Miata Mailing List: April 1998, Message #7

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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)