New car woe - what to consider

RichardD1970 wrote: »

What's absolute nonsense?

I actually work on the door build for the F-Pace (and Velar) at Solihull.

Every day they come and get a couple of new doors to replace ones that are irreparably damaged around site.

If the damage isn't that severe then the doors (and any other panels) are repaired in just the same way that any good body shop would do.

If the repair is done correctly then there is no difference to hundreds of other cars that have left the factory after being repaired, with no one any the wiser.

Just wondering whether this would ever be picked up later by an inspection with a paint thickness probe? Just a thought for the OP if they were ever to trade it in and the garage knocked down the price due to "previous accident damage"

uknick wrote: »

We weren't the wiser until now :rotfl:

Surly people aren't that naive? It's been the same in every car factory I've worked in, in the last 30 years.

Has the garage already registered the car in your name? If so, they won't be putting it back on their forecourt as an ex-demo, it would have to be a fully fledged second hand car. Any car buyer with their head screwed on correctly would then be asking them why they have a second hand car with delivery mileage only - and they would have to explain the damage. You've seen the damage, so know the extent of it - and it might be you can negotiate a discount closer to what they would have to sell it for on their forecourt, because for sure that is going to be far more than the £1000 they were offering.

motorguy wrote: »

There could well be very valid reasons why a door needs replaced and the owner / customer could well be aware (or the cause of it), if the new panel is being picked up and taken by a dealer offsite for a repair.

Likewise, panels being replaced whilst still at the factory and to the same standard then grand, but let not propagate the myth that its a prevalent activity across all new cars subsequent to leaving the factory.

On occasions it may happen, but not often and not "regularly".

I used to work for a main dealer and salesmen / service staff damaging brand new cars was not a regular occurrence by any means - you'd have got your head in your hands if it did happen.

The door that are collected from us line-side are for use on site only, to replace damage on-site.

We do extra production into "service pallets" for external use (usually weekend overtime) so as not to interfere with production targets.

Damage may not be a regular occurrence at dealerships, but it is, if not regular, then at least quite common on the factory site.

The point was that if the repair was of the correct standard then it wouldn't bother me as I know how much repair work can be carried out before the car even leaves the factory (hell, before the bodies even gets into paint).

The OP has been advised to check the colour match very carefully and should also check the closure/panel gaps and alignment of the style lines as these are harder to set off track.

If they are still not happy then reject the car and wait for a new one.

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Richard, your typos are some of the most amusing I have ever seen

Lol, my X key has been playing up recently. The previous one I put down to my dyslexia, I am usually very careful when posting to proof read everything religiously, but some things inevitably get missed.