odabo

I purchased my car from a dealer in Dayton, Ohio in late February. He found the exact car I was looking for at a dealer in Harlingen, Texas. The Ohio dealer shipped the car to me here in Florida as promised. Unfortunately the transport truck arrived 1 week later than promised at 9:00 pm well after sundown. To make matters worse I was out of the country so my wife did a cursory inspection of the car and accepted it. :'(

The next day while removing removing a thick coat of grime and mud she discovered two places of paint damage on the vehicle. As it turns out the car has swirly on the hood and gouge on the bumper. When I returned home I noticed on the roof what appears to be bubbled paint. I immediately contact my SA in Ohio who told me to take it to a local BMW dealership to have it evaluated. Let's just say that dealing with a dealer you didn't purchase from is not an easy thing to do.

Today the local dealer's body shop looked at the damage and confirmed what I thought. The bubble is a paint defect and the rest occurred during shipment. The dealer in Ohio is willing to cover the shipping damage. But the defect will require a warranty claim. The Ohio dealer can't authorize it because they can't evaluate it for themselves. The Florida dealer said they are willing to file the warranty claim but can only move ahead with the claim once a factory representative evaluates it.

I live about 50 miles from Orlando where the largest regional dealer is located. To get a factory rep to evaluate it means I will have to make a third trip back to the dealer. They should be covering my expenses to and from Orlando! I wish I could just have the factory rep come to my home and look at it. Why should I have to repeatedly make these 100+ mile round trips when it is clearly a BMW issue.

The repair diagnosis for the hood is to repaint because the swirly is too deep to wet sand. The bumper will require a full repainting too. But here's what's got me nervous; they want to sand the roof down to the bare metal, prime, paint and clearcoat. In looking at the bubbles it sounds reasonable but I know nothing about auto paint. Can someone please give me a little guidance.

vern

With all the problems your are having IMO try for another car.With the paint work that has to be done you will be the looser when you try to sell or trade the car at a later date, Good luck
cheers
vern

gwf545

I don't think you have much choice at this point but to go ahead and get it repaired. You really need to give them a chance to make things right, even if it is a bit complicated. The fact you live in the boondocks is not their problem.

What I can suggest is that you very carefully examine the car before you accept it from the repair center. If you find any problems, take immediate action to get it resolved or demand that they take the car back.

On the plus side, the BMW body repair centers have all the right repair materials and training to do the job right.

odabo

Thanks gwf545! I agree and had planned to go ahead with the repair. I specifically took it to a dealer/body shop that does a lot of repairs unlike the dealer that is closer to my home. I have a fair degree of confidence that they will do a quality job. So do you think that it will ultimately affect my resale value? I would think not having the work done woul dultimately affect the value of the car.

AC_S5

Not an expert on paint, but hey at least you got 100 miles out of the way and 1100 miles to go. (breaking in the engine)

cobradav

Are u closer to Imported Car Store in Melbourne? Not that they may do better, but just closer? They are my dealer but I did go to Fields in Orlando once when I thought they didn't love me. We sorted things out and now they treat me VERY WELL

odabo

I got turned off by the Imported Car Store when I was shopping. I scheduled a test drive and gave clear instructions to the CA that if they didn't have a car similarly equipped to give me a call the day before. So I made the short drive from Titusville only to find out they had no cars. Not one with any of the options I was looking for. I was more than a little steamed and didn't bother to go back.

cobradav

When I was looking for a 6er to test drive, nobody had one, even Fields. I got on the list and spec'd out the car sight unseen at ICS. Finally a friend knew a CA at Fields and gave him my number. He called when a demo came in and I test drove it but nothing changed my mind and I knew how rare they were to actually test drive so I did not hold that against ICS. Not only that, but I would have been on the 23rd PAGE of a wait list at Fields. It was well after I got my car that ICS even got one to demo.

But all in all, its not much of a distance difference between the two.

odabo

So you tend to work with ICS more than Fields? BTW when are we going to organize a meet? There's someone in my neighborhood who has a 6er. I don't know them yet but I'll try to recruit them to the forum.

cobradav

Yea, ICS as I bought my car there. And I find as a smaller dealer that I tend to get more personalized service, but that is probably a false sense on my part. My CA at the time was really sharp, knowledgeable and caring. However, he moved to Palm Beach for the $$. If you have seen any of my discussions on software upgrades and general issues you'll find I speak highly of my SA. He freely admitts I know more about the 6er than he does, and always takes whatever I tell him as factual, even arguing with techs that I'm right and they are wrong or make it like he wants it.

Where is your neighborhood as I am in Windover Farms in Titusville. I think I have posted about three times in the Florida Meet and Greet forum that I'll go anywhere, anytime. I thought I saw a 6er Cabrio in toewn but only saw it once so was not sure.