PGT Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 One thing to be careful of when getting the manufacturer involved is your credit record. When they swap a car post-sale, many of them right that off as a UBD - Uncollectable Bad Debt, or something similar. It cleans up their books and they don't care about how it affects you since you have to pay for legal representation to fight it. This just happened to a co-worker of mine who had his MB-CLK replaced after the car was stolen off the dealer's lot during routine service. He raised a stink with local press and PR at MB got involved. He ended getting a free upgrade to a CLK55 for his troubles, but found out about the credit issue when he went to settle on a new house. This guy had some serious bad karma due to him for the way he treats people, so let's hope it's an isolated incident (I, for one, find it funny given what a jerk he is). I hope this works out okay for you.....we all have our bad experiences with car dealers. Just keep in mind there may be a price to pay and more of a fight if you have to go over the dealer's head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGreatOne Posted January 8, 2005 Author Share Posted January 8, 2005 I just want them to correct the problem. I don't want to return the car, assuming there's no hidden damage. Consider: I bought it the afternoon of December 28. So far I have owned it only eleven days, and for five of those days it has been in the shop. The car has only about 300 miles on it and 110 of those miles were already on it when I bought it. I just want them to correct the problem. They could do the right thing and switch bumpers immediately, but they haven't done that. Why not? Obviously, because it would inconvenience THEM to have an unsold car in hold status. This is not good customer service in my opinion. If they'd just make this right, I'd forgive them, not hold a grudge, and would probably buy my next car from them. Will they do the right thing? Will Subaru of America want to do the right thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGreatOne Posted January 8, 2005 Author Share Posted January 8, 2005 Man, I sound like such a complainer, and I hate it! If they resolve this issue soon I'll forget it ever occurred. I've been so stressed over this matter; I fear my health is suffering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Throttlejockey Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 Demand them to swap out the bumper with the other car on the lot. If the work is that bad it definately won't be any better the second time around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IwannaSportSedan Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 I just want them to correct the problem. I don't want to return the car, assuming there's no hidden damage. Consider: I bought it the afternoon of December 28. So far I have owned it only eleven days, and for five of those days it has been in the shop. The car has only about 300 miles on it and 110 of those miles were already on it when I bought it. I just want them to correct the problem. They could do the right thing and switch bumpers immediately, but they haven't done that. Why not? Obviously, because it would inconvenience THEM to have an unsold car in hold status. This is not good customer service in my opinion. If they'd just make this right, I'd forgive them, not hold a grudge, and would probably buy my next car from them. Will they do the right thing? Will Subaru of America want to do the right thing? Have you told them this, in no uncertain terms? Is their inconvenience of having a different unsold car in hold status should be irrelevant, because if they are not holding up their end of the deal, your car will be the car in hold that will be unsold. They obviously aren't delivering on this deal. (They don't have to know that aborting the sale is really not what you want. Sounds like they need to be reminded that they are selling cars, not just hanging around so people can buy them. Selling involves fulfilling the customer's order. yours hasn't been filled yet.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGreatOne Posted January 10, 2005 Author Share Posted January 10, 2005 Just got of the phone with Subaru of America's "Customer Service." It seems once you've signed the papers, Subaru's goodwill ends. This is an outrage. I will not write what I'm feeling at this moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 They accused my fiance of denting her own exhaust in order to get SOA to cover a new one. They had her in tears on the phone, wishing she had never bought a Subaru. How many chics really care about getting a new muffler, especially a stock one? Answer? Only the ones who have theirs dented by the dealer before delivery. As with any customer service organization, ask for the boss. FWIW, I dealt with Chad Daniels at SOA to handle the mess I had....he was great to deal with. Maybe ask for him and explain the situation? After you collect your thoughts and beat up the neighbor's dog (or course I am kidding) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGreatOne Posted January 12, 2005 Author Share Posted January 12, 2005 Tues, 01/11 I suppose I irritated the Subaru of America rep yesterday. I know he irritated me... Today I went with the sales manager to a local body shop to get an estimate for the repaint. It wasn't my choice of shops - personally I'd not go there unless I happened to know the quality of their work, and I don't. The estimate was very high - like $800, perhaps a deliberately high estimate to impress me. They want to do the entire bumper, but I asked them to paint ONLY what had to be painted and to leave as much stock paint untouched as possible. I suspect they'll ignore that advice. FWIW, the repaint is supposed to be completed next week, but I think it would have been smarter all around if only they'd agree to replace the bumper with an identically colored bumper from another new car. They'd then have plenty of time to get the bumper painted correctly before mounting it. The dealer has apparently convinced his sales force to swear that doing so would be illegal, would compromise the safety of the customer who buys the car with the repainted bumper (Well? What about THIS customer?), and would cause all sorts of Earthquakes, Hurricanes, and Tsunamis. I think that the dealer only wants to avoid tieing up a new car that could be sold at