ceng41

Drop off the car for dash rattling fix and first oil change two days ago, which is before the snow storm hit yesterday afternoon. Dealer called back said my car involved in a accident. Technician took the car for test drive, someone backed up from the driverway and hit the passenger side of the car.

Here are some pictures of the damages. Pretty much the whole passenger side from the front bumper to the back were scraped, including the tires and rims. By the way, I only have the GS350 AWD since April 07, and only 4300 miles on it. Yes, I am quite upset on this.

Understood it is an accident, but my car is too "new" to be in a accident, and it was not caused by me. May be I should ask for free oil change for four years. Any suggestions?

ceng41

One more picture.

Nauticalx

Sorry to hear this...it really sucks to see a new car like that but no car is too new to be wrecked...some are damaged and repaired in transport even before the car is sold. Regardless, the car will never be the same so talk to the GM of the dealership and see what he is willing to do.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

gs9351

WOW! I feel your pain, that is EXACTLY why I cancelled my service appointment today, with the remnants of snow here today in NY. But as you state, bad weather didn't cause this accident, just dealer's negligence as it appears the driver did little to avoid the car backing up! So if this happened on the dealer's lot, there is ANOTHER customer car with damage, right? Seems like they are completely careless with other people's prized possessions. Also, sounds like you are handling this situation pretty well...I doubt if I would be as calm as this. I would also report the damage to your insurance company, even though you weren't driving, and make sure the Dealer pays for all damages, with no resulting claims on your policy! Have you thought of filing a police report, after all there is damage of at least $10,000, I would estimate. This may be necessary when you report the damage to the insurance company.

Here is what I suggest that the dealership offers you:

1. Lexus repairs all body damage, fenders, doors, replaces both rims, at a minimum. Does the damage qualify for new doors or fenders?

2. Now to keep you as a good customer, I would request a set of custom rims (4) all around.

3. Lifetime oil and filter changes sounds like a good idea, assuming you can trust them in the future.

3. How about a voucher for $5000 off towards a new or used Lexus?

4. Finally, how about a gift certificate for $500 towards Lexus merchandise?

I know accidents can happen anywhere, but after all you brought your car for a routine oil change to a Lexus dealership because they are professionals. This is not what any of us would expect.

Good luck with your repairs; let us know how you make out!

BurgBoxstr

yeah that really sucks ceng41. I'd give the dealer a shot at making a reasonable compensation offer (of course along w/ fixing at n/c) before demanding something. I'm sure they'll do right by you.

Accidents unfortunately do happen. I will say, that damage is quite odd looking to be hit by someone backing out of a driveway. To me, it looks more like someone mis-judged a protective barrier or wall. In fact, the markings very much resemble those my wife made on her '07GS 350 AWD (when she mis-judged how close she was to brick frame opening around our garage doors . Unfortunately, I can beat you... we bought ours Feb 1 and she hit it in early May.


Glad it's just cosmetic and can be easily fixed. Most importantly, happy nobody was hurt. Sure it's frustrating but it's a material object and not the end of the world. It's easy for me to say, since I'm not in your shoes... but seriously, if that's gonna be your biggest problem all day, then you're in great shape.

Hang in there

BurgBoxstr

gs9351-
with all due respect, you're ummm, saying this politely, quite "aggressive" in your estimates at $10K...... it's almost all cosmetic. You don't seriously think they would replace the fender and both door skins for that little damage, do you? Maybe they should just give him the whole dealership as compensation instead of just the lifetime oil changes, $5K off a new car, custom rims, etc. as you suggest

Even if they replaced both wheels (which I can't see how bad they are) and since they are doing the work at their cost, I say easily under $2K (more likely $1200 tops) to fix (and yes I do have a background in autobody). No way would I file a claim w/ my insurance co. or a police report on this one. That'd be a complete waste of time with nothing but downside IMNSHO.

I'm sure the dealer will do write by ceng41.

ceng41

Thanks for the comforting words. The accident happened on Wednesday, the day before the snow storm hit Boston yesterday, so the road is dry. Spoke with the service director yesterday morning when I stopped by to inspect the damages, he is going to get me a police report.

