My RX-8 was scratched during service by Alhambra Mazda in Alhambra, CA (91801) on Thursday 9.7.2006 for service.

There are 3 small, but very noticeable scratches (deep- all the way to the metal) on the lower front passenger door. (Pictures to follow soon.)

I took my car in at 7:45am (oil change & manufacturer recall service) and picked it up after work at around 6:15pm. I did a quick walk around right after signing for the car and noticed the damage right away. I immediately spoke to the General Manager, Robert Ho, and he politely offered to take care of it and asked me to talk to the Service Department Manager, Ricky Tru. The next day (9.8.2006) I brought my car in to show Ricky. I received a sincere, verbal apology and a choice of either (a) to repaint the entire door or (b) a bottle of touch up paint and one free oil change.

Although they were apologetic, I still left the dealership with a very dissatisfied feeling. Repainting the entire door seems like overkill. Yet, handing me a bottle of touch-up paint and a free oil change seems hardly fair in exchange for the permanent cosmetic damage to my beloved vehicle which I work so hard on to keep clean and in nice condition.

I purchased my car in May 2005 from this dealer. And, my overall purchase & service experience with them prior to this incident has been very good. So, I'm at a loss as what to do except wallow in this pain inflicted upon me...

Advice, feedback, ideas are welcome...

Detrich is sad, angry, and frustrated...

 

That sucks.

But **** happens, and the offending party is offering to clean up their **** (free of charge, I assume). So let them fix it, and be glad your "overall purchase & service experience with them prior to this incident has been very good". Not everyone can make this claim.

 

Exactly. Bad things happen to cars, sometimes when they're in your posession, sometimes when they're in for service. All you can ask for is a dealership that tries to make it better for you. No matter how careful they are, dings/scratches/dents are going to happen sometimes.

Best of luck with the door (I'd opt for the repaint if the scratches are as bad as you say), never had good luck w/ touch up paint.

 

do they have a detailer that visits the dealer every few days?

My service dept has a detailer that is there, like on tuesdays and thursdays.

Ask to see if they have one, and request that guy to get those scratches out with the touch up paint, while you still keep the free oil change.
good luck.

 

it's a feeling that the car has been repainted though. sucks.

 

Thanks for the feedback and consolation... To answer your questions:

- They don't have a detailer or a relationship with a detailer that does touch-ups.
- As for the scratches, like I said they are definitely noticeable, but in my opinion just not big enough to justify repainting the entire door.

I've never had anything like this happen at any bmw dealership, period. I think Mazda still has a LONG way to go as far as improving their attention to detail and quality of care to customer vehicles.

 

If it were me I would go for the door repaint anyway. It may seem like overkill but it will definitely take care of the scratches.

 

Exactly. Also I can't stand the smell, dust, and other nuances that happen to your car after a body shop's had your car. Not to mention that factory paint is pretty much the highest quality paint your car will ever have over it's lifetime.

 

Take the door repaint, and have it done at a place of your choosing.

Accidents do happen, and at least this dealership owned up to the problem. There are probably tons of posts here on similar situations where the dealership denied there was a problem and the car was damaged in some way!

 

that sucks man...LB mazda broke my foglight bracket but didn't find out till a month later and browning wiped out my entire side and repainted my whole right side...

 

You could do this, but you've got to consider what that may do to the good relationship you have with the dealership.

 

Granted it sucks it got scratched, but I don't see how you can be dissatisfied with how they handled it. Free repaint at one end of the spectrum being overkill in your eyes, but handing you a bottle of matching color and free oil change on the other end of the spectrum, isn't what you want either. They gave you 2 options...go for the paint job since that's the best outcome you can get.

Tim

 

Get it repainted.

IMHO, a bottle of touchup paint and an free oil change is insulting - not at all consistent with the class of a place that would offer to repaint the door.

Painting the whole door is the right way to do it.

When my wife's Camry was new I managed to scratch a fender while wrestling a lawn edger out of the garage. Just a few inches long, but down to the primer and pretty visible. I had it repainted. Used a shop that did the whole fender, rather than one that proposed (for less money) painting the area and blending.

If they have a good paint shop, you'll never be able to tell that anything happened.

Ken

 

I thought Mazda's paint was thin n brittle? Pretty sure i read that a few places, but all i know is after my last wax i noticed a whole lotta rock chips.
Thats why you get the relationship right? so they can hook you up. I wouldnt start screamin until they did something and didnt offer to fix it.

