Opinions Wanted

[Apexer859]

So, I want to let everyone know about a situation I had occur to me and my car, and see what course of action you guys think I should take.

I bought a new 2013 wrx hatch on 1/9/2013. I couldn't have the car detailed that day as I had to get my kids from daycare, to make a wellness appointment at 5 pm. The dealership agreed to detail the car that following friday. That friday it was raining, and was supposed to rain the following two days, my car is black, so they said to bring it in yesterday. (fridays are my only day off work, kind of,I work evenings on friday)

So, yesterday I call, they say come in. I get there, 45 minutes later the detail kid comes to get me, he tells me my car is done. I immedaitely notice that there is still dirt in the wheel wells, but I shrug it off, figure he's a retard, whatever. He had pulled it into the showroom, door open, keys in the ignition. So I think nothing of looking the car over, I'm at the dealership for pete's sake.

I leave,go run around in my car, I haven't been able to drive it much, hit up some country roads! This is about 230, I have to be at work at 5. I drove for a while, get home about 415 to have something to eat before work. I went back to my car to get some books out, and I see a line on the fender, I figure its mud. I get closer to see it's a 6-8 inch SCRATCH! It is through the paint, I can see primer! Upon looking closer, there a bunch of fine scratches, swirls from this young kid apparently using a dirty shamy to wash my brand new car!

So, it's 420, I have to be at work at 5, so I call. My sales woman had left for the day, the operator asks if I want her voicemail. I say no, tell her the situation, she says hold on. A man answers, I proceed to tell him what this ****tard did to my car. He says to bring it back monday, that they will get me a loaner and get the car fixed. It turns out that this guy is one of the owners of the dealership, so I feel like they will fix it.

But, I am pissed! My car has 300 miles on it, and clearly will have to be painted! Painted! WTF! My thinking right now is that it's not enough for them just to fix it, they screwed up my car, but what? I'm not saying that they should get me a new car, that's not resonable(which is what my wife thinks). But what? I'm thinking at this point that the first two services should be on them, I think that is reasonable. Thoughts?

I'll try to attach a picture I took, black car, sunshine, it isn't easy.......

[11blackSTi]

Perfect opportunity to get the car painted somewhere that will actually do a good job. Get a quote from a good bodyshop and then try to get your dealership to pick up the bill. If you have them paint it they will probably get it done at macco (or something like that because I doubt they do paint at the dealership) for $300.

If you haven't read anything about it yet, our paint jobs suck. They have a very soft clear coat. Subaru cheeped out on that. They will get scratched pretty badly unless you do something up front to protect it. That being said, the car dealership is definitely on the line in this situation.

[UEDan]

You should see what my dog did hanging out the window for 5 seconds...

[11blackwrx]

the paint is cheap and black will show everything. my cars paint is far from perfect and i gave up trying to keep it perfect. 3 weeks after i owned the car i had a rock hit my door, chip the paint off and dent it

[BigpjiWRX]

The morning after I got my 2012 wrx, I woke up early before work and washed and detailed the car again. While doing the driver side fender, my handy scrubber thing slipped out of my hand not more then 6 inches above my fender. Once it hit my fender my stomach dropped. The sound it made killed me inside, and I saw the slightest indentation . Ive been sad about it ever since =[


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[wrx1234]

They wont paint it... I can fix those scratches in 10 mins with a mildly abrasive cutting compound then a fine compound, wash and wax. I wouldn't be to worried, it sucks its a new car and i agree you should have the dealer fix it.

You will not get a paint job out of it. If you do they will only paint that portion which will never be a 100% match

[Apexer859]

I took it to the dealership, they are going to try to buff and wax it. But, I'm not positive that they will be able to do so. One scratch is pretty bad, so, I'll see. They said that if I didn't like it, then we will see about painting it.

Here is a picture of the bad scratch, it's about at my waist area in the reflection.

[Soobvirgin]

Difficult to tell how deep that scratch is from that picture. But as a general rule, if you can't get your fingernail in it, it'll polish out. I'd be just as upset as you if this happened, but if you can, I'd avoid having it painted. So many body shops struggle with an exact color match that I'd rather have a minor scratch. So my suggestion would be to see how much of the scratch/s they can get out. If it's not perfect, I'd ask for something of equivalent value instead of the respraying. Maybe some services or SPT parts, etc.

