I picked up Giulia on Jan. 20th this year, and got into an accident 3.5hrs off the lot. She's not looked right since, and I've just got to vent about it for a minute behind the latest turn in this silly story.
The first frustration came in calling the dealer about the repair. They initially told me they couldn't do it here in town, and that I had to go to another facility they own about 40 minutes away. I went there, and they had no idea what kind of car it was and actually turned me away, advising an indie body shop on the other side of that town somewhere.
It struck me as odd, and since the car is a lease, I wanted them to fix it so that they couldn't give me any grief about it not being done right. So I drove back to the home dealer, stopped in, and gave my sales manager some grief, like WTF is going on. He made some calls and got shuffled around too; he called the area AR rep and they tried to send me to a dealer just over an hour away. I protested that, and he said he'd keep working on it. The next day he called to say his body shop could do it after all.
Next, I waited 5 weeks for the parts to arrive.
Then I had to wait another week to get scheduled in.
When the shop told me it was done 2 weeks later, I went directly to get it, looked it over in the bright sunlight briefly, and went home. Clouds rolled in when I got home, and in the diffuse light I could plainly see a line defining the repaired and repainted metal area! So I took it back. I told them there was too much black in it; they said they check into the color and would "fog it in" so it'd look better.
A week and half later, last night, I get the call to come pick it up, but at the dealer, not the body shop. Weird, but I went directly. It was late evening, dark, rainy and cold. The car was outside, so there wasn't much to inspect, so I took it home.
This morning, I went about my work, and walking back to the car, I just about freaked to see that they'd basically just spread that too-black red further afield, along the side of the car! It looks bruised in places. Cripes! So I call the shop, the guy I'd been dealing with bounced me to a Cadillac dealer down the street. "Call Dom, I've sent him all the info, and he can straighten it out." Huh? Oh, it's the same dealer? Ok, whatever, I just need it done right.
I immediately call my sales guy to ask to who the service manager is, because this crap is ridiculous, but before I got off the call, another comes through, and it's Cadillac Dom. He tells me the Chrysler dealer body shop is closing down because they didn't have the facilities and tools needed, and that he's got the info, will get a paint reader thing, and do it right. No worries, it seems, and he's sharp, clearly knows his biz. He basically talked me down in the best way, by reassuring me he was competent.
So now I'm waiting, sitting here by the window, trying not to look at the car, because it makes me feel so frustrated. It's just about 10 weeks post accident, and I've just not been able to properly enjoy my car since I picked it up. I've never seen it, during my ownership, in the daylight as it should be. That's...incredibly sad! I can do it, though, and see this through until it's fixed properly and normal. It's going to be normal again, right???
The first frustration came in calling the dealer about the repair. They initially told me they couldn't do it here in town, and that I had to go to another facility they own about 40 minutes away. I went there, and they had no idea what kind of car it was and actually turned me away, advising an indie body shop on the other side of that town somewhere.
It struck me as odd, and since the car is a lease, I wanted them to fix it so that they couldn't give me any grief about it not being done right. So I drove back to the home dealer, stopped in, and gave my sales manager some grief, like WTF is going on. He made some calls and got shuffled around too; he called the area AR rep and they tried to send me to a dealer just over an hour away. I protested that, and he said he'd keep working on it. The next day he called to say his body shop could do it after all.
Next, I waited 5 weeks for the parts to arrive.
Then I had to wait another week to get scheduled in.
When the shop told me it was done 2 weeks later, I went directly to get it, looked it over in the bright sunlight briefly, and went home. Clouds rolled in when I got home, and in the diffuse light I could plainly see a line defining the repaired and repainted metal area! So I took it back. I told them there was too much black in it; they said they check into the color and would "fog it in" so it'd look better.
A week and half later, last night, I get the call to come pick it up, but at the dealer, not the body shop. Weird, but I went directly. It was late evening, dark, rainy and cold. The car was outside, so there wasn't much to inspect, so I took it home.
This morning, I went about my work, and walking back to the car, I just about freaked to see that they'd basically just spread that too-black red further afield, along the side of the car! It looks bruised in places. Cripes! So I call the shop, the guy I'd been dealing with bounced me to a Cadillac dealer down the street. "Call Dom, I've sent him all the info, and he can straighten it out." Huh? Oh, it's the same dealer? Ok, whatever, I just need it done right.
I immediately call my sales guy to ask to who the service manager is, because this crap is ridiculous, but before I got off the call, another comes through, and it's Cadillac Dom. He tells me the Chrysler dealer body shop is closing down because they didn't have the facilities and tools needed, and that he's got the info, will get a paint reader thing, and do it right. No worries, it seems, and he's sharp, clearly knows his biz. He basically talked me down in the best way, by reassuring me he was competent.
So now I'm waiting, sitting here by the window, trying not to look at the car, because it makes me feel so frustrated. It's just about 10 weeks post accident, and I've just not been able to properly enjoy my car since I picked it up. I've never seen it, during my ownership, in the daylight as it should be. That's...incredibly sad! I can do it, though, and see this through until it's fixed properly and normal. It's going to be normal again, right???
