cyergey

I am curious if anyone else had this issue. I just picked up my 2006 xB on Tuesday. Today (two days later) I happened to notice dents on the roof by the liftgate. One dent is fairly small, another dent is small with a scratch down to the metal, and the third dent is quite large. It is larger than a golf ball, in fact.

I looked at the pictures that I took at delivery and I can see the dent on the roof. I called the dealer and they want to take a look at it tomorrow.

Did anyone have this experience? Any suggestions?

jct

i tend to park under a oak tree so i get pinged by acorns in the spring and fall haha

so yeah i really hate oak and walnut trees

i don't even wanna get pinged by a walnut that would hurt lots...

brazuca

Hey, I got a ding on the hood of my xB in the first week of ownership, a rock hit it on highway driving. Instead of repainting the roof I added thin racing stripes and it looks very good, maybe a solution to you ?

grizzly_choppers

Sounds like possible transport damage to me especially if you have photographic proof that it was delivered that way. You'll be in for some PDR and maybe even some mud and paint.

Good job taking pictures!

-Alex

cyergey

Alex - That is the kind of response I was looking for. Can you please define PDR, and what do you mean by mud and paint? Do you think I should try to let them fix it, or do you think I can get a replacement? It seems ridiculous that I need some pretty serious body work after 130 miles if it was damaged during transport.

grizzly_choppers

Sorry, terms I deal with every day and I forget that they're not too common.

PDR = Paintless dent removal. This is removal of the dent by pushing it out with special tools from the other side. It works wonders and usually requires no touch up. Dents of all sizes can be removed this way, but the most common is hail damage.

Mud = Body filler (like Bondo, but no shop actually uses brand-name "Bondo", they have other stuff). When a dent can't be removed completely (such as a crease) it must be filled. This stuff is applied (like spackle or something like that), it hardens, then it is sanded and painted. When done correctly and professionally, body filler can last the life of a car easily and you'll never know it was there.

Paint = Exactly that. Repainting the scratched/damaged/affected area. Ideally, this would be the complete body panel to avoid the need to blend paint applications in the middle of a surface. Such blending can be done without issue, however, by any good body shop.


Okay, a replacement (called a "buyback" at the dealership) is probably out of the question. That is an extremely rare occourance and would be a huge headache in this instance. Your best bet is to have the dealership fix the damage.

Here's my advice: Go back to the dealership and talk to your sales person. Bring your pictures showing the damage at delivery. You sales person will probably have you talk to a manager at some point too. Here's the trick, REMAIN CALM AND POLITE. This is extremely important. A persistant, polite approach is every bit as effective as an aggressive approach 99% of the time and allows you to continue a good working relationship with a dealership that you may need to rely on in the future for other work (read: mods). Plus, with a polite approach, you always have the option of becoming more aggressive as necessary. You can't work that the other way around.

The dealership should loan you a vehicle until the work to your new one is done. That shouldn't take more than 2-3 days really.

Hope that helps! Good luck!

-Alex

cyergey

Alex - You have been most helpful. Thank you! I did speak to my salesperson. They then put me in touch with the service manager. They are acknowledging that it was their fault without seeing the pictures, so I don't know if they knew about it before they released it. I'd be extremely disappointed if that was the case. Thank you for clarifying the terms as well.

I took my xB to the dealership this morning. The service manager looked at it, and said it never should have left the dealership like that. They are going to do the dent removal, which he said should be easy and succesful. They are then going to touch-up the paint where it was scratched to the metal, and buff it. He will then show me the results. If I am not satisfied with how the paint looks, they will take it again and repaint the affected area. The did give me a 2005 Carolla as a loaner. I miss my box!

Once again, thanks for all of your help, and I'll keep everyone posted.

Chris

grizzly_choppers

Cool, sounds like a good dealership. I see you're in PA, was it Peruzzi by any chance? Joe is good people.

Be sure that you're happy with the repair and don't be shy about asking them to just paint the sucker if you don't love it (I've done this before with a damaged customer's car myself).

I'm guessing they didn't know about the damage before you pointed it out. 99% of salesmen wouldn't send a car out like that because of the headaches it can cause them. They would much rather delay delivery, fix it, and give you a perfect car.

They probably accepted your claim so easily because, #1: you did offer proof and #2: that's a really goofy spot for someone to damage their own car in, however it's an easy spot for a transporter to damage a car.

Good to hear it's working out. Enjoy the Corolla for the fact that it'll make you love the xB more!

I'm happy I could help a little.

-Alex

cyergey

No, it was Gibbons Scion in Scranton. I am going to take a look at it when they finish with these initial fixes. It is only on the roof, so if it looks decent, I'll go with it, but if it looks messy, I am going to let them repaint it. I don't want it to start rusting in a few months over this issue. Thanks again for all of your help.

Tialian

Be very careful about parking under any kind of tree. Here in florida I parked under some trees for a short time and soon noticed these little spots that looked like rust but turned out to be something like poline or something from the tree that stained into the paint.