[Apexer859]

Difficult to tell how deep that scratch is from that picture. But as a general rule, if you can't get your fingernail in it, it'll polish out. I'd be just as upset as you if this happened, but if you can, I'd avoid having it painted. So many body shops struggle with an exact color match that I'd rather have a minor scratch. So my suggestion would be to see how much of the scratch/s they can get out. If it's not perfect, I'd ask for something of equivalent value instead of the respraying. Maybe some services or SPT parts, etc.

I've been thinking that, it looks as if all the small scratches may, not the large one. Also gave thought to some SPT parts, the catback would be nice.

[rurso01]

Update us as to what they decide. Thats terrible. I hate when I have to take my car to a dealership/body shop. I know that every time without a doubt, despite where I take it, something will be noticeably different and screwed up. EVERY SINGLE TIME without fail. It's amazing.

[Pool Runner]

Update us as to what they decide. Thats terrible. I hate when I have to take my car to a dealership/body shop. I know that every time without a doubt, despite where I take it, something will be noticeably different and screwed up. EVERY SINGLE TIME without fail. It's amazing.

Yeah this bites for sure, I have four bent or slightly cracked areas on my rocker panels under the car. I know the dealer or port must have lifted the car incorrectly as my car has never been on a lift or had a jack under it since I've owned it. Car had two miles on it when I got it so it must have definately been the dealer. I never called them out on it as I didn't notice it until after three months of ownership. It doesn't bother me as you literally have to stick your head under the car to see it, although I was ticked off when I saw it.

[nsibanez]

dammmmm. idbe pissed. actually im pissed for you
i would never let anyone detail or let alone tough my new car. im a bit picky like that. after my rims got ruined, and the horror stories from others...next time i get a new car im telling them to not even bother doing the pdi

[Sinister]

let us know what happens! Good luck

[Apexer859]

Well, the latest update. They buffed out the scratches, I didn't go in to look at it, as I have problems with it.

If you were to take buffing compound to a car, you are essentially finely grinding down the clearcoat, and then a wash and wax. I don't like that, as the clearcoat on our cars is very thin to begin with.

I spoke to a co-owner of the dealership and he agreed to repay me if I wanted to take the car to a third party to have them re-clear coat the car. And that does agree with me , but I didn't ask him to put it in writing before I hung up with him. So I obviously am not going to do that.

I then talked to a manager later, and I decided that I would let them use there bodyshop, to re-clear the car. I am apprehensive about this, as I really have no way to tell if the car was re-cleared. I told him that I of course wanted copies of the work order, or invoice showing the work was performed. Hopefully they do well with it and it will be ready wednesday....

I pretty much decided I just wanted my car back to factory spec paint, and hopefully this will be sort of factory, but better as it will have more clear on it.

What do you guys think?

[Soobvirgin]

Well, the latest update. They buffed out the scratches, I didn't go in to look at it, as I have problems with it.

If you were to take buffing compound to a car, you are essentially finely grinding down the clearcoat, and then a wash and wax. I don't like that, as the clearcoat on our cars is very thin to begin with.

I spoke to a co-owner of the dealership and he agreed to repay me if I wanted to take the car to a third party to have them re-clear coat the car. And that does agree with me , but I didn't ask him to put it in writing before I hung up with him. So I obviously am not going to do that.

I then talked to a manager later, and I decided that I would let them use there bodyshop, to re-clear the car. I am apprehensive about this, as I really have no way to tell if the car was re-cleared. I told him that I of course wanted copies of the work order, or invoice showing the work was performed. Hopefully they do well with it and it will be ready wednesday....

I pretty much decided I just wanted my car back to factory spec paint, and hopefully this will be sort of factory, but better as it will have more clear on it.

What do you guys think?

Well, if they polished out the scratches/scuffs and it looked perfect, I'd have been satisfied with that. Although, I would have expected a little compensation for my trouble in the form of a free service or something.

In 5-10 years, when - and if - the panel started to show signs of deterioration, if I still had the car (unlikely), and if I cared about that small patch amongst the other scratches and dings the car most likely would have by then, I'd consider paying for it to be resprayed. As opposed to the risk of the dealership somehow messing up the work on a brand new car. But, I'm really happy for you that the dealer is giving you what you want and that you're satisfied with it. Good news.