Dealer scratches my four day old car

[ptfire]

I took the car in for the engine mount recall and I get the car back with a scratch by the drivers door handle. It appears the mechanic opened the door with tools in his hand. The service manager has taken responsability for the dealership. They now want to try to fix it by filling the scratch with a paint pen and then wet sanding the area. If that doesn't work they may have to repaint the entire door. I am just worried that if they paint the entire door who is to say it will match.

[mazda lover]

I took the car in for the engine mount recall and I get the car back with a scratch by the drivers door handle. It appears the mechanic opened the door with tools in his hand. The service manager has taken responsability for the dealership. They now want to try to fix it by filling the scratch with a paint pen and then wet sanding the area. If that doesn't work they may have to repaint the entire door. I am just worried that if they paint the entire door who is to say it will match.


what year is your car. what engine mount recall for what year, is the car 4 days old to you when you bought it, is it a 2007?

[ptfire]

Mazdaspeed 3, 2007 Cosmic Blue, New.

[MPS]

what dealer ???

and the pen trick will never work

you may wan't to push for a new door from one of there stock cars
and let them live with that scratched door
repaint the door will drop the cars value rite away
shame 4 days old

post a pic

[MPS]

and why they never did the mount before PDI ???
WTF!!! its a major safety recall
that car is not to leave the lot with out that mount

[ptfire]

The dealer I bought the car from didn't do the recall as part of the PDI even though I had reminded them to do it on two occasions. So I took the car to Oakville Mazda and they are the ones who scratched the car.
Do you guys think that they will be able to match the colour if they repaint the door? I plan on keeping this car for a long time ( I bought the 7 year bumper to bumper warranty).

[MPS]

it will never be the same
unless they repaint the whole side to color match
and in that case ur car just lost its value
can you post a pic please
i wan't to see how bad it is

[ptfire]

I will post a picture tomorrow. The scratch is slightly bigger than my thumb nail and pretty much thesame shape. My nail gets stuck in the scratch so it is fairly deep.

[MPS]

well unless there going to give you a new door
let it be
the pen trick will cover it up but you will always see it and know its there

i don't recomend painting the door
trust me you will get stone chips on ur hood and bumper worst then that
scrape on ur door that you will have to live with

i have a real nice chip on my door 3 dots that i got from a stone =(

[ptfire]

I am going to try to get something out of the dealer for scracthing the car and not replacing two tie wraps when they did the engine mount recall. Perhaps they will mount my winter tires on my 17" wheels. They had quoted me $135.00 to mount the tires. I am also going to speak to the owner, let him/her know what I thought of the service I recieved.

[CoolColombian]

Oakville Mazda again!

Search the forum for Oakville Mazda and you will find a lot more tragic stories with their involment.

Good luck.

[WhiteSpeed3]

is it just the handle cuz then they can just replace the handle

prima mazda did mine when it was rattling and they come as a painted part from the factory and no colour difference at all

[McGuyver_3]

from what i heard door handles are liek 20-30$ or something like that just tell them to replace the door handle no paint difference will be noticeable

[McGuyver_3]

I am going to try to get something out of the dealer for scracthing the car and not replacing two tie wraps when they did the engine mount recall. Perhaps they will mount my winter tires on my 17" wheels. They had quoted me $135.00 to mount the tires. I am also going to speak to the owner, let him/her know what I thought of the service I recieved.

dont expect to much man its ONLY a door handle. The car may be 4 days old but w/e let it go ask for a new door handle and call it a day

[Flagrum_3]

is it just the handle cuz then they can just replace the handle

prima mazda did mine when it was rattling and they come as a painted part from the factory and no colour difference at all

I was thinking the same thing, if its just the handle make them replace it, end of story.


_3


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[ptfire]

The scratch is below the door handle not on the door handle itself.

[Unoriginalusername]

wow that is frustrating

[ptfire]

I am going to speak with the owner of the dealership, hopefully that will get me somewhere.
The frustrating part is that this is my first new car since 1989, I put padding on the sides of my garage, had a lot of the 3M clear mask put on the car and as usual I park far away from other cars, all in order to keep my car from being scratched or dinged. You would think that you are doing something good for the car by taking it to the dealer for service.

[b3GS]

how do I know if they fixed the engine mount problem before PDI?

