What caused this damage?

What caused this damage?

Author
Discussion

NISaxoVTR

Original Poster:

268 posts

168 months

Monday 27th March 2017
quotequote all
It was the first sunny weekend of the year so my girlfriend took her car to get washed. Upon jet washing of the winter grime it became apparent the sills weren't quite the shape they used to be. I have my own suspicions about what the cause of this has been but I wanted to get the PH consensus. The below is a picture of the passenger side front jacking area. The drivers side has been damaged too but to a lesser extent.

The car has been back to the dealers a few weeks ago to have a strut bearing replaced. There is no other damage to the wheels, bumpers etc.





If anyone could muster a cost to repair that would also be handy!

Doofus

25,732 posts

172 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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badly located jack?

Tankrizzo

7,247 posts

192 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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Looks like it's been jacked in the wrong place and squashed the sills.

steveo3002

10,494 posts

173 months

Monday 27th March 2017
quotequote all
bit of shonky jacking up or crashed over something?

MDMA .

8,849 posts

100 months

Monday 27th March 2017
quotequote all
as above. probably on a 2 post lift.

shake n bake

2,221 posts

206 months

Monday 27th March 2017
quotequote all
It's not a fiat 500 by any chance is it? The sills are seemingly made of bits of paper and bits of chalk, they are renowned for getting crushed when they're shown a jack.
Does look like it's been caused by a lift or jack, doesn't look fresh from that photo though. To repair and paint would be between £200 and £500 depending on who you know and where you are.

Edited by shake n bake on Monday 27th March 13:33

Krikkit

26,500 posts

180 months

Monday 27th March 2017
quotequote all
MDMA . said:
as above. probably on a 2 post lift.
Yep, they've left the contact point on the sill itself, rather than the folded part a touch further back.

lord trumpton

7,321 posts

125 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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Incorrect jacking - That damage is not from a scraping over a kerb or whatever.


swisstoni

16,855 posts

278 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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So - where's it been jacked up recently?

The Wookie

13,909 posts

227 months

Monday 27th March 2017
quotequote all
Might not have been jacked/lifted from the wrong place, if you're not careful it's easy on some 2 post lifts to catch the sills with the large section of the lifting arms, particularly on lower cars with the jacking points close together like on a short wheelbase car.

Looking at the shape and angle that could easily could explain the damage. It needs addressing quickly as it will rust

Momentofmadness

2,364 posts

240 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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That's horrendous, you must be fuming frown

Gary29

4,131 posts

98 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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Jack or dropped down a kerb onto it possibly.

NISaxoVTR

Original Poster:

268 posts

168 months

Monday 27th March 2017
quotequote all
Impressive spot shake n bake, yes it's a Fiat 500. This is the latest chapter in a long Saga with this dealer group. The car is one year old and has had the following issues..

- Car arrived without the digital dash it was ordered with.
- Clutch release bearing failed resulting in new clutch #1 (cira 3k miles)
- After repair transmission makes a groaning noise under certain situations. Dealer diagnosed as warped flywheel so replaced flywheel and clutch again. Didn't fix the problem.
- When car was returned from that it came back with a dent low on rear quarter. Had to get that fixed by a PDR man after some quibbling.
- Next the steering wheel started making a clicking/rubbing noise so indicator stalk was replaced. This resulted in the horn being broken on the right hand side (still outstanding)
- Strut tower bearing replaced after 10k miles.

After the first dent we took it to a different dealer in the group thinking they might be better but now we have this damage. Mixed in with the above were numerous occasions where they didn't book the car in properly and were shocked when it turned up or failed to organize a courtesy car... ohh and the time when dealer 1 lost the locking wheel nut socket and dealer 2 had a right moan to us about it.

So overall pretty disgusted with them. We are waiting to hear back what their stance on this damage is going to be. They want to see the car in person but their initial response is to say "our guys lift fiat 500s everyday so it's not likely to have been us".

jke11y

3,181 posts

236 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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I had exactly the same damage on my wifes fiat 500. The bit which looks exactly like a jacking point (complete with arrow) seemingly isn't. Ours was so bad that you could see the dent in the sill from above!

motco

15,919 posts

245 months

Monday 27th March 2017
quotequote all
jke11y said:
I had exactly the same damage on my wifes fiat 500. The bit which looks exactly like a jacking point (complete with arrow) seemingly isn't. Ours was so bad that you could see the dent in the sill from above!
If an amateur jacked it there it would be forgivable, but aren't main dealer mechanics trained on the various models of their marque?

sparks_E39

12,738 posts

212 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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My sisters Fiat 500 broke down as she was driving past the supplying dealership around two months after purchasing it brand new, it required a new engine.

paul789

3,676 posts

103 months

Monday 27th March 2017
quotequote all
NISaxoVTR said:
Impressive spot shake n bake, yes it's a Fiat 500. This is the latest chapter in a long Saga with this dealer group. The car is one year old and has had the following issues..

- Car arrived without the digital dash it was ordered with.
- Clutch release bearing failed resulting in new clutch #1 (cira 3k miles)
- After repair transmission makes a groaning noise under certain situations. Dealer diagnosed as warped flywheel so replaced flywheel and clutch again. Didn't fix the problem.
- When car was returned from that it came back with a dent low on rear quarter. Had to get that fixed by a PDR man after some quibbling.
- Next the steering wheel started making a clicking/rubbing noise so indicator stalk was replaced. This resulted in the horn being broken on the right hand side (still outstanding)
- Strut tower bearing replaced after 10k miles.

After the first dent we took it to a different dealer in the group thinking they might be better but now we have this damage. Mixed in with the above were numerous occasions where they didn't book the car in properly and were shocked when it turned up or failed to organize a courtesy car... ohh and the time when dealer 1 lost the locking wheel nut socket and dealer 2 had a right moan to us about it.

So overall pretty disgusted with them. We are waiting to hear back what their stance on this damage is going to be. They want to see the car in person but their initial response is to say "our guys lift fiat 500s everyday so it's not likely to have been us".
Brave posting this on gg. Won't be long before you'll be apportioned blame by the 'Pfft, what are you after - compensation? ferchristssake!' brigade. :-)

You'll then be lobbied hard to 'suck it up', accept a free service and / or some mud flaps and console yourself with a new directorship or two.

Alucidnation

16,810 posts

169 months

Monday 27th March 2017
quotequote all
If this vehicle is on a PCP of some sort, you should take it up with the lease company and Fiat UK.

MG CHRIS

9,077 posts

166 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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As above been caught on the thicker part of a 2 poster ramp extremely common on fiat 500.

shake n bake

2,221 posts

206 months

Monday 27th March 2017
quotequote all
NISaxoVTR said:
Impressive spot shake n bake, yes it's a Fiat 500. Other stuff.
Must have sold 5 or 6 of these where I've had to get this repaired so know it too well!

That's a poor run with the car and group, I hope you can get it resolved.