Dealer Service Ends With Damage/Repair

File a claim. Damage was caused in their possession. They tried to repair it without your knowledge or consent. Does not matter that they got consent from the wrong guy as that is their mistake. Go after them until the truck is in the same condition you brought it to them in the beginning including any diminished value. Play hardball if you have to, although it will take time out of your day, the facts are irrefutable.

 

It. Was. A. Door. Ding.
Not a nuclear incident. There was no murder. No kidnapping. A door ding.
Please let me know what sta... no, what region of the US you live in so I don't get within one thousand miles of you.

 

Diminished value? On a door ding?

 

It’s the same reason people will mindlessly creep up on you on the road and then sit right behind you instead of passing you. There is something mildly comfortable in being around other people or doing as other people are doing. Especially in a subconscious way.

 

I am pretty sure you sign a disclosure agreement when you bring your vehicle in for repair covering something like this.
You might not like what the small print says but it is what it is.
Dealers cover their bases well.

 

Hello, police, some kid put a small dent that I can't even see in my truck. What are my options? Can I get a new truck out of the dealership? Lolsuits?!?!?! I DEMAND JUSTICE!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Take it to your choice body-shop / paint detailer, see what they say. Get them to give you a quote to make the "smudges" disappear. Have them fax it to the dealership.

Email the dealership and THANK them for their honesty and being nice enough to have tried to fix it properly. But more work is still required and you've had the estimate faxed over to them. Include in the email pictures/sketches of where the damage was Be nice but firm that you just want the truck to look the same as when you left it in their responsibility. (include details and times of your conversation at the dealership when they admitted what happened, this is your legal "paper-trail" if you have any issues with the repair down the road)

Pay the body shop a few more $$ and get them to also paint correct the rest of the truck too, it'll shine better than factory new and you'll be GLAD this all happened, as you'll realize how crappy the factory finish was! Then get some ceramic coating on there and forget about waxing your truck for a couple years and enjoy a better than new looking truck .

Sounds like a GOOD dealer because they were completely up-front about it and tried to make it right and offered even more (extra detailing) than just making things right. I would put $$ on a lot of dealers not saying anything to you, Not having it fixed, and if you noticed and went back to complain they would say it must have happened somewhere else and not their problem.

 

I know our tickets state that we are not responsible for theft of items left in boat, so I bet you are right on that fine print.

 

I understand why anyone would be upset. However, As a parent of small but growing up children...I haven’t had anything stay nice for years. After about a year of my kids destroying my crap...I made a decision that flaws and defects in my home, cars, clothes etc are merely stories to tell or character added. My 11 year old just put his shoulder through some freshly hung and painted drywall. Yes, he is an idiot. Yes, I wanted to kill him, but now I’m not even fixing it for at least a few months. My son gets to feel dumb every time I tell the story when people come over.

Give the dealership a break. No offense intended to anyone that works at a dealership but these guys aren’t Harvard grads. They’re average people who make mistakes. Be the bigger man and tell them you understand. Thank them for fixing it, thank them for coming clean. Now on the rare chance someone asks you about your dent/scratch, you have a great story and you can brag how magnanimous you were. I’m not a Trump guy but MAGA. Quit being entitled like they owe you something because life happened.

 

You have no idea what you're talking about lol.

Its amazing people that make your argument never realize automakers sell in other countries too, I take it you don't travel much?? Its usually an American thing to completely forget there's an entire world out there.... we don't need to hypothesize what automakers would do without these laws, WE ALREADY KNOW, because there's DOZENS of countries that allow direct sales... and guess what? Automakers STILL use dealer networks even when they're allowed to sell direct. So obviously there's more to it then "these stupid laws hurt me!"

UK, France and Germany allow direct sales and cars are WAY more expensive and MFGs still overwhelmingly use dealers. Mexico allows direct sales but manufacturers don't want to deal with the capital requirements, investment and expertise it takes to sell in a foreign market they don't understand so they use dealer networks anyways.

I agree the laws are antiquated but they served a purpose and even if you did get rid of them we have PROOF manufacturers would still use dealerships anyways....

In fact American's are the luckiest in the world when it comes to cars, we live in the MOST competitive auto market in the world. Taking into account inflation and the vast technological advances in modern automobiles cars have even gotten CHEAPER over the years. RIGHT NOW you get the MOST VALUE out of vehicles than at any time in history.... and yet, people like you BITCH BITCH BITCH its fucking mind blowing lol.

Example: My dad's original 1996 tacoma had an MSRP of $23,xxx. In today's dollars that's $38k which is MORE than the MSRP on my 2017 TRD Offroad.

His 1996 was basic as fuck. My 2017 has 3 times as many airbags, onboard computers out the ying yang, crawl control, locker, navigation, all sorts of electronics that didn't even exist back then, its more powerful, tows way more, hauls way more and way more capable offroad. And by nominal price my truck is CHEAPER with all that tech, thats called VALUE

Can't believe people bitch about car prices when they're cheaper than ever (in nominal terms considering what you get)

Practice some daily gratitude people geez

/rant

 

Word of the day.... magnanimous. Excellent choice.

 

It appears the dealership wants to make you whole. I would ask that my truck be returned to me in the same physical condition when dropped off. That includes appropriate full bodywork if the paintless process was not to my satisfaction. Insist on a loaner while they repair your vehicle to original condition, accept the full detail, including a soft paste wax job... then call it a day.

Life happens, don’t let this event bother you too much. I’ve seen some serious parking lot damage from runaway grocery carts to fender benders wherein the culprit(s) just take off as though it was not an issue.

 

This is a master piece

 

It’s my 3rd favorite word. Behind ingenuous and boobs.

 

Hands down the best word is noodle, change my mind lol

 

If a customers kid hit the truck hows it the delaers fault? I get a door ding at lowes i dont go inside and ask lowes to fix it, sounds like the dealer was just trying to keep a happy customer by fixing it. I dont think they have any more legal liability to a truck sitting on the lot than walmart when a trucks in thier lot.

 

This attitude will open a lot of doors. OP, no one was malicious in this incident. You'd probably get further if you went out for a beer with the service manager and ended up laughing your asses off that the other customer is probably looking for a ding in their door.

 

The dealer scratched the clear on my passenger-side front fender at the 5k service. They didn't tell me about it either. I ended up buffing it out with some Mother's Plastic Polish. I did't want those idiots touching my truck after that.

 

This.

I get it's a bummer and you have every right to be pissed as someone dinged your door.

As long as the dealer is willing to fix it, I'd get it fixed and call it done.
They fix the problem and that's that.
No different than any other person that would've done it.
It's my like if it happened outside the lot you'd be looking for more than a repair.