I need everyone’s advice. I took my 2005 E320CDI in for routine service at HBL in Tyson’s Corner, VA. The rep called me at work and said they were progressing on the car but they caused has a minor scrape on the door trim and would send it to the body shop for repair. I told the rep that I wanted to see the car before they did anything. When I got to HBL I looked at the car and saw that the entire rear passenger lower door was creased. The service manager said they could do the dent less repair repaint it and it would look good as new. I asked to see the body shop manager. He said they would need to take the entire door apart and work the metal (BONDO!) repaint, etc. He new nothing about nanopaint technology. My car had not one door ding and now the dealer has significantly devalued my car. They are willing to "fix it so no one will know" I will know after I have the car 10years and it starts to rust and the clear coat comes off or if I sell the car and the buyer wants to know why a door is painted. What should I do? Get a lawyer, call my insurance company, demand it fixed with additional cash or get it fixed and get max trade on a cost 07 BLUTECH. My car has all the options AC /Drive Dynamic seats and many more that you can’t get now or have been decontented. Advice Please! Thanks

Ouch!

In addition to insisting that the dealer fix the car properly, you have a claim for loss of value. This is typically equal to the difference between the value of the vehicle before the damage and the value after. I have calculated that in the past by going to a site like Kelly's Blue Book and seeing where the car is valued (at retail, private party sale or trade value) at an excellent or good rating, and then at a fair or poor rating. To assert your claim, take the biggest differences (excellent and poor usually) and assert that difference is your loss of value. You can back up your number with hard evidence of the value difference rather than pick a number from thin air. Use that as a staring point, and then negotiate if you need to. The dealer may want to make things right and not argue with you on your number or whether you're entitled to it, but I wouldn't hold your breath.

I doubt that you have a large claim, or that the car will be affected in value to any serious degree long term. It is something you will have to disclose, and will have some affect on resale, hence the loss of value claim. If the dealer or its insurer says there is no such thing, they are wrong. It may take your lawyer to convince them otherwise, but asserting it is worth a shot.

If you go through your insurance company, you will have the deductible to deal with, as well as having a claim on your record. even though it will be listed as a non-chargeable claim (not your fault), it will be there for several years for an underwriter to see. I don't suggest you go there, especially since the dealer is going to repair the damage.

Good luck!

Lou

My suggestion:

First and foremost, document the damage - take pictures.

Have the dealership repair it, insist that the repair is documented in detail on their invoice and it is specifically noted that they caused it. Next, get to the GM and demand carte blanche for future maintenance/repairs/parts/whatever or a cash settlement equal to 10% of the National Automobile Dealer’ Association (NADA) sale value for your vehicle (best case scenario) or 10% to 25% of the total retail repair cost (worst case scenario).

As a benchmark you can reference Diminished Value (DV). For instance if you’re in an accident and the other driver is at fault you’re entitled to DV. Your vehicle was repaired however, when you go to sell and a potential buyer asks if it’s ever been repaired (bodywork) when you say yes they’re going to think twice about buying. Simply, your vehicle is now worth less because of this incident.

Georgia is known for the Mabry decision that forces all insurance companies to pay claimants for DV. The Mabry court required State Farm to develop an appropriate methodology and procedure to determine DV. The method the parties agreed to use in the settlement of that lawsuit has come to be known as the 17c formula and most insurers have adopted this formula. The formula presumes that the NADA sale value for the vehicle will be an appropriate initial vehicle value and that 10% of that NADA value will represent the maximum decrease in value suffered.

Sorry to hear about your car. It's upseting when service people are so careless that they cause damage to your car. You need to trust these people to maintain your car properly but if they cause harm the small period of time it is in their care how can you trust them to take care of actual matters inside the car? To my horror I once witnessed a service technician drag a dirty air hose right across the front hood of my car leaving a deep scratch all the way across (different dealership). At least HBL seems to be willing to work with you. I had to get the police involved before they ressolved the matter!

Keep us informed of how this turns out. I actually live pretty close to that dealership and I know several friends and colleagues who take their cars in for servicing at HBL at Tyson's. I think they use the HBL "delivery service" for service appointments where they come and pick up the car leaving a loaner. If they don't handle this in a reasonable way I'd be glad to have some of their customers call the service department on your behalf and request that HBL handle this matter in a reasonable way.

Well, accidents do happen, that's just life. But that doesn't mean that the company should not do it's best to fix their error. I think if it were my car, I would take the car back and take it to an independent, reputable body shop and get a detailed quote on what they would have to do to fix it. I would then return to the dealership and demand that they either fix the car using the same process, or they pay you to have the car fixed.

I would also contact your insurance agent and talk with them about the problem. It's possible that your insurance company might be able to help you without it affecting your insurance rate, and you should not have to pay a deductible. Worth a call though.

You might suggest that they replace the door. That should reduce the value difference of the repaired door.

Konig and Rev, you both amaze me me with your insight and contribution to this forum. Everytime I read about another members issue, I look forward to what you guys have to say about it. Thanks all.

Ask them to replace the door skin (if possible) or the entire door. If they bawk, tell them there was no bondo or dent/crease when you brought it in.

Also, they better be good at matching the paint...perfectly! Since they are using their own auto body shop, I'd be leary that they try to pull a fast one to cut corners - i.e., inexpensive job to get by. Get an independent 3rd party estimate. You may want them to pay the 3rd party.

No such thing as a replacement door skin from M-B. They will only sell the entire door.

I got broadsided by a teenager and had to have a rear door replaced.

I would also opt for the new door option. Hopefully you can get some additional $$$ for diminished value.

Insist on a new door and some sort of reasonable compensation.

Might even be worth making them swap a door from a vehicle of the same colour from their used car lot. That way you get the factory finish. There's likely to be less of a colour mismatch going down this route compared to a body shop paint job of just the door plus some blow-in of surrounding panels.

I've done this before with a trunk lid which the dealer damaged on a 1 week old car. It was a perfect match.

I agree that a new is in order. Be insistant, but not nasty. My guess is that you will use another dealer from now on. HBL has a habit of screwing thinks up.