Hello everyone. About a week ago My wife and I turned in a IS300 and picked up a new 6mt 05 coupe. Everything was great the exception being some bubbles on the tint they had installed. I brought it to their attention and the sales manager stated they can have the car retinted(of course) at our earliest conveinience.
Now here comes the PROBLEM...my wife took the car in today for the tint job, she left the car at the dealership as they completed the work. The job was supposed to take around 4-5 hours tops, about 6 hours into it she arrives(already in a crappy mood) to pick up the car, mind you they did not call her to say the work was completed. The sales manager approaches her immediatly and begins to tell here that the car is finished BUT the tech who drove the car into the shop SCRAPED THE CAR AGAINST THE WALL AS HE ENTERED THE BUILDING!!! .
I have not seen the damage, as a matter of fact, my wife is still at the dealership as I write this. I assume the damage is significant since the manager did mention painting and what not. My question is, what are my legal options? I do not want to be without the car for any period of time. They do not have any loaner 6mt's or coupes for that matter. This IS A NEW CAR THAT IS NOW DAMAGED! I am sure this is going to come back to us at the end of our lease! Can anyone offer some advise? PLEASE!

 

ask for a new car! forget that, they messed it up and now you want a new car your not leasing a car that is going to be repainted!!!

 

definately talk to the owner or general manger. with this being a brand new car on a lease, you should ask for a new car or say you want your money back and no consequences from backing out of the lease early

 

Thanks SMOKEDLEX, I need more info. on going that route. Obviously that would resolve the situation in my eyes but I am positive the dealership will resist giving me a 06 for a 05.

My wife just got home...apparently she really rose some hell(god knows she can) because they gave her a fully loaded auto 06 coupe($40k+ sticker) with zero miles to use. The manager stated she can use it as long as it takes to repair ours.

Here's what the damage consisted of: passenger front fender wheel well edge is scraped bad it will require refinishing with filler, the front bumper parking light is broken and the surronding area is damaged on the bumper, It will also requiring filler(bondo) and/or reshaping. Even if they provide a new G fender and 06 G front bumper cover(which is nicer upon closer inspection than 05) they are still going to use their own paint process. I don't care what anyone says...it's not the same as the original finsh in durability and or appearance.

 

There is only one infiniti dealership in my town. If I ask for my money back and my traded IS300 I end up without a G35. It seems like there would be a lot of pitfalls asking for the termination of the lease some of them being effect on my credit history the pay off they did on my IS300 lease and so on. More potetial of getting screwed. I do love the G, I hate the dealership.

 

Here's some more details regarding the "accident". The idiot that drove/damaged the car wasn't even a employee of the dealership he was a employee of the damn tint shop! I don't think they even use a "shop" it's just some dude they contract to tint cars probably. What type of manager allows an outside person drive a clients car!! Here's the cherry on top...the manager offered a few free oil changes to my wife for the inconvenience.

 

A "few" oil changes? . . . I would ask for "unlimited" oil changes in order to forgive their error(s) . . . And I believe that is completely in order and in line, as well . . . To say the least. Good luck!

 

[it will require refinishing with filler, the front bumper parking light is broken and the surronding area is damaged on the bumper, It will also requiring filler(bondo) and/or reshaping.

I would say NO to BONDO. Tell them to get new OEM replacement parts.

After they do the work check it with a magnet to make sure it was done right, and with out Bondo

 

On a related note, it's kind of neat driving/living from a new 05 to an 06. I noticed alot of "tweaks" from 05 to 06. The semi-auto tranny is not to bad...it shifts quicker than the IS350 I test drove and it feels torquier(spl?) than my 6mt. Our 6mt is a base model=no sunroof, nav. or other fluff. After driving and using the additional options on the 06 I must admit the bose stereo is better than the base one, having a telescoping steering column is cool too. The nav is pretty functional as well. I can do without the sunroof, dual climate control and keyless entry. The new projector hid's are nice, REAL nice. The apperance in and out of the car is noticably better, I prefer the 05 tail lights tho. If any of you are curious about anything on the 06's let me know I can check it out or even take some pics since I will be using it for a while. Hmm...maybe I'll tell them I will keep it(06) instead of taking our 05 back

 

Definately do not allow them to use bondo on the car. That will ruin any value the car will retain. This is their fault on your new G. The need to take responsibility and place the fender with OEM parts.

Its entirely possible that the tint man is an outside contractor. I know ours worked for the dealership. Although it was on the dealership property, since the tint man was driving the vehicle and he is a contractor, he is the person to be liable not the dealership. If this is the case make sure you every detail about this situation ASAP. The faster you act the better.

 

Agreed...I will NOT have bondo on my G. I do want OEM parts and perhaps a 06 bumper but the overall paint process is what worries me. I plan on surprising the dealership tomorrow by dropping in. I'm going to take some pics of the damage just to keep record of it. I'll see what the manager will offer. You guys keep the ideas coming, thanks

 

Good news, the dealership agreed to give us a new G! We are actually getting a 06 for a 05! The manager was a real pro, he didn't interupt when I was complaining and he didn't down play the incident or damage. When he asked "what will make you happy?" he was sincere and receptive when I told him "a new car". Within 15 mins. he asked us what color we wanted and he located the car to be shipped in. It was a little funny when he stated, " sorry, I can only find a 06 not an 05...will that do?" We are going from a 05serengetti sand 6mt to a 06 black loaded auto to a 06 diamond graphite 6mt in less than a week! Our neighbors probably think we're dealing.

 

Glad to here the happy ending...sounds like a good dealership...probably have insurance to cover this sort of thing.

 

Excellent news and very professional handling by the sales manager. Glad to see everything was done in a professional manner, and the end result is what you would expect.

 

WOW, I'm impressed and thankful for you! I was going to say take them for all they're worth, but you made out like a bandit on it!

Similarly, a Honda dealership wrecked my Prelude in Dec '01 to the tune of $5500. The best that I could get out of that is that their insurance company paid for the repairs and then some. Replacement wasn't an option as the vehicle was two years old and the Prelude was out of the Honda lineup by then. And at that point, the experience had already given me enough reason to not by a Honda as my next vehicle.