Dealership info:

Parkway Infiniti
24055 Magic Mountain Pkwy
Valencia, CA 91355
Phone: 661-253-4441
Fax: 661-253-1144
Email: warren@goparkway.com
Website: http://www.goparkway.com/

My service advisor's name is: JEREMY BUCKLEY
I believe the service manager's name is: LYNN BOON (It's a dude, regardless of the name.)
Customer relations manager: HELEN AZEVEDO

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I'll try to be as brief as possible without leaving out some details.

Anyway, I brought my car in for service at Parkway Infiniti in Valencia. I specifically told the service adviser not to wash my car. I told him several times to make sure.

When I went to pick up the car, it turns out that they washed it after I told them several f*cking times not to wash the car. They also manage to mess up the lips on all 4 of my Volk GT-S wheels. They had about 1000 miles on them. The lips are "stained" and have some sort of discoloring. It turns out that their car wash guy ended up washing the car and spraying degreaser all over my wheels.

They had their mobile wheel repair guy look at them, (BTW, by this time, this was the 4th time I had to come back to the dealer which is about 20 minutes away) and he told me and the dealer that he was not going to be able to repair them to my satisfaction, which is basically how they looked like when I left them.

I told them about my wheel shop who does professional service, which is about 30 minutes away, and they told me I had to do it since they're too busy or whatever the f*ck their reason was.

I said okay, and took it to my wheel repair shop, Tru Wheel in North Hollywood, CA. Tru Wheel said they can re-polish the lips but they cannot re-anodize them, which is what Rays does to Volk lips. I saw the finished product on a re-polished lip and it was wayyy too shiny compared to the original coating. The tech at Tru Wheel also stated that I would have to re-polish them myself every couple of months since they don't have any "protection/coating" anymore. Nonetheless, I got an estimate from Tru Wheel for $500 just to repolish the wheels and the estimate stated that they cannot re-anodize the lips.

I dropped off the estimate at the dealer.

Since then, it's been about 3 weeks and I keep having to call every 4-5 days since they do not keep me updated on whats going on. They don't even have the decency to let me know what's going on even though they keep telling me they'll call me. By no means was I "bugging" them. I gave them enough time to fix the situation. I keep getting "I have to talk to my ______ manager. He's out of town and won't be back next week." I probably got that excuse 2-3 times.

Now today, for the first time, the service manager called me (after I left him 2 voicemails) and he said he is not going to replace my wheels. "They already have miles on them." I can have my repair guy repolish them (the repair guy told me that he will not even take the wheels apart) and re-shoot them with clearcoat.. Which is absurd because that same wheel guy told me I will not be satisfied with whatever he can do for the wheels. They won't be in the same condition as I left them. Also, repolishing wheels lowers the value of the wheels.

The manager said they have another wheel guy, but he won't be available until next week (again), and he asked me to just give him time, as if 4-5 weeks was not enough.

I called corporate and they basically told me that I have to contact the dealer directly and that corporate cannot do anything to help me.

In addition, here are some more stupid sh*t the dealer said to me:
- We're not gonna spend $2600 for some little spots on your wheels
- We use that product (degreaser) on all our cars, even 22" Hummer wheels, and we don't have a problem with it
- We're not gonna get you new wheels since you already put some mileage (used) on your wheels
- Maybe you can just tell your insurance company that you hit some kind of debris and it screwed up your wheels (????, f*cking idiot.)

I feel like they're not taking me seriously since I'm a kid.. and maybe because I've been too nice to them. They did say they can give me a complimentary 30k service (or equivalent), but I don't need that nor do I want it. I told them they can get me new wheels, and they can keep my old ones. It's not like I'm asking for new wheels and I get to keep my old ones.


I just want my wheels in the same condition as I left them before Parkway Infiniti in Valencia fcuked them up.

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UPDATE: July 24, 2007

So I brought my mom with me to the dealer and the service manager actually came out this time, and he stated that if they can't get me new lips, they would get me NEW wheels. They said they would call us the following day.

The next day, I get a call from Ryan Harless (Accessories Manger) stating that they found a shop would be able to fix the wheels. I told them that I spoke with that shop and they do do anodize. They would just simply repolish the wheels. I asked him about how much it would cost to fix the wheels and he said probably around $700-800.

I gave him another option: I told him that I could probably sell the wheels for about $1400, and given that it cost me about $2600 for the wheels (high estimate), they could just give me the difference of $1200 and we'll call it even. He said that sounds good given the fact that it was only $400 more, and there was no need to lose my car for 2 weeks while the wheels were getting fixed, they don't have to give me a loaner, and no hassle for them. He said he'll talk to the service manager about it.

