Dealer dropped my C5 off lift -- need advice

[Ed02]

Dave,
Here's the address for Corvette Magazine if your interested. The editors name is Jay Lamm:
CM Editorial Office
5675 Horton St., Suite C
Emeryville, CA 94608

email: jlamm@driversdoor.com

Keep the faith,
Ed

 

[TheBlueVette]

Dave,
Been trying to keep up but maybe I missed something. Did you authorize repairs to begin?

Yeah (I know, this may be a mistake)

Stewart's offered to buy the car for $17,300, and I authorized repairs. I figured that $17,300 may be the best price I can get for it.

However, I did put the car up on eBay, just in case someone wants to buy a repaired vette.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2482173557

- Dave

 

[Rob]

Yeah (I know, this may be a mistake)

Stewart's offered to buy the car for $17,300, and I authorized repairs. I figured that $17,300 may be the best price I can get for it.

However, I did put the car up on eBay, just in case someone wants to buy a repaired vette.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2482173557

- Dave

In my unprofessional opinion, take the $17,300 and walk.

 

[TheBlueVette]

:eyerole What the hell does the height of the lift have to do with anything? The fact of the matter is, the car fell off the lift. Regardless of whether or not it was technician error or equipment failure, THE CAR FELL OFF THE LIFT WHILE IT WAS UNDER THEIR CARE ON THEIR PROPERTY. As far as I'm concerned, if their equipment is/was showing major signs of wear, then it is/was their responsibility to regularly inspect, repair and/or replace their equipment before an incident like this occurred. However, that's obviously not the case here.

How Stewart Automotive handles their business and customers, is their business. Personally, if I owned a dealership, regardless of whether or not it was a Chevrolet dealership, a Ford dealership, or a Yugo dealership, if one of my customer's cars was in my shop being serviced and it fell off the lift, I would recognize the fact that this is a major accident and has great potential for casting a negative shadow on my dealership IF I do not correct the situation promptly and professionally.

I would do whatever I could to find a comparable replacement and if a comparable replacement could not be found within a reasonable period of time, then I would work with the customer in getting him/her the next best thing and swallow the costs.

I don't know....maybe I'm just some dumb automotive enthusiast who knows nothing about running a business and making my customers happy, but what needs to be done here, seems way too obvious to me.

It's unfortunate that some business owners will NEVER realize that "word of mouth" is a double-edged sword. It can be your greatest ally in making your business successful, and it can also become your greatest foe in sinking your business. It all depends upon how you, as a company and business owner, value your customers, and conduct your business transactions.

In summary, what I'm seeing here is a pile of bull****. What I'm not seeing here, are results.

I agree, Rob. I don't understand the way some people do business. GM said it was between me and the dealer. The dealer said it was between me and the insurance. I can't get over this attitude they are showing. Stewart's maybe saved a couple of thousand by not putting me in a replacement. Hope they get their money's worth.

- Dave

 

[thxbaby]

Dave

Over the last few days I have read all the post. A friend of mine had a similar accident with his Dodge truck. The dealer paid for all repairs, rental on a like vehicle, and diminish value. He got the diminished value by going to another dealer to buy a new truck and told them what he had to trade. After they figured a price he said by the way the truck has been repaired. The dealer that damaged his truck agreed to the diference. Dont accept the car untile it is repaired to your complete satisfaction.

I wish you the best. I wave at everybody that wave no matter what they are driving. Even Buicks!

My wife bought my Corvette for my 50th birthday, hence the name THXBABY.


Jim

 

[Last Ride]

Okay, so the dealership blamed the accident on the bad lift. Was the lift bad when they bought it? If not, it obviously wore down over time. How old is the lift? When was the last time they had the lift inspected? Are there any certifications or approved check-ups that are associated with the lift? You know, when you go into a place to have work done, they show off their certifications on the wall for all their great workers. Do such papers exist for the lift or it's operators? Point is, unless the lift was not very old, then it is STILL the responsibility of the dealership to have it inspected or take responsibility for failure. If their was something wrong with the lift, that is their problem, not yours.

 

[Edmond]

I personally think the dealership is lying to GM in terms of what they're doing. They telling GM one thing and doing another thing. I believe that GM knows not replacing the car would be a black eye and the dealership knows that. So the dealership is lying to GM telling them that, "We're going to take care of it to his satisfaction." Of course, "to his satisfaction" would be taken as replacing the car, not repairing it. So they're using tricky wording to deceive GM.

