shawndover

I had a problem when I went to pick up my new, special-ordered IS 350 from the dealer. In examining the car before delivery, I noticed that the front right wheel well cover and bumper cover were not assembled properly. The service department examined the problem and determined that the wheel well cover had been attached on top of, rather than underneath, where the bumper cover wraps around into the wheel well. I can't believe the quality control inspectors missed this! The service department reattached these parts as they are supposed to be assembled (with the wheel well cover sliding underneath the edge of the bumper cover), but was unable to flatten out a small crease/bump in the black portion of the bumper cover in the right front wheel well, at around the three o'clock position, that resulted from the way these parts were previously assembled. This small crease is not visible unless you're actually looking inside the wheel well, and even then it's barely noticeable even if you're looking for it, so I don't want to have the bumper cover on a brand new car replaced because of it. But does anyone think there are other problems that could arise because of this?

Thanks for your advice. It's very unpleasant to have a problem on day one of owning a new car!

acefalcon2

iTrader: (20)

ermms i say get everything fixed... in case u wanna mod sth.. later it might get messy...

shawndover

Thanks, but definitely not interested in mods -- I'll keep the car as is. Any other concerns about this?

passnu2

iTrader: (33)

nothing to worry about congrads on the new car!!

brtnrdr1x

iTrader: (3)

nahhhh...ur good buddd, as long as service has it in their records n ur not doin mods..but u should do mods

tqlla3k

iTrader: (1)

Hmmm you dont think that the bumper cover may have been replaced?

shawndover

Not as far as I can tell, but I guess I can't know for sure...

slee18

iTrader: (1)

It might have been one of the cars on the transport that was on top and the bumper got muffed up or possible had scrapes on the bumper before deliver and was refinished and replaced wrong. My accord rear passenger door had a different shade of paint then the rest of the car.
Confronted dealer about it and got a free 5 year 60K bumper to bumper warranty.

Phil888

iTrader: (1)

Just keep your eyes open for any problems that may arise!! Congrats on your new ride. Yeah keep it stock cause once you start modding you cant stop and your damn wallet might get smaller.. lolz

Stereoca

Being from family that owns a body shop, it's very common that cars get tiny nicks and dings from transportation. Dealers would drop the car off at the nearest body shop and have them touched up or fixed before delivery. So I'm guessing that those parts were just put back on incorrectly by a body shop.

acefalcon2

iTrader: (20)

i guess if you're not modding anything heavy.. it should be fine..... yeah as everyone said.. keep a look at it.. you'll be fine... do redouts tho... lols..

huddleston

iTrader: (3)

you should be fine.

dotkong

ask for a free extended warranty and drive it home =]

arnieosp

iTrader: (1)

If you have to look inside the wheel well to find that thing, I woudn't worry about it.

Question: What's the process for specially ordering an IS. How long did you have to wait? Did they charge any "special-order fee"? How much of a deposit did they want?

I am thinking about ordering a White w/tan interior and a whole bunch of features. I want to drive it in Septembe, so I am trying to figure out timing for the ordering process.

Thanks.

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

If your dealer wants to charge you extra to special order, find a better dealer.

The tricky parts are:

Finding a competent dealer

and

In your case, getting it in September.

The new model year begins around then, and the first new cars will typically show up at the very end of September or very start of October. (My local dealer got the very first 08s on their lot October 3rd for example, some west coast guys saw their 08s a week or so earlier).

So you'll want to get a '10 model at that point, but might have to wait till the end of the month/start of the next to get it... and you won't know for sure what changes are being made for the model year until shortly before that (but given the 09 face lift they're unlikely to be major).

Anyway... IF you find a competent dealer who will special order without making it painful (and I can recommend one, but they're in NC) it pretty much works like this, or did for me:

You agree on a price that will be X dollars above invoice (X was very very small in my case...and given the current economy it should be for you too). Don't even let them discuss MSRP with you, it's a meaningless number.

Then you tell them -exactly- the car you want.

Get all of it in writing, including all the optiions and the price.

I'd suggest late June (after the 20th) or July (before the 20th) for your order... since that'll mean your order is submitted in the July order cycle, doing it any earlier means you might risk ending up with the very last of the 09s.

Then, just wait.