Bad Dealer Experience and need advice...

[Timmer]

I took my 93 Viper into a local Dodge dealer to have a catback exhaust system installed. When I picked it up today I discovered that they did significant damage to the side sills. On the drivers side there is a scratch about 4 inches long that is reasonably deep and several small scratches. On the passenger side, there are two chips that look like stone chips. The service tech owned up to it. He told the manager that he had the sills partially off and opened the doors causing the damage.

My question is - They want to repair the scratches rather than repainting the entire sills. Should I allow this?

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[SHADOW]

NO WAY!!! Considering that the techs owned up to it, and are not contesting the damage, make them do a complete repaint. You are entitled to having your car returned to the condition that it was in when you brought it there. I would be furious that they weren't more careful with a Viper. If they give you a hard time, say you will post on the very popular and widely used VCA forum regarding this incident, and you will also recommend to everyone you know not to go to have work done there.

 

[SHADOW]

FYI - also, repainting the sills is not that outrageous in price anyway. Make sure it is done correctly though - there is a recent post on proper repainting of sills on here somewhere.

 

[Yves]

Welcome to the club.

At least your Viper tech seems to admit fault.
I picked up my car from Timberline dodge in Portland with a scratched rim ( I have aftermarket chromed Gen 1 rims).

Guess what ? Nobody returns my phone calls.
There is a big difference between bringing in my MB for service and my Dodge...

 

[Newport Viper]

What dealer, so others won't have this happen?

 

[joe117]

I had a dealer damage the hood on my 94. They wanted to repaint the hood only. That wouldn't have looked right. I finally had to settle with them, I paid $1k and the whole car was repainted.

I don't know why you want the whole sill painted. Small areas can be matched and painted and you will never see that anything was done.

If you are feeling lucky, take the car to a paint shop, get the work done the way you want. Bill the dealer. There is no reason that you need to let them fix it just because that's their line of work. If they did the original job wrong they would deserve a chance to make it right but not collateral damage.

You will probably need to go to a small claims with that bill.

 

[dansauto]

"bill the dealer" Yeah right. think before you offer advice. The dealer is under no obgliation to pay if you have the work done yourself. I would press for repaint at your choice of shops and if they refuse take them to small claims court first with estimates.

 

[ViperJoe]

I would let them (their body shop or contract touch-up guy) try it with the understanding that if it does not meet your approval, they repaint. Who knows the touch-up may be undetectable where as with a complete repaint it may be noticeable.

 

[snowmann]

What dealer was this? I am sure others will make a point not to visit them...

 

[scottgf]

At least the dealer is willing to fix the mistake.
These things happen, and it is when something like this happens is when you find out the integrity of the dealer.
Lets hold off judging the dealer until this matter is resolved or not.
Then we can decide if this dealer should be "black balled"
Just my 2 cents,
Cheers,

 

[joe117]

dansauto,
When I said bill the dealer, I only meant, give them a chance to pay for the work you had done to repair the damage they did. You won't have much of a small claims case if you don't give them a chance to refuse payment. And you probably will have to take it to court.

I'm not a lawyer but I still don't think that you are required to let the dealer repair damage that they did to your car. You should get three estimates for the job and take the car to one of them to get the work done. This will show the actual cost of repair was reasonable.

The car was in for exhaust work. Had they screwed up the exhaust system somehow, you would probably be required to give them a shot at fixing it.
The body damage was not related to what they were working on in this case. You had no intention of having them do paint work on your car. I see no reason why they must be the shop of choice to repair it.

If your car was body damaged by a car wash or a stereo installer you wouldn't think of giving them the car so they could take it and get it fixed at their shop of choice.
What if the car wash guy said "we always take the damaged cars to Joe's Body Shop, we have a deal with him. I will not pay if you take it to some other place"?

You could probably ask the dealer to turn it over to their insurance company.
The key here is that the damage was not the job the car was brought in for and the fact that they paint cars shouldn't mean you have to let them paint yours.

 

[Timmer]

Well, the plot thickens. When the service write up guy drove the vehicle out of the service garage and parked it in the lot, he ran it up the curb scratching the front facia. I called them on it as soon as it happened and they said they would take care of it. I forgot about that part after I saw the other scratches they caused. They are now claiming that the facia was scratched when it came it (which it may very well have been), but I refuse to let them get away with it.

I am demanding that they repair the scratches on the sills with the understanding that it must meet my approval or they will paint the whole things and I am also demanding that they do whatever is necessary to repair the front facia. They have agreed to make good on the sills but I am still waiting for their answer on the facia.

I've decided to not mention the dealer name yet until I see how it plays out. If anyone in Michigan really wants to know, send me a private message and I will tell you. I actually received several referrals for this dealer so I am leary about black balling them until I have a chance to let them make good on it.

As far as the previous responses about taking it somewhere else and billing the dealer, this is definitely an option. I work in the court system and know for a fact that you do not have to give the dealer that caused the damage the opportunity to do the repair. This is definitely in their best interest but it is not a requirement that you do so. I do not have a problem letting them repair it as I am sure they are quite capable of doing a decent job. If they refuse to do it right however, look out...

Thanks for all the advice...

 

[ViperJoe]

MAN...... sound like the DC dealer from he ll

 

[MR VENOM]

I would let them (their body shop or contract touch-up guy) try it with the understanding that if it does not meet your approval, they repaint. Who knows the touch-up may be undetectable where as with a complete repaint it may be noticeable.

Right on! Sometimes the "Cure" is worse than "Illness".

 

[99 R/T 10]

Make sure to take all the parts off the car before painting! Easier that way.

 

[NCVCA]

We all love our Vipers. But you have to give them some reasonable options. Here's what I'd do...

Offer to bring them the sills so they can spray them easily. Take them off and reinstall yourself (you'll do a better job anyway and prevent overspray)

Forget the facia. No one looks at the bottom of the nose. ALL of our facias are scratched. (Don't anyone dare post that yours isn't or you will jinx yourself). It's not visable unless your under the car. Give in on that to get the sills painted.

Thats my suggestion...