[Tokic_o]

how do I know if they fixed the engine mount problem before PDI?

I'm pretty sure its only for the 07 Speed 3 so no worries

[Unoriginalusername]

did they fix it for you yet?

[ptfire]

The dealer didn't have the correct paint in stock. They should have it by Wednesday.

[Wild Weasel]

Pics?

[Magitronic]

if it isnt a deep scratch then wetsanding it will remove it no problem.

[ptfire]

Here are a couple of poor pictures.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/ptfire/100_1028.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/ptfire/100_1029.jpg

[Wild Weasel]

Hard to tell from those pics, but if you run water over it does it pretty much disappear? I can't tell if it's through the clear coat or not. Is it down to the primer?

[Cardinal Fang]

Man that sucks.

[KenYork]

wet sanding will remove a layer of your clearcoat. Like mentioned before, it is best to have the whole panel replaced. Touch up doesn't really fix the problem and re-painting takes away resale value. Even though you're planning on keeping the car for a long time, you never know when you actually decide to trade it in.

[Wild Weasel]

No way in hell anyone would ever replace the door over a scratch. It just wouldn't happen.

Sanding a little clear coat and re-coating isn't that big a deal, especially on the door. It's not like you get stone chips on the door on a regular basis. If it's not through the colour, then there's no issues with matching. It'll be fine.

[Cardinal Fang]

I'm not sure how repainting the door would reduce the value of the car. If this was a "classic" or "vintage" car I would see this as a problem.

[ptfire]

Hopefully the dealer will have the correct paint pen tomorrow. It's almost been a week and they still don't have the paint, I hope they are trying to jerk me around.

[FLIPDADY]

No way in hell anyone would ever replace the door over a scratch. It just wouldn't happen.

When chickens fly.:chuckle

[Wild Weasel]

Hopefully the dealer will have the correct paint pen tomorrow. It's almost been a week and they still don't have the paint, I hope they are trying to jerk me around.

Tell them you know where you can get a brand new one today for $50 and that you want your car fixed PRONTO!

Then we'll talk... ;)

It's a rare colour so they don't stock them. I had to wait a week or two for mine when I bought the car.

[ptfire]

So the dealer made the scratch less noticeable. I kind of feel stuck with no other choice but to live with it the way it is. It is hardly visible but after so many phone calls and trips back and forth to the dealer they want to charge me $120 to mount my snows on wheels and balance them. The service manager said he could knock it down to around $60, but I think they could at least do it for free considering they devalued my car by more than that.

[RedRaptor]

I feel for you ptfire. You sound like a guy that likes to take care of his stuff. For the guys in here who think its "no big deal", you only think that way because its not your new MS3 door that is scratched. If your dealership scratched your 4 day old car, you'll be upset and anal about it as well.

[HEVNSNT]

I used to work at the Toyota factory in Cambridge in the paint department.

There are often (very often) blemishes, bubbling, dust, etc. defects in a freshly painted body. These defects are repaired at the factory, and I don't mean entire repaint.

A competent body/paint shop should be able to repair that scratch.

[ptfire]

Here is how the fix turned out. Do you think I should keep on them to make it better?
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/ptfire/100_1039.jpg

[royroy]

is a lot better then the pics b4..
but still 4 days -.- feel really bad for u =/

wait till it rust... then i think u can really make the dealer get u a new door..

[dentinger]

hey, at least your not b3gs.
he got rear ended 3 hours after picking up his car. im pretty sure he needed a new hatch door

and i get pissed off whenever i see a new scratch.
try waxing over the scratch. mine become less noticeable after i waxed (using turtle wax ice)

[Cardinal Fang]

Here is how the fix turned out. Do you think I should keep on them to make it better?

I wouldn't accept it. It is more than reasonable to have them eliminate the scratch completely. Reducing it is NOT the same thing. The fact that they are willing to reduce the cost of mounting and balancing your snow tires is only compensation and doesn't address the problem you have.

The decision in the end is up to you. If it were me they wouldn't get my business by way of the tires and I would be after them tooth and nail to properly repair the scratch. Ask the service dept guy if he would have it on his car.

[Flagrum_3]

Like Fang says..., also it looks alot better than before but its still noticeable.A good detailer could buff that out completely....so I'd say keep pushing, afterall it was ''they'' who caused it.

