Morning guys, could do with a little advice on exactly how to deal with this.

On Weds morning my car went into the local garage to have a rounded nut cut from the bottom of the turbo and subsequently the down pipe changed. The job took a long time and the car was collected by my father c.5pm (I was at work and couldn’t make it before the garage closed).

I took a quick spin to make sure the job was done proper like, all was fine, took the car home and tucked it away in the garage. Last night I popped out the garage to collect something, under the florescent strip lighting there was an obvious vertical crease in the front drivers wing of the car, about 2inchs long and right on the top of the wing.

Now, I know for a fact the dent was not there before the car went to the garage, one thing I was proud of with this car was the unbelievable condition, the car was previously spotless :(

I have contacted the garage this morning and explained the above, they have asked me to pop the car down to them so they can take a look and ask the mechanic about it...... my bro will take the car to them in a couple of hours. I made a point on commenting on the condition of the car prior to them working on it. I do know the garage well; I know a couple of their mechanics personally and get discounted rates etc.

Where do I stand with this? Obviously I’m pissed off that the car has been damaged in their possession and I do not want to be footing the repair bill. I do not want to fall out with them; I was very calm and polite when talking to the manager.

Cheers

Paul

It's your word against theirs at the end of the day :(
If you want to keep a good relationship with the garage I'd ask them to fix it, if they object offer a 50/50, if they still refuse what more can you do?

I think its down to the honesty of the garage.. you didn't spot it b4 or straight after you dropped the car off - so difficult to prove..... :o

Jza

If they dented it, they must repair it to your satisfaction. Make sure no one in your household did it, then ask the Garage to sort it out. Don't try to get them to admit causing the damage (all sorts of legal complications admiting liability), just calmly ask them to do the repair. They probably will as a good name takes ages to build but can be lost in an instant.

If they refuse, then you can start to apply some pressure. Type up the details an print a few out, then threaten to hand them out to customers.

Yeah I know :(

....thats pretty much down to the fact I didnt personaly drop the car off or collect it, I only saw the car in daylight for a few mins before I put it in the garage. Noticed the dent the following evening (last night).

Yeah I shall just play it cool for now, its pretty much down to them to make the next move.

Will find out what they say in a couple of hours.

POC,

Print off some of the pictures you have of the car and see if you can make out if the panels are perfect.. This may help slightly, however it still doesnt prove they did it..

Dan:D

they obviously know that i'm still waiting on that cheque from you and aren't happy about it!:D:p;)

Hi Paul

I think your idea to stay cool is best. If you have such a good relationship with them, its probably best to preserve it. If they are good blokes they will believe you and sort the problem out.

Les

Dent Magician or Dent Master will sort this out for around £80.
Friend of mine had a dent taken out of her boot.

There policy is £80 for any amount of dents within the same panel!

Get them to look at the car and get a quote, then go back to the garage in question and come to arrangement. Even if you get them to pay 3/4, it's only going to cost you £20.
Best keep in with the garage if its that good and you have friends there!

i've just had a new front bumper fitted and they got the colour wrong big time, i didn't really notice to a week later. Went back to them and they were happy to sort it out. Kept polite and professional about the whole thing and it got sorted.

GOOD LUCK!

POC,

Due to the fact that you never dropped off nor collected the car personally, coupled with the fact that the car wasn't inspected before it left their premises, I don't think you have a hope mate. Sorry.

Unless their integrity and decency are such that they accept responsibility on the grounds of friendship and repair it.

I must admit, if I were a proprieter of a garage and a car went out, with no objections being raised at that time by the person collecting, and the next day, or a few days late I get a call saying, "you damaged my car", I know what I would say.

Question... Could it have happened at any time after it left the garage? ie, in the hands of your dad or in the street?

If the answer is yes, that element of doubt is enough to scupper your chances in a legal battle. (not that it will come to that, but just hypothetically)

Good luck mate!

have experienced this problem myself and it really depends on how you handle the situation. I came across as being very sincere and told them that other scratches or dents around the car were already there, but the one I was talking about was not and that I was no way I trying to pull a fast one on them since I was not complaining about the other marks. at the end the garage accepted and carried out the repair for me to my joy.

good luck dude!

POC

Sorry to hear about this, Ive been in your car, and I was gobsmacked at the conditon it was in, and that was before it was washed

To those who hadnt seen it, this car looked like it had just rolled off the production line, both inside & out

Also didnt realise that was you talking to Chris @ Trax, otherwise I would have said hello :)

Good Luck

Steve

i'll second that. saw it the other night and couldn't believe how good condition it was in, probably as good as mine and mine has just been re-sprayed! :eek:

if you do end up having to get the dent sorted yourself, let me know if you want a place to get it done. the guy who did my car would do it for you cheap.

UPDATE

I had the car dropped back at the garage this afternoon for them to take a look at the damage.

They agreed it looked like it had been done while they were working on the car, said that due to me being a good customer they would take my word that it was not damaged previous to my taking it to them.

They have arranged for dentmaster to remove the dent at 830 tomorrow morning at their cost.

Thanks for all the advice, looks like I have a decent result.

Good news mate.

nice one...being a good customer always helps ;)

Sounds familiar...

Always have these issues at main dealers partcularly Audi... you give them the car and it comes back with several dents - and they couldnt give a monkies....

Only solution if they dont sort out is to slag them off to as many people as possible -pretty much what was stated above

For me its a company car - if it was my Scoob I would storm in and give them an ear bashing at least to get it off my chest.....

Good result :)

Which garage was it, maybe they deserve some credit now for honesty.

Hows the dent looking?

Worth being reasonable about it then. Glad it is all ok now Paul.

Les