Are scratches acceptable on a new car?

[neK]

Went to pick up a Yaris today (ended up waiting about 2 hours cos pre-delivery stuffed up).

After all that waiting, car was ready, went to check it out, there was a blade scratch about 1cm. It was pretty deep and went thru the clear coat, past the paint onto the metal itself.

Seems to me pre-delivery were in a rush to get the plastic stuff off and cut into the car. Location of the scratch was the in the front quarter panel on the drivers side (the panel thats above the front driver side wheel).

Needless to say i was pretty peeved off and refused to accept the car in the condition it was in (and yes im still holding onto the money). They tried to tell me it was ok and that they would fix it next service.... wtf?

They say they are going to respray it or something, do you guys think that is ok?

Also is it acceptable for tints to have small bubbles (small clusters of about 4 bubbles within mm or each other)? Cos i know big ones are pretty bad, so im making them also redo the tints, but if it comes back with small ones, should i send it back again?

Picture of the scratch

http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/9357/yarisscratchfn6.jpg

Edited May 27, 2008 by neK

[mikesalim]

Hi neK

My personal opinion, if it is a really brand new car. I want everything to be perfect.

So even a small scratch would be a big matter for me.

Also as far as I concerned. A small bubble in the tinting means that it is not properly tinted, and I think it will get bigger if you let it be like that.

So I guess your action to hold up the money and don't want to fix it is a good decision.

Regards,

mikesalim

[J e r e M y]

Went to pick up a Yaris today (ended up waiting about 2 hours cos pre-delivery stuffed up).

After all that waiting, car was ready, went to check it out, there was a blade scratch about 1cm. It was pretty deep and went thru the clear coat, past the paint onto the metal itself.

Seems to me pre-delivery were in a rush to get the plastic stuff off and cut into the car. Location of the scratch was the in the front quarter panel on the drivers side (the panel thats above the front driver side wheel).

Needless to say i was pretty peeved off and refused to accept the car in the condition it was in (and yes im still holding onto the money). They tried to tell me it was ok and that they would fix it next service.... wtf?

They say they are going to respray it or something, do you guys think that is ok?

Also is it acceptable for tints to have small bubbles (small clusters of about 4 bubbles within mm or each other)? Cos i know big ones are pretty bad, so im making them also redo the tints, but if it comes back with small ones, should i send it back again?

Bubble in tint is a small matter...

scratch that went thru the clear coat..ask them to suck ballz..

once metal is exposed..rust comes..n then cya..

tell them..either fix it..or u`ll just take ur money some where else..

if i buy a brand new car..i expect it to be in MINT and PERFECT condition

Definition of MINT and PERFECT = scratch free...

Salesperson will tell u everything is ok..their job is TO SELL..they`re not gonna give a shiat..

They`ll tell u all type of bs just to sell.. :)

sorry bout how ur new car turned out man..i feel for u.. hopefully they`ll fix it

[1rocky]

x2 dont hand over anything till your happy.

[yoshi]

Agree with everyone so far, make them tint again and repair the scratch before you pick up

[Kevsta]

You did the right thing to refuse it.

A scratch in the panel is just not on. Even if they respray it, that front quarter panel may not match the rest of the car particularly if you've chosen metallic paint.

Tints can get redone. Make sure you check all the interior panels, head rests adjust okay, and everything...

I once had a dodgey nissan dealer try and sell me a hail damaged pulsar q for the price of a new car. He promised to drive the car to me for delivery which we refused, and when we went to pick it up, it has droplets of water on top of the car to try and conceal the hail damage.

[neK]

A scratch in the panel is just not on. Even if they respray it, that front quarter panel may not match the rest of the car particularly if you've chosen metallic paint.

Actually the car is quicksilver (mica/metallic).... so what can i do if that is the case? Can i demand they give me a completely different car over it?

My only fear is that the other car might have had something similar (never know with the pre-sale delivery guys... they might be complete knobs)... and its been covered up as well.... what should i do?

Thanks for everyone's feedback :) I was wondering if i acted like a bit of a prick by declining his offer to "fix it at the next service", but i think ive done the right thing here.

Will let you all know how i went when i eventually get the car.... at the moment we're driving the car we traded in as a "loan car" LOL

Edited May 27, 2008 by neK

[Rolla Boy]

I wouldn't accept a scratch like that on a brand new car either but sometimes it happens, could've happened anywhere from Japan to when it was ready for you to pick up so no way of really telling who is to blame...

