Went to pick my brand new Fabia sport up week before last, only to find damage on the bumper. Not only was it damaged but it had been touched up with a touch up pen! Garage were very appologetic and said they would get it sorted. Already annoyed about the way the deal was put together I reluctantly agreed. Now picked up the car and the repair job isn't good at all. They say they'll do some remedial work or swop the bumper off another new car. I know that cars get damaged in the factory and we never know, but it has ruined my car buying experience. What should I do? Any suggestions would be appeciated.:confused:

Edited 14 July, 200817 yr by Steve R

If it were me, I wouldn't have signed any paperwork or driven the car away until it was perfect.

Insist on swaping a new bumper or a satisfactory discount (or some accessories to make it up)...

same thing happened with my dads fabia 3. took the white film off the boot lid to see if the badge was there, had a right ding out of it. looked like someone had hit it with a snooker cue. the dealer took ages to get it sorted. on a brand new car its a real kick in the nads. feel for you mate

If I remember right, you have given the dealer a chance to sort out the problem, they have failed to sort it out satisfactorily, so you can reject the car and ask for a replacement brand new one.I'd check first if I was you, but I think I'm correct.

i agree with everything mentioned above, let the dealer have the chance to sort it out and then ask for discount etc for the bad experience and time wasting they have caused you. remind them you are not happy with the experience and at the moment will not be recommending them.

Thanks for the responses, ringing the dealer up tonight. I have also emailed Skoda UK to see what their line is on this. Let you know how it turns out. Thanks again.

You can reject the car and not drive it away if as a new car it is anything but perfect.

I wouldn't accept the keys to a damaged car.

Been reading up. The Sale of Goods acts and relevant cases. Says that now I have accepted the car they have 3 chances to fix it properly or they have to give me a full refund. This needs to happen within a few weeks to a month to fulfil the "reasonable time" element. Now I know why the salesman said wash it a few times and if your are still not happy in a month or so we will sort it out. He obviously new the time clause about rejecting the car. This makes me more angry. They were deperate to get me to take the car in the first place. They obviously new my rights, wish I had.

Thanks for the responses again. I am going to speak to the manager tonight. Let you know what happens and the name of the dealer, to avoid if the outcome isn't good.

You have to kick up because most of us are too easily fobbed off or after a few weeks just put up with it. To resolve this you will only get this one chance take it back and get a temporary replacement leave the car there and telephon e twice a day until it is repaired. As the guys say if it is not right reject it. Write up a time log of all what has happened and particularly the first failure to rectify the damage.

You have to kick up because most of us are too easily fobbed off or after a few weeks just put up with it. To resolve this you will only get this one chance take it back and get a temporary replacement leave the car there and telephon e twice a day until it is repaired. As the guys say if it is not right reject it. Write up a time log of all what has happened and particularly the first failure to rectify the damage.

Cheers for the response

Went in yesterday and they are swoping the bumper from another new sport. Ringing me friday to say when. I have written a letter to the brand manager outlining what they have agreed to do and the fact that I know that they have three chances to make the car "of satisfactory condition" for a new vehicle or it can be rejected. Hope the legal jargon I wrote will have an impact. I was annoyed that they expected me to take the vehicle in the first place when they knew I wasn't happy, and said that I could bring it back. I'll see what happens. Hope they don't damage the car swoping the bumper!

Steve; Correct action taken. If you get the chance also try and find out which car that your damaged part is being put on. If you can ID this it is another issue to take up when you reach a conclusion as it is surely not best practise methinks. It may indicate that the damage to your vehicle originated at the dealerships otherwise the vehicle would not have been accepted in the first place.

Great to hear!

It may indicate that the damage to your vehicle originated at the dealership otherwise the vehicle would not have been accepted in the first place.

Maybe not at the dealer just not very well inspected when unloaded... They tend to look at them just enough to know there's no major damage...

So they have made YOU happy, and hope that some unwise punter will get his new car with your damaged bumper on it, and not notice

What is the name of this dealer??

National

Internet is bust so I haven't replied until now.

Have started the ball rolling with Skoda UK as I am not happy with the fact that someone else will get my resprayed (badly) bumper. Waiting to get mine fixed first. Have just found some residual bits of tape backing by the roof and bubbles in the paint along the top line of the roof. Is Skoda quality dipped considerable or is this another botched repair by the dealer on a new car? I will ask them as legally they are bound to tell me if I ask.

Send it back, now you can certainly claim it isn't up to the standard you would expect from a new car.

Cars are often damaged in transport. Trees and minor bumps being the most common culprits. When the vehicles are offloaded into the compound, the Compound Guy checks them out and if he finds any damage, gets the transport driver to sign a slip to say he agrees. This means the transport company have to pay for the damage. If the car was damaged at the docks the transport company should have done a similar deal. Quite often vigilant sales staff go down during off loading and check over the cars themselves. I was lucky enough to work with a great Compound Guy who never missed anything.

Car now sorted. New bumper on. still wasn't plain sailing as they had only done one of the jobs promised when I went to pick it up, so had to leave the car with them for a further 2 days. There is still some bubbles in the paint on the roof chanel but couldn't be rectified without respraying the roof. They must have happened in the factory.

I wanted cruise control originally and was told it was easy to retrofit and not dear so still went ahead and got the car without. I now find it costs over £360 pounds to retrofit!!!!!!!!!!!!! I put it to the brand manager that they should be doing it for free after all of the trouble I have had. He said he's do me a deal when they are quieter later in the year. Not very impressed. this is a summary of events........................................

Changed the deal -to save themselves tax - increased the deposit by £260

Vehicle not ready when promised - cost me extra £50 on previous loan

New vehicle damaged

They had already registered it in my name before I went to pick it up

Rejected car

Meeting with brand manager and owner- free service and extr £50 to cover extra loan

Bumper supposively repaired- polish wore off and repair was terrible

New bumper promised 3 week wait- they ordered a new car to take it off

Bumper swopped but other job not done - extra 2 day wait and wasted journey

car now acceptable - still bubbles in paint in the roof chanel.

Cruise retrofit quoted £360 will do a deal when quiet -waiting for it in writing.

If I had rejected the car, as it was already in my name they would have had a second hand car to sell and lost hundreds of pounds and a deal is all they will now offer on the cruise control.

Mitchells skoda- Chester was the dealer. Have spent £43000 in 3 years there and would have bought the new VRS in a few years. Will take my service and cheaper cruise control but won't be back.

Thanks for all the responses. I am finally pleased with the car!

wow sounds like youve had a naff one there. but you meintion they already reg'd it into your name before you got there? thats standard practise so the tax and all paperwork is done before you get there. the worry is if the reg system failed when you came to pick your car up (trust me this has happened quite often!) then you wouldnt be able to pick your car up till the system was restored. now clearly in your case it might have changed things, but in the majority of cases reg'ing it before you arrive saves time for you and the dealer.

when you have 10 cars turn up on delivery and the delivery driver is constantly trying to get you to book the cars in faster, plus with the road dirt and protective films on the cars its impossible to find out if every car has a mark on it from the word go. take even the day before when they clean the car, the valeters could have made the mark and coloured it in, so even the sales guy could be inocent of trying to fob you off (just giving the other side of it) it does sound like they should have kicked the bodyshop up the rear after you found the repair was not upto scratch.

sadly as a dealer if a problem like this arrises all you can do is try and rectifiy it. but you have to rely on other departments to do their jobs to a high standard and quickly too. sometimes they dont pull put all the stops and this means the customer has a bad time getting things done. i hope they get the chance to redeem themselves at some point and i hope you get your car sorted and start enjoying it im sure its all up from here!

Edited 25 August, 200817 yr by DGW
Redundant quote deleted.

Steve, you can get the cruise control retro fitted for a lot less than the dealer is charging. You could try sending a PM to lummox, he may know someone local to you who can carry out the work. The parts used are the same ones the dealer would have used, just with less labour charges.

A surprising number of cars are damaged in transit, and repaired before the first owner collects them.

Mrs Stigs Ferbi had a small dink in the door, but we didn't see it till we were having a look at later in the day. We called the dealer and a repair was done and now you would not have known the dent was there