Dealer dropped my C5 off lift -- need advice

[TheBlueVette]

Hello everyone,

I have been reading this thread since it began. First I would like to say that I am very sympathetic towards what has happened to Dave. I can only imagine the anger I would feel if a dealership dropped my Corvette off of a lift during routine service.

Having said that, I do have to agree with what Rob said in an earlier post about being realistic about your expectations.
...

I hope I did not offend anyone with this post it was merely an attempt to keep everything in perspective.

Good luck Dave I hope everything works out for you in the end. God Bless.

Really nice post, yellow2k4. Thanks for joining in!

- Dave

 

[TheBlueVette]

Can someone please explain the rational behind suggesting that he should take the tradein value for his car. I still do not get it! The man takes in a perfectly good C-5 for service, has it dropped off a lift, has thousands of dollars of damage thru no fault of his own and he is expected to take $10,000 less than what he could possibly get at private sale and be happy!

The car would probably be a total if it were damaged at any other place than this dealership.

I still don't get it!! I promise I have tried to see the rational but I just can't so will some one please explain it for me or better yet draw pictures.

Trent81

It's not fair, it's not rational. It's just a way to save money at my expense. They do it because they can.

- Dave

 

[TheBlueVette]

Miissing funds?

Hey folks -- there's some indication that not all the donations to the Do What's Right fund arrived safely. I have responded to every paypal email that I've received. If you sent something and I haven't responded, please check the transaction number with paypal.

A million thanks to all my friends out there!

- Dave

 

[Vette-Pilot]

Can someone please explain the rational behind suggesting that he should take the tradein value for his car. I still do not get it! The man takes in a perfectly good C-5 for service, has it dropped off a lift, has thousands of dollars of damage thru no fault of his own and he is expected to take $10,000 less than what he could possibly get at private sale and be happy!

The car would probably be a total if it were damaged at any other place than this dealership.

I still don't get it!! I promise I have tried to see the rational but I just can't so will some one please explain it for me or better yet draw pictures.

Trent81

Hello Trent81,

To say that the car would be totaled if it were damaged anywhere else than this dealership is just speculation on your part. Obviously if the insurance adjuster felt is was not totaled now then there was not enough damage to total the car in any situation. The decision to total the vehicle is not based on the situtation of the incident but the amount of damage.

To suggest that Dave take what was offered to him is just a suggestion and is probably what I would do unless he wants to take the car after it is repaired and sell it to an individual. The only reason I did not suggest that Dave do this is that he stated in a previous post that he couldn't sell the car to an individual without first disclosing the accident to that person. Of course the final decision is Dave's and I was merely making a suggestion.

I agree with what you are saying Trent81 but if Dave drove his car to a Dealership to trade it in, before it was damaged, then they would have offered him the same thing that Stewart is offering him.

Another thing to consider is if Dave trades the car in to Stewart then he would have to pay less in taxes because you only pay taxes on the difference between the trade in and the new car. You would have to multiply $17,300 times whatever the sales tax is in California.

Trent81, we are merely making suggestions to Dave and trying to keep things in perspective. Not everyone has to agree and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. We are all making suggestions with Dave's best interest in mind and although not everyone agrees I am sure that Dave will make the decision that is best for him.

Good luck Dave

 

[Rain]

another ebay auction to base yours on. Folks seem to love a story and shesh, you got one!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=16122&item=2250747916

 

[Vette-Pilot]

Hmmm...... wonder how much he could get for the kid on Ebay? :L

 

[Rob]

Is the frame cracked like the pictures indicate the potential of?

 

[c5vetter]

sure looks cracked to me - but what the hell do I know, I'm just a typical Vette owner

 

[TheBlueVette]

Is the frame cracked like the pictures indicate the potential of?

Rob -

Even though I was very upset at the time, I think I would have noticed if there was a crack. I suspect that I just tagged it as a fluid leak at the time. However, since I was not entirely rational, I may have been mistaken.

I just got the Genesis frame analysis done, and faxed to a third party appraiser for review. It's funny -- the appraiser told me that if the frame is off by a couple of millimeters, the car could be totaled. The guy at the body shop called me and said "Great news! The frame is only off by a few millimeters."

I'm waiting to get the results of the frame analysis now.