He stated that if I decided to trade in the car to the same dealership in the future, he will not take the accident penalty from the trade in value. And he is going to put that in writing. He also mentioned that he MIGHT not file insurance claim, so the accident won't be on Carfax report. It is one of the option that he is looking into. At this point, that is the only thing that he is offering, but is opened to listen to what I am looking for. For the compensation, may be I should ask him for couple of the schedule maintenance for free. Not really looking for any freebies, but a way to punish the dealer for being careless.

gs9351

Burg, I'm sorry, you are 100% correct that the damages are not as high as I originally stated. I would like to retract my original estimate. But from my view of the photos it was hard to tell whether the metal skins had been stretched or damage was merely superficial. I guess I stand corrected. From what I have seen, the most "minor" repairs cost several thousand dollars, and I see 2 doors, 2 fenders, and 2 rims needing repair/ replacement. And shouldn't Lexus repairs be a bit more costly than most others?

Nevertheless, as earlier stated, Lexus owners tend to be fussy with their cars, and IMHO the car will never be the same as repairs are never quite as good as the original factory finish. I had a 98 GS300 which was rear-ended, and although the repairs were great I could still tell (as most others here) it was never the same.

Here is an interesting thought...

Bring back one of those Lexus loaner cars with this kind of damage, and see how they react.

Brian231

As member GS9351 states geniously, I would not be afraid to ask for the below. I had my 2007 IS250 since June with no issues, then some lady on her cell phone impatiently backed up in a left turning lane and hit me as I laid on the horn for 5 seconds and she seen me. She cracked my bumper skin and I was so pissed because a car with 5k on it just lost money and will not match with being painted. Some people are careless, and in your case, take advantage of this happening to your $40k plus vehicle. You are the customer. I had a tech keep me for 2 hours for my 5k service and not even rotate my tires or remove the dust covers to check fluid levels. I was so upset, I called back the dealer and then I wrote a long email to the head service advisor. They never called me back so I went in professionally and stated I did not expect this from a Lexus dealer. I said, these are things you only read about in the paper. If you are calm and assertive, as it seems you are based on your tone in your writing, you should find a way to prevail a victory for your irritation.
1. Lexus repairs all body damage, fenders, doors, replaces both rims, at a minimum. Does the damage qualify for new doors or fenders?

2. Now to keep you as a good customer, I would request a set of custom rims (4) all around.

3. Lifetime oil and filter changes sounds like a good idea, assuming you can trust them in the future.

3. How about a voucher for $5000 off towards a new or used Lexus?

4. Finally, how about a gift certificate for $500 towards Lexus merchandise?

EyeKutr

iTrader: (5)

Hate to see this as I came from lexus, dropped off car for fuel recall

Jace7

First off, I am so sorry for that.
Now, to give you my opinion...
I would without a doubt be making them at the least fix everything.....(but that's understood, I know they will do that....)
If that isn't the case, and you wanted something else done, if it was my car, I would honestly get the same one Brand new.
Cars in wrecks are NEVER the same, no matter how much they fix them.
I know you can't really take into consideration depreciation, but b/c of the wreck it is now worth less, no matter.
I would go to corporate if you don't get what you want from the dealership.
If I paid around 70K+ for my car and they wrecked it after 4K miles on it, I would be irrate.
Accidents happen, but I wouldn't care. I would make them fix it and give me a lifetime of all service for free. (I would use my 3 total Lexi that always take in for service) and that I bought there as negotiating power.
In the future I plan on buying at the same dealership, so I would also let them know that how they handle this will effect future transactions.

BurgBoxstr

- good idea gs9351

You are correct, most Lexus owners tend to be fussier than average car owners.... thus why we drive Lexus' not Suzuki's.

Anyhow, it's certainly more than just a parking lot door ding. And yes, you can always see repairs. Bumper skins are very costly to replace (as you know) and tough to get good matches in paint due to the substrate differences. But by the look from the pix of ceng41 car, damage appears mostly cosmetic and where it's located, they have a lot of room to blend the respray. A well trained tech will make it hardly noticeable when finished - other than w/ a paint depth guage. To you and I, it certainly would cost more to fix, but they can (and most likely) will do it at cost - off their policy along w/ whom ever else's car was hit.

Would I be mad, of course, but let's keep a sound perspective on the "real" damage done and what remedies make sense. I don't think there's a whole lot of "pain and suffering" in this accident. Sure, he can put the screws to the dealership on this one and win out big. In the long run, how much will it benefit

Sounds to me like ceng41 has the right attitude.

2thfixr

What a bummer, hopefully they will make it right.

EyeKutr

iTrader: (5)

What is the color of this GS ??? Is it Silver ? Glacier Frost ??

ek9vboi

iTrader: (3)

wow, i would be sad and very pissed off. not a good combo. hopefully my dealership doesnt do something like this when I bring it in for personal settings.