Damaged during trucking from PDC!!

[astrokoala]

Hi all,

I need your advice, opinion and share with similar experiences if you had one.

I took PDC delivery in SC couple weeks ago and used Waggoners (BMW recommended) to truck my M3 back from SC to CA. Upon receiving the car in SF, they found dents and scratches on the rear quarter panel of the car. The dealership sheds responsibility saying since I took delivery in SC, all responsibility lies between me and Waggoners.

Waggoners offered to cover full repair cost and takes full responsibility of the damage. The repair was estimated to be ~$2200 and since it's on quarter panel, it'll need some body shop work + a repaint. I am obviously not happy and was even more infuriated that,

a) BMW took no responsibility in stepping up to take care of the situation. Yes, they might not be legally obligated but I RELIED on them for picking a trustworthy trucking company
b) they keep saying repaired, repainted part will be better than new...
c) they also kept saying after I took delivery, the car is mine... and yet when the car arrived at dealership, they did not inform me until 3-4 days later AFTER they took the car to a bodyshop for an repair estimate without my approval.

Would you guys ask for a replacement of a new car since repaint is never the same or discount on this car? What other channels can I escalate this to since the BMW dealership I have is not being very helpful at all. They said replacement is impossible for a damage as small as this... what do you think?

thanks.

[amglol]

Originally Posted by astrokoala

Hi all,

I need your advice, opinion and share with similar experiences if you had one.

I took PDC delivery in SC couple weeks ago and used Waggoners (BMW recommended) to truck my M3 back from SC to CA. Upon receiving the car in SF, they found dents and scratches on the rear quarter panel of the car. The dealership sheds responsibility saying since I took delivery in SC, all responsibility lies between me and Waggoners.

Waggoners offered to cover full repair cost and takes full responsibility of the damage. The repair was estimated to be ~$2200 and since it's on quarter panel, it'll need some body shop work + a repaint. I am obviously not happy and was even more infuriated that,

a) BMW took no responsibility in stepping up to take care of the situation. Yes, they might not be legally obligated but I RELIED on them for picking a trustworthy trucking company
b) they keep saying repaired, repainted part will be better than new...
c) they also kept saying after I took delivery, the car is mine... and yet when the car arrived at dealership, they did not inform me until 3-4 days later AFTER they took the car to a bodyshop for an repair estimate without my approval.

Would you guys ask for a replacement of a new car since repaint is never the same or discount on this car? What other channels can I escalate this to since the BMW dealership I have is not being very helpful at all. They said replacement is impossible for a damage as small as this... what do you think?

thanks.

They didn't make you hire that shipping company... they suggested, and you chose them.

This is on you.

[haze gray]

Concur with Amglol, sorry.

[///M Ryder]

Unfortunately, the above post are correct and a new car is out of the question. Waggoners is the transport company that a lot of BMW dealers use. I know the ones in Houston do. I know it must hurt but take them up on their offer to pay for repairs and then drive it like you stole it ..............Phil

[xrayos]

such a shame. did you even look up waggoners before you hired them?

[FlashTwoSix]

lets not be over dramatic shall we? it is silly to say asked for a replacement

[JohnnyRoaster]

You should consider yourself lucky that the trucking company is taking responsibility. It does seem shady your dealer did not notify you as soon as the car hit the lot. Get it fixed and enjoy the car.

[astrokoala]

hi all,

thanks for the reply.

There was not an option to ship to my house- it had to be a dealership to dealership delivery (maybe they need to put the BMW of XX sticker on)...

The damage was caused by trucking- they admitted it as such. Repair cost they would cover, no problem- my point is that this type of repair, no matter how good the worksmanship is, will never be perfect. An appraiser would be able to tell the difference. There ARE tangible differences of a repainted part-I would not be able to seal/wax over that repainted section for 30 days, for example.

Maybe I wasn't clear.... I am not asking BMW to buy back the car, I'm asking Waggoners or BMW-Waggoners.

Yes, I agree with you that BMW technically is not responsible, but they own the relationship to the trucking company (it's the one they use internally North America for trucking) and therefore they would have better leverage to negotiate than my one-off deal. They have nothing to lose to negotiate on my behalf and yet refused to do so and seemingly was very defensive as if I pushed further they would be liable, somehow.

If you buy stuff from Amazon and the package got stolen in your apartment after it was "delivered" by UPS, amazon does not ask you to deal with your apartment manager or UPS- they ship you a new package, no question asked. Or if you damaged an iPhone, Apple does not brush you off asking you to take it to a third party repair shop claiming it will be better than new. This is what I expect from a premium brand like BMW. They should work with the trucking company and buy the car back or offer a discount and giving me, the customer a impeccable experience.

