because if it ever starts showing adverts, I'm out of here...

Go on Fiat Forum for 10 mins and check out their advertisement system. Sometimes when you are trying to post it gives u an advert before u can.

Ross

Brilliant idea!

Yeah, but if they tried that on here Stan would bankrupt a couple of companies by lunchtime

Lol

Ross

Keep the forum free and allow overseas donations by paypal etc. I think any overseas users would donate to FCCUK.

At the moment it's U.K. credit cards only.

I can see Ads....off you go now

The club could offer new members a one off car check ie
Is it straight...modified?

I'm obviously only looking at this as one of the new kids on the block and what I would like to be offered.

Think that would be a legal nightmare

Would it, why? If I asked you to look at my car and give me your opinion could I hold you to that in a court of law.

Open your mind to this being part of possible coupe meets where we could actually pick up info to help keep the car on the road longer...rather than polishing a shed.
I have read threads on here where some members (for example-Peter from Aldershot) actually go out of their way to help and that's just one I have noticed i'm sure theres loads on here.

While this is, in theory, a nice idea I think the practicalities of arranging such a thing are too much to overcome. We already have some pretty good/detailed how to guides and I'm confident that if you ask, a member local to you would give you a helping hand. I certainly would, but unfortunately today I'm wearing a skirt so I dont have any pockets.....

Or just stand there and watch/bug Rog while he does it!

Very much my feeling on things Graeme.

Like many posters and even moderators on this Forum, I no longer own a coupe, but I'm on here on a daily basis.

Last year I made a donation to the club and would do so again if it helped keep the Forum free to all users.

What do you like about the club?

Layout & thread subjects are excellent, its generally very reliable, tidy and fast. You can pretty much get an anser to anything.

What don’t you don’t like about the club?

Those who moan about posts/my posts. They should just deal with it.

Do you have any thoughts on how you would like to see the club organised / structured?

Club arranged trackdays?

What would make you join the club, or indeed renew your membership?

Probably would never pay to join, far to tight for that. It doesnt offer anything of value that you wouldnt expect to get for free.

What kind of things would you like to receive for your membership fee?

Discounts on stuff I guess, parts etc.

How much do you think it should cost to be a member of the club?

£20-30

I think certain parts of the forum should only be accessible to members. This is used quite effectively on the Biker's Oracle website. Technical discussion is permitted on the open forum but manuals and how to guides require membership. The How to Guides on here are excellent and well worth the membership fee.

Also, ideally I would like the club to help provide parts/service support for the Coupe as parts become more scarce. Can't see it ever being like the MG Owners Club where they have enough new/reconditioned parts available to make a new one.

Only been to one meet so far briefly but would probably attend more events.

John

I don`t know if that would work seeing as people have to be constantly reminded of their existence by Bockers .

I`m going to be coming up on my first year of being a member of FCCUK (after using the forum for just over 3 years) and I don`t grudge a single penny of it. I don`t need any discounts for specialists as I do all my work myself and i`ve had no desire to go away down country to go to the official FCCUK events.

TBH the forum is my main reason for paying my membership fee because through it there has been more offered to me in the way of meets than any official club events,The Big Coop Meet being an excellent example of what a club meeting should be with FCCUK`ers from all over the country getting together .

Baz

All down to the Forum not the club


Again a Forum related issue


Nice idea I will take it on board. Club track days available to Club members only?



The Forum is only FREE because FCCUK club members, donations and the Forum board make it that way. Without the club and its paying members the FREE to use and advert free forum you have come to love may not have a future

The club board are currently working hard behind the scenes to see if there is any way we can keep things just the way you like them. It is not an easy task though as the forum is an expensive beast, even with the help of the forum board offering us ways to cope with the costs.

The Coupe club has a group of enthusiastic people who would truly love to keep this club running and make it even more accountable to its members. If most of those who visit and use this forum regularly commited themselves to joining the Coupe club then keeping the club alive, and the forum how you like it, would be a much easier task.

You don't want to pay?

Then don't be too surprised if you see some big changes arround here!

Bob, have you any figures on what the forum costs? ie. what proportion of the club membership fee is used to subsidise the forum? Is if £5 or £25??

What about a 'basic' membership where the membership fee was only to subsidise the forum?? I think this would be of interest to people

Could we then restrict participation in Group Buys and For Sale to such members and above,but without restricting non-members ability to view the threads? I strongly believe its key that we dont restrict content or the forum will slowly die.