With the tinting, it's normal for it to have bubbles when it's just been done... Park the car in the sun for a few days and the bubbles will dissappear...

Some repairs like that are carried out on the first service, gives the customer the car when they wanted it and gives the dealer time to get parts ordered in if needed...

Let them respray the front quarter and when you go to pick it up, check it in the light for colour matching and see what you think about it then... You'll notice that on some colours the bumper bars will be different, see it on heaps of new cars, think it's just due to the different materials of panel (metal vs plastic)... They'll most likely blend the door, bonnet and bumper if needed...

[dannywss]

problem is, he ALREADY pick up the car, i believe 90% your dealer wont do any shxt for it anymore~ EVEN if he does anything, he will just splash the touchup paint on it..

About window tint, if there is a VERY TINY bubble straight after installing, it is reasonable.. if the job is done a few days ago, u are dead, the bubble will eventually get bigger and bigger, and walah~ diee~

[neK]

danny are you referring to me?

Cos the car is still at the dealership.

I have refused to accept delivery of the car until it is fixed.

[RME1]

danny are you referring to me?

Cos the car is still at the dealership.

I have refused to accept delivery of the car until it is fixed.

Good one. I woudln't accept the car purely on the scratch. Did you manage to catch the VIN number of the car? That way you can tell if they gave you 'another' one or the same one.

Toyota and other dealers just use a company such as 'Tint a Car' etc, and charge you $500 for a $200 job. The little bubbles will go out when the car is more exposed to the sun. More sun allows the tint to settle down closer to the window. Wouldn't be too worried about the small bubbles.

Best of luck with the dealer.

[CAP]

Look, I accepted my car with such a scratch on the drivers door on the promise it would be fixed and not noticeable.

Now have a look a my drivers door and look at the colour mismatch. Don't accept the car.

[Mopp]

yeah dont accept it till they fix it the way your happy, go above the dealership if need be, calling TMC direct gets faster results

[neK]

They initially told me they would have it ready for me by today, but i told them to take their time and not rush it this time. Ive said i can pick it up on Friday if that suits better.

If the repair is crap, ill contact Toyota head office and see what they can sort out, lucky i took the photo of the scratch beforehand as proof.

Edited May 28, 2008 by neK

[dannywss]

hey, sorry for misunderstanding... yea, lucky you didnt just drive the car away.. fuk them all, and remember when picking up again next time, check for OTHER possible scratches.. your agent might just add 1 for you~ like what happen to me..

[neK]

hey, sorry for misunderstanding... yea, lucky you didnt just drive the car away.. fuk them all, and remember when picking up again next time, check for OTHER possible scratches.. your agent might just add 1 for you~ like what happen to me..

You serious? They went a purposely scratched another part of the car? Thats not very bright of them. Though i will be careful, thanks for the heads up.

[dannywss]

hey, sorry for misunderstanding... yea, lucky you didnt just drive the car away.. fuk them all, and remember when picking up again next time, check for OTHER possible scratches.. your agent might just add 1 for you~ like what happen to me..

You serious? They went a purposely scratched another part of the car? Thats not very bright of them. Though i will be careful, thanks for the heads up.

there was a 1cm scratch and tiny dent at the bumper when pick up the car, so i say i want them fixed. Yes in 3 days, i went back, painted.. i walk around eyeing the car, nice, so i took it. Reaching home, i start looking UNDER the car.. mistake found! i should have looked at it with the dealer, the original aurion is NOT that LOW, how did they scratch the front lip(under), both sides??!! i went back, and drive all around the sales and service department, ended up finding a possible place that caused this.. he was definately driving carelessly and fast.. Fuk them.. and i cant do any shxt..

LUCKILY, monthssss later, some stupid old man reverse a LITTLE into my front lip, scratch the foglight part, i insist insurance replace the lip~ walah~ a new lip ^^

[marc2020]

Dont accept the car if you arent 100% happy with it, its your money and when pick it up it should be pristine as its brand new. My Aurion had a scratch done by the tinters that i didnt notice until I got home. Lucky the guys at LeMans were really good, I got it fixed when I brought it in for the first service.

[neK]

! i went back, and drive all around the sales and service department, ended up finding a possible place that caused this.. he was definately driving carelessly and fast.. Fuk them.. and i cant do any shxt..

What do you mean you couldnt do anything about it? Didnt they acknowledge the fault? Or were they say that you caused it on the way home?

