crucut

Good advise.

Gary, I feel your pain x10! My car was damaged recently in a windstorm, the only panels that DIDN'T get re-painted were the roof, and drivers side door and fender. Everything else was either painted or blended. You now know how I felt. My advise is to not dwell on it. It happened, as it eventually does to many other cars. The minute we drive off the lot we are at risk of being hit by an idiot. It will be fixed and it will never be new again. Not your fault and absolutly nothing you can do about it now. I stored my car for the winter and when the oblgitory 90 days is up, I'm going to re-install my stripes and drive it! I plan on keeping the car for a long time any way, so I really don't car what some salesman thinks about the repairs. They will come up with anything they can to de-value a trade-in. I may be weird when it comes to this, but I like sparring with those guys. As long as I've got money in my pocket, good credit, and most importantly my feet to walk out with, I've got the upper hand. No way is your car worth less because a fender was fixed or replaced and he knows it! If he doesn't want the car for a trade, you can go somewhere else.
So I typed all of that to try and make you feel better about it. Hope it worked. Put it in perspective and move on. Your stang will be fine.
One more thing...I wouldn't be to worried about taking your car to that dealer for service. After this incident they'll probably be real sure it's well cared for.

dustindu4

ask the manager's wife for sex?

Scarpi

Well accidents happen, and it is unfortunate that they damaged your new car. But they have accepted the responsibility and will fix it. In my opinion, just make sure the damage is repaired to your liking. The paint should match very well since your car is only about a month old. If the scratch is only a couple inches long maybe they can just paint that area and blend it in with the original paint on the rest of the panel so that there is no difference between that panel and the one next to it.
As far as the protection from road salt, I'm no expert on driving on salted roads but wouldn't that be more of a problem coming from under the car rather than on the top of the paint?
Anyway bottom line, just make sure they do a good job!

GaryD9

I kind of got the impression that the service director was gay... Not a place I care to explore.

lodom

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I think the best thing to do is wait and see if the repair is to your satisfaction. If it isn't then I woudn't accept the car until it looks the same way it did before they scratched it. Painting a panel because it was scratched shouldn't affect the value of your car as long as the paint matches. Since the car is new, the paint should be easy to match and will be a color coat/clear coat process. You may get lucky and not even notice the repair.

GaryD9

Got the car back. They didn't repaint the entire fender, but only the damaged area - and then blended around that (but only on the fender.) It looks okay in sunlight, but its extremely obvious to me that *something* was done there. The paint is dull there compared to the rest of the car. I can attribute this to several coats of wax/glaze everywhere except where the repair was done. I was told not to apply ANYTHING to the repaired area for at least 2 months... not even a quick detailer (because they apply a very thin wax layer.)

I did get the paperwork I requested - including something I didn't expect to get: The work order (on the dealership service document form) clearly states the damage occured on the dealership lot while the car was being serviced. This is the first time in my entire life I've _ever_ seen a car dealership admit, on paper, to being at fault for something. If I have future problems with the repair, that will come in handy.

theedge67

Hopefully it will blend better when you get some wax on it.

Faber

Faber

doh!

TUNGSTALLION

They use a paint meter on each panel. The paint meter will show a difference in paint thickness. This is how they know.

WaltM

I've seen them on TV. But I don't think they all have them

Deric

Give it the period they stated to cure and wax it. If it still looks out of place take it back to the shop that did the work or call the shop in the meantime and ask for advice.

GaryD9

On Monday, I was able to see the original scratch through the "repair." Took it back this morning around 9 for a re-repair and picked it back up around 6pm... Wasn't able to see the repair area as it was dark out AND raining.

I'll check it tomorrow morning with sunlight... and every few days after... This is their second repair attempt...

WaltM

Be persistant. Don't accept it until you're completely satisfied.

svopaul

I'll comment on a few things....

-Accidents happen....it is unfortunate but they stood up and are trying to make you happy. Trust me there are far worse possibilities out there.

-The paint on the car is base/clear...there will likely be sanding of the scratch to feather it out...primer then base and clear. If rushed out the door you might see what is called "shrinkage" which is the primer and work area shrinking as it cures which may require a wetsand and buff at a later time. We avoid this in my shop by waiting between processes to allow each material to shrink before applying the finish coat.....we are a restoration shop though and NOT a production shop, you won't get this in a production shop. This could be why you saw the repair and it was fixed the same day...they buffed it.

-Factory paint is FAR from perfect to begin with and the S197 paint is VERY thin(which is not a good thing, trust me)

-As far as detectible repairs later.....it is NOT true that all repair work can be detected. You have variables like who is inspecting it and the quality of work. We repaired an '03 Mach 1 and out of 4 dealers that it was inspected at for trade in ALL 4 could not detect the repair work and 1 of them claimed a repair was made in a place it never was!

Usually the problems I see with repairs is that the prep work is done too quickly(production shop mentality) where it wasn't taped up properly or you see the shrinkage that I previously mentioned.

I have seen NEW cars sold by a dealer that have been repaired and sold without disclosure...but again that goes back to production shop type of repairs.

All in all you are fortunate they are handling it and I would be thankful for that. Put yourself in their shoes....would YOU think it fair for someone to go so far as to ask for another new car? If it is repaired and to your satisfaction then I think they have done their part.

As far as the picketing and blasting them on the net suggestion....that will get you nothing but a wall put up and make them really not want to make you happy. That is only something as a last resort and you had better have your ducks in a row and really have been wronged if you go that far.

Stangers

hehe donkey donuts...eastcoaster no doubt

Gibs07GTcpe

My dealer backed my car into a cement pole scraping the drivers corner of the rear bumper.....After arguing with them about the damage being their fault and not mine, they agreed to fix the bumper. So it worked out well in the end. Lesson learned though is:::::::::

ALWAYS MAKE THE SERVICE GUYS DO A WALK AROUND WITH YOU TO DOCUMENT VEHICLE CONDITION WHEN IT ARRIVES AT THE DEALER!!!!!

Just doing that would have made this situation so much easier to have resolved.

Gib

GaryD9

Ah, but how do you convince them not only to walk the car with you, but to also document that it's in perfect shape, sign that, and give you a copy before you leave the car?

As an update, they've "repaired" the damage a total of two times already and I can still see the damage. The clearcoat is smooth, so it's very hard to see in sunlight, but if you look at the area from the right angle, you can see what appears to be an indentation.

I've already been in contact with the general manager of the dealership, and he's agreed to reimberse me for costs to have an outside body shop repair the damage. Now I just need to find a good body shop and get an estimate...

svopaul

I used to be a Mercedes Benz Service Writer years ago and it was part of my job to look over a car when it arrived and document any damage...this was done on the RO(Repair Order) which was signed by the customer before the left the car. Now we were not extremely critical of the car but something like a scrap from a concrete pole or the like would have been noted. Any service writer worth his salary would have no problem doing a walk around especially if the customer requested it.

MustangLynda

I have a walk around with my service writer every time I take my car in. Matter of routine at that dealership.