F10 M5 £40K Bodyshop Repair - Many Problems.
Discussion
Here goes.
In November 2013 I was unfortunately involved in a serious accident in my then 10 day old / 400 mile F10 M5. It's a BMW Alphabet lease car on a two year lease.
The car was repaired at a BMW main dealer bodyshop and all paid for by my insurance company, it took 3/4 months to complete. When the car was returned to me the real problems started. Within a couple of days I had produced a significant snagging list that included all manor of things including paint inclusions, scratches to the new paint work, some damaged parts not replaced, new damage to the interior, etc etc. After a year of back and forth communications, inspections and rectification work we are still haggling / negotiating over the final issues.
One of these issues is the joints on the C Pillars where the rear wings have been fitted up on the roof line. There is riveting, bonding, filling and painting process that is set out by BMW. This failed after the initial repair and cracking was evident in the paintwork. it was then agreed that they would repair both sides again. This was done but has again failed. Not as bad as the first time but the paint in that area on both sides has rippled. Last week I finally managed to have the car inspected by the chief BMW bodywork chap at the repairing dealer. it was agreed the C Pillar repairs have failed again and are not up to scratch. There are other issues that have also agreed to be resolved.
They are trying to assure me that the repair will be 100% perfect this third time but when I ask what they will do differently to the previous two attempts they have nothing to offer. So my question is, should I be accepting this as a reasonable response from BMW???
I should also add that I was not provided with a courtesy car during the initial 3/4 month repair and have spent many hours dealing with this, with various inspections and paint reports etc etc. I have also been offered £350 from my insurance company by way of compensation.
What do you think is reasonable here? And what is the likelihood of the car being rejected by Alphabet when it is returned at the end of the lease?
I have intentionally avoided a name and shame approach here and I don't intend to give details of the car or the dealer. The trouble is the lease may nearing an end by the time we get to that point.
Thanks for any thoughts.
In November 2013 I was unfortunately involved in a serious accident in my then 10 day old / 400 mile F10 M5. It's a BMW Alphabet lease car on a two year lease.
The car was repaired at a BMW main dealer bodyshop and all paid for by my insurance company, it took 3/4 months to complete. When the car was returned to me the real problems started. Within a couple of days I had produced a significant snagging list that included all manor of things including paint inclusions, scratches to the new paint work, some damaged parts not replaced, new damage to the interior, etc etc. After a year of back and forth communications, inspections and rectification work we are still haggling / negotiating over the final issues.
One of these issues is the joints on the C Pillars where the rear wings have been fitted up on the roof line. There is riveting, bonding, filling and painting process that is set out by BMW. This failed after the initial repair and cracking was evident in the paintwork. it was then agreed that they would repair both sides again. This was done but has again failed. Not as bad as the first time but the paint in that area on both sides has rippled. Last week I finally managed to have the car inspected by the chief BMW bodywork chap at the repairing dealer. it was agreed the C Pillar repairs have failed again and are not up to scratch. There are other issues that have also agreed to be resolved.
They are trying to assure me that the repair will be 100% perfect this third time but when I ask what they will do differently to the previous two attempts they have nothing to offer. So my question is, should I be accepting this as a reasonable response from BMW???
I should also add that I was not provided with a courtesy car during the initial 3/4 month repair and have spent many hours dealing with this, with various inspections and paint reports etc etc. I have also been offered £350 from my insurance company by way of compensation.
What do you think is reasonable here? And what is the likelihood of the car being rejected by Alphabet when it is returned at the end of the lease?
I have intentionally avoided a name and shame approach here and I don't intend to give details of the car or the dealer. The trouble is the lease may nearing an end by the time we get to that point.
Thanks for any thoughts.
Isn't this an issue for, and responsibility of, your insurance company? Are they 'on your side', or just wishing you'd accept the car and go away?
Don't know all the background of what's go on in your dispute of course but from what you've outlined I'd be starting legal action against the insurance company, since the quality of the repair ultimately is their responsibility. It's been nearly 18 months; this problem should have been resolved to your total satisfaction by now. If there's any issue due to repair quality when the car is returned to Alphabet, a half decent solicitor would also make sure you weren't out of pocket at lease end.
Don't know all the background of what's go on in your dispute of course but from what you've outlined I'd be starting legal action against the insurance company, since the quality of the repair ultimately is their responsibility. It's been nearly 18 months; this problem should have been resolved to your total satisfaction by now. If there's any issue due to repair quality when the car is returned to Alphabet, a half decent solicitor would also make sure you weren't out of pocket at lease end.
Depthhoar said:
Isn't this an issue for, and responsibility of, your insurance company? Are they 'on your side', or just wishing you'd accept the car and go away?
Don't know all the background of what's go on in your dispute of course but from what you've outlined I'd be starting legal action against the insurance company, since the quality of the repair ultimately is their responsibility. It's been nearly 18 months; this problem should have been resolved to your total satisfaction by now. If there's any issue due to repair quality when the car is returned to Alphabet, a half decent solicitor would also make sure you weren't out of pocket at lease end.