 

[TheBlueVette]

thxbaby

Dave

Over the last few days I have read all the post. A friend of mine had a similar accident with his Dodge truck. The dealer paid for all repairs, rental on a like vehicle, and diminish value. He got the diminished value by going to another dealer to buy a new truck and told them what he had to trade. After they figured a price he said by the way the truck has been repaired. The dealer that damaged his truck agreed to the diference. Dont accept the car untile it is repaired to your complete satisfaction.

I wish you the best. I wave at everybody that wave no matter what they are driving. Even Buicks!

My wife bought my Corvette for my 50th birthday, hence the name THXBABY.

Jim

I like your screen name!

Some dealers are more worried about customer satisfaction than others. That's a good idea about the diminished value.

- Dave

 

[wishIhadavette]

well you probabbly shot yourself in the foot by taking the dealership up on thier offer. thats just my opinion of course, but since they wrecked it and all you are getting is a possible $17,300 (which you know they will try and screw you on that too) or a "repaired good as new" (hopefully they don't decide to go cheap and use junkyard or second rate parts), that is one expensive oil change.

 

[Rain]

Sounds like the waiting game is over and that the ball is rolling.
Good luck -

btw, on the auction, explaing your Zero feedback will yeild ya more bids. Folks are too scared of rip off artists to bid on a high dollar item from someone with no feedback.


Just go back and edit your description. At least let then know that this is indeed your first ebay auction, provide a telephone number if they would like to verify that you exist and that the vehicle exists. Put up a link to at least the CAC forum thread re: this vette.
Anything re assure the bidder that this car is real and in your possesion.

Seems that a growing trend on ebay is the psychology style of description where the seller goes thru a long story of his personal life and how its related to this item for sale. (ie. the guy with his ex wife's wedding dress and this woman selling a sail boat her ex boy friend bought with her)

Anyhow. Keep us posted !!!!

btw, this guy got WORLD WIDE coverage as well as press in nearly every newspaper.
Also a morning interview on Good Morning America (or one of those national morning shows).
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=63851&item=4146756343


Sailboat girl:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...730&item=2480457906&sspagename=ADME:B:EF:US:1

Yeah (I know, this may be a mistake)

Stewart's offered to buy the car for $17,300, and I authorized repairs. I figured that $17,300 may be the best price I can get for it.

However, I did put the car up on eBay, just in case someone wants to buy a repaired vette.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2482173557

- Dave

 

[Piet]

Car worth $28,000 They will pay $17,500. I wonder how many car sales they will lose in order to "save" around $10,000.What does a 60 second commercial spot cost?

A shame that they are so bad at math.

 

[ImpalaPete]

Dave -
I have to tell you, you unfortunately have no options any longer. By authorizing the bodyshop to begin work, you have accepted the settlement offered by Stewart. You have agreed to these terms:

Have G&M bodyshop repair the car. There are no warranties here (unless they've offered one). Try to get in writing confirmation that they will cover problems caused by the accident that were not discovered or repaired in the first round. You can reasonably get that kind of coverage. They did promise "Good as new" and it is your responsibility to hold them to that.

Second: If you are dissatisfied with the repairs G&M makes to your vette, you have agreed to sell the car to Stewart for the $17,300 sum. Unfortunately, those are your options. You cannot renegotiate with Stewart, or their insurance company. By agreeing to let the bodyshop begin work on your car, you entered into a legal contract with Stewart, and the terms of that agreement cannot be changed unless Stewart agrees to it.

Fortunately, although a contract was entered into when Dave agreed to let the dealer begin the repairs, Dave still has an easy out. Stewart legally set a nearly impossibly high bar for themselves by stating that the car would be repaired as "good as new". Dave, before taking ownership of the car after Stewart says the repairs are complete, absolutely insist that the car be taken to a neutral third-party repair service (at your expense) to verify that the car is indeed "good as new". Have that third-party come pick up your car, on a flatbed truck if necessary, in order to avoid you driving it. If you drive the car, then Stewart can technically claim that you accepted ownership again. Make it very clear to Stewart that you absolutely refuse to accept the car until the third-party verifies it to be as "good as new". If Stewart refuses to comply, then Stewart is failing to perform on the contract, is subject to legal action, and creates a golden opportunity for you to get your insurance company involved again. Regardless, do not accept repairs that are nothing less than showroom condition, which is what a normal person would consider "good as new".

