My car seems to have had a repair whithout me knowing
Discussion
Not sure where to post this so I think I'll start here and move to speed plod and law if necessary.
Some background. I bought a brand new car 8 years.
In all that time it has only been away from me overnight on 3 occasions;
2 years ago after a service it stayed overnight at a main dealer when the snow was too bad to drive home on the day;
18 months ago for a week to repair a small front end accident through my insurance company which involved a re-spray of the front bumper and;
last month for a week whilst a sensor was fixed at the local main dealer.
A couple of weeks ago the sensor repair main dealer offered me a free valet, including polish and wax, after I complained it took a week to let me have the car back. They collected the car in the morning and I got it back that evening.
The next morning my partner noticed the top of the rear bumper looked like somebody had taken a kitchen scourer to it. The scratches went from end to end. It looks like the marks left after a surface is keyed ready for painting.
I immediately contacted the dealer and they had a look at it. They denied the damage had anything to do with them. They told me there was evidence the bumper had been treated with a SMART repair in the past and their machine polisher removed the top coat of paint leaving the marks from when the paint was keyed for the repair. They also said that you could see where filler had been used to repair the bumper. Although, for the life of me, I can’t see any such evidence. Also, the dealer does not have a body shop on site so it would seem strange as to why they would prepare a surface for painting.
On the way home after seeing the dealer I stopped at a reputable detailing company. They said the damage could not have been caused by over zealous use of a polisher. This does lend credence to the argument the bumper was damaged and then re-painted sometime in the past.
As I have said I've owned the car from new and have never ever had the rear bumper damaged/repaired. So the question is, how did my bumper get damaged?
The next obvious port of call was the insurance repair company, despite it being 18 months ago when they had the car. I called them and they told me damage never happens to cars on their repair premises. (This made me chuckle as I'm not so sure about this having read a number of articles on cars getting damaged whilst in the care of garages/body repair shops). And, if it did get damaged on their premises, they said they would have record of it.
They then told me I can get the paint on the bumper tested to see where it had come from. This sounds very CSI and I'm not sure it is available to Joe Public so I feel I'm getting fobbed off.
I think my next action is to take it to a decent body shop and ask them if they can see any filler etc. and ask if I can trace the repair back to anybody in particular. It would be very useful if I could match the paint on the rear bumper with that used for the front bumper repair.
At the moment I think I have two hopes, and one of them is Bob who appears to have left the building.
But, if there is any advice from you guys I am more than happy to hear it.
Some background. I bought a brand new car 8 years.
In all that time it has only been away from me overnight on 3 occasions;
2 years ago after a service it stayed overnight at a main dealer when the snow was too bad to drive home on the day;
18 months ago for a week to repair a small front end accident through my insurance company which involved a re-spray of the front bumper and;
last month for a week whilst a sensor was fixed at the local main dealer.
A couple of weeks ago the sensor repair main dealer offered me a free valet, including polish and wax, after I complained it took a week to let me have the car back. They collected the car in the morning and I got it back that evening.
The next morning my partner noticed the top of the rear bumper looked like somebody had taken a kitchen scourer to it. The scratches went from end to end. It looks like the marks left after a surface is keyed ready for painting.
I immediately contacted the dealer and they had a look at it. They denied the damage had anything to do with them. They told me there was evidence the bumper had been treated with a SMART repair in the past and their machine polisher removed the top coat of paint leaving the marks from when the paint was keyed for the repair. They also said that you could see where filler had been used to repair the bumper. Although, for the life of me, I can’t see any such evidence. Also, the dealer does not have a body shop on site so it would seem strange as to why they would prepare a surface for painting.
On the way home after seeing the dealer I stopped at a reputable detailing company. They said the damage could not have been caused by over zealous use of a polisher. This does lend credence to the argument the bumper was damaged and then re-painted sometime in the past.
As I have said I've owned the car from new and have never ever had the rear bumper damaged/repaired. So the question is, how did my bumper get damaged?
The next obvious port of call was the insurance repair company, despite it being 18 months ago when they had the car. I called them and they told me damage never happens to cars on their repair premises. (This made me chuckle as I'm not so sure about this having read a number of articles on cars getting damaged whilst in the care of garages/body repair shops). And, if it did get damaged on their premises, they said they would have record of it.
