Attention obsessive car care freaks: What would you do?

jcaut

I think I'm not the only one here. We have more in common than Polk speakers. If you can be obsessive about audio, then you're probably the type of person who expects quality workmanship and can understand my predicament.

Let's just say you took a brand new car-- 3000 miles, just made the third payment on it-- into the dealer for a minor warranty repair. Let's say that the car you took in was absolutely pristine, looking better than it did when you drove it off the showroom floor of this very dealership a few months ago. Let's say you're a car care freak (my wife says I'm "anal" but that sounds a little dirty, eh) who keeps the car meticulously cleaned, waxed, protected- Who doesn't let the car sit outside, doesn't like people touching the car- Who knows where EVERY scratch, scuff, ding, etc., is (there were three) on the car- Who carried a towel and a bottle of quick detailer with me to the dealership to remove the bugs from the front bumper so that they wouldn't sit on there while they had the car-- You get the picture.

Now let's say when you went to pick the car up, you found that there are now scratches and scuffs deep enough to feel with your fingernail all over both rear quarter panels, nicks and cuts completely through the paint all around the back window (they pulled the glass and resealed it). A quarter-sized DENT(!) in the sail panel (that's on a crease and will, IMO, be impossible to pop out without it being visible). A dirty headliner from greasy hands. Numerous other little nicks and dings that prove to me that they didn't handle my car with care AT ALL, despite my pleading with them to do so when I dropped it off. A little masking tape was asking too much, I guess?

Of course they say they'll fix it. "Oh, that'll buff right out", etc.. Maybe some of it would. However, I can say that I've worked around auto body shops, and I've seen some people who care, and do fabulous work, but I've never seen a body repair that I could not detect if I'm looking for it. Not to mention that this car has a basecoat-midcoat-tinted-topcoat paint that is going to be very difficult to spot-paint. I say they have no hope of matching it without blending a pretty large area. I would never purchase a new car that had defects like this that were "fixed". If I wanted a car with scuffs dents and repairs, I would have just saved myself a ton of money and bought a used car. What should I do? They know they screwed up, and they're very apologetic, but bottom line is that they have ruined my satisfaction with my new car and they can't "fix" it, even if they fix it. Does anybody understand?? I'm not going to mention names at this point, but I'm in a small town and they have a very good reputation, which is the only reason I let they try to fix it in the first place. Wish I had just foregone the warranty and had it fixed myself. My wife (it's actually her car) wants them to get us a new one just like it and trade with us, minus whatever $ per mile.

Sorry for the rant. What would you do?

ZLTFUL

Frankly, the dealership should do whatever it takes to make it right. The onus is on them to fix it or replace it plain and simple.

steveinaz

Whenever I scratch something, I sell it. See, you thought you were anal.

JerryR1verz

To answer your question. I would put it in writing with what you expect them to do and include your choice of who is qualified to correct their major f__k up. Have them sign and agree to pay for all damages. Paintless dent repair might be able to get the dent out without leaving behind evidence. Escalate up the chain if you can't find someone with the balls to take ownership of the damages.

I've owned BMW's and a 370z in the past. I've seen car jockey's (the kids that drive your car around the lot when you come to pick it up) take a big brush with a handle and a bucket of soapy water and scrub the customer's entire car starting at the bottom rocker panels (where all the sand, dirt, grime is) and work their way up to the top of the car). Major scratches in the clear coat as you've described. Sorry for the run on sentence but this really grinds my gears.

I explicitly tell the service manager not to wash my car when they are done servicing the car for this very reason.
I feel for ya. Not good.
JR

oldmodman

It might "buff right out" but how many years of life have they ground off the clearcoat? The clear is there to protect the color coat under the clear. The total lifespan of the paint job will be lowered by years after they have their in house hack "detailer" attempt to fix it. Take the car to a first rate detailer and have the total build thickness measured my an instrument designed for that purpose. I take measurements all over any car I am tasked to compound. And if the thickness is either too thin from the factory, or if it has already been compounded I won't even work on it.

You might want to take a few pictures of the damage and join and post it on Autogeekonline.net for some opinions.
There is no excuse for handling a car in that manner. You might have to take them to small claims court and sue them. But the car needs to have a partial re-spray with two coats of high build clear after it has been sanded down. Expect the cost if you had it done yourself to be around $2500.00 at a first rate shop. With luck it may not be as bad as you think. A mild cleaning might remove all the scratching and swirls. But if you can get a fingernail in the scratch then probably not.

Msabot1

I'd go ballistic......

nooshinjohn

Msabot1 wrote: »

I'd go ballistic......

I think 3 months old and less than three grand on the ODO, they should be giving you a new car. There is the occasional "OOPS" that happens in car repair, then there is blatant neglect, carelessness and whatever else you want to call it.

Porsche stepped up and gave a customer a new car because his dealership could not fix his car right. Sounds to me like your dealership destroyed yours. Is it a GM car? all they need now is more negative Facebook activity. Get the manufacturer involved, IMHO.

Clipdat

Ugh, WTF?? Someone just posted that something very similar happened to them on the car forum I belong to: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64180

I can't imagine how pissed you are about the whole thing. I say take it to the GM and demand they cut you a check to cover the cost of getting it properly detailed at a well respected detailer local to you. Whatever you do do NOT let them touch your car again, they've already proved their incompetence.

mantis

My dealer knows better not to touch my vehicles in any way other then whats needed. They know exactly how fussy I am about my Vehicles. If something like this happened, they would call me and tell me they are going to take full care of it.
All my vehicles come from my dealer as I have no reason to shop anywhere else. Reason for that is how good they take care of me.

I find when I'm bored I wonder into the garage to put a coat on the fender as it might need another. Nothing I can't stand then a dirty vehicle.
I'm also in the camp where if it gets scratched, dented or anything , it's got to go.