[shaq diesel]

Just a couple comments...

a) BMW took no responsibility in stepping up to take care of the situation. Yes, they might not be legally obligated but I RELIED on them for picking a trustworthy trucking company

- If you already paid for the vehicle and took delivery in SC, the vehicle is yours and out of BMW ownership. Hence, anything that happens to it is not technically their responsibility. What they did do was given you advise on a good shipping company to use, one in which they had good experience with.

b) they keep saying repaired, repainted part will be better than new...

- That's just random jargon they always say. If you get a good body shop, it will look like it came straight of the factory floor. But you have to find a good shop...

c) they also kept saying after I took delivery, the car is mine... and yet when the car arrived at dealership, they did not inform me until 3-4 days later AFTER they took the car to a bodyshop for an repair estimate without my approval.

- What I find confusing here is why they didn't deliver it to your house? Maybe it's their policy to only ship to dealerships. Did you ask them if there was an extra charge to do residential delivery? The fact the dealer went and got a quote might have been them going above and beyond the call of duty here. It's fishy why they didn't tell you when the car was delivered immediately (or at least for Waggoner's to do so), especially since its not "there" car anymore. But the fact they came forward with a repair plan (that you wouldn't have to cover anything for) shows they didn't just try to brush it under the rug (which could of easily happened).

To be honest, you have a pretty decent situation on your hands as far as this goes. I understand your frustration but whenever you ship anything, there is no absolutely guarantee nothing will happen. THis is why you have to make sure the company is licensed/bonded and has the financial backing to fix any mistakes they make.

If you didn't do PDC and it was going straight from the Prep Center to the dealer and this happened, they'd be offering you the same deal. The only difference is since you wouldn't have paid for it you could just walk away (in which case the dealer would have fixed the damage and sold it as new to someone else...).

[mdosu]

sorry it happens, but dealer is right, it's a 3rd party service they suggested so they're directly responsible. But since they offered to fix it, it's all good right?

Btw, this happens all the time, if you took delivery at your dealership, they wouldn't have told you if your car was damaged during shipping and repaired at the "prep center". So no biggie, read this:

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...aint+overspray

[H2C]

Sorry man, sux that this happened.

Once delivery is taken at the PC, the car is officially yours and the sales transaction is complete. So I can see why the dealership is saying they have no responsibility after you take delivery at PC.

What I don't understand is why you had to deliver the car to the dealership and not straight to your house? Perhaps there's more to the story?

[wmo168]

The fact is that you took delivery in PCD in SC and the shipping from SC to CA is the responsibility of you, therefore you couldn't blame BMW or your dealer. The only place you can blame is the trucking company.

My questions is did you personally release the car to have it ship at PCD or PCD arrange and did everything for you. My understanding is that PCD would never arrange to ship customer car after PCD delivery and it requires you to make your own arrangement and be in person to sign off the car and release to the trucking company.

In this case it is the trucking company need to pay for the repair.

Car is just a car, just have it fix right and move on. Many times Trucking company would not admit fault and you have to get your own insurance to fix it. You are fine in this case.

[Nine]

I would have driven to SF, but that is just me...

Anyway, it's no biggie - be easy, you are just stressing yourself out more than necessary. **** happens, but you've got a ****ing M3, be happy.

[Gesler]

Its unfortunate that the car was damaged but it is only cosmetic. As posted above, dealers are not required by BMW to inform the customer about repair of minor damage during transportation prior to delivery. This is not a serious issue like frame or engine damage to worry about the car not being perfect.

[astrokoala]

Thanks for all of your posts and opinions.

All the previous posters, I think we can all agree on one thing. This is not BMW's fault and trucking company's. I am sane and sober enough to realize that. From how to get "what i think is fair" point of view, I would have a tough position to negotiate with trucking directly as they see me as a one-off customer who would not be willing to go legal- so they would only pay for the repair and not any depreciation nor any prorated car payment during the repair- not to mention the extra risk I have to assume during the repair. What I was asking is for BMW NA to step in since they own the relationship with Waggoners, to help me as part of their customer relations experience.

This is something a Amazon or Apple would have done as I said before. And this is very different situation from if I drove off, got an accident, and blame BMW... that's just ridiculous. BMW vouched for this company and while that doesn't come in any legal guarantee, morally it is as if my friend asked me to recommend something and I told him my uncle is good and yet my uncle injured the guy- first thing I would do is talk to my uncle- no biggie. I would NOT say to him go deal with my uncle directly since it's your own decision etc... it would be true and within my rights, but that's not how one treat another, much less a reputable business.