Up until the last few month I've been giving the bodyshop every opportunity to resolve matters and for the most part they have be reasonable to deal with. However the facts are things are right for the second time of trying. As a result of this I finally complained t the insurance company who do appear to be on my side however their offer of £350 compensation has has not been accepted as I've no idea how they arrive at that figure and it doesn't get close to the time I've spent dealing with this. Don't know all the background of what's go on in your dispute of course but from what you've outlined I'd be starting legal action against the insurance company, since the quality of the repair ultimately is their responsibility. It's been nearly 18 months; this problem should have been resolved to your total satisfaction by now. If there's any issue due to repair quality when the car is returned to Alphabet, a half decent solicitor would also make sure you weren't out of pocket at lease end.
But I have said to them that this is ultimately their responsibility as they paid the bill and I'm their customer. But I haven't pushed this as it was their intention that the got the recent BMW inspection organised and thats how we've arrived at a point where they want to try the repair again.
It has crossed my mind that if i got really arsey I could have rejected the repair and therefore rejected the car but truth is I really didn't want to be with out an M5 as I love driving it. Had I owned it I may have pushed much harder with this.
markwm said:
3-4 month repair and no courtesy car??? for reals? were you still making payments on the car during this time? Sounds like a total nightmare
Correct, no courtesy car and yes payments being made for the lease throughout. However I was paid 50% of £15 per day compensation by the third party insurers for the time without my car. jcosh said:
Correct, no courtesy car and yes payments being made for the lease throughout. However I was paid 50% of £15 per day compensation by the third party insurers for the time without my car.
Sorry mate you miust be mad, No way would i have had the back till fixed correctly and a "Like for like" M5 to drive.After all you are still paying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Feck that deal not in my book.
Helicopter123 said:
Sounds like the car should have been written off to me.
Depending on the insurer that's not always and option.My wife's 3 month old E70 X5 was signifcantly damaged by a hail storm in France which resulted in a £20,000 repair bill.
We had similar issues to the OP (sorry to hear of your problems OP) and eventually sold the car to move on - clearly not an easy option on a lease car.
In short and as a rule of thumb, if the damage is less than 40% of the value of the new vehicle it will be repaired. Based on my M5 being worth circa £75k clearly £40k damage is more than 40% of the value, however the original quote to fix may well have been less than the 40% threshold and the bill simply escalated once the work started, it's too late then.
If I were in the OP's shoes I would be discussing ending the contract with the lease company as well as discussing courtesy cars and any reasonable compensation for costs from the repairing dealer. As a matter of interest our X5 took 4 months to fix and we had a courtsey car for the entire period. The car however was in the dealership almost weekly for the next 8 months until we decided enough was enough - I pity the person who bought it that's for sure!
Fast Bug said:
What is Alphabets view on this? I'm assuming you've apoken to them seeing as it's thier car?
Has the car been recorded on any registers at all? A £40k repair is one hell of a shunt! I really can't see why you had no replacement car either? Not even a Corsa?
Responsibility for providing a courtesy car belongs with the insurance company and will depend on the policy. on a specialist car like a new M5 I can't imagine that anyone would cut corners to save a few quid on insurance so I'm at a loss to explain why no replacement car provided? Something not adding up here.Has the car been recorded on any registers at all? A £40k repair is one hell of a shunt! I really can't see why you had no replacement car either? Not even a Corsa?
My thoughts , probably totally wrong, they usually are!
1. The driver had a big crash, and the car has been poorly repaired
2. BMW agree and have fixed it but this fix has failed and they have offered to fix again.
3. The OP is worried this repair will fail again.
4. WTF, does it really matter now. The car is not his, is at the end of the lease, and is not his problem. Surely he just hands the keys back and moves on. The rest of the courtesy car discussion is now irrelevant, move on
1. The driver had a big crash, and the car has been poorly repaired
2. BMW agree and have fixed it but this fix has failed and they have offered to fix again.
3. The OP is worried this repair will fail again.
4. WTF, does it really matter now. The car is not his, is at the end of the lease, and is not his problem. Surely he just hands the keys back and moves on. The rest of the courtesy car discussion is now irrelevant, move on
Fast Bug said:
The worry is Alphabet hit the OP with a cocking great bill because the rear quarter panels have been stuck on with blutack, the paint has cracked and Stevie Wonder can see it's been in a massive shunt. Which means nobody will touch it when it goes through the auctions...
I understand that, but, there is evidence and agreement that the repair is not to standard so the bill should be passed to the insurer to deal with?Fast Bug said:
The worry is Alphabet hit the OP with a cocking great bill because the rear quarter panels have been stuck on with blutack, the paint has cracked and Stevie Wonder can see it's been in a massive shunt. Which means nobody will touch it when it goes through the auctions...
I understand that, but, there is evidence and agreement that the repair is not to standard so the bill should be passed to the insurer to deal with?Gassing Station | M Power | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff