[Triji]

I had the dealer install the clear bra on my car on Wed of last week before I drove from Phx to Tucson for Thanksgiving. When I went to pick up the car I noticed micro scratches all over the hood of the car. It looked as if they used a very dirty towel or a brillo pad to wipe the car down with...

The service guy took responsibility and apologized for it and took $50 off the clear bra bill and will do the tint install for $100 (20% all around, my wife has a Rx for a darker tint) He also said he would "buff it out" for free.

My gripe is that I took the car to the dealer thinking that they would take greater care on the car than an aftermarket place would (mistake). I took it there to protect the finish and they scratch it in the process...

Would I be within my right to ask them to pay for me to bring it to a professional detailer instead of having their "techs" doing a 1/2 A$$ job on it and risking more damage?

Please give me your thoughts, I bought this as a B-Day present for my wife and to have this happen within the 1st month really IRK's me...

Thanks.

Triji

[ksfrogman]

I have to respect the service guy for admitting his carelessness. You might ask him how that happened to give you an idea of how deep or superficial those marks are. Can you feel them when you run your fingernails across them? Why not try buffing them out yourself with mild wax first?

If the scratches are a little bit too deep for home remedies, you might consider having a friendly talk with the service manager about having the dealership rectify the problem. After all, you simply want the hood to look like it did, and don't need discounts for future services.

[benoitch]

I agree. By the pictures it looks like the damages are quite important. First thing to do is make sure you remain firm but respectful, since they admitted to their guilt. But I would probably ask for a paint job since the car is brand new and they were careless. Obviously, the probability they accept is fairly slim. Worst case, you sudn't care for future service until they rectify the situation. A lot of dealers have good body shop. They shud be able to fix this, but if yours don't have or doesn't have that good reputation, then maybe have a subcontractor do it at their expense might be a good idea.

At any case, I wish you very good luck. I know I would be out of my mind and myself with this. :mad: :mad:

[LEDZEP]

Triji - welcome to the forum. Sorry to see those scratches! I also used to have the philosophy that who better than the dealer to understand your car and how to care for it... but I don't feel that way any more. To most of these guys, these cars are just the widgets that they sell and service to earn their living.

I used to get so angry and frustrated when they would leave marks on the exterior or interior, or dirt and grease, etc. It's bad enough when it's a new Chevy or Ford, but you want to expect a BMW store to understand that most of their customers are fanatical about the car's appearance and care. They don't usually.

You should speak to the service manager or general manager and tell them you want someone else who specializes in this sort of thing to take care of it. Be careful with just letting them "buff it out" because what they will really be doing is buffing OFF your clear coat finish until it's below the scratches.

Don't want to fuel your fire, but just some things to think about.

[afocoryw20]

I would also try to get a paint job....LedZep is right about taking the clear coat down past the scratches. You only want to do that on an older car...

[benoitch]

Indeed. As LEDZEP puts it, when I went to have my bra installed, they also washed the car. The side were all swirled. Of course, nothing like yours and nothing a good wax couldn't handle. But it showed that they usually do things fast (especially washing).

If you can, get them to pay for the professional contractor. Best case, new paint. But like I said I doubt they'll go with it. Now, it is up to you to know upto where you're ready to go with this. Do you have another service center nearby ? In case it gets dirty with this one ....

[kal-el]

ouch, sorry to see that happened.
I never let anybody wash my car but me. If I go for a service, I always tell the SA to "NOT Wash" my car. They put a big note on the dashboard.

[Mikey3]

ohhh wow. sorry to see these pictures.

know i would be very annoyed. But nothing negotiations cannot fix. Its a good thing he admitted to fault.

seriously consider a paint job if you cannot buff it off, because it will annoy you for the rest of your cars life.

anyway. all hte best and good luck!

[Triji]

Thanks for all the input here... I am going to call some professional detailers tomorrow and ask some questions. I will then call or stop by the dealer in the next couple of days and talk respectfully to try to rectify the situation first. You always get more out of people by understanding and being empathetic to the situation.

I will give them the opportunity to service my needs to my expectations and return the car to me in the condition in which I entrusted it to them in. Nothing less be satisfy me...

Thanks,

Triji

P.S. I love the way this car drives, even though I bought it for my wife I get to take her out every now and then.

[Xens]

Originally Posted by Triji

Thanks for all the input here... I am going to call some professional detailers tomorrow and ask some questions. I will then call or stop by the dealer in the next couple of days and talk respectfully to try to rectify the situation first. You always get more out of people by understanding and being empathetic to the situation.

I will give them the opportunity to service my needs to my expectations and return the car to me in the condition in which I entrusted it to them in. Nothing less be satisfy me...

Thanks,

Triji

P.S. I love the way this car drives, even though I bought it for my wife I get to take her out every now and then.

Beautiful car! Damn the dealership for messing up your ride like that, make them pay and get what you deserve.

Care to give a little comparison between the G and the 3? I always liked the G coupe a lot.

[AznBeemer23]

Ask them to put a new peice of clear bra and take the scratch one off.....

[lux.sh]

damn. I would be PISSED. but you know what, respect to the service guy for taking responsibility. Alot of asshole-ish service people will claim they never did it or whatever.

Isn't tint install(for all windows) at the dealership like $300 bucks?
If yes, you are saving about $250 there. Lets see how the scratch will look after he buffs it out. if he does a good job with the scratch somehow, I think you should let it go. barely visible scratch + $$$ saving = works for me.

[Triji]

Originally Posted by Xens

Beautiful car! Damn the dealership for messing up your ride like that, make them pay and get what you deserve.

Care to give a little comparison between the G and the 3? I always liked the G coupe a lot.

Sure Xens, thanks.

The G is a GREAT car, I have had her for 2 years now and she has 46K miles so far (with zero problems). I drive alot for work... The G has more power (mine is at about 290 w/ some small mods) and you can feel it pull more. I love the exhaust note of the G, it just sounds mean. The G's back seats are very usable and there is leg room back there, just not alot of headroom.

So zero to 60 the G gets there first and the 1/4 mile, you can definately feel the speed more in the G more than the 330i and it has a different kind of fun factor to it. (both are autos with a Manual mode.)

The Bimmer has the definate edge in handling with the 50/50 weight, It is so tight and a Hoot to drive. The G is more like 45/55 and you can feel her trying to get a bit tail happy on you (which is fun when you take the traction control off for some drifting) but at high speeds the Bimmer feels more safe.

At high speed the 330i feels SOOO controlable and glued to the road and you can not tell how fast you are going at all. I was at 120 and actually thought I was at about 80-90 until my son from the back seat said "wow you are going over 100) I was like um' ok time to slow down (I had my V1 still in the G at the time)

Interior wise they are both very nice, the edge goes to the Bimmer tho. I hear alot of complaining about both interiors but they both serve our needs just fine. Both cars of ours have rear folding seats and the trunk space in the Bimmer is huge compared to the G.

The G is actually a larger car if you can believe it. It is longer and wider than the 330i which totally surprised me. I will take some pictures the next avail day I get to show the comparisons of the 2.

I am going to keep the G until the new M3 comes out and probably get that.... Or, and I am still undecided... I was thinking about the new SKYLINE which is scheduled to come out around the same time as the M3... I will test drive both...

The Bimmer handling has TOTALLY WON ME OVER... This is the first Bimmer we have owned and I am glad we went with this OVER the IS350 which we also test drove, but there really was no contest between the two. The 330i won HANDS DOWN

Hope this helps with the comparison, if you have any other questions, just ask

Thanks for all you responses, I will keep you all informed on the outcome in case this happens to any of you.

One IMPORTANT thing to do ANY time you leave a car for service is make sure you walk the car with them. Have them sign off on a sheet of paper, the condition you leave them the car in. Then inspect the car BEFORE you drive off with the same guy and note ANY defects that were not there to begin with including the interior (we had pen mark on the drivers bolster).

This way they can not deny the damages to you investment.

Take care.

Triji.

Here are a cpl pics of the "G" She is Twilight Blue and notice even in a dark color (no spider webing) I have not had any dealer ever wash her!