- Dave

 

[MM-C5]

And NO, I'm not going to close the thread. So you can all stop emailing me.

 

[sothpaw]

It's not fair, it's not rational. It's just a way to save money at my expense. They do it because they can.

- Dave

Dave,

May I ask--what happened to your insurance company? Did they only offer a repair as well if you made the claim under Comp. (not a total)?

I had my vette overspray painted at work once when they were painting the building. I got satisfaction only by making a Comp. claim with MY insurance, who subjugated the claim with the defendant's ins. co. and paid for new paint on my car. It was an awful process though, car was in the shop for weeks. Ins. adjusters can be idiots, they are not above it--not necessarily with it.

 

[TheBlueVette]

Dave,

May I ask--what happened to your insurance company? Did they only offer a repair as well if you made the claim under Comp. (not a total)?

I had my vette overspray painted at work once when they were painting the building. I got satisfaction only by making a Comp. claim with MY insurance, who subjugated the claim with the defendant's ins. co. and paid for new paint on my car. It was an awful process though, car was in the shop for weeks. Ins. adjusters can be idiots, they are not above it--not necessarily with it.

Sothpaw -
I was lucky enough to run into an adjuster at my insurance company who was very honest with me. He explained that the best I could realistically hope for was to get the same $$$ from my insurance as from Stewart's, and in the worst case it could even be less because of some exclusions written into the policy. There seemed no gain to running it through my insurance - although I do have a claim on record, which I can re-open if the situation changes,

- Dave

 

[TheOriginalKimVette]

I just got the Genesis frame analysis done, and faxed to a third party appraiser for review. It's funny -- the appraiser told me that if the frame is off by a couple of millimeters, the car could be totaled. The guy at the body shop called me and said "Great news! The frame is only off by a few millimeters."

That the frame being bent AT ALL is good news?

 

[Edmond]

That the frame being bent AT ALL is good news?

No, it's not good news but considering the stance that Stewarts is taking, this is a lesser evil.

 

[TheBlueVette]

That the frame being bent AT ALL is good news?

And then he went on to say, very cheerfully, that it could have been made like that at the factory! I think I was supposed to feel good that the frame was only a little off, and that the frame being slightly out of true was normal. Hmmm. am I feeling good?

Now that they know it's off, they can bounce the car off the other side to straighten it.

I really wish the other appraiser would call, and let me know the effect of the frame being a few millimeters off on the cost of the repair. Am I totaled or not?

-Dave

 

[TheBlueVette]

No, it's not good news but considering the stance that Stewarts is taking, this is a lesser evil.

This is just "Minnie Me"

 

[KOPBET]

And then he went on to say, very cheerfully, that it could have been made like that at the factory! I think I was supposed to feel good that the frame was only a little off, and that the frame being slightly out of true was normal. Hmmm. am I feeling good?

Tell him the blankety blank blank frame was hydro-formed at the factory and there ain't no way in hell that this frame would be "just a few mm off" made under a few tons of pressure! And would GM accept this kind of QC? And just exactly how would it be off by a few millimeters? It was DROPPED! Duh, Mr. Technician.

 

[froggy47]

I'm tellin ya, get your ins. company to total it & move on. It"ll never be right & every day you drive it down the road some clunk/squeak/rattle will make you wonder if they fixed it right.

 

[TheBlueVette]

I'm tellin ya, get your ins. company to total it & move on. It"ll never be right & every day you drive it down the road some clunk/squeak/rattle will make you wonder if they fixed it right.

I'm working on it froggy47. I've another appraisal coming in.

-Dave

 

[froggy47]

Good luck to you either way, I don't mean to be totally neg. on the repair scenario. It's just how I would approach it if it happened to me. I'd get the most damn expensive estimate from the high end body shop that does Porsche/Mercedes/BMW & present it to my ins co. And insist - that's where I want it fixed! It'll total.

Then if you are absolutely attached to the car - buy it back from the ins. company & have your local/trusted/friendly repair/performance shop do the job! It'll probably run 1/2 the estimate price.

There is a lot of give & take in the collission repair business. My wife's cousin owned a shop in Laguna Beach. All his family drove was late model "totaled" cars (including a couple of Vettes) that they picked up cheap from insurance companies.

Of course it helps if you have a few auto connections/friends to go this route.