Z4 was in for its annual service at local BMW main dealer.
Its an 04 plate car with only 30k miles and full BMW history.
I tend not to use the car too often in winter if possible, it's not the best in the snow and I'm always scared of it getting damaged.
I have an old Mercedes Vito van that's up to it's purpose of general hack.
When I went to pick up the car, I was told the mechanic had slipped and fell against the front wing causing a dent.
It's pretty visible - not any chance of hiding it.
The car is metallic silver so it won't be a simple case of painting the repair. I'm also concerned a couple of years down the road - the repair is visable.
I have been asked to pay a visit tomorrow to my local VW dealer who have a paintshop that is BMW approved.
I visited a paintshop a while back in relation to a mark in the bonnet. The mark was polished out no problem but at the time was told to get a perfect colour match, they would need to paint the bonnet and both sides of the car!!!!
Basically I'm pretty pfd off tonight and looking for any advice.
Cheers
Rob
Edited by Pugugly on 29/12/2009 at 18:26
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The dealer is responsible for restoring it to pristine condition - nothing less will do. They have admitted liability, and should be the ones paying a visit etc. - and lending you a car for the duration.
Don't give in to them.
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What exactly do you expect from the dealer. They have held their hand up and pointed you to an approved body shop.
I fail to see what else you want from them.
They cannot turn the clock back so i think their response is excellent.
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Will see what the bloke in the bodyshop says tomorrow.
There was not chance the dealer not holding his hands up - prior to today, the car was unmarked and completly original.
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If the paint itself is not damaged I would seriously consider Dentmaster (or someone similar) to remove the dent rather than having it painted.
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Its an accident; they happen.
They have informed you, and advised of a paintshop .
Until or unless they make things awkward or difficult I dont see what else they could have done; courtesy car quite likely. But you dont need that until yours is off the road !
Give them the chance to correct it before assuming they are out to "do you" ?
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The only other option is to ask them to give you book price, allowing for condition and mileage, for the car.
I hope you did not pay for the service.
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Sorry, if they dented it, they fix it.
"Take it to our favourite repairer in your own time" is not really an acceptable response in my book.
Sure, accidents happen. When I'm responsible (fortunately not all that often!) I do my utmost to get it sorted and to minimize inconvenience to other people.
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They have admitted fault, so they should also be liable to pay for the repair of the vehicle. Invoice them for whatever it costs. Take them to small claims court if they want to be stupid about it. Even though it was an accident, this is no reason for you to pay.
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""Take it to our favourite repairer in your own time" is not really an acceptable response in my book."
would you prefer, " you must take it there immediately !"
or, " We took it for you, doesnt matter what your plans are, the cars off the road!"
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Are the replies to this thread getting a little out of proportion or am I way off the mark?
From what I can see they have immediately admitted the damage, the liability and probably without needing to actually say, accepted that they will foot the bill for the repair. They have advised 'biker rob' that he is welcome to take the vehicle to the local BMW approved bodyshop tomorrow for them to look at the damage with a view to doing the repair.
They haven't refused to give him his car back after the service, they haven't secretly had the work carried out and as far as I can see they haven't told him that it MUST be repaired by their BMW approved place. They have left his options open and I am sure that if 'biker rob' was to ask the dealer and leave the car in their hands, they would without question have the work done with as little inconvenience to him as possible.
As for the repair how big is the dent? If it is quite small then the chances are that the repair within the wing and blowing the colour out across the adjacent panels won't be necessary. Even if they do have to blend the other panels in then it is not the end of the world. There is no colour that is impossible to get perfect and invisible repairs are possible. It is down to the skill of the painter more so than the quality of the product that they are using.
From what I can see the BMW dealer has treated 'biker rob' as fairly and honestly as possible. Accidents do happen and it is one of those things that life throws at you now and again. It really isn't worth getting worked up over, all can be put 100% right.
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Sounds fair to me too, they haven't tried to get it fixed at bodgit and scarper's bombsite, but at the bodyshop where the BM's go.
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Agreed, the response is fair though they could have shown bikerob the damage, apologised, handed him the keys to a nice 3 Series and told him that the next time he sees his car it will be as good as new. Thus avoiding him the trouble of taking the car along for assessment etc.
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Sounds fair cheddar, but...............
I think the approach is, the damage isnt serious enough to keep the car off the road, so let him have time to think about it and decide what/where/how to go about it.
Personally I wouldnt want them to take it upon themselves to sort it; I may want to look at the repair place first and decide if Im happy there or prefer elsewhere etc.
Until or unless they get awkward I dont see they have done anything wrong (except for an accident)
If owner had said " Im not taking it away in that condition"; then your expectation would be good!"
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Just back from the body shop.
3-4 days to carry out the repair - after repair, the whole side of the car will require painting.
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You need a motor from them of course !
I would take detailed photos of the side to be painted as well.
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