Good luck mang,


_3


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[Jeff-TheBiz]

The pictures are helpful but hard to tell how big it is..

'bout the size of a quarter? Yikes.

[SonicBoy]

Hard to tell but that only looks like clear coat. If so, then repairs should match back OK after reapplication of clear.

[ptfire]

I've have basically given up on them repairing the scratch. I am afraid they might make it worst. Monday I am going to see the owner of the dealership. It probably won't get me anywhere but at least I will have the satisfaction of voiceing my displeasure and why I will not be taking my car there again for service.

[ptfire]

I just got back from speaking with the owner of the dealership. He seemed to be very interested in hearing what took place with my car. Even though I was willing to let what was left of the scratch alone, he insists that he can have it fixed to look 100% without repainting the entire door. I also showed him the missing clips, he was concerned that nothing was said to me about the scratch and the missing clips when the car was returned to me, and is going to find out who worked on my car to find out why nothing was mentioned.
He wanted to have someone pick up my car from home, (so as not to inconvenience me) and return it once the repairs had been done. I told him I appreciated his concern but I would rather drive the car to the dealership myself. Hopefully everything will be taken care of .

[Cardinal Fang]

Glad to hear of it. Keep at them and make sure they fix it to your satisfaction.

[hotgo]

Sorry to hear about your accident... hopefully they fix it properly. While it won't be your last scratch, it's nice to keep it perfect for as long as you can.

[sunset_orange]

shit.. that is very frustrating, i'd be really pissed at the dealer too. you gave them money to service your car, and they mess up.

[ptfire]

So after talking with the President of Oakville Mazda he wants to offer me installation of an engine block heater for $90 labour and we would split the cost of the part. After considering this I replied to himn with this email:

RE: Damage to my car

Jason, after further consideration I am not satisfied with splitting the cost of the block heater. I strongly feel that this should be something that your dealership should cover entirely. All my previous cars have been maintained solely by the dealer. I brought my car to your dealership in hopes of starting a good and long relationship ( I purchased a 7 year extended warranty). At this time we are off on the wrong foot. I feel the cost of installing a block heater on my my car is negligible considering the amount of money that I would have spent at your dealership over the many years of ownership of my new Mazdaspeed3. I have priced the block heater and installation at another Mazda dealership which just happens to be close enough to my house that they will shuttle me back and forth. The part is $33.63 and installation is $135.00. You want me to pay $89.95 for one hour labour and half the cost of the part which you would probably charge me more than $33.63. So at the end of all this it has cost you next to nothing for the negligence on the part of your dealership. At this time I would get more satisfaction attaching a note to the customer survey,which I just received from Mazda Canada, explaining to them what has transpired than to save a few dollars having the block heater installed at your dealership.
As a matter of principle I refuse to spend my money at a dealership that I feel has treated me unfairly.

I look forward to your immediate response.



Sincerly,



PT

[ptfire]

The President responded with the following email:
Peter,
I understand your concern, and I’m sorry you feel that you have changed your mind about the solution to your concern. Although the scratch on your car could have come from any place, I thought that the goodwill gesture we made was more than reasonable. I have committed to replacing the 2 plastic pushpins for the air cleaner box, and will do so for you. Please let me know if you would like me to mail them to you.

It is unfortunate that we cannot come to an agreement and I sincerely hope that the Mazda dealership nearby meets your expectations.

All the best with your Mazdaspeed 3,
Jason
--

President
Oakville Mazda

[Videcak]

The President responded with the following email:
Peter,
I understand your concern, and I’m sorry you feel that you have changed your mind about the solution to your concern. Although the scratch on your car could have come from any place, I thought that the goodwill gesture we made was more than reasonable. I have committed to replacing the 2 plastic pushpins for the air cleaner box, and will do so for you. Please let me know if you would like me to mail them to you.

It is unfortunate that we cannot come to an agreement and I sincerely hope that the Mazda dealership nearby meets your expectations.

All the best with your Mazdaspeed 3,
Jason
--

President
Oakville Mazda

I wouldn't give up regarding this. Contact Mazda Canada and inform them of this. Trust me, they will hound the dealership to make it right and fair. I've already had to contact Mazda Canada once, and had immediate results. Don't stop until you, the customer, is satisfied. Get them to prove that they didn't scratch the door. Likely they have camera's in the work area.