Dealer damaged panel & paint during service - how far do I take it?

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So long story short the '12 in my sig went in for some CPO work due to sunroof leaks (new sunroof drains, new headliner and some various interior carpet replaced) this past Tuesday and should have only been a 1-1.5 day long job. Well Tuesday afternoon they call me and want to set me up with a rental car because it may be another day, so Wednesday I pick up the rental first thing in the morning figuring my car would be ready that evening.

Wednesday - no not ready, should be ready to pickup tomorrow. Ok great

Thursday - Call for status update in the morning and service advisor says car is done but then asks. "Did you have a big scratch on your front passenger door?" Nope I sure didn't. Response was 'ok I will have that taken care of before you pick the car up'. Ok great - polish it up and give it back to me. Later I get a message from him saying 'its worse than I thought so your car won't be ready' - talked to him and asked for pics and for him to extend the rental and we would chat on Friday. No pics ever came.

Friday - Internal panic started to rise because no pictures ever came, did they somehow wreck my car and are trying to hide it? So I call again and service advisor tells me they had to send it to their body shop but it should be ready that evening if the paint is dry. WHAT.....you are repainting the damaged part of my car? 2 hours later get a message he talked to the body shop and my car won't be ready until Tuesday (2/11). At this point I told him I needed pictures now of what happened because 5+ days in a body shop equates to a small fender bender.

Well pictures came through (see below) and it appears they opened the front passenger door into a sharp 90 degree concrete or metal post so there is a scrape probably the size of a shot glass. This eased my fears that something major had happened and would have been welcome the day prior.

How far do I take this? I'm calm about it as they are covering my rental and I only want to ask them about a paint warranty because of the number of cars I have seen where portions have been repainted that mismatch. My other half wants me to light them up all the way up to a complaint with VWoA and try to get my $50 CPO deductible waived and service freebies because it was handled horribly. I like this service department because they have been very good to me so far so I am thinking just see how the repair is. If to my satisfaction just leave it that and ignore any surveys because I will be neither satisfied or dissatisfied.

What say all of you? Paint warranty inquiry only or blow them up with VW of America?

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Not sure what you mean by paint warranty. If the paint doesn't match tell them to repaint it or allow you to take it to another body shop and have it painted there and they will reimburse you. They need to make you whole. They gave you a rental and are fixing their damage. That's what they need to do. No need to worry about blowing them up until you see what they did.
 
Wow, sorry to hear about this. In all honesty I'd be upset if this happened to me. But, I'm VERY surprised the dealer stepped up so quickly and admitted to their fault. The sleazy Hyundai dealers I've dealt with recently would deny,deny, deny, blame someone else, tell you to go away.

If it were me I'd let the dealer fix it and make it right. Done correctly you will never know it had had paint work done. Let them correct it, if for whatever reason they do a botched repair then I'd complain to VWUSA. I hope it comes out perfect and like new again! I'm just very impressed the dealer would willingly admit they damaged your car.
 
If it were me I'd drive in there and demand to see my car right then, but I think the dealer's handling this properly.

I bet you get little to no paperwork that this happened. Dealer doesn't want their garage insurance getting a hit.
 
It sucks but they were honest.

I'm assuming this is a daily driver and not a show car? Let them fix it. I'm sure they'll be more dings and scratches to follow.
 
Yes just a daily driver and I keep it pristine. Might be why they mentioned it because this is the 5th or 6th time my car has been with them.

Yes I agree it was good they pro-actively brought it to my attention instead of just trying to pass it off and see if I noticed. I did see their check in system when I dropped my car off and they took pictures of all the sides of my car so this may be a thing where they balance out the false claims but has the bad side effect of having to own up to shop damage.

I am erring on the side of caution and just going to see how my car looks when I eventually get to pick it up and go from there. I am not happy it will not be factory finish because as I understand nothing can compare to the durability or quality of a factory finish, but damage is done and it can't be reversed so it is what it is.
 
They shouldn't have sent to this to a body/paint shop without your prior approval. At that point you could have gotten several estimates from reputable shops you use. But if it doesn't come out nice and matching the other panels, keep sending it back to them. You also have the BBB and state DMV Consumer Protection at your disposal should they not give you a proper repair.
 
It sounds like they were upfront for the most part and are trying to handle this themselves without getting corporate involved. I would continue to deal with them alone unless a problem occurs.

The pre check part covers them. They have probably been scammed by gamers on existing damage so they put that in place.
 
Originally Posted by pezzy669
How far do I take this? I'm calm about it as they are covering my rental and I only want to ask them about a paint warranty because of the number of cars I have seen where portions have been repainted that mismatch. My other half wants me to light them up all the way up to a complaint with VWoA and try to get my $50 CPO deductible waived and service freebies because it was handled horribly. I like this service department because they have been very good to me so far so I am thinking just see how the repair is. If to my satisfaction just leave it that and ignore any surveys because I will be neither satisfied or dissatisfied.

What say all of you? Paint warranty inquiry only or blow them up with VW of America?
Don't be a Karen. I'm not sure how far you can get with a eight year old car. A newer car bought from that dealer, sure. You're not a high ROI customer, acting entitled might not be the best course of action.
 
If you try to trade at a place that really checks out cars in detail (like Carmax), they will notice the damage and give you less for the vehicle. They are handling it correctly, but you need to somehow be compensated for diminished value.
 
Originally Posted by madRiver
Let them fix it and move on. Stuff happens and not malicious and they were up front.

Unfortunate all around.



I agree. Give them a chance to make it right. If you are unhappy, move forward from that point. It would
be best to wait and see how it looks. You have the pics to show it was damaged by the dealership. I believe
it will work out fine.
 
Originally Posted by Leo99
Not sure what you mean by paint warranty. If the paint doesn't match tell them to repaint it or allow you to take it to another body shop and have it painted there and they will reimburse you. They need to make you whole. They gave you a rental and are fixing their damage. That's what they need to do. No need to worry about blowing them up until you see what they did.


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If it's fixed properly, you're done. Be glad they didn't give it back to you with the scratch and deny doing it.

I probably would have gone down when they called and asked if the scratch was already there to see what was going on, but since you gave them permission to fix it they did so.

Look on the bright side, new paint, carpet and headliner - it's like a resto!
 
I had paint damaged on my '81 Celica's passenger door during service at a Toyota dealership. I complained and they repainted the area. Did a good job too. That's what I expected. Done.
 
They are already on the path to making this right, speak with the Service manager directly about getting the deductible waived for that visit and the next oil change or alignment or whatever on them for the time and frustration, they will probably be amenable to it.
 
My dad went nuclear when his newer truck was damaged while in for service and they said, oh that's just lot damage, we don't cover that.

I say, blow them up.
 
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