Garage Damaged brand new car alloy's

Avendoor

Hi all,

(Please forgive the long post)

I am looking for advice, I have a brand new 2016 BMW 118i sport, it comes with color coded alloy wheels which before taking it to my local "garage" where immaculate. I took it to in so that it can have its tires replaced changing from run flat tires to standard tires. (tires were correct for the car as per the manufacturer recommends) I can prove that the alloy wheels were "like new" as I have a car detailer clean my car and took photo's of my wheels before having all 4 tires changed.

after having the tires changed before even unlocking the car, i noticed the wheels had alot of the adhesive gel on the rims and had a rag handy in the car to check the wheels.

again i state that i have not even driven the car but unlocked it to get a rag to clean the wheels. after cleaning the wheels, i noticed that they have used a tool of some kind and have made a small indentation on one rim, i also noticed scuffing around the bolt holes on 3 wheels and in one wheels case, the paint had been removed to the metal and some major chips around the bolt holes. I conclude that this can only have come from applying a tool to the wheels and not being careful.

I immediately alerted the garage and asked for the manager. I told him that i was not happy with the damage to my brand new car and he started to suggest that I had done this!!

I told him that I have photo's that were taken 30 mins prior to taking the car in and that they are time, date and location indexed (gotta love modern technology). he then went on to say that I could've done this after they did but i then informed him that the car does not have;

a wheel brace,
a spare wheel,
a car jack

only then did he fill out an incident report also giving me a copy stating that I "alleged" damage was caused by them and that he will have to investigate this as the tire bay manager was not in that day. both themselves and myself took photo's of the damage done on the spot.

the next day, in hindsight i took the car to BMW whom said that due to the nature of the damage, they would not refurbish the wheels but replace them with completely new ones as they could not guarantee perfect wheels unless this was done.

i informed the garage in writing;
Thank you for taking the time to speak to me today regarding the damage that has occurred to my car. I am also stating for the record that the wheels have never been off the car since the factory and before any work was carried out, I inspected the wheels for damage beforehand and found none. If you want evidence of this I can provide this also. Please can you advise me what xxxxxx are going to do about this as I came into the store wanting new tries fitted but left with my wheels damaged.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.




and they came back to me with the following response;

Many thanks for your patience. As previously noted, our fitters saw no evidence of any damage to your alloys either before or after fitting your tyres.
However, as a gesture of good will we would like to offer you a cheque to the value of half the amount it would cost to repair your alloys.
Can you please supply us with a quote from the following company:
xxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxx we would recommend using this company.
Please get back to me to confirm this
Many thanks

I am currently waiting on a quote from the alloy wheel refurbishment company but i want to know what are my rights and what can i do about this as it seems that i will be out of pocket for work they did and without a car for 5 days??

additionally, my "like new" wheels will now be "refurbished" wheels.

any help on this please?

ps; thank you for reading all this

agrinnall

Have you told them what BMW have said? In the circumstances I would be wanting replacement wheels, but if they don't know that's what you want then they're unlikely to offer it. If they do know and have still only offered half the cost of repair then you need to threaten legal action, and if necessary follow through. Send them a Letter Before Action, and if they don't make a satisfactory offer start Small Claims proceedings.

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk (site is currently down for maintenance, hopefully not for long).

m0bov

Normally in this situation 99% of people don't care about alloys and damage. Recently, I had to get 2 tyres done, I made a point of talking to the garage and pointing out I'm "fussy" about the alloys and they have been refurbed and mint. I took photos and ask them to view them before the work was done. They said they would take extra time and care and it was fine. I even supplied black stick on weights for them to use.

In a small claims court its balance or probability, so if you have dated photos and the detailer would supply a written state, plus the garage say no damage found BEFORE the work i think you have a strong case.

Good luck!

Avendoor

well, i had done a bit more research and have come up with the following and emailed to the company concerned;

Thank you for your email. I have contacted xxxxxx and have attached a written quote to this email. Please understand that I will require all four wheels to be refurbished as one wheel will not colour match the rest of the wheels car. I have been told this from xxxxxx

Furthermore, xxxxxxxx have advised me that I will be without a car for at least 5 days. This means either a loss in earnings for myself or I will require a hire vehicle for this period.

I have spoken to BMW further on this matter in regards to if they will accept the car with refurbished wheels and still uphold the warranty on the wheels, they have said the following;

Hi xxxxxx

The only thing it will affect is the warranty on the wheels.
Supposing you had a problem with corrosion on the wheels (that wasn’t the consequence of kerb damage) within the 3 year warranty period, this would not be covered by BMW if xxxxxxx carry out the refurb.

