luther...

Resident in France: I recently slid on ice at approx 40Kmh (25 mph) in my MY 98 (15K kms, 9K miles) and ended up at 45 degrees sideways in a ditch. The car suffered damage along the passenger side, doors and panels had to be replaced. The most serious damage was to the door pillar as it was buckled inwards about an inch 4 - 5 inches (9-12 cm) down from the roof.
After 5 weeks in the local newly opened Subura garage (a branch of the garage where I bought the car), the car has been “repaired”, but has the following defects:
The pax door window will not close all the way leaving a half inch gap in the corner that you can push the tip of your index finger through. If you open the door the window will close fully and upon closing the door it beds in OK against the rubber.
The door pillar appears bent and has a deformity (small dimple effect) under the paint which is visible from certain angles.
The rear pax door sits about an 1/8th (0.5cm) of an inch out from the front pax door.
There are a couple of dings and scratches in the bodywork under the lacquer.
There are purple splotches (up to 2mm across like pen ink on blotting paper) under the paint-work
There’s the odd grain of sand under the paint-work.
They sprayed paint on the rubber joint along the roof and on the black plastic under the front wheel arch.
I complained regarding the above and they said they will take the car for another day and fix everything. But that I shouldn’t expect the car to be as new. Although of course they promised that it would every time I called to check on progress during its 5 week repair.
Some of the faults above are simply sloppy workmanship, but I think I am correct in saying that the car should be as new otherwise surely it would have been written off?
I believe there are a few French residents who post and would appreciate any advice about rights in France although I would appreciate comments from anyone on my assumption that when repaired a car should be like new."

Andrew M

Your car should look like new after repair and many of the comments that you make would suggest poor workmanship.

You should address your concerns with your insurers who should act on your behalf. The contract for repair will be with the insurers - the garage will be acting on their behalf.

If you have no joy from them it would be worth having an engineer assess the work. You need to assess if the repairer has completed the work to the best state considering the initial damage. Your car will only be written off if the cost of bringing it to pre-accident level exceeds the value of the car.

Hope that helps.

Andrew

luther...

Andrew,

Thanks for the tips! We blocked the insurance paying him and he has agreed to fix everything. We had an engineer log all the faults in a report.

If he doesn't get it right this time the insurance send an engineer who evaluates the work. The insurance said that often garages drag their heels when this happens, however we have cover for court costs and will sue him if he doesn't put it all right.

I'd hate to think what price I'd get if I tried to sell it in the state it's in. In France you are obliged to tell a prospective buyer that your car was in an accident.

Resale values are much lower here anyway and the cars are much less common I saw more Imprezas in one weekend in the UK than I have in France in the past six months.

Happy motoring.

adamson

FWIW I remember when my BMW (sorry! - I used the 'B' word) had to be repaired after a car park shunt by a Vauxhall Off-roader thing. I wasn't happy with the repeair and took it to another BMW dealer who said while it wasn't perfect it was within what he quoted as an acceptable repair.

I kicked up a big enough fuss with the original BMW dealer and they resolved all of the problems.

Personally, I think no matter what make/model of car it is, you need to fully inspect it and if it isn't up to scratch, DO NOT accept it back or pay for it. Tell them to fix the problems and you'll come back when they've had another go. They don't want the car sitting in their workshops anymore than you do. And they want your money.

Craig.

luther...

Thanks for the reply. The car is back in the garage and he says everything will be soted.

If not I'm ging to kick up such a fuss (with Subaru France, motor magazines etc) that he'll wish he'd never set eyes on me.

luther...

Good news! All is sorted. The moral of this tale. Do not accept what the dealer tells you get third party advice. We spent money on an engineers report which listed the faults and said that for the age and mileage the car should be repaired to a much higher standard. The report fee of £60 has saved us an estimated £3-4 K on the resale value.