 

You guys make some really good points. Bear in mind this just happened, so I'm also venting my frustration a bit...

I think I'm going to think about it some more and then see what I want to do. If the touch up paint can't cover it up well, then I can always go back and ask them to repaint I suppose...

 

Sorry, but I think you're being a bit precious here.

I feel bad for you that your car got scratched. We all love our cars and hate when they get damaged. However, accidents do happen (even with halo wearing BMW mechanics) and it seems to me that your dealer is doing all it can do to make it right. As others have suggested, that ain't universal in the wonderful world of car dealers, period.

For those criticising the offer of touchup paint as an insult, it's worth remembering that this was only offered as an alternative and an oil change was added too, in recognition that touchup paint alone looks a bit weak.

Personally, I'd go for the re-paint option. Any professional body shop should have it free of dust, etc when the work is done but I get the sense you're extremely fussy ('nuances' ).

Remember, there's loving your car and then there's loving your car. Relax and get it fixed.

Hope it turns out okay for you.

 

Fair enough - didn't see this last post of yours before I posted.

Vent away then.

 

Painting the entire piece makes it easier to get a good result, vs trying to repair a small area. The issue is trying to perfectly blend the color. Even the correct color code of paint is not necessarily a 100% match due to variations in formulating and mixing, plus the fact that the existing paint has had time to age. And if you've got a metallic or mica paint, getting the perfect match is that much harder.

By painting the entire door, small differences won't be noticeable as long as it's a close match, because the gaps between panels provide a discontinuity for the eye. But just repainting a section of the door, your eye could see the difference where the 2 paints meet. Plus, the effort needed to try to blend those areas may be more work than just painting the whole piece.

I would definitely go for the repaint. Just examine it very closely when finished and don't let them off the hook until it looks right.

 

I'd go for the repaint, too. Thing is, there's a huge range of quality when it comes to body work—and it's been my experience that dealer body shops don't usually do the best job (unless you bought a Ferrari at a Ferrari dealer—their body shop probably does good work).

So what I'd do is politely thank your dealer for offering to repaint your door, but tell them you're very fussy and want a perfect paint job (yes, it is possible to get a perfect match if you take it to the right shop), and that you'd like them to reimburse you for getting the work done at a body shop of your choice.

They'll tell you their body shop is very good and they're sure you'll be happy. At which point you should say "okay, but if it's not done right you'd then like to have it done by someone else". (You should be businesslike and professional—no need to hurt their feelings or get personal and damage your good relationship with them.) Then let them do the job. If you're lucky, you'll like their work. If not, you take it somewhere else.

Just my 2¢.

 

The answer is never bring your car to Alhambra Mazda. I brought my 8 there for the recall a while back and they're one of the big reasons why I didn't keep the 8. I was afraid I would have to take it in often due to reliability issues (which I didn't have but there seemed like there was a chance it would be that way) and Alhambra Mazda is the most convenient to me. I can't stand the idea of bringing my car to that place.

The guy that took my car in was flat out rude and purposefully avoided doing a TSB. A friend of mine warned me that when he took his car there, he felt highly unsatisfied (and he never brought his car back there). I got a Mazdaspeed 6 now and I'm not going to bring my car there either. I'll either take it to the OC or Glendale or something.

I know that didn't help you much, but I share your distate of Alhambra Mazda. Bah, I think if it weren't for them I'd probably have bought out my 8.

 

Spork, can you recommend a dealer that's good?

Thanks for the info...

 

i would have to see how deep the scratches are to decide if i want a repaint. Sorry to hear yoru pain, i know of others who have had very simialr and worse experiances with mazda.

 

Get it fixed properly...the touch up is only an option if done professionally...and you can't see the fix...otherwise it needs to be painted and blended to match perfectly

 

Oh man, that sucks Detrich! You and I share a passion (often an obsession) with keeping our cars in top condition so I am feeling your pain on this one...

I know it sounds like overkill but I think the only real option here is to get the door repainted because touch up paint just never quite comes out like you want it to...

It's a bummer that you have to go through that but it beats having to stare at those scratches from now on.

 

Detrich,
Tustin Mazda has a body shop / repair right next to it that has done some good work Let me know and I could get you their contact info.