What warranty / guarantee do xxxxxxx offer on their refurbishment?
Your car’s warranty expires 30.03.19
I would ask xxxxxxxif they would guarantee their refurbishment until then.
You’ve got no problems then.

Regards

xxxxx

I have spoken to xxxxxxx and they will only give me a 6 month warranty. As the car is so young, this is basically useless.

In response to your email and with this in mind, you are asking me to accept;

• To pay half the cost of alloy wheel refurbishment
• Void my warranty on my wheels
• Further costs to myself in a hire car or loss of earnings
• Reduced value of my car at the end of the finance term.
• Discoloration to my wheels as xxxxxx cannot colour match my colour coded wheels.
• Future value of car will be reduced due to nonstandard repair


It is with this information that I find your offer to cover half of the cost of repair to my car completely unacceptable and reject your offer for the following reasons, both aforementioned and below;

• The car is only 8 months old and has never had the wheels off other than at xxxxxx
• The particular damage to the car could only come from tools on the wheel and not from the road.
• I would be at a severe loss financially and I should not have to bear the cost of xxxxx’s damage to my vehicle.

I know with complete confidence that my vehicle’s wheels had no damage to them whatsoever on the day I handed my car over to xxxxxx.
It is completely unacceptable to ask me to void the warranty on the wheels of my car or have work done that may reduce its value.

What I am prepared to accept from xxxxxx is the following;

Full cost of no less than 3 new wheels from BMW at £1423.04 total (BMW written quote can be supplied) and also the cost of another run flat tyre from BMW as it is unsafe to mix standard and run flat tires.
Full refund of tires bought at xxxxxxx as I will be returning them once BMW has supplied wheels and tires.

xxxxxxxx was under a legal duty to take care of my car while it was in their possession.
Furthermore, the [Consumer Rights Act] OR [Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982] (as amended) require you to use reasonable skill and care while carrying out work.
The fact that the [vehicle] was damaged while in your possession is evidence that you failed to take reasonable care of it.

If xxxxxx is unwilling to make appropriate reparations, I will be seeking advice from trading standards and legal advice with the view of taking this matter to a small claims court.

I await your response soon.




What do you think? I know it sounds a bit strong, is there anything I have left out??:mad::mad::mad:

neilmcl

What style wheels does your car have. I'm pretty sure you could get a full set of alloys from a 118 Sport for less than you've been quoted?

Also your first post suggested this was a "brand new" car but your warranty period suggests the car is at least 9 months old.

Avendoor

Hi, thank you for the quick reply, yes it is 8/9 months old but is still in the same condition as "brand new" also, i am its only owner, until it gets to about a year, i'll consider it "brand new" in my thinking.... (please let me live it for a little while longer??? )

the style of wheels are the 5 dual spoke sports edition wheels that came with the car and are colour coded, they are also listed as under warranty from BMW. Could you offer the same wheels and warranty?

Avendoor

also, for how much? as you can tell, i am genuinely after keeping the car as i bought it, it even gets cleaned by a professional car detailer and is maintained by only him. I am really OCD when it comes to my little baby BMW....

neilmcl

I'd ring around a few dealers. Quite often they'll have full sets for sale with delivery miles on them and as you don't need the tyres you can sell them on. Asking £1423.04 for 3 new 17" alloys (assuming without tyres) is taking the p**s.

Are you a member of the babymw.net forums, if not it may be worth your while posting on their too.

Avendoor

neilmcl wrote: »

I'd ring around a few dealers. Quite often they'll have full sets for sale with delivery miles on them and as you don't need the tyres you can sell them on. Asking £1423.04 for 3 new 17" alloys (assuming without tyres) is taking the p**s.

Are you a member of the babymw.net forums, if not it may be worth your while posting on their too.

I am not a member but i will be soon, Thank you! I will ring around after the garage has given me the cash so that I can repair the car, and the wheels quoted were with bridgestone run flat tires as BMW said they wouldn't supply new wheels without tires.... As for the price, actually seemed cheap if you care to look at BMW's website... they want nearly £2000 for a full set....

at the end of the day, in my firm belief, its the garage that should pay for them, not me....

fleshandbone

BMW drivers never signal on round a bouts or obey speeding restrictions.

Le_Kirk

fleshandbone wrote: »

BMW drivers never signal on round a bouts or obey speeding restrictions.

..... and this is relevant to this thread because............??