And just a bit of news to all. I have came to a resolution with BMW NA exec center's help. They (Waggoners/BMW) are agree to pay for damage, + full refund of trucking + $$ compensation + option to new car if the repair is not satisfactory. Kudos to BMW.

I think most of you probably think i'm being petty and anal... but you have to ask for what you think it's fair and asking BMW to make some curtesy phone call on my behalf to Waggoners (swing their big stick) is not too much to ask from a new M3 customer.

Thanks all, enjoy your bimmers.

[astrokoala]

moral of the story:

local dealers, regardless of brand, are all the from the same "not my fault, go f-yourself" crops.

gotta take it up to the adults at the Exec center.

[IMG]

Im sorry to heat that about ur new car .Can you post pics of the damage plz ?

[HeartMD]

well, you are right ethically/morally BMW should hook you up, but thats not real life bud!
Legally they have no responsiblity to do repair anything that happened cosmetically to your car once you took delivery. At least youll get it fixed by the shippers with no out of pocket cost. Im sorry for your situation man, and wish you the best of luck getting this issue resolved.
Joe

[tsubasa650]

I think your Amazon and Apple analogy doesn't work in this case. If your car was damaged on route from Germany, BMW would obviously take care of the damages or replace your car.
What your situation is you picked up an iPhone at an Apple Store in SC. You want it shipped to CA so Apple recommends FedEx. Your package arrives in CA damaged. Apple will not give you a new phone, instead you will have to go through FedEx to get reimbursed.

[astrokoala]

Originally Posted by tsubasa650

I think your Amazon and Apple analogy doesn't work in this case. If your car was damaged on route from Germany, BMW would obviously take care of the damages or replace your car.
What your situation is you picked up an iPhone at an Apple Store in SC. You want it shipped to CA so Apple recommends FedEx. Your package arrives in CA damaged. Apple will not give you a new phone, instead you will have to go through FedEx to get reimbursed.

ah, so that's the difference, man. In your BMW-Germany case, it's obvious... that's not customer satisfaction.. they are legally obligated so any company would do it. What differentiates premium brands vs. crappy brands is in situations where they are NOT legally obligated. Also, if you read my last couple posts, I am not asking BMW to be financially responsible- simply to help and represent on my behalf since they own the relationship with trucking.

And Apple and Amazon WOULD step in and make an effort to resolve the situation- as I said before, Amazon would replace the whole package and Apple in many instances would replace a new iphone also. Apple would also replace a new iPhone even after delivery in cases where there's clear case of user abuse (drop the phone in the toilet)- technically it voids the warranty but they would do it in the name of "customer satisfaction". I do know this because I have couple package stolen and replaced by Amazon, no questions asked, and I also have friends who has gotten new iphones because of damages that goes above and beyond standard warranty by just going to Apple store- no escalations. And there are many news cases where someone writes letter to Apple or Apple has gotten wind of some customer not being treated right at some store and stepped in, gave them the new merchandise with no fuss. Is there a mystery why these two are the two most successful companies and why there's a religion of Apple-fans...?

anyhow, appears to me that BMW Exec Center is also in that league. their dealership people, not so much... but in hindsight I think I expected too much service from a car SALESMAN after a transaction has been made.

[astrokoala]

Originally Posted by HeartMD

well, you are right ethically/morally BMW should hook you up, but thats not real life bud!
Legally they have no responsiblity to do repair anything that happened cosmetically to your car once you took delivery. At least youll get it fixed by the shippers with no out of pocket cost. Im sorry for your situation man, and wish you the best of luck getting this issue resolved.
Joe

Thanks!

yeah, got resolved already- read my last post.

well, real life is you have to negotiate for what you think is fair- and in my case I did get what I think is fair. Counting on dealership to do the right thing was a wrong first move- should have just escalated directly... but at the time just didn't know the right stakeholders.

[Dan Halen]

Originally Posted by astrokoala

hi all,

my point is that this type of repair, no matter how good the worksmanship is, will never be perfect. An appraiser would be able to tell the difference. There ARE tangible differences of a repainted part-I would not be able to seal/wax over that repainted section for 30 days, for example.

.

have you seen the orange peel on your car? i'm sure a good body shop can make the repair look better than factory.

i have to agree with the others- luckily the damage is minor and they offered to cover it without hassle. that in itself has to be a bit of relief. enjoy your new car.