Dont accept the car if you arent 100% happy with it, its your money and when pick it up it should be pristine as its brand new. My Aurion had a scratch done by the tinters that i didnt notice until I got home. Lucky the guys at LeMans were really good, I got it fixed when I brought it in for the first service.

Did the spray the whole panel? or just use touch up paint?

Edited May 29, 2008 by neK

[dannywss]

! i went back, and drive all around the sales and service department, ended up finding a possible place that caused this.. he was definately driving carelessly and fast.. Fuk them.. and i cant do any shxt..

What do you mean you couldnt do anything about it? Didnt they acknowledge the fault? Or were they say that you caused it on the way home?

When you get yourself in the car, drive it away, anything more there onwards, THAT'S your problem~~

(other than warranty issues of course)

[Dale]

Don't accept it until you are happy. You can demand a new car or go elsewhere if they can't fix it properly. Once you drive it away you're stuck with it. When I picked up my Aurion it had a paint defect in the rear spoiler. They agreed to replace the spoiler at it's 1st service. The new spoiler had a paint run in it and the colour didn't match no matter what light you put it under. Aswell as that they dented the boot removing the old spoiler and some how scratched one of the side skirts.

[marc2020]

! i went back, and drive all around the sales and service department, ended up finding a possible place that caused this.. he was definately driving carelessly and fast.. Fuk them.. and i cant do any shxt..

What do you mean you couldnt do anything about it? Didnt they acknowledge the fault? Or were they say that you caused it on the way home?

Dont accept the car if you arent 100% happy with it, its your money and when pick it up it should be pristine as its brand new. My Aurion had a scratch done by the tinters that i didnt notice until I got home. Lucky the guys at LeMans were really good, I got it fixed when I brought it in for the first service.

Did the spray the whole panel? or just use touch up paint?

They resprayed the whole door, I had to leave it with them for a few days though. But I got a courtesy car free of charge and they also fixed something else I had noticed but never realised was abnormal. So I was quite pleased with their service. The head of the servicing dept was kinda young so maybe he is in that enthuiastic stage of his job.

Edited May 29, 2008 by marc2020

[neK]

Finally got the car today... it should have been ready at 9am for pickup and it was. Problem is there were still defects on the car!

Seriously cant Toyota Pre Delivery do their job properly? I can also see why I had that problem to begin with, Pre-delivery there are just a bunch of lazy non caring knobs.

They resprayed the front guard where the scratch was, nice job, couldnt really tell it had been fixed.

Problem was, the knobs that did it didnt cover the bonnet property and i ended up with small paint specs on the bonnet.

Asked them to buff it out, they tried and conceded that they couldnt completely buff it out because it was paint specs.

Gave the keys back to the dealer told them to give me a new Yaris.

Obviously this was too hard to do as they already had it rego'd, so they opted to give me a new bonnet from another Yaris they had in stock (which incidentally was already sold to another person).

Questioned the manager on that, he replies back with "oh that customer isnt picking up the car to next week, so we got more time to fix it"..... seriously WTF? Is that how they do business? (I feel pretty sorry for the person whos expecting to get their brand new yaris next week. Lets hope they look at the bonnet carefully.)

Told them that i wanted to go down there and watch them do it, again Toyota werent particularly happy, but i insisted.

Anyways, new bonnet installed on my car (not particularly happy that it had to go down that path) colour matches about 99%, in dim places it look a bit off, but in the sunlight it looks like it matches 99%, so ive accepted it anyway (also not keen on the fact the the nuts that hold the bonnet are 100% new anymore, but thats minor).

Tints were also redone, just one small spec on the rear window, but i accepted that.

All in all, job wasnt really to my satisfaction (as by that point all i wanted was another Yaris instead), but at least the car has extremely minimal imperfections.

Would i go back to that dealer again? Probably not, $500 cheaper isnt worth the hassle.

Edited May 30, 2008 by neK

[da68za]

What dealer was this at , pm me if you don't want to publicly state who it was .

That treatment is not right , so what are they going to do swap the bonnet around till someone doesn't notice the crap on it .

[Marc]

It's a brand new car it should be perfect.

If the car has a scratch already it means the value is decreased if you decide to turn around tomorrow and sell it. If they fix it will they do it properly? Are the going to use touchup paint or will they replace or respray the whole pannel. It's a whole lot of hassle for such a small thing but I would not accept it in anything less then 'Showroom condition'