Easily enforced - make it a rule that you have to post on the thread to confirm interest (much like now) - non-members would be restricted from posting (like the 'old' For Sale section was) and told why....

I have to be honest I'm currently not a member and feel quite guilty I have yet to contribute anything! I am wanting to be a member and was looking to join when I bought my second coupe approx 6 months ago! But I was quite reluctant to join when it seemed quite a few people were having issues with their memberships!

I wouldn't make much use of the events and discounts but still want to contribute as this forum has saved me lots over the 2 1/2 years I've owned coupes and I also bought my second one off here!

The costs given to the Board for the forum are about £1000 + VAT PA. Cost per member all depends how many members the club attracts and there in lies the rub. It is near impossible to give a defined figure on cost per member for the Forum until you know how many members you have.

So does the club charge say £20 for membership and commit only to funding the forum, until we better understand what membership numbers we have and thus what financial position we are in? The downside to this route is that there is NO real obvious benefit to becoming a member, other than club discounts and the knowledge you are keeping the forum Add free and open to all.

Then again perhaps restricted access to non members is the way forward? We would need to ensure that the club fully funds the forum before this could happen though, and we would also need to accept that there are some people out there that would never pay, and probably choose to leave

I must confess that I too have thought about not paying for club membership recently. This was not because I didn’t value all that I received for my, what is in effect a tiny, subscription but because I was not 100% sure of where my money was going. This issue though will be resolved with the club now planning to produce and publish the detailed accounts for ALL members to see, as well as providing an AGM for club members to question their board.

So to those who ask “What do I get from the Club?”

You get

A club and members dedicated to all aspects of the car you have chosen to own.

Access to other club members who are prepared to offer help and advice to their fellow Coupe owners and potential owners.

Access to a dedicated Coupe forum. A forum that you probably read exhaustively before deciding to buy a Coupé and a forum that you still use, often daily.

A forum where you can ask for most ANY information you need to know.

Still expensive?

You tell me

Bob

Dont critisize him for being honest, I imagine there are a quite a sizable chunk of forum user/browsers that have exactly the same opinion. Most of those that dont pay do contribute by posting up responses, surely that in itself is adding value to the forum (though not the club) ?

Maybe we should be addressing the reasons why people choose not to join the club (or we should highlight the benefits of joining the club).

For myself the one big benefit are the discounts that I can get at powerfiat if I join. That is easily worth the joining fee.

I second that. I've found this forum very useful as a tool and I'd hapilly donate to it from overseas.

There is no criticism I just explained that without any income the forum that he is used to would cease to exist!


Indeed. Perhaps you could now take a read the first post on this thread where you will I did ask that


The discounts are indeed one of the best benefits of club membership

IF you use powerfiat or motormech. For some people in scotland (tartandude excluded ) the discounts arent as important.

Ross

Ross there must be an Alfa - Fiat Specialist that is close to where you live. Have you approached them to see if they would be interested in providing a discount to members of the Fiat Coupe owners club?

FCCUK a club run by the members For the members

Bob

Well tbh, there isn't really anyone that i would want to use.

If there was, then yes a specialist would be interesting for discount. I can understand why the guys local-ish would use this, but not for me personally.

Ross

I still think we need to make the club a lot more appealing, as i mentioned earlier in the post.

Has anyone looked at other marque owners clubs to see how they're structured? They all are MUCH more substantial. Some examples:

Alfa owners club

Mini owners club

Ford Focus owners

There are so many more - they are all much more attractive than the current fccuk club. They all have monthly magazines or newsletters and all offer so much more. Their websites are full of stuff. Only a few of the links on the FCCUK club have anything on.

Lets stop faffing so much over the forum and focus on making a club. The forum then falls into place within this. The forum will lose its 'value' if its all restricted.

Is the £1k per year figure for keeping the forum going the best deal?? (not doubting, simply asking ). Why does it cost that (again, not doubting....)

Lets organise days out at race meets, car events, join in with other fiat clubs, track days - lets be a club!! At the moment we're an active forum organising things here and there. Lets look at what others do and adapt. I'm creating a coupe book, another member is working on a haynes style manual, lets make a service directory. Theres so many things we could do to make it work!!

I'll offer my help in bringing together a magazine, printed or PDF (think i'd quite enjoy it), and maybe some other things. I run a business myself so often find myself chokka, but i'd be happy sparing some free time for nothing in order to make things more interesting.

Sorry if i sound blunt, but it seems we're missing a trick here. To warrant a decent membership we have to make it worthwhile and appealing to a wide range of people