Help Needed - New Car Damaged by Dealer

Scuttsy

The car should be covered by an anti perforation warranty (for the brand I work with this is 12 years) which should not be affected by any repair work. If the damage is repaired with paint and filler the paintwork may well be thinner than manf specs and would not in my mind be an acceptable repair. However if the dents are merely removed this process should not involve altering the paint in the slightest and would not under any circumstances increase the risk of rust or similar damage.

I do agree with your point of view anewman. This situation should never have happened in the first place I however am trying to offer constructive advice as to how to resolve the situation to a point which I believe would be acceptable to bitgiggy although how far he/she wants to go with the complaint is entirely their perogative ultimately I am just proffering my opinion as to the best route to get a quick satisifactory result for everyone with the benefit of my experience handling similar situations.

Scuttsy

Sorry if that sounds a bit stroppy too... just trying to help

bitgiggy

Thanks for all your advice - I am in two minds what to do.

The main problem I forsee is the fact that I have already paid for the car, knowing that there was damage to it, albeit they acknowledged they would be repairing it. Would it still be possible for me to reject the car if I am not happy with the repair work.

Ideally I would like to demand a brand new car, but I'm sure the dealer would point blank refuse and then I don't know where I would stand. Apparently it has to go into a 'body shop' as the 'dent man' was not confident he could mend the dent satisfactorily and so they have gone down this route. The customer service I have received has been disgusting and to be honest I just want to get this over with as soon as possible.

Scuttsy

Poor customer service to my mind sounds inexcusable if the "dent man" is unable to repair the problem it does sound more problamatic. Your best bet is ask to speak directly to the dealer principle of the site as he is the main man in charge. Do not just speak to a sales manager he has a boss who will be onsite talk to the main man. Customer service and the buying experience should be paramount to the dealership. Where exactly is the damage is it on a door or on a wing. It may be possible to ask to have the affected area swopped off of a a brand new vehicle rather than have the area on your car repaired. Do check carefully any repair to your car and perhaps consider having the quality of any repair checked by another independant specialist. Poor quality repairs can impact on the residual value of your vehicle.

bitgiggy

Theres a small dent on the wing of the car and three small dents on the wheel arch in the same line as the other dent. I was told that there was a small paint chip to the dent so that suggests a paint job to me?

Would I be within my rights to request a brand new replacement at this moment in time - having paid for it in full?

bristolbaron

Again I'm a sales exec so I'm sure my view will differ to others.. but here goes.

If I was to buy a brand new car I'd expect it to be perfect.. I think everyone's agreed on that.
However, from what you've described it sounds like the are a couple of minor dents that haven't cracked the paint, but are noticeable. Now, if a dent man could get the dent out via paintless removal and everything was quickly resolved, I'd be happy with a tank of fuel and a token gesture to compensate.
If the car needs panel beating/filler/paint I wouldn't want it done. I'd rather a larger compensation and to keep the dents than have the panel painted. At the end of the day, you could park in Tesco's and get a similar dent there within a week. I've had something minor wrong with every company car I've handed back after 3 months and 4k miles.. it happens unfortunately. If they offered you a few hundred pounds not to do the work I'd take it.. you wouldn't loose that much when the car came back as a part exchange.

Scuttsy

just to add, your chances of rejecting the car are slim. The dealer will have the right to put the car right. If they return the car to you in a condition with which you are satisfied they they will probably legally be OK although it is a grey area any further pursuing of the problem is likely to be time consuming and you are not guaranteed a result. I would recommend letting them repair the car then get an independant 2nd opinion of the repair quality to check it is of satisfactory quality. Hopefully that will be the end of the matter. Do ask for compensation if you don't ask you don't get. But though experience screaming and shouting at them will only cause them top say blow it or similar. Polite firm but reasoned arguement to the right person should see the problem resolved to everyones satisifaction. But do make sure you are talking to the right person take your complaint to the top. Ask who the dealer principle is and knock on his door until he talks to you after all customers are the lifeblood of any business and it is in their interest to make sure you are happy. If you are unable to resolve the complaint happily bad publicity is far worse to the dealer than a long drawn out complaint through trading standards talk to your local press. But hopefully it won't get that far. Let us know how you get on.

bitgiggy

Ok I'm going to give them a call in the morning, no doubt I will be back on here tomorrow asking for more advice but we will see how it goes.

Thanks again

Scuttsy

bristolbaron wrote: »

If the car needs panel beating/filler/paint I wouldn't want it done. I'd rather a larger compensation and to keep the dents than have the panel painted. At the end of the day, you could park in Tesco's and get a similar dent there within a week. I've had something minor wrong with every company car I've handed back after 3 months and 4k miles.. it happens unfortunately. If they offered you a few hundred pounds not to do the work I'd take it.. you wouldn't loose that much when the car came back as a part exchange.

I do agree with Bristol Baron here, you should not expect the car to be damaged. But if you can live with it and can get acceptable compensation this will be better than a poor quality repair.

td

Scuttsy could I hijack this thread a little to ask your advice please?

I recently bought a new car and was treated badly by the salesman - so much so that we refused to be handed the car by him and asked for someone else. Basically he said it was 100 bhp and it was 92 bhp (all sorted out by someone else), he was on the phone during the test drive, he failed to mention free insurance and some other important stuff, we wouldn't have bought the car if it hadn't been a good deal but then when we got the car and we were given the customer satisfaction sheets to fill in, much tothe embarassment of the salesman who did do the handover the other salesman had already filled them out saying we were completely satisfied with everything. The manager was very apologetic and gave us a letter giving us free 2 yr service, there were a few minor probs with car whihc have been sorted and we're fairly happy with everything now

My question is should I write to Citroen or anyone else or should I just let it go now - I think I have a big problem with people taking advantage and although he may get into trouble there's a part of me that wonders if it's standard prac at the dealership.

thanks

td