Dealer Damage Car - Advice Needed

Assuming they are going to handle this, if they don't have their own body/paint shop, they will likely send it the the company they contract normally.

 

sounds right.

 

Anybody can have the skills to do anything.

So is it fixable by the dealership? If they have the tools and somebody with the skills? Sure.- But I don't know that. Some dealerships do operate a body shop on the premises.

I'm suspicious of their competency if only because you say they tried to use white touch up paint. I think anyone would know that wasn't going to be a very OEM repair.

This is damage you discovered before taking possession. They are charged with fixing it. And not slap some white touch up paint on it either.

I'd call Toyota Care, and start a case. At least report it. If the dealership has admitted the damage happened on their watch, then that damage should be repaired to your satisfaction. Can that happen at the dealership? I don't know, again it depends on the tools available and the personnel they might or might not have.

I'd be suspicious that they are just trying to go cheap on the repair, again because they tried to placate you with a "touch up" paint repair.

On the "positive" side? That damage really doesn't look too bad. Over time, you're probably going to get scuffs in that area anyway. As a brand new car I don't think you have reason to expect it, but if I had to live with it? I think I could.

 

Have him fix the car and you don't take it until it's done right make sure all the edges fit and looks just as good as the first time you saw itBecause if you're anything like me you will remember the day that you seen that car in that condition and how it looked the first time you saw the car and you're going to regret having not fixed it on their dime

 

A competent body shop could fix that completely seamlessly.

A few decades back we bought a "new" car, eventually found one side had been completely repainted. And not just to blend the paint, there was mondo bondo, over coarse sanding. The car had apparently sideswiped a bollard at the dock. Paint pealing off was what caught my attention, started: thinking this isn't right.

In the process of ditching this vehicle, it came to my attention that the typical BC new car sales contract contains a clause stating that the car can have body work amounting to 15% of the car's retail value, without it being disclosed.

Now, this is just a contract, not the constitution. You're free (for example) to cross out "15% of the retail value", append it to read (say) "$200:. That's IF the dealership will sign-off on it.

 

Have faith in the dealer system, I'm sure you're not the first car they've damaged and you won't be the last!

 

In your situation I would not have accepted delivery. No "work release order".

When I bought the 2010 (dealer trade) an employee chipped the hatch removing the other dealer's vinyl sticker. The sale took another week and I received the original "Prius" emblem, and the disclosure of the cost of the damage (by NJ law) as a souvenir.

"New" means new. Fix the damage or we can discount the price. Hold the customer satisfaction survey until you are satisfied. When the car comes out of the shop you won't be able to tell the difference. Schedule a Prius loaner for the day or two it is in the shop.

As JC said, it isn't the first car damaged in the delivery process and it won't be the last. That much touch paint isn't going to blend. The color doesn't matter.

 

This was a NEW CAR purchase?

 

If you say the dealer will fix it, let them do it. It's in an area that would be very simple to repair. There are bumper repair specialists that do that kind of repair all the time.

 

They should sub it to an accredited body shop, who'll sand it down properly, use spray guns, and blend it out. They likely have a shop they work with. If they insist on say their mechanic is going to fix it with a touchup paint brush, I'd refuse. What is gonna be tough to deal with is the bare black plastic scuffing, you may just have to live with that. Maybe a heat gun and brush could do something?

I guess just put them on notice up front, that you are not going to be satisfied with less than body shop quality repair, so you you're not going round and round.

 

I work at a dealership, they likely have a guy that comes in a few days a week to paint bumpers on the side of the building. If they have a good painter it will look brand new but, since its not factory it will show its age in 3 years or so. Of course this time its free, but if you were to have to do it in the future when/if it fades, it will run about $150 if they don't mark it up.

 

That's sucks @sillylilwabbit. I wouldn't want their monkeys working on my car and making it worst....
I'd just cover it up with a Prius Plus body kit.

 

Well that changes everything.
I assumed you were talking about a new car and a Toyota Dealership. Or even any new vehicle dealership.

Good Luck.

I'd take solace in the fact that I don't think it looks too bad anyway.
That's a pretty common area to become scratched.

So any repair is an improvement assuming they don't make it look some how "worse".

 

What was the price of the car anyways?

 

My 2 cents is this....

If the place orally assures you that their repair will look as good as if a Toyota shop did it and understands that if it doesn't match or looks bad, Toyota will redo it AT THEIR COST, let them do the job. You took photos (smart move).

Odds are it will be fine. By asking (and getting their assurance up front), they have the ability to shift the work elsewhere if they feel they might not be able to do it right. Paint codes are not proprietary (by and large), so any shop can get the correct paint.

DO have a talk with the manager in charge about what you saw regarding how techs were driving on the lot. Every vehicle should be treated as precious cargo...even if they are in a rush. Let him know that if you saw them handling your car that way, you 'd be very upset...especially if it developed problems later. I knew a guy with a new Corvette who went to Wal Mart for tires, and the tech did a burnout in the parking lot. Needless to say, Wal Mart had an insurance claim opened that day an the tech was fired on the spot.

 

Carmax is a big company and I can assure you this is not the first time this has happened. Just get everything in writing and you should be fine.

 

Even with paint codes, it's technique that produces a seamless paint job. Specifically: blending, where the newly painted zone feathers out to clear. Done well you can't tell.