F10 M5 £40K Bodyshop Repair - Many Problems.

[jcosh]

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.

[jcosh]

dtmpower said:

Why didn't they just write it off ?

The loss adjuster decided this but I'm told that had they of done so the lease would have ended and a fairly chunky settlement figure required. Which would have meant no M5.

[jcosh]

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.

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.

[jcosh]

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]

Andy M said:

Have you sought legal advice? Even Citizens Advice?

18 months into a 2 year lease probably isn't the time to start complaining.

Not seemed legal advice as yet. I have started complaining now, it's been on going since the car was first returned to me. it's incredible how long these people take to react to this sort of situation. I guess they hope you juts shut up and go away.

For instance it took nearly three months to get the top chap from BMW bodyshop to inspect the car and had not made myself available on the only day he offered it would have been another two months.

[jcosh]

HoHoHo said:

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!

Truth is I like driving the car and don't really want to end the lease and b without an M5, in fact I wish I'd had it on a 3 deal rather than 2. I may consider trying to extend the lease when it nears and end and that's partly why I'm being particular about the quality of the repairs. However, if I actually owned this car I probably would have gone legal by now and been even more fussy about what's gone on.

[jcosh]

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?

I didn't get the impression that Alphabet were much interested as it was either written off and the lease terminated with associated costs to me or the lease continued and the repaired which ended up being the way things panned out.

I have checked my insurance and now recall that because we have two other cars we didn't opt for a courtesy car on this one as we only need two cars at any one time. However on reflection I wonder why the BMW didn't offer one, I guess that knew it would be a long repair and didn't want to be with one of their cars for 4 months.

[jcosh]

jrinns said:

Burn it out

That's an option I guess.

[jcosh]

Helicopter123 said:

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.

See previous comments about the M5 being a third car and not opting for a courtesy car option.

[jcosh]

Wills2 said:

If it was a non fault accident to the OP I would have been claiming a decent car from the 3rd parties insurers, OP hasn't said but I'm guessing it was his fault or at least knock for knock?

Ah I've seen that the OP was given £15 a day by the 3rd parties insurance, what a joke!

Legal fault is yet to be fully established and court case is possible. Not going to bore you with the exact details but let's just say being punted off the road at high speed is not something I wish to ever repeat. Lucky to be alive, quite possibly and that was main focus immediately after the accident and all of this is very much secondary in the overall scheme of things.

As a matter of interest the third party insurance company have already paid £50 of all repair costs and also my uninsured losses.

[jcosh]

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...

This really is the thrust of this I guess.

I a very meticulous owner / leaser and treat the car very much as my own. It is carefully had washed / waxed etc etc. That's just the way I like my cars and I know not all leasers would bother but I do.

So when it is collected / inspected it will look immaculate on first glance with the odd stone chip here and there being the only obvious things of note. But if somebody looks closer they will the C Pillar joints etc, assuming they fail again. So I could pass in atoll inspection when collected but if when it hits the traders a few days later they know what they're looking at and I get a bill to rectify? This is a real concern as it appears this is my responsibility despite doing everything in my power to make it right.

[jcosh]

xuy said:

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?

Perhaps I ought to be seeking some sort of indemnity from the insurance company to make this potential problem there's when the car is handed back rather than mine?

[jcosh]

Fast Bug said:

Leasing companies won't chase the insurer, the responsibility for the vehicle is with the end user.

That's my concern if it's deemed to be of an unacceptable standard.

[jcosh]

Charlie1986 said:

is this the same garage where you had it serviced and couldn't fault there customer service?

Nope!

[jcosh]

A pic for the more voyeuristic readers. I've changed it to black and white to avoid any reference to the car.