Miata Mailing List: April 1998, Message #12

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Kathy    first of all get your insurance adjuster involved BEFORE you
take the car off the lot.  Even if you have to pay someone, have a
witness to your complaints and get a camera and take lots of pictures
from several angles....   Carry on a lot, in front of the repair
manager, and keep taking pictures.  Point everything out several times
to anyone you can stop,  then write down a complete list and have the
manager sign it - he won't - but try and then have your witness and
insurance adjuster sign it and then retrieve whatever's left of your car
(to take elswhere for finishing - refinishing and detailing).  Your
insurance should cover the costs and the deductable will eventually come
from the repair facilities insurance in subrogation.
	
	Jim Tipton --  jump in here and tell her where I don't know what I'm
talking about.  And give her some advice.
	Dennis & Am Fear Gorm.....


Kathy O'Connell wrote:
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> Well, I took the car into the dealer last Monday morning, the 23rd.
> Remember how optimistic I had been?  I was told I'd get the car
> back in 3 days.  I'm still without her.
> 
> Three days stretched to five, and it rained late Friday and I couldn't
> face Friday night rainy traffic to make a 100 mile round trip, so I
> postponed until Saturday.
> 
> The car they provided me with is a beat-up Geo Metro, with no key
> for the doors or trunk, which stinks like cigarettes, has numerous
> holes bunt into the seats, and the radio antenna fell onto the
> windshield
> halfway home.  It also goes 35 mph without stepping on the gas, and
> used 1/4 tank of gas to come home 48 miles.  sigh ...
> 
> Back to Scarlett.  I went Saturday to get her, optimistic and hopeful.
> My hopes died soon after taking a look ... here is what I found:
> 
> -  The inside edge of the front right bumper had been "hit" with the
> sander (best way I can put it) when they were repairing the fender
> cuz the paint is sanded clear off about an 8" strip of edge (the bumper
> was NEVER affected at all).
> 
> - The driver's side leather seat looked rather abused - with marks
> all over it ...
> 
> - The steering wheel has what looks to be primer paint or something
> like that on it - all ground into the grains of the leather.
> 
> - The inside of the door sill on the passenger side door was still
> "sanded down" to primer - all matte finish feeling rough and gruff
> and absolutely indicative of shoddy workmanship on the part of
> the body shop.
> 
> - They obviously had "buffed" the hood of  the car (for what reason I
> have no idea) because the area of stone chips, which I'd personally
> touched up with paint, were showing white primer.  How MUCH
> buffing did they do??? :(
> 
> I made a list of these things - then decided to pull her out into the
> sunlight to see that hte color at least looked good.  That's when I
> really
> began to cry.  The rear window (which up until now had looked as
> crystal clear and "brand new" as the day I brought her home) was
> in abominable shape!  It was filled with "swirly scratch marks" all
> over!
> It looked to me like someone used a shop rag with ajax cleanser on it!
> 
> I was absolutely beside myself then :(  All I EVER wanted since I parted
> 
> with my $25,300 was the car to which I am entitled for that money!  I
> wanted then nothing more - I want now nothing more (or less!)
> 
> I've bene through enough :(  Scarlett's suffered enough :(  Supposedly
> they "fixed the widow right up" with some Meguire's - however, to my
> mind "fixing" what wasn't broken isn't the point!  I took that car in
> there
> with a perfect rear window - and now am expected to accept a
> compromised one in return???
> 
> Something is terribly wrong with this scenario :(
> 
> The mudflaps, which I bought from Tommy when he was at Roebuck
> were all scratched and scraped up ... it was obvious to me that the
> body shop that supposedly painted the entire left side of Scarlett
> again,
> quite clearly did not even remove the mudflaps for the job!  What kind
> of workmanship can I expect from people who would do this???
> 
> Now, supposedly the paint job they only did half-a**ed in the first
> place has been remedied in one day!  Is this even POSSIBLE?  I
> sort of need help and advice from ANY of you about this - I'm expected
> to go to get her tomorrow :(  I'm so upset by all of this I could just
> scream, cry, I don't know what anymore :(  I'm so sad because of all
> the stuff I've had to go through ...
> 
> I've now been without my Scarlett for ANOTHER 10 days :(  If you
> will recall, I was without her for 31 days previously - none of this
> due to my own fault :(
> 
> HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> I need your helpful advice before I go back there tomorrow - I'm
> just out of strength to any longer deal with this appropriately :(
> 
> Kathy (Who's only TRYING to hang on)
> and Scarlett (Who's not sure she's half the gal she used to be anymore)