They then told me I can get the paint on the bumper tested to see where it had come from. This sounds very CSI and I'm not sure it is available to Joe Public so I feel I'm getting fobbed off.
I think my next action is to take it to a decent body shop and ask them if they can see any filler etc. and ask if I can trace the repair back to anybody in particular. It would be very useful if I could match the paint on the rear bumper with that used for the front bumper repair.
At the moment I think I have two hopes, and one of them is Bob who appears to have left the building.
But, if there is any advice from you guys I am more than happy to hear it.
uknick said:
I did think that it might have happened before it was delivered new to me. But, would a manufacturer not have done a proper respray?
You'd be surprised how often brand new cars are repaired due to transport / trailer damage not to mention damage caused by inhouse valeters, be it a stray lance or careless driving, where in their defence they have little to no room to manoeuvre as they're normally stuck in the back of beyond.A smart repair if prepared correctly will hold up to the elements just as good as 'proper' respray as you put it. Taking it to a bodyshop is still not a concrete guarantee that it will be a good repair!
If the damage has been done at a reputable dealership then there must be a record of the repair somewhere. If you're sure it was done before you took ownership then talk to the PDI (pre delivery inspection) manager or if it was done during a service period then the service manager. If all else fails then speak to the Dealer Principal and firmly state your case.
Craikeybaby said:
I've seen cars which have been fillered and panels repainted before they have left the factory, it's quite bad really, but would be very tricky to identify.
There is that of course and tbh I don't know where that leaves the OP. A dealerships counter argument could be 'how do we know that you haven't had the vehicle repaired somewhere down the line'? It certainly will be a tough one to prove.BullMoose said:
There is that of course and tbh I don't know where that leaves the OP. A dealerships counter argument could be 'how do we know that you haven't had the vehicle repaired somewhere down the line'? It certainly will be a tough one to prove.
I agree. I think the OP would be best to either live with it, or pay to have it fixed to his satisfaction. If the OP doesn't know when it happened, I'm sure none of the various companies it's been left with during his ownership will know either.Most manufacturers have very strict guidelines on what can or can't be rectified at the factory. If they repair they will do a proper job rather than a smart repair.
My money would be on the supplying dealer having done it. If it were my car, I would just get it repaired and put it down to experience.
pp
My money would be on the supplying dealer having done it. If it were my car, I would just get it repaired and put it down to experience.
pp
Most main dealers dont have their own bodyshop, they will offer the services and then call in the local smart repairer to work, smart repairer will do the work at 'trade price' and the dealer will put their mark up on the job. As others have stated chances are this was done by main dealer, this kind of repair takes less than a day so it could of been at any point when you were having the car serviced etc. There is not a lot you can do about it though unfortunatley so I would suggest your only option is to fork out for it to be repaired to an acceptable standard!
we are dealing with brand new car this week (one of many) ,
short version story
Thats had long life protection applied by the dealership,
went wrong and could not remove coating,
called in smart repair company to remove,
they did plus too much paint,
smart repair company then "smart repair" the area with too much paint removed,
the car now has different coloured areas and poor paint defect,
plus covered in heavy buffer lines on original panels.
We have the paint depth gauges (big clue there to finding filler) which your detailer SHOULD have, to find different panels that have been painted plus different light sources to spot problems.
This can also happen on some of the worlds best cars.
i leave you with a few photos of problems on a recent factory car.
All on this
very common thing that a car is poorly painted or paint after its left the factory like this on same car .
A top quality professional who can find document and write a report is worth their weight in gold
kelly
short version story
Thats had long life protection applied by the dealership,
went wrong and could not remove coating,
called in smart repair company to remove,
they did plus too much paint,
smart repair company then "smart repair" the area with too much paint removed,
the car now has different coloured areas and poor paint defect,
plus covered in heavy buffer lines on original panels.
We have the paint depth gauges (big clue there to finding filler) which your detailer SHOULD have, to find different panels that have been painted plus different light sources to spot problems.
This can also happen on some of the worlds best cars.
i leave you with a few photos of problems on a recent factory car.
All on this
very common thing that a car is poorly painted or paint after its left the factory like this on same car .
