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Dealer Dis-Service Horror Stories

362 messages,  Last post on Apr 27, 2013 at 9:23 PM

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What is this discussion about? Car Warranties, Coupe, Convertible, Hatchback, Truck, Sedan, Wagon, SUV, Van

Messages Page 33 of 37

#312 of 362 Infiniti of Lisle Customer Dis-Service by slaxton

Jul 29, 2008 (5:24 am)

I purchased a pre owned 2006 Infiniti G35 Sedan from Lisle Infiniti in September, 2007. During the negotiation of the price of the car, I noticed the rear bumper cover had two holes punctured in it. When I mentioned it to the salesman, he offered to replace the damaged bumper with a new one. A few months after the bumper was replaced, I noticed the new paint starting to chip. Since I do not live in the area, I emailed pictures to my salesman and he suggested I take my car to a local auto body shop for an estimate. Upon forwarding this estimate to Infiniti of Lisle, I was told the auto body shop that originally repaired the bumper cover would review the estimate and contact the owner of the auto body shop I received the estimate from. While obtaining the estimate, the auto body shop owner explained to me that the bumper cover was not prepared and primered correctly, which caused the paint to chip. The dealer, however, insisted I was responsible for chipping the paint. He accused me of pressure washing it or even backing in to something causing the paint to chip. If I had backed into to something there would be evidence of a contact point at the middle of the bumper cover instead of paint chipping along the bottom. The dealer never acknowledged that the real reason the paint was chipping was due to improper preparation before painting and his final decision is that he would not pay to have the bumper cover repaired correctly. The craftsmanship is the real reason for the paint chipping and I only expect the person who performed the work to take responsibility for it. All that I’ve been asking is for the bumper cover to be fixed correctly.
 
So far, I've filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and with the Illinois Attorney General. I want to share my story with as many people as possible...any other suggestions.

#313 of 362 Re: Infiniti of Lisle Customer Dis-Service [slaxton] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Jul 29, 2008 (8:51 am)

Replying to: slaxton (Jul 29, 2008 5:24 am)
Sounds like you are hunting the wrong varmint. The body shop is the culprit sounds like, not the dealer.
 
It's hard to say what caused the paint to chip, given that the car has been driven on public roads for some months.
 
An ideal solution would have been to refinish the bumper and split the costs 50-50 between you and dealer or body shop. This would have put you out perhaps $200 or so.
 
You might propose this solution (keeping an eye out that they don't jack up the price so high that your 50% covers everything in reality).
 
If that doesn't work, you could go to Small Claims Court with the evidence of your having proposed a compromise that was rejected.
 
I'm not sure who you sue here, however. I'm not an attorney so can't give legal advice.

#314 of 362 Re: Infiniti of Lisle Customer Dis-Service [Mr_Shiftright] by jipster

Jul 29, 2008 (11:51 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Jul 29, 2008 8:51 am)
Sounds like you are hunting the wrong varmint. The body shop is the culprit sounds like, not the dealer....I'm not sure who you sue here, however. I'm not an attorney so can't give legal advice
 
I'm not an attorney either, but the party to sue would be the dealership, as they were in agreement with the buyer to have the bumper properly painted. There is no first party agreement between the Infiniti owner and the paint shop.
 
So, the Infiniti owner would go after the dealership in court, who in turn could then go after the shop that did the crappy paint job.

#315 of 362 Re: Infiniti of Lisle Customer Dis-Service [Mr_Shiftright] by hugho

Jul 29, 2008 (1:12 pm)

If Small Claims is the route you choose, sue both the Dealership and the auto body shop that originally repaired the bumper (I assume the dealership contracted for the original repair). You would do well to have your repair guy there to testify. Good luck.

#316 of 362 Re: Infiniti of Lisle Customer Dis-Service [hugho] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Jul 30, 2008 (9:59 am)

Replying to: hugho (Jul 29, 2008 1:12 pm)
It isn't clear if the body shop in question even had a chance to accept or decline re-doing the job. If the body shop decided their work was faulty, then they could perhaps do the goodwill gesture. After all, they've been paid already for the work presumably.
 
Its worth a trip to the body shop. One's chances of success in Small Claims increases greatly if one has tried compromise and negotiation and been denied by all parties.

#317 of 362 Re: Mechanics joy-riding in my Shelby? [hugho] by mikdowling

Jul 31, 2008 (2:23 pm)

Replying to: hugho (Jun 02, 2008 6:14 pm)
I am unsure about the US laws. However there are some television shows here in the UK, the most famous is called 'Watchdog'. They love stories like this and actually name and shame the shenanigans much like the story you tell. It would be a good idea to pass this story over to a television watchdog program and they will do all the footwork for you and you will probably end up with something equivalent to 'free service for life' or some such reward. It is the best way to go especially with a car which is akin to automotive legend as yours is. They basically took it for a complete Grand Prix drive. Some spotty Herburt got a life dream with your car without even asking you permission. How much would it cost someone to drive your car or equivalent Ferrari, Lambo, Aston Martin for a day? Couple of hundred dollars I'll bet- more than the cost of your oil change. Get real and get even with those stealing bastartds. You have worked hard to get your car they haven't and didn't deserve it.
(Mind you if I was a nineteen year old with those keys in my pocket....but I wouln't have done more than 5 miles, as I'm not stupid...I think)

#318 of 362 Re: Infiniti of Lisle Customer Dis-Service [Mr_Shiftright] by slaxton

Aug 14, 2008 (2:34 pm)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Jul 30, 2008 9:59 am)
Unfortunately the body shop is owned by the dealer, so every estimate I got was given to the body shop to review. I gave them a 3rd estimate and didn't hear anything back from them. So after a couple of weeks, I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the IL Attorney General's office. I'm tired of jumping through hoops for them, I've given them more than enough of my time. I may be acting a little stubborn by not offering to split the cost, but you know what, I don't feel that any of this is my fault, so why should I shell out money to have it fixed. Right now, I'm going to share my experience with as many people as I can. If I can dissuade a few people from buying a vehicle from them, I'll be happy. So if anyone knows of any other forums, it would be greatly appreciated if you could list them.

#321 of 362 Chrysler's Bogus Oil Change Coupon by oldfarmer50

Jan 01, 2009 (12:53 pm)

I already posted this story on another board so I'll just summarize here.
 
I received a "Buy 1 get 3 free" oil change coupon from a dealer where I had bought a car years ago. Looking at Chrysler's future I wondered if they would still be around to collect on the free stuff but decided to give it a try.
 
When I got to the dealer (half hour drive) I was told that the coupon was not good on the car I had bought from them but on another car I had bought from another dealer. The car the coupon was good for was destroyed in an accident 2 years ago. They had no explaination of how I was suposed to know they were offering me this deal on a non-existent car.
 
And you people wonder why I'm so cranky.

Messages Page 33 of 37

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