[Chutzpah]

Originally Posted by mikeman

Exactly! No new car and the service advisor will still have a job.



No it won't. It will now have non OEM factory paint on half the car because they will have to "blend" into the rear quarter panel too. And, this is assuming no damage was done to the door aperature section where the door hinges are attached.



They might have accepted responsibility, but now the OP has to deal with diminished value, wrecked resale value, loss of collectibility and now has a fixed up car with a repaint on half the car. For most people, that's recipe for "sell it after it's repaired" and get something else.



Unfortunately, it's this very attitude that gets these cars wrecked at stealerships. To the owner though, it may be his personal Bugatti.

Just my $.02.

Pretty doubtful a dealership is going to take a hit on their insurance rates by claiming this, for that limited amount of damage. If that’s the case, zero report of damage and no depreciated value.

[Wyzz Kydd]

Originally Posted by Number 3

In Illinois, at least, you can sue for diminished value. A friend had his Tesla Model 3 rear ended and he sued the guy and won $8,000, even though the car was repaired.





Agreed!!

Tell them you want an awesome trade on a new car instead of a diminished claim lawsuit ????

That would be my demand. I get whatever the car would have sold for to a private purchaser assuming pristine condition as my trade in and I buy whatever car I want with zero dealer markup or fees.

[Petrol Head]

Originally Posted by Camaro_QC

He will not get a new car.

The employee will not be fired.

The car will be fixed. It will be just like it was before.

The dealer accepted the liability, no need for a lawyer.

End of story.

It's a Camaro, not a Bugatti.

So it’s ok for anyone to take a sledge hammer to your car. Because that’s exactly what you said, whether you believe it or not.

Got it?

[caSStro18]

I guess suing people is the way of the world these days. Damn, give the dealership a chance to make it right before threatening lawsuits against them!

[LT4Greg]

I understand what Camaro QC is saying about the situation. Why don’t we send all our damaged cars in accidents back to the factory to be repaired! Geez people!

[Petrol Head]

Apparently the notion of personal responsibility and accountability is completely dead in this country.

Poor dealership, poor employee, it was an accident, he didn’t mean it.

If you don’t close the door to a customer’s car when backing it out of the rack or bay, even once “by accident”, you really should not be touching other peoples cars. Period. There is no argument or discussion about that.

[Number 3]

Originally Posted by caSStro18

I guess suing people is the way of the world these days. Damn, give the dealership a chance to make it right before threatening lawsuits against them!

So are you suggesting the OP wait and see if they come up with a diminished value number? My guess is they won't, but maybe you are correct.

Originally Posted by LT4Greg

I understand what Camaro QC is saying about the situation. Why don’t we send all our damaged cars in accidents back to the factory to be repaired! Geez people!

There are approved repairs to make the repair such that the car is safe, looks and operates well. They can even cut out the A-pillar if they have to. So no, it doesn't need to go back to the factory. That being said it wasn't OPs accident. In that case you accept the consequences. In this case he should be POed.

The hinges have been clearly peeled back. Bad stuff going on there. That is probably the worst thing needing repair. Have the weld nuts in the inner reinforcement been pulled through? Tough to tell. But that is worse than if the door gets replaced, which IMO they need a new door, not a repaired door.

[mikeman]

Originally Posted by Camaro_QC

I was saying that it will look like it was before. Of course it won't be 100% factory, but if the paint job is done properly, no one will notice. This little damage is easily fixable. I've seen worse.

Of course he can get compensated for that, but I don't think it's a reason to sell. Keep the car long enough and the diminished value will basically disappear.

I'm not talking about sentimental value from the owner. But some people tend to overreact about their car and feel like they own a 2 million dollars car. Some people get a scratch and expect a new car. I'm just saying that things can get repaired. It sucks but that's how it is.

Just because the car is worth only $35k does not mean you can be more careless about it compared to a more expensive car. You need to provide as much care, while it's in the shop, as if it were a Bugatti. The MSRP should not matter when it's in the shop's care.

This is the reason why I absolutely refuse to take my car in to any shop. Look at what I'm experiencing here with you on having to argue the merits of a car's worth with the potential damage that could be done to it. This just reaffirms my opinion that no one will care as much about my car as I do.

If you believe they will take the time to do multiple panel spray outs to get that paint blend picture perfect, then you are fooling yourself. Sure, they will fix it up. However, it'll never be factory original again. Prior to the dealer carelessly damaging it, it was original. It had the factory baked oem paint and no black marks against it in the history.

You can keep it long enough to where none of that won't matter, but then you will experience the side effects of the body shop repair aging differently than the original paint over time. Also, if he ever gets a small dent on the repainted side, he may run into problems with the paint cracking. Before repairing any dent, every PDR tech will ask you if the panel or panels in question have ever been repainted in the past.

[LT4Greg]

I agree Number 3 but some folks think the dealership should give him a brand new Camaro or sue if they don’t and that the body repairs can’t be done correctly to the factory specs. That’s why I made the comment about sending the car back to the factory for repairs.

[mikeman]

Originally Posted by LT4Greg

I understand what Camaro QC is saying about the situation. Why don’t we send all our damaged cars in accidents back to the factory to be repaired! Geez people!

Okay, the real question is and let's be honest about it. Would you still keep your ZL1 if something like this happened to it?

[Captain J]

Originally Posted by TP2SS

I’d get a lawyer and demand a new car. The hinges didn’t just pull off the frame (core support?), they bent it. That car will never be the same, it will have fit and structural issues forever. If that makes it to CarFax (most likely will since it’s a dealer), it’s a serious dimunition of value. Sorry this happened to you but don’t let them push you around.

I agree. That's a major screw up and they should make it 100% right. If the car had no damage when it went in, it should be the same (no damage, no repair) upon return. As far as someone suggesting credit for future work, I'd never go back to that dealership again, NEVER. It'll be a fight but tell them you want a new car. Don't get pissy with them, try not to scream, cuss, or in general be a jerk about it.

[caSStro18]

Originally Posted by Number 3

So are you suggesting the OP wait and see if they come up with a diminished value number? My guess is they won't, but maybe you are correct.

I’m only saying that threatening a lawsuit doesn’t always need to be the first line of defense. It may come to that depending on future developments. But pulling the “I’m going to sue you” card is not always the best first move. I DO believe that people and businesses should be given the opportunity to make things right with the customer. However, I don’t know this dealership and it’s possible things like this have happened frequently. If that’s the case, then, a lawsuit might be the only way to resolve the issue. I doubt the service adviser purposely decided to rip the door off the car. But, if this adviser has had accidents like this before, something is really wrong and that employee should be fired.

Bottom line...we don’t have enough details to jump on the lawsuit bandwagon. Let’s just wait and see what develops in this case. Hopefully the OP will keep us updated on how the dealership handles this. So far it seems they have done all they can.

[LT4Greg]

Probably so mikeman.

[Camaro_QC]

Originally Posted by mikeman

Okay, the real question is and let's be honest about it. Would you still keep your ZL1 if something like this happened to it?

If repaired properly and if my plans were to keep the car for a long time, yes I would.

Not exactly the same but the 08 Tiburon I have was a totalled car. I bought it 8 years ago and it has served me well. No area of the paint that was redone as aged differently than the factory paint. I might even says that the factory area started rusting prior to the repaired sections! So as long as the job is done properly, it should be fine. Of course it hurts because it was "new", but for me cars are meant to be used and by being used, they might get damaged.

If it was a collection car then that's a totally different story.

But hey, that's just my opinion haha, we don't need to agree, I'm still a nice guy overall haha.

And no, please no, no sledge hammer to my car! It's not a cyber truck haha.