Dealership damaged my truck, what can I do?

[RyanbabZ71]

Wow, good luck hope you get a replacement truck at no charge that is their F up and to need to step up and fix this

 

 

Ryan

[davester]

 

 

Why not?

 

DEWFPO

 

Because they would have cut structural members of the roof for the sunroof, not just the skin, and that totally compromises how the cab would handle any kind of impact to the roof, or even potentially a side impact, depending on how much of the roof winds up getting replaced

 

If ONLY the skin was cut, then it wouldn't be a big deal.

[Sphinx1655]

GM never called and won't take my calls. Meeting with my lawyer today.

[dewfpo]

GM never called and won't take my calls. Meeting with my lawyer today.

 

That's sounds like your best approach now, especially since they are not willing to discuss it with you man to man. Good Luck.

 

DEWFPO

[Formulabruce]

It means the dealer was told by his lawyer to shut up...

[Sphinx1655]

Update for you guys.

 

Met with the GM about a hour ago. After extensive searching there are no comparable trucks for a replacement within 1000 miles. Rather than involving a legal team and that headache we made a deal.

 

Having a new tonneau cover and tool box installed next week. Plus an added year of maintenance all at no charge. Worked out a deal for employee pricing on all future truck purchases also. I can say I'm happy with this deal, was never looking to screw anyone or get anything I didn't deserve.

 

Very impressed with how professional and understanding all the GMC employees were. Will definitely be a returning customer!

[Formulabruce]

Glad you worked it out , couple thoughts

1. get the name of the manufacturer of the "sunroof", does it have a warranty? sun shade?

2. Did the "tint" get fixed? ( original problem? )

Good luck!! Thanks for the update!

[Daryl LBZ]

Glad they to hear they fixed you up.

[Zembonez]

Sounds like they stepped up and made good on their mistake. That's what should have been done...

 

Asking for a "new truck" like some are saying isn't an automatic fix. It all depends on the laws in your state. Glad it worked out.

[MikeNH]

My god I'd be so pissed. I hate sunroofs and would be extremely uncomfortable with an aftermarket one. Good luck with this.

[Sphinx1655]

Yup made sure to get everything in writing. Aftermarket sun roof info with a lifetime warranty from the dealer.

 

Believe it or not the tint did get fixed and it's darker than requested. Actually almost looks factory... almost.

 

Turns out the GM was on vacation and I had been dealing with the assistant gm. Once the GM came back be stepped up and tried to help in any way.

[leolkfrm]

i think i would have asked for the same thing in a 16

 

a dealer can not give you lifetime employee options

[Brian Long]

Realizing I am way late to the party on this, but I think I may be able to help the next victim...

 

To the OP, situation must have been totally stressful and I am glad you were able to work it to an outcome that you are happy with. As to my comments being credible, I worked in a body/paint shop at a GM dealership, then in that office for that same dealership in a past life. I now work for an insurance company. My son and my brother both work for a GM dealership in the service department.

 

When any shop messes up your vehicle, the limiting factors are 1) what the shop is willing/capable of doing, and 2) insurance law for the state in which the shop operates. For factor 1, the "capable" part also includes if they have liability insurance.

 

The best way to get your head around this is to imagine the dealership wrecked the truck instead of cutting a hole in it. If they wrecked it (which happens more than it should), they send it to their body shop, or one they work closely with, and they fix it. The only time they do not fix "your car" that they just wrecked is when you just signed on the dotted line to buy a brand new vehicle and wreck it somewhere in the PDI process. In this case they may give you a different one or just tear up the contract, but this only happens if you push it -- if it is unclear if you signed before or after the accident happened, this can help your argument.

 

Back to the "used vehicle" situation. As mentioned above, the factors include insurance law. They are obligate to get you back to where you were before the incident happened. If a tech drains the oil from a vehicle and fires it up thus destroying the engine, they "can" put in a used engine. Also as mentioned above, a factor is what they are willing to do, so the reality on this one is if the vehicle is still under GM warranty they are going to find a way to get you a "new" engine, but they are not obligated to do so.

 

Now in this specific case...

They owed you a new roof. The risks on the body and paint side are very minimal. A decent shop would have cross braced the pillars before cutting off the roof thus keeping everything square. Roof replacements are only done by seasoned techs so the body work would have been just fine, paint would have likely been fine as well but it would not look "factory" to the critical eye. The biggest risk would have been how much dust could have accumulated from the body and paint shop, and squeaks/rattles from the reassembly of the interior.

 

GM warranty department did the right thing by not stepping in. You have a contract with them for vehicle failures. That contract contract is not a 3-way contract that includes the service department. If you doubt this, just remember that many non-GM shops can now do warranty work. GM has no control over where you take your vehicle thus they are not responsible for tech errors. If a GM dealer does mess something up during a service of a vehicle under warranty, that dealer may leverage the warranty to fix it but IMHO they are doing less than ethical stuff when the take that route. Admittedly though, having been a victim of dealer screw-ups, I did not care how or what lines they crossed with warranty so long as my vehicle was fixed with new, genuine parts.

 

The final note I have on this for now is some states have diminished value clauses in insurance. If your vehicle is damaged in a state that has a clause of this type then you could be owed something else for loss of value regardless of the vehicle being repaired.

[KARNUT]

The one problem see is any time iv had a repaint at the dealer for any reason it doesn't hold up as well as original. You don't see the results till a few years down the road. Fading, turning white, the rest of the paint is fine.

[Brian Long]

The one problem see is any time iv had a repaint at the dealer for any reason it doesn't hold up as well as original. You don't see the results till a few years down the road. Fading, turning white, the rest of the paint is fine.

 

While body shops obviously cannot reproduce a factory job, a decent shop using decent paint will produce something that holds up just fine. Factory paint is MUCH thinner than a repaint, so as long as they use quality paint and don't cheap out on the clear then it should not fade. If yours turned white, the clear broke down. Still, even factory paint can go bad. I remember all the factory peelers from the 80's and 90's. We made a ton of money repainting those things.

 

Also, I am not sure how it is everywhere, but it is not uncommon for body shops to offer a "lifetime" warranty on their work. Tricky when the dealer messes up your ride since the RO may not be in your name and you may not get to "choose" the shop, but worth looking into. FWIW, in the case of working with insurance, most insurance companies have arrangements with a select group of shops -- some call them DRP (direct repair), Pro Shop, etc. -- but the point is if they have these types of shops then the "insurance company" will warranty the work for as long as you own the vehicle if you used their shop. If the paint goes bad and the shop is out of business, the insurance company will send you to a different shop. I am not advocating this as a best practice as not all DRP shops turn quality work, but it is something people should be aware of as a possible option.

 

Your comment also makes me thing of something else. The EPA really cracked the whip over the last couple of years and is forcing out solvent based automotive paint. Shops where I live are now required to spray water (yes, water) based paint. I am not sure if the industry has any data on how well this stuff will last over the years. Maybe it has been around longer than I am aware of. I do know that other than the cost of switching booths to work with the new material, shops are fine spraying the new paint.