[Jon_Hanson]

Which dealer did that to the car? I'm in the Phoenix area as well and I'm curious.

[Triji]

Originally Posted by Jon_Hanson

Which dealer did that to the car? I'm in the Phoenix area as well and I'm curious.

It was Chapman BMW on Camelback... I loved the buying expierence there, they were absolutely A++. And the service guy did take responsibility for what he did. I will update with the resolution, so far I have been happy with the service and crap does happen from time to time.

Triji

[Jesse Wilson]

Hey you guys, good to meet some fellow Arizonans!!!

Triji I also bought my car from Camelback (great guys BTW) and it had a scratch when it came in from the other dealer in Cali. They have a great dent/chip repair company that they sub the work out when it needs to get done right. They fixed my scratch 100% and I couldn't even tell where is was anymore. I would ask them who is going to be doing it, and suggest to them that they sub it out to someone that does it for a living.


I am also a freak about car washing, whenever it goes into the dealer I make them right it on the service order *****DO NOT WASH*****

BTW I went aftermarket with my clear-bra install and I have been very impressed wiht the service and product.


Jesse

[Jon_Hanson]

I have a 330 on order from Chapman BMW on Camelback as well. They were much easier to deal with than the Chapman Scottsdale dealership.

I'm glad they are taking responsibility and making things right for you.

[Jesse Wilson]

Chapman scottsdale were a bunch of Aholes when I tried dealing with them. Most of the sales people I talked to there knew less then I did about BMW. When I made a deal with the internet dept and tried to come in person to do the deal, the interent person was on vacation and the sales manager pretty much told me to take a walk and that "there was no way he would sell a car for that"

SO I went to camelback and they did.


Jesse

[DiscoBMW]

I have never met an auto dealer who knew more about the cars they were selling than I did. But I am an enthusiast and they do it to make a living so there may be a motivation difference. They do enough to sell cars, I study cars b/c its an addiction.

[BLK325]

Man that really sucks. I don't even want to know how they managaed to get it scuffed that bad. My question to everyone is why do you want to repaint it so bad? Most repaints can never match the factory finish, especially when they are not getting paid for it. Plus when you go to resell it the first question they ask is "Has it been repainted?" Some good polishing can probabley remove it and a good protectant can make up for that lost clear layer. (Zaino works wonders).

I let the BMW dealer wash one of my cars once. When I went to pick it up two kids were drying it with shop towels in a nice circular pattern. I brought out the Service Manager and proceeded to inform him how hard I worked to prevent swirls and scratches, that there were none it when I brought it in, and it now looked horrible. I took it home, used Zaino to bring it back to life, took it back and showed him. Needless to say my file now also says "DO NOT WASH". They asked what to do if they get the car dirty test driving or otherwise. My response was to leave it alone and I will take care of it, and not to even wipe off any fingerprints. Anal, maybe, but I would rather wash off someones dirty paw prints then buff out the scratches he put in wiping it off.

[Triji]

Yeah, I also went to Scottsdale BMW at first... Very nice show room but they did not want to negotiate the price at all. They had corn cobs stuck up their butts there

I went to Chapman and worked with Jeff Wright (he was the nose tackle for the Buffalo Bills for 7 years) Jeff was great to work with. He had to T.O. me to Friedel Green since he was going out of town for a couple of days and Friedel picked up the ball and finished up in great fashion. I got a GREAT deal and all parties were happy, I found the whosale prices on line and worked my deal from the bottom up...

A much different approach than Scottsdale was... I have 15 stores in the Valley and I have a lot of these guys now comming in buying from me as well

I have been very happy until they got the swirls in the car... I am comfortable with the fact that they will fix it though...

I have the complete SONUS care system and Zymol... I finish up w/ P215... I want them to do the work to correct the issue first before I get out my Porter cable and do it myself... I will make sure they hire the work out though and authorize who they use by inspecting their work 1st hand.

Triji

[icedragon]

triji, i feel your pain!
My dealer just left two big paint chips on my hood. I was not as fortunate as you as my dealer did not immediately admit fault. Hope things go well.