I need a Lawyer...

[bwmsn11]

Just took my camaro to a detail shop today to have him look over some swirl marks I was concerned with. While he was looking over my car he asked me if I had known my trunk had been repainted, I was shocked. He then pointed out a fish eye that I never noticed before and also showed me some over spray on the weather stripping at the top of the deck lid, which would only be possible if it was done after the car was assembled.

I was not happy to say the least when I got home so I looked over the car again and now I notice a crease right around the center of the deck lid running from top to the spoiler, is that normal or damage? (I tried to take a picture but it doesn’t show up).

My other question is, is there a law that requires dealers to notify customers about any previous damage on a vehicle prior to delivery?

[Fishdadddy]

Good Luck dude? I had very similar issues. Unless there is real damage, the only thing they will do is repair the vehicle at their expense. In other words unless you can prove it was wrecked. They get paint damage all the time during transport and prep. That is probably what happened to you. As it is what happened to me.

Let me know how it turns out for you?

[BozFour]

mine has the crease i think its normal.

[RoyalKev]

Fisheyes are normal on these cars (i know it sucks but what can we do) as for overspray on weather strips that rings another bell. I work at a body shop and we get brand new cars from dealers with less then 10-20 miles on them and we do work on them because of parking lot dings or test drive accidents and im pretty sure the dealer doesnt tell the buyer when they sell them a brand new car with 20 miles on it and the fender or bumper has been replaced.

[2010 SSRS]

good luck

[bwmsn11]

I'm not really sure how hard I plan on fighting this, but come Monday I will definitely be on the phone with my dealer and make sure they know that I know my car was damaged at one point. I guess I'm just disappointed and would have thought my dealer would have had the common courtesy to just give me a heads up about the work that was done, instead of trying to hide it.

[Nitrosniffer]

Not sure what the law is in the US, but I know that in Canada, a dealer is legally bound to declare any damage that exceeds a certain percentage of the car's value (I can't remember off the top of my head, but I think it's 20%+). Anything less than that stays off the record.
It sucks, but there is a pretty big business in cleaning up cars that have been dented/hit/scratched/etc. Have you seen most of the new car lots? They jam them in so tight, you can barely open the door. A car lot is the last place a new car should sit!

[ATLNole]

Dealer? Common courtesy?

[Camaro 007]

I discovered something similar on a 2004 Corvette I had. Brand new car and while cleaning one day I noticed under the front bumper that there were scrapes like someone ran it over a curb.

Brought it back to the dealer and was like 'what the heck' .

They even had a note of it on their 'internal' file but never mentioned it. They ended up taking the car, replacing the front bumper with a new one and repainting it.

It was a Silver Vette, and Silver almost NEVER matches so I was getting ready for a battle.

Went to pick the car up when they were done and it looked like new.

Also had a similar thing happen with a truck I bought. Black, and I could see the swirls clear as day in the sun after I had cleaned it.

It had been damaged during transport and 'touched up'. Needless to say, I wasn't happy about that either, but I don't think you'll get the dealer to do anything more than repair it if it's really noticeable.

Get it in as soon as possible though. You don't want them coming back saying it was something that you did.

[YouseeSS]

I am currently having paint warranty work done right now on my SIM SS. When I picked up my car it was late afternoon so it was tough to really inspect the paint. Sure enough, 6 days later I wash it and find 3 bubbles under the clear coat, 1 of which was pretty noticeable on the trunk. I must say, the paint on these cars does suck. The good news is, I used this opritunity to get stripes painted while they do the warranty work. The shop the dealer uses is giving me a deal on the stripes because the damaged paint was on the hood and the trunk. I too had over sray as well, only mine was white and it was inside the car as well. All being fixed under warranty.

[fielderLS3]

You only really have a legal case if there were a law requiring the dealer to disclose the damage on the car. If not, all you can do is complain to GM (probably a dead end), and remember (and make sure your friends know about) the dealer experience the next time you buy a car.

Who was the dealer?

[Camarofan69]

there was paint work done on my deck lid as well. i know for a fact it didnt happen at the dealer, because i was there when it came off the truck. im thinking it was case of somethign wasnt right off the line and they redid the trunk lid. didnt bother me though because i took the car in for stripes and rear black out anyway.

[Mr_Draco]

Originally Posted by bwmsn11

Just took my camaro to a detail shop today to have him look over some swirl marks I was concerned with. While he was looking over my car he asked me if I had known my trunk had been repainted, I was shocked. He then pointed out a fish eye that I never noticed before and also showed me some over spray on the weather stripping at the top of the deck lid, which would only be possible if it was done after the car was assembled.

I was not happy to say the least when I got home so I looked over the car again and now I notice a crease right around the center of the deck lid running from top to the spoiler, is that normal or damage? (I tried to take a picture but it doesn’t show up).

My other question is, is there a law that requires dealers to notify customers about any previous damage on a vehicle prior to delivery?

They are only required to notify you of SERIOUS damage. Cosmetic damage they are not required to notify you about.

Plus remember they can only notify you if they knew about it. It's not uncommon for the car to be damaged in transit and the shipping company fix the issue and not notify the dealer. If you try to take it to court or get a lawyer you will have to prove they knew about it.

[DarrenJ]

Different laws for different areas. Some states require damage disclosure if it goes over a specific dollar amount, say $500.00 If it was damaged & repaired, it could have been almost anything and could have included something falling on the decklid. If it was just the decklid, I wouldn't worry too much about it, but I would take it back to the dealership and have them look at the fisheye & see what they can do about fixing it to your satisfaction.