Question: The car dealer damaged my new Nissan Titan truck while detailing it for delivery. Can you offer some advise?

July 19, 2005

Hi Tony

I just found your sight and am amazed at the wealth of good information. I am hoping you can offer some advice on my current situation.

I bought a new 05 Nissan Titan on 6-22-05. The deal was finalized late in the evening, and subsequently the truck was delivered after a very poor detail job. The sales manager noticed the detail job and offered to have the truck re-detailed at my convenience. This was completely acceptable to me.

I took the truck in about a week later to have them detail it again to remove some minor lot scratches and a couple of small stains from the interior, and also to repair or replace the windshield which had water stains so bad that the glass had actually been etched. They agreed to fix all of it since the manager himself had pointed out the majority of the items in question.

I picked the truck up over twelve hours later, and the windshield was still the same, and the entire truck had swirl marks from them buffing it that were so bad you could hardly tell what color it was.

After pointing all of this out to the manager who claimed he had no knowledge that it was not perfect, he agreed to have them do it again and replace the windshield and fix the swirl marks.

Well, I went back the next evening to pick it up and not only had the windshield not been replaced, but waxed, and the swirl marks were still present although a little better, now there was a very long and deep scratch and dent in the passenger side door.

Now it's 14 days later and my new truck is still there. It came out of the body shop today, but they are now waiting on a decal that has to be ordered, and is 4-5 days out.

My biggest concern now is that, according to the body shop manager, the only way they could fix the dent/scratch was by use of body filler (bondo). I was told before they fixed the door that they had come up with a way to repair it without the use of body filler.

Now I don't feel I should be paying the price of a new truck for a truck that now has body damaged (repaired by body filler) due to the fault of the dealership. They claim they cannot trade me into a new truck without more money out of my pocket, which I feel is unreasonable.

Any input or advice that you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Craig M.

P.S. I have spoken to the owner of the dealership who basically passed me off to the general manager, who has now passed me off to a sales manager.

Answer:

Hi Craig,

The first thing you should do is contact Nissan. There should be a customer service number in your owners manual. Explain to them how dissatisfied you are with what the dealer is doing and ask them to help you.

You should also keep pressure on the owner and the General Manager. Keep after them with phone calls and letters if necessary. Tell them you are going to report them to the Better Business Bureau, and then do so if necessary.

As far as the dent goes, tell them that you bought a new car and you will never be satisfied with a repaired door. They damaged it, so it's their responsibility.

Tell them you want a new car and you will settle for nothing less. Tell them you will get an attorney if necessary. Also threaten to file a complaint with the state's Attorney General's Office and do so if necessary.

Continue to drive them crazy until you get what you want. Believe me, they don't want you to do any of the things I mentioned above.

All my very best...

Tony Iorio