any time, yet it's okay for him to inconvenience me, because I have already bought a car. I really should not be surprised at this. WHEN are car dealers going to get some integrity? Don't they realize that car owners and prospective buyers READ and communicate with each other? Does reputation mean nothing at all? My suspicion is that the repaint will improve matters, but it won't be as good as stock and will probably crack and flake off after a year or so. I spoke with the painters that I met there. I stressed the importance of getting the right mix, the correct additive(s) to enable flexibility so the paint wouldn't crack and flake off, and I asked that they paint ONLY the bumper after one of the painters suggested that he'd spray other areas of the car to help the new paint blend in. Good Grief! I don't want the entire body ruined!! Perhaps this is my cosmic reward for something done in a previous life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdanhires Posted January 12, 2005 Share Posted January 12, 2005 Man, I really feel for you. I'd hate to be in your shoes, especially with the way the dealership is screwing around with you. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but painting only the area that was affected may not be the best solution. Letting the painter 'blend' the respray in with the other panels may produce (visually) the best results. No matter how hard the painter tries, the color he paints with will not match the oem color and it will stand out in sharp contrast to the surrounding areas. Nothing against the painter, or the paint system he uses, but it's the nature of car paint. By 'blending' it into the surrounding area, he'll be able to make the car visually look correct. On a positive note, the paint will not crack or peel off after a year or so as you fear. If this is the body shop that the dealer deals with for comestic touch-ups, you should be fine. If not and you randomly chose this body shop, call around you area to the local rod shops/custom stereo/go fast places. They'll be able to direct you to the guy who does stellar work. Good luck. I hope you're able to get this resolved to your satisfaction.h John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGreatOne Posted January 12, 2005 Author Share Posted January 12, 2005 The shop was the dealer's choice. I wonder whether the paint will hold up because I had a flexible bumper painted previously by a well-known shop in my area, and though the paint looked beautiful for awhile, it was cracking and flaking off within a year. I don't mean to degrade the quality of the work performed by the dealer's choice; I don't know the quality there. What I do know is that it is very unlikely that the repaint will be worth the money I'm laying out for this car, as a down payment and monthly payments. Maybe I should consider taking a loss and trading it in on a horse. Ol' Paint won't flake unless he's got dandruff... Once again though, I'm not knocking the car. I like the car. It's Subaru of America and its dealer that have disappointed me. What began as minor paint damage has grown into a cancer. First a few small spots, then it expanded with the bad paint repair. Now it looks as if it's taking the entire bumper and moving onto other parts of the body. Doc! Is there no cure for this? The car never smoked! I'm going to develop a positive outlook. Let's see how it looks after the repaint. Maybe the shop will get the color right. Surely the paint will be perfect! Maybe I'll win the lottery this evening! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agctr Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Just hang in there LGO, Im sure things will work out for the best. And if they dont, just keep taking the GT back until it is. Adam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c_hunter Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 They can do a top notch paint job that will look good for many years, however it will be a lot less resistant to bumps, scratches, etc. My secretary had the rear bumper of her 04 Accord repainted after an accident, and it came out great. Just recently, she got tapped at a light and it just left two minor dimples (from the other car's front plate). or so we thought. Upon closer inspection, there are spider cracks all around the dimples, from the bumpler flexing and cracking the paint. That was a top notch paint job by one of the best shops in the area. Aftermarket paint just can't flex as well as factory paint, even with flex agents. It's just a sucky situation. I feel sorry for you, it's too bad you have to deal with this even though the damage happened before you owned the car. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGreatOne Posted January 15, 2005 Author Share Posted January 15, 2005 I appreciate everyone's concern and advice. On the positive side, I found some nearly new stock alloy wheels on Ebay for my Winter tires. I'll post details separately in the Wheels/Tires Forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGreatOne Posted January 21, 2005 Author Share Posted January 21, 2005 1/20/05 I retrieved the car from the dealer today, following the repaint of the bumper. It looks much better than it did following the dealer's first attempt at paint repair. This time the entire bumper was sprayed in a lighter shade of white, a little too white, actually, and the painter(s) didn't mix in quite enough metalflake to get that nice pearl effect. I can tell the painter(s) attempted to blend the new paint with the trunk lid at the rear (even though they were instructed not to paint anything except the bumper), but they didn't wander beyond that. It appears to be a good repaint, smooth, even in tone, not a precise match in color to the rest of the car, but not a glaringly poor match as was done previously. I didn't detect any runs or orange peel. It was overcast today; it may look a little different under a sunny sky. Overall, it seems much improved. On appearance, it seems acceptable. Will the repaint last? Realistically, I doubt it... But, I hope so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agctr Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 Good to hear that this has sort of been fixed. Seriously thought, u should really ask for a total new rearbar. Adam. PS thanks for the continual updates, greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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