Car damaged while at dealers and no come-back. Gutted :-(
Discussion
Got my pride & joy back yesterday after a spell in the care of a German manufacturer out by Edinburgh Airport and sadly it's scratched. (For the name & shame moderators - that narrows it down to one of three garages and doesn't identify which one!).
Had to take the car into the dealer before Christmas, battery died completely so went in under warranty. Went to pick up the car and ended up waiting an eternity because the service staff were pretty busy that day. Finally got the keys back, but by that time it had gone dark outside. Drove it home and parked it in a friends garage (not a hope in hell of getting the car into my own street due to snow & ice!). It's been sat there in an empty garage until yesterday with it's car cover on. All enthusiastically now the snow & ice has gone I pulled back the cover to find this...
So gutting. However it has happened, it has gone through all the paint layers, undercoat and even the metal that's showing through has been scratched. Took it back to the garage who said they don't care if it's been sat in a garage untouched since they had it - point is it's been almost a month since it left them. The mileage proves it's not been used since but it's my word against their's that we've not done it ourselves in the garage over winter. Bit of a bummer and a few lessons learnt by myself - don't pick the car up when it's dark, remember to do a thorough inspection and don't use that garage again! At least they had the decency to say if I give them some money they'll rectify their mistake.
There's worse things in life, but it took the shine off getting the car out again after winter.
Had to take the car into the dealer before Christmas, battery died completely so went in under warranty. Went to pick up the car and ended up waiting an eternity because the service staff were pretty busy that day. Finally got the keys back, but by that time it had gone dark outside. Drove it home and parked it in a friends garage (not a hope in hell of getting the car into my own street due to snow & ice!). It's been sat there in an empty garage until yesterday with it's car cover on. All enthusiastically now the snow & ice has gone I pulled back the cover to find this...
So gutting. However it has happened, it has gone through all the paint layers, undercoat and even the metal that's showing through has been scratched. Took it back to the garage who said they don't care if it's been sat in a garage untouched since they had it - point is it's been almost a month since it left them. The mileage proves it's not been used since but it's my word against their's that we've not done it ourselves in the garage over winter. Bit of a bummer and a few lessons learnt by myself - don't pick the car up when it's dark, remember to do a thorough inspection and don't use that garage again! At least they had the decency to say if I give them some money they'll rectify their mistake.
There's worse things in life, but it took the shine off getting the car out again after winter.
Edited by cj_eds on Thursday 20th January 16:23
te cop out.Funny you should say that jshell - I had ChipsAway out to look at it for a 3rd party opinion/quote and he said something very similar.
To me it's right where you would make contact with the car if you were to lean over into the engine bay and had something metal or abrasive around your waistline. There is no denting at all, so it doesn't appear to have been from a heavy impact, and the scratches also make it seem like there's been something rubbing against it.
To me it's right where you would make contact with the car if you were to lean over into the engine bay and had something metal or abrasive around your waistline. There is no denting at all, so it doesn't appear to have been from a heavy impact, and the scratches also make it seem like there's been something rubbing against it.
Edited by cj_eds on Thursday 20th January 16:22
Hello
Sorry to butt in but having been in the trade for a few years I would say that hasn't been caused by any form of clothing or wing protector and nor has it been 'rubbed' by a cable. That is a definate chip as you can see it's shattered the clear coat and taken the paint off to the metal which would require some element of force, ie a short sharp hit. As, as it appears there is a slight raised lip on the wing and the marks appear slightly below (?) and given the design, it's unlikely anything feel as it would have struck the wing first and nor is the damage on the edge bonnet... to me, one likely scenario is somebody has been working in the engine bay, leaning over and perhaps with a tool in hand, stood up and/or mswung their arm back and failed to clear the wing and caught it with a shap edge of a tool.
Obviously purely speculation but the damage certainly ties in with being galnced by a sharp impliment, I say this as I witness very similar damage to a bonnet of another German car when the tech open it up and failed to notice the arm from the 2 post ramp had swung in, the sharp edge of the arm nicked the edge of the bonnet. And yes, stupidly the ramp was semi-elevated to a height of around 6ft when the car was on the floor, which is a big no no... for reasons above.
Incidently, I no longer work in the trade nor have any connection to any Edinburgh dealers so no finger pointing please! I know nothing, just passing on some experience gained from seeing damage on new cars over the years. As for claiming, unfortunately the dealer is quite correct as the damage MAY ahve happened having left the dealership hence it is imperative you walk round your car with a staff memeber, noting any existing damage on the job card prior to handing over your keys and similary, on collection again insist a staff memeber walks round the car BEFORE you take the keys. This is compulsory in ever dealer I have worked in to protect he customer and ultimately, them.
Regards
Sorry to butt in but having been in the trade for a few years I would say that hasn't been caused by any form of clothing or wing protector and nor has it been 'rubbed' by a cable. That is a definate chip as you can see it's shattered the clear coat and taken the paint off to the metal which would require some element of force, ie a short sharp hit. As, as it appears there is a slight raised lip on the wing and the marks appear slightly below (?) and given the design, it's unlikely anything feel as it would have struck the wing first and nor is the damage on the edge bonnet... to me, one likely scenario is somebody has been working in the engine bay, leaning over and perhaps with a tool in hand, stood up and/or mswung their arm back and failed to clear the wing and caught it with a shap edge of a tool.
Obviously purely speculation but the damage certainly ties in with being galnced by a sharp impliment, I say this as I witness very similar damage to a bonnet of another German car when the tech open it up and failed to notice the arm from the 2 post ramp had swung in, the sharp edge of the arm nicked the edge of the bonnet. And yes, stupidly the ramp was semi-elevated to a height of around 6ft when the car was on the floor, which is a big no no... for reasons above.
Incidently, I no longer work in the trade nor have any connection to any Edinburgh dealers so no finger pointing please! I know nothing, just passing on some experience gained from seeing damage on new cars over the years. As for claiming, unfortunately the dealer is quite correct as the damage MAY ahve happened having left the dealership hence it is imperative you walk round your car with a staff memeber, noting any existing damage on the job card prior to handing over your keys and similary, on collection again insist a staff memeber walks round the car BEFORE you take the keys. This is compulsory in ever dealer I have worked in to protect he customer and ultimately, them.
Regards
Edited by Davie on Thursday 20th January 17:15
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