My car arrived today, but it's damaged...

[SuperDave]

My car was finally delivered to my dealership tonight, but when they got it they saw that one of the rear quarter panels was damaged. I posted a full UPDATE on my site:

http://superdave369.home.comcast.net/300C/300C.html

I am thoroughly disappointed!!

[fluxanimator]

What caused the damage? You must be horribly dissapointed. My condolences.

[SuperDave]

What caused the damage? You must be horribly dissapointed. My condolences.

All I know so far is that the damage was done while it was on a train. Not much to go on yet. I'll be updating my site with details as I get them.

Thank you for the sympathy!

Dave

[BlackMagnum]

I read your site. I would say don't take the car unless you're 100% sure you're going to be happy with it. That said, I'm sure they'll be able to fix it flawlessly - it's amazing what a good bodyshop can do. I also think you could find another deal somewhere, possibly in another state and have it shipped to you in no time, or go pick it up out-of-state, like I'm doing. You'll likely have to special ORDER another one, as you said, since you (like me) don't want a sunroof.

What caused the damage? You must be horribly dissapointed. My condolences.

All I know so far is that the damage was done while it was on a train. Not much to go on yet. I'll be updating my site with details as I get them.

Thank you for the sympathy!

Dave

[300C on 22's]

I AM SO SORRY SUPER DAVE! :( Good luck with everything! You have a great website, I can't tell you how many people I showed that video to :!:

[dodgeatheart]

Sorry to hear, Dave. I personally wouldn't take the car without a substantial discount and even then I don't think I would take it. I guess I'm a perfectionist when it comes to cars - I even tend to sell them if my car is in an accident.

[DMAG]

Oh man Dave! I'm so sorry to hear about that!

I'm sure you will do what's right for you. If it means getting another car, don't let a few weeks without a C get in the way. Tell the dealer since its a company goof up, that you should get first dibs on anything that comes INTO the lot. (Of course, will it be optioned exactly how you want it?)

Good luck Dave.

[TehKing]

You'd be amazed at how many new cars are damaged during transport and/or delivery, fixed and then sold without the new owner knowing a thing about it. I wish I could find the thread on another board detailing the BMW delivery center in California, where some brand new, but damaged during transport cars have had entire front or rear clips replaced, and no own would have ever guessed.

This is going to be an unpopular opinion, buy if it was my car, I wouldn't ask for a substantial discount, its not the dealer's fault the car was damaged, so why should they lose money over it? I would go directly to corporate and work something out with them.

[E8502]

Oh man, that's too very bad!!

Just make sure your dealer does everything possible to fix the car and/or get you a new one.

Tomorrow is the big night...I'm hoping I get to see mine...Then I'll decide if I take that car, or wait for the AWD.

[E55 KEV]

Dave, Sorry to read about your damaged 300C. You have a big decision to make and I don't envy you. I would not take the car without a huge discount. I would not pay over invoice for it. I have already seen discounts up to $2700 on 300C and that does not include the $1k Loyalty Rebate. I'd ask for the "reported" 'Chrysler Advantage' Daimler-Chrysler Employee discount of 4.5% below invoice.

[dodgeatheart]

This is going to be an unpopular opinion, buy if it was my car, I wouldn't ask for a substantial discount, its not the dealer's fault the car was damaged, so why should they lose money over it? I would go directly to corporate and work something out with them.

I do agree that it is not the dealership's fault, however, the dealership is the final sales representative. I would think that it would be up to the dealership to work a discount with corporate, not the purchaser. The dealership should be willing to do anything within reason to satisfy the customer.

Perhaps they can REPAIR the vehicle, discount it to invoice (plus $1000 loyalty) and then provide a lifetime warranty on the paint and body work, including rental vehicles in case your car needed to be repaired. A stipulation would be, however, fully replaced parts, NOT BONDO.

[go6car]

All that WAITING!!!!!!!!! ARGGGGGGG!!!! Hang in there!!!

[FStephenMasek]

I am sorry to see the damage. I suggest that you reject the car, as factory paint is better than any touch up.

If it makes you feel better (it probably won't), my brother, one sister and me ordered a 1979 Trans Am WS6 4-speed. It took four months to arrive due to problems with the new rear disc brake parts.

When it came, the hood decal was missing, the hood was the wrong shade of gold, the right front fender was yet another wrong shade of gold, the right door had a basket-ball sized dent, and it had the Chevy wheels!

[Babyboomer 1949]

Sorry you have too deal with this damage to your car. Hopefully one of the options allows you to reorder to your specifications or as mentioned in another reply REPAIR the vehicle to your satisfaction and provide a discount.

[SuperDave]

Thank you for the support and opinions. Misery certainly loves company...

I talked to my dealership quite a few times today and told them I was leaning towards a replacement for the damaged car. After many phone calls they were granted permission to ORDER another if that's what I demanded. They are a small dealership and only had one 300C allocated to them for the time being, so to get another took some effort. They were told that the replacement would take four to six weeks, but being a realist I believe it would be somewhere between two and three months. The car is being repaired now and is supposed to be ready by 04/30/2004.

I suggested a discount would certainly help sway me to accept the current car, but that was quickly shot down by my dealer's rep. They could easily paint it and sell it for MSRP or higher so they aren't terribly interested in discounting it.

For the record, I am getting my car through Chrysler's Friends and Family plan (1% under invoice) and am getting the $1,000.00 Loyalty Rebate. Add to that the fact that I am using another $1,000.00 of rebates that I have earned through using my Chrysler Credit Card over the past few years and a $75.00 Visa Gift card I earned by test driving a Pacifica a few months ago and that puts me *well* under invoice already. I suppose I can't complain too loudly about the price at this point...

So, my current thought process has me leasing the repaired car IF they make it impossible to see the damage. That will put the car in my hands at least a month before the replacement might be here. The fact that it is leased means that I don't have to worry about the resale value being degraded at all, so that helps too. I'd love to hear more opinions about this plan. Feel free to voice yours here on via Email.

Thanks for the support. You guys are great!

Dave