About 4-5 days went by and still no call.

So I called Ryan today asking for an update. I left him a voicemail, and 30 minutes later, Helen Azevedo (Customer Relations Manager) called us back and said that I should just claim the damages through MY insurance and they will reimburse us with the $500 deductible. She also stated that they do everything to every car, including car wash and that stopping them from doing that is not possible.. but when I dropped my car off, they said not washing my car was NOT A PROBLEM.

So, I just passed the phone to my mom and the customer relations manager basically said that claiming it through MY INSURANCE and them paying for the deductible is the only thing they'll willing to do. NOTHING MORE. This was insult since if we claim through our insurance, OUR insurance premium will go up.. and they're assuming we're stupid? WTF?

I believe my mom also said that we might have to take them to court about this matter and she said "Do what you have to do." This is coming from a CUSTOMER RELATIONS MANAGER. Is this how they treat their customers?

So, for you people that take your car to them, be careful. Apparently, they use DEGREASER on all wheels and you CANNOT stop them from washing your car.. and if they damage your car somehow, you'll have to claim it through YOUR insurance.

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Sorry about that, man. Next time you might have to resort to putting a huge note saying "DO NOT WASH MY CAR" on your steering wheel.

 

Yea, lesson learned. I am planning on putting a note in every part of the car, if I ever need to bring it in for service.

BTW, any lawyers out there?

 

wow thats ridiculous. you have any pics of the wheels?

 

My response would've been:

You damn well better fix my wheels... If I walk through the showroom, and key the M45, can I simply say, I'm not going to spend $2000 to repaint the M45, just for some scratches?

You use degreaser? Doesn't the directions tell you what surfaces to avoid? You must've used it wrong.... 22" hummer wheels are chrome... Chrome != Volks. That's like saying I fill all my trucks with diesel fuel, so I don't see why the loaner QX56's engine blew up when I filled it with diesel.

Not going to replace my wheels becuase they have 1000 miles on them? Can I use that excuse with the loaner? I'll take it on the freeway, and crash into some random object at full speed. I won't replace the car, because the loaner already has 20,000 miles on it.

 

please post some pics of the damage wheels.....

i find it hard to believe anodized wheels can be stained by a degreaser...

i do know that it sucks that the dealership F'd up ur car... Because Costa Mesa Infinti did the same to me... In return, my fender had to get a new paint job and the clear coat is now starting to crack on the upper area where it meets the pillar... im taking my car back to get that fixed.

also my new headlights are pushed in way too deep on the passenger side..

 

I'll post the pictures up when I get them.. and I've got confirmation from Mackin Industries that degreaser will stain the anodized lips.

Also, it looked like after they applied the degreaser, they did not rinse them properly and they did not dry off the wheels because the stains look like the little puddles you get after you wash your wheels and you don't dry them off.

So, basically, they had some left over degreaser-puddle sitting on the lips of wheels overnight.. eating everything away. FUN.

 

sorry to hear about that

 

Small Claims Court????

 

Dayum, sorry to hear about that brotha! I bring my car in all the time for my oil changes there. I also bought my G there back in '05. They usually take care of me there and they sometimes wash my car (unless I had just washed it). Must have been some type of mis-communication, because I've told them too before not to wash my G and they listened. I would still keep being persistent with them about fixing your rims. Now you got me thinking about bringing my ride in again for any type of G all because of the customer service they didn't give.

 

i got a girl named 9millameeeterrr ****ed up my wheel so now you gonna meeeet herrr

 

when i took my car in for the recall, i told them no car wash. in return, i still received a scratch on the fender, got the fender repainted and the clear coat is now cracking on top where the fender meets the pillar..

also, the "body shop" decided to wash my car. and guess the *** what.. it look like they wash my car with sandpaper, swirls mark everywhere and light long scrapes all over the place like they used their shoes to dry my car off by kicking the car a couple times to see of the water would be scared and jump away from the car.

horrible....

 

File a complaint here:
http://www.autorepair.ca.gov/stdhome.asp

Usually once the BAR gets involved the shop will do anything to correct your problem. I had to use them in the past about a body shop that screwed up my front bumper and wouldn't fix it until I filed the BAR report.

If that doesn't work, take them to small claims court. You can sue them for upto $5000.

 

I think you should post up the Manager's email address and we can all help back you up not mentioning we are from the same forum. We can all bombard them with emails saying that it's not cool to do that to a customer.

Just my 2cents

 

i would keep pursuing it, as to me, it's the dealer's responsibility to return your car to the condition it was when you brought it in. that means untarnished wheels as i read things. since no repair job can return the wheels to their original condition, the dealer owes you a new set of wheels or at least the monetary equivalent.