A top quality professional who can find document and write a report is worth their weight in gold
kelly
Another Fluffer said:
Kelly, is the full write up on the Aventador ready on Detailing World yet? Or have I miss it?
Been eagerly awaiting it for quite some time now
soon (hopefully), its going to be a feature on DW , Been eagerly awaiting it for quite some time now
insanely busy at present and been trying to get round to the aventador and enzo
I will do my best
kelly
Thanks for your input.
It does appear I only have Bob Hope to turn to
But, can anybody confirm I can get a paint match test done?
As stated previously I thought you could only test for filler and thickness. The dealer tried to check the paint thickness but said his tester would not work on a bumper.
With regard to letting it go, I see your point of view, but I have been shafted enough in my life recently and don't like to be taken for a fool so will try to explore all avenues before giving in.
It does appear I only have Bob Hope to turn to
But, can anybody confirm I can get a paint match test done?
As stated previously I thought you could only test for filler and thickness. The dealer tried to check the paint thickness but said his tester would not work on a bumper.
With regard to letting it go, I see your point of view, but I have been shafted enough in my life recently and don't like to be taken for a fool so will try to explore all avenues before giving in.
uknick said:
Thanks for your input.
It does appear I only have Bob Hope to turn to
But, can anybody confirm I can get a paint match test done?
As stated previously I thought you could only test for filler and thickness. The dealer tried to check the paint thickness but said his tester would not work on a bumper.
With regard to letting it go, I see your point of view, but I have been shafted enough in my life recently and don't like to be taken for a fool so will try to explore all avenues before giving in.
he has not got the correct paint depth gauge then It does appear I only have Bob Hope to turn to
But, can anybody confirm I can get a paint match test done?
As stated previously I thought you could only test for filler and thickness. The dealer tried to check the paint thickness but said his tester would not work on a bumper.
With regard to letting it go, I see your point of view, but I have been shafted enough in my life recently and don't like to be taken for a fool so will try to explore all avenues before giving in.
kelly
kds keltec said:
Another Fluffer said:
Kelly, is the full write up on the Aventador ready on Detailing World yet? Or have I miss it?
Been eagerly awaiting it for quite some time now
soon (hopefully), its going to be a feature on DW , Been eagerly awaiting it for quite some time now
insanely busy at present and been trying to get round to the aventador and enzo
I will do my best
kelly
uknick said:
Thanks for your input.
It does appear I only have Bob Hope to turn to
But, can anybody confirm I can get a paint match test done?
As stated previously I thought you could only test for filler and thickness. The dealer tried to check the paint thickness but said his tester would not work on a bumper.
With regard to letting it go, I see your point of view, but I have been shafted enough in my life recently and don't like to be taken for a fool so will try to explore all avenues before giving in.
The thing is you'll have no proof of who did it and when. Even if you do trace it to the correct culprit how on earth are you going to prove to them they need to stump up for the repair ? Lets say it was the time the car was left due to snow, that was what ? 2 years ago ?It does appear I only have Bob Hope to turn to
But, can anybody confirm I can get a paint match test done?
As stated previously I thought you could only test for filler and thickness. The dealer tried to check the paint thickness but said his tester would not work on a bumper.
With regard to letting it go, I see your point of view, but I have been shafted enough in my life recently and don't like to be taken for a fool so will try to explore all avenues before giving in.
Its hugely frustrating to have a car damaged, I can appreciate that but I think you'll waste more energy and heartache trying to chase someone for it. I'd seriously put the effort into finding someone who can make good so you can enjoy the car again.
Paint on that Aventador is shocking given the cost of the car!
It happens to all manufacturers, I had a 575 in the workshop a while ago, 1 owner car, customer had never had it painted and it was in to have the arches and bumper repainted, look over the roof and there is a massive edge from where someone had clearly tried blending it, we also had about 10 brand new vito's come through the workshop every month and we used to play spot the repair because there was always one that had been repainted!
Unfortunatley its the way of the world, whether it is a factory rework or something that happens in the dealers showroom its not uncommon!
Unfortunatley its the way of the world, whether it is a factory rework or something that happens in the dealers showroom its not uncommon!
Gassing Station | Bodywork & Detailing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff