Damaged on Delivery

[JSC81]

I bought a Camaro 1SS about 3 weeks ago from a dealer in Atlanta. It was the best dealership as far as prices and they honored the USAA 750$ off. I went to dealer and told them what color and options I wanted and they found the car I wanted from another dealer. I bought and paid for the car and went home which is 2 hours south. A week later the dealer calls and says the car will be delivered so I’m all excited I couldn't wait. Well car shows up around 3 hours later and of course I inspect the car upon delivery.... to find.. Both passenger side rims were curbed. There was a golf ball scratch on the driver side front bumper just below the fog lamp. A scratch on the trunk, door etc.. Dirty interior as if someone had greasy hands touching the head liner. On top of all of this before saying I wanted grey interior I asked what color the carpet would be. I was told black which is what I wanted and well you guessed it the carpet was GREY!. Also found that the car had came from where I locally lived and was driven up to Atlanta and back down to me which put the odometer at roughly 460 miles..... Which made me furious to know that the car I just bought was sitting less than 10 minutes from where I live. I had to wait over a week to get delivered with excess mileage and damage.. wow

I immediately called the dealer and explained the damages I had found and they asked for pictures which I took and emailed shortly after. The following weekend I drove back to Atlanta and they had a wheel repairman try and fix the rims. While driving up I noticed a wind noise around 70mph sounds its coming from under the car/transmission possibly a/c air intake. I get to Atlanta and the wheel repair guy fixed the rims (not really) they buffed out all but the rear scratch and scratch under the fog lamp. Ok I can understand you can barely see it unless you look really hard. BUT I know it’s there.. Manager said ill put some touch up paint on order??? Should I really accept these pathetic offers? I thought the rims looked good I was briefed not to wash the wheels or spray anything on them for at least a week.

As for the other repairs they wanted me to drop the car off for a week or so since they had no idea where to begin with the noise @70. I had the car for 8 days before I decided to wash it and clean the rims and noticed that they were not as shiny as before and were rough you could hear the difference when rubbing a towel over them. So I called again and told them I wanted new rims and they pretty much were like... "Well just bring it in and I kept getting I’ll have to speak with my boss about whether you get new rims or not" So I hung up and thought about it for a few seconds... Called back and went the hell off!! I basically told them they aren’t listening to me and to let me make myself clear. New rims or my wife will be following me up there in another vehicle and you can keep this pos. Well took about an hour of waiting for him to call back and they were ready to do as I had asked. I just got done dropping it off for all the final finishes and supposed new rims they are going to put on and the dent repair/noise. Hopefully everything is done and fixed as promised and I don’t have to go up there and find they tried to repair the rims again and think I won’t notice.. God forbid I don’t know what I'll do at that point.

I appreciate all of those who chose to read my wall of text rant. My questions are. What would you have done differently and what would you
advise someone in my situation? It just seems the dealer is doing the least amount possible to try and please me. It's getting past the point of me being nice about it any longer.

Thanks!

[Jason@JacFab]

I would have denied delivery of the car, and followed it back up to the dealer and demanded my money back, or a different car be found.

I played the "We'll get it delivered" game before, bought an 07 WRX STi sight unseen, the dealer assured me "It is sweet!"... Car arrived a week later, and certainly was NOT sweet. I'll never buy a car sight unseen again.

[Sully]

car with that many miles is deff NOT new anymore.. i could do ALOT of damage to a car that isnt mine or im not paying for.

i would find out what the used value of that car is now and get more of a rebate as well...

when i bought my 09 challenger it had around 500 miles on it already and i had nothing but problems, which is why im now driving a camaro

if i were in your shoes i would have never accepted that car between the miles and damage obviously some one who didnt care for or know how to drive the car was in it... i'd either have one ordered or have them find one with no miles/damage and flatbeded to you, not driven.

[JSC81]

If I get new wheels, small dent repaired and noise are taken care of I'll be happy I suppose. I just really feel I could get some sort of better compensation out of this. I'm to easy going to really press forward and when I do.. I explode and just seems to be nothing other than cursing and I fail to get my true intent across.. lol

[paul2010]

Never would I accept that many miles!! Those are very critical breakin miles that were put on there by obviously someone who doesnt appretiate the car due to the fact that they hit the curb with it. They probably drove it like they had no sense. I would call the 1-800 number to GM(skip the dealer) and express your concerns and demand a new car with the normal 10 miles on it.

[caddycruiser]

This happens, rare, but happens with dealer trades from wherever. Shame you didn't find it yourself near where you lived instead of them having to get it, but that falls on you for not looking locally, not the dealer--they're there to sell you a car, regardless.

Damage shouldn't happen, however. Period, especially like what you did get. I purchased a new Avalanche from a dealer in Atlanta, GA 2 months ago with 15 miles on it at the dealer and, part of the deal, a manager from the dealer drove it 750 miles to me in Delaware and then drove my G8 back. So much for knowing how it was broken in, but no worries with who was driving it, and everything from warranty to otherwise started at 750 miles as we filled in when doing the paperwork here at delivery. Vehicles almost always have test drive miles, or if they were swapped at some point, the miles from driving dealer to dealer. Happens. Still new, and everything started at the mileage you get it with when it comes to warranty.

Curbed wheels and a dent=oh, no...hope you can get it fixed and have no other issues going forward, period. Shame the dealer you did buy from didn't check it out more thoroughly and/or deny delivery themselves upon receiving it like that if they did (which happens, also, if need be), but alas. Best of luck in straightening it out.

[JSC81]

Originally Posted by caddycruiser

Shame you didn't find it yourself near where you lived instead of them having to get it, but that falls on you for not looking locally, not the dealer--they're there to sell you a car, regardless.

I probably should have looked locally.:( I basically was on USAA online and I clicked a link that said "Great deals on GM and Mercedes Benz." Once I built a few camaro's it listed all the dealerships that honor the 750 off and final prices. The dealer they got it from wasnt listed so I went to the dealer that was offering the best price.

[chutoyy]

Dealer might be able to get away with that if they sold it as USED.... But NOT new; shouldn't have taken delivery...

[Thrillz]

Let me get this right. You pay new price for a car with 500 miles,get the wrong interior you wanted and its full of damage including the rims? Sorry man i would have told them to stick it if thats what i received thats a no brainer imo. Get your money back and move on.

[Joe in T.O.]

Price wins every time, doesn't matter how the customer gets treated......

[CamaroScotty]

Lesson here for everyone taking a car off the lot - INSPECT IT CAREFULLY!

As an FYI, a Camaro can have up to 6000 miles and be considered "new" as the case of a dealer demo - since any incentives can still be applied.

For Camaro's located for you - ask "How many miles will it have when I get it?" ....A car can be traded many times between several dealers before actually being sold.

And my final lesson, one I've said since 2008, buy from someone you trust.

[Avalnch]

Don't accept this car. I refused delivery because of much more minor concerns. You will be feeling ripped off and unfullfilled for the rest of your car ownership.

I mean, grey vs black interior is a big thing. Just think about it, every time you go to sit in your car, you'll be thinking "Man, black would be so much nicer".

The reason your present dealer had the best price and would honor your USAA rebate is probably because he knew this car existed and basically forced it upon you. It's basically a USED CAR. Dealers know what's out there and you're expected to trust them to "do the right thing". Unfortunately, some dealers are not looking out for their customer's best interest.

Bring that (in your words) "POS" back. There are still lots of cars out there and if you're willing to wait...the 2011.

[JSC81]

Honestly the color of the carpet doesnt bother me. I wanted either grey or tan seats on black. What bothered me was the dealers lack of knowledge. IE Grey seats would be what color carpet and well he was wrong. I really wanted black carpet because its easier to maintain but black on black cloth seats imo were ugly. 460 Miles I guess yes they broke into my break in period and it doesnt bother me. I'm sure they havent driven it any harder than I have, because Im a firm believer in drive it like you stole it. What bothers me is that someone there had to see the curbed rims or well whoever detailed the car with wheel dressing. Or the driver plain out curbed the rims ot the way and sure as hell wouldnt say he did it I'm sure. I really love her already have but 1.3k miles on it already. If I go back up there when the dealer says they have fixed everything and I find they havent, then I'll make that final call. What really pisses me off as well is driving up there, they say well we will pay for gas. Well filling me up to come home is not paying for my gas.. This is something that will be brought up when I return. I dont mind the mileage I put on getting there or back. Driving her alone makes me happy and well I'm breaking her in.

Really nice to see the feedback so fast already. Glad to be a new camaro owner regardless of my experiences so far.

[Thrillz]

Im going to go in another direction here. Let me tell you a little story what i experienced as a young man that really changed me. I bought a used laser back in the 90's and the dealer tried to sell it with a 2500 repair it needed without me knowing about it. It needed a clutch that was pretty much done and some tranny work. So now im stuck with a useless car i cant afford to fix as my daily driver. Owner told me he didnt know anything about it and i was out of luck but could try and use the after market warranty i got. This guy knew about it and wanted the warranty company hopefully fix it without him paying a dime. I was young and stupid this is how you grow as a person. Anyways my father in law who does not put up with people's crap found out and stormed down to the dealerships lot (he owns a trucking company) and had a few words to say to the owner. He walked in went straight to the owner and said this. "You #$%en prick you sell my son in law a broken car and try to pawn it on him fix this car on your dime or i come down here with my trucks and run over every #$@%ing car you have down here". You should have seen the look on that 50 year old's face i thought he was going to crap himself it was priceless and life changing for me and him. The salesmen tried to say something in mid sentence my father in law pointed at him not even looking told him to" shut up im not talking to you" and continued. My car was fixed at no cost to me the next day. Whats my point on this rant STOP BEING SO DAM NICE. Rant off