 

[ImpalaPete]

And remember that you are under no obligation to accept their offer for $17,300. You can be a total a-hole, if you choose, by insisting that Stewart follow through on their offer to repair your car good as new and that you refuse to accept anything less. In the end, Stewart may finally smarten up after two or three rounds of a third-party rejecting their repair work and may buy your car from you at fair market value. You still have a lot of bargaining room. Use it wisely!

 

[TooTall]

A thought occurs to me about Stewart Motors.

Could it be that the few $$$ involved with making this right for Dave is too much for thier bottom line?

Could it be that the money they would have to expend would be the straw that breaks the camels back financially?

Why else would a dealership risk all the bad local and at this point national bad PR for such a small amount?

Maybe the owner of Stewart Motors believes that "There's No Such Thing as Bad PR"

Maybe he thinks his dealership will become famous due to this incident.

I think people with common sense will see that to deal with a company that can sherk the responsibility for thier mistakes will steer clear of the soon to be infamous Stewart Motors. And that will effect his bottom line!

 

[SyntaxFeline]

Pete:

You're absolutely right in regards to the bar they've set. So far, it seems that during the first round of repairs, they are not going to repaint the entire car. Dave could demand a full repaint of the car, thereby driving the cost up for Stewart. I would also demand (if they're not replacing already) new suspension components front and rear - the struts, etc etc. Demand replacement of the motor and tranny mounts with new units... they DID say good as new!

You might even consider asking the mechanics this: Can you tell if this car has been in a major accident? If they answer yes, ask them to document why and take it back to G&M and say, "fix it."...

Dave - you can still win here, but you're going to have to be very difficult with them...

 

[TheBlueVette]

Sounds like the waiting game is over and that the ball is rolling.
Good luck -

btw, on the auction, explaing your Zero feedback will yeild ya more bids. Folks are too scared of rip off artists to bid on a high dollar item from someone with no feedback.


Just go back and edit your description. At least let then know that this is indeed your first ebay auction, provide a telephone number if they would like to verify that you exist and that the vehicle exists. Put up a link to at least the CAC forum thread re: this vette.
Anything re assure the bidder that this car is real and in your possesion.
...

Got it, Rain. I liked the auction of the wedding dress.

- Dave

 

[TheBlueVette]

Pete:

Dave - you can still win here, but you're going to have to be very difficult with them...

I have no problem being difficult, SyntaxFeline.

Thanks for joining in...

-Dave

 

[TheBlueVette]

...Dave, before taking ownership of the car after Stewart says the repairs are complete, absolutely insist that the car be taken to a neutral third-party repair service (at your expense) to verify that the car is indeed "good as new". Have that third-party come pick up your car, on a flatbed truck if necessary, in order to avoid you driving it. If you drive the car, then Stewart can technically claim that you accepted ownership again. Make it very clear to Stewart that you absolutely refuse to accept the car until the third-party verifies it to be as "good as new". If Stewart refuses to comply, then Stewart is failing to perform on the contract, is subject to legal action, and creates a golden opportunity for you to get your insurance company involved again. Regardless, do not accept repairs that are nothing less than showroom condition, which is what a normal person would consider "good as new".

I have the name of a RELIABLE vette shop in the area that I can have take a look. (Too bad I didn't know about them before the dumping of my C5, but it was one of the many things I learned about on this forum. )

- Dave

 

[Edmond]

I have no problem being difficult, SyntaxFeline.

Thanks for joining in...

-Dave

And while you're at it, have your wife rip into the dealership too! There's nothing funnier than watching a woman rip into the service manager! :L

 

[TheBlueVette]

And while you're at it, have your wife rip into the dealership too! There's nothing funnier than watching a woman rip into the service manager! :L

Edmond -

Actually, she did already. When she heard about the "accident" she left work and met me at the autobody shop where Stewart's towed the car. The first words out of her mouth to the manager of Stewart's were:

"THIS CAR WILL NEVER BE THE SAME!!!!!!!"madmadmad