Don Docksteader Subaru Service Department Scratched My STI Lip Kit.
 

Hey everyone, long story-short... I went to the dealer for a scheduled service to take my Pioneer radio out to get it shipped to Pioneer HQ for a reflash because they could not figure out what the passcode was after I removed the negative battery terminal. They want to charge me $75 for the reflash even though it's not my fault from the beginning. Eventually if I end up getting a new battery or need to work on the car I always disconnect the negative to be safe... and eventually sooner or later this will happen.

To make matters worst, when I got back to the car after the service, the car was parked facing the curb. Immediately I knew something was not right (they even said they normally, as per policy, park backing up). Anyways, low and behold, I found nice scrapes underneath my STI front lip. How do I know I didn't do it? Well, I checked and took a photo of my front lip in my own garage before I headed down to the dealer on that very same day! Service Manager said that they refuse to fix it and do anything about it; what made me more upset was the fact that he said it is not a Canadian product (referring to the lip), and that if they scratched it, it would have left a mark on the concrete...Seriously?!

Now, I understand that if my car was lowered it would be my fault for putting it out of spec, but blaming the kit from overseas BUILT for the BRZ by STI is utter BULLCRAP. Anyways here are some photos and videos for you to decide. Also I need some transcripts for the videos to make out what they are saying, I know you guys can be really good detectives... I have already emailed Subaru Canada about this and hope to get a response soon.

Any help would be much appreciated!

I am so paranoid that I took pictures of the front dash and front lip right before taking her into for service...

Before Picture in my garage on the same date.
http://i44.tinypic.com/k0h83r.jpg

After the fact, when I came back to the car after the service.
http://i44.tinypic.com/v46szl.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/fcuzaa.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/291kk06.jpg


Technician, parked the car too close and you can hear the scrape right after he put it in Park.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epGqscbEftg"]20120726 191807 E - YouTube[/ame]


Service Advisor and Service Manager talking amongst themselves while I was waiting in the waiting room.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvzDxjqybXI"]20120726 213029 E - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PXUoB3c7GE"]20120726 213129 P - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kqParxnYoY"]20120726 213228 P - YouTube[/ame]

It doesn't really matter if it's not stock, cars should come out of the shop without any damage to them (that wasn't there before), and if there is, they have to pay for it. The Honda dealer messed up the under side of my trunk with a floor jack when I got an oil change once (my s2000 is very low) but they still had to pay to get it fixed.

With that said, the damage to the lip seems minimal at best and will probably eventually happen to it during it's life...

I would openly accept it if they admitted their fault and apologized... Instead of feeding me BS and not doing anything about it at all.

that's barely any damage. I would just not pay for what ever they were doing (oil change etc) and not go back.

Have they seen/heard the video?

So you have video proof of them checking out your car after they curbed it? Tell them you have video evidence, and you'll take it to court if they don't convince you not to.
Even if you don't plan on taking any legal action, sometimes just the notion that you might do it is enough to make the other person do what is necessary to make up for their mistake.

I agree that the lip will eventually get that kind of damage in its lifetime, but the point is that this wasn't OP's fault.

Would you buy a brand new car with scratched up paint and dirty engine oil because that will eventually happen to your car in its lifetime? No, of course not.

They're not going to admit it's their fault unless they're willing to compensate you for it, which they don't seem to want to do. If they were nice they'd comp your service, but they seem like the kind of dealer that likes to charge for everything so I doubt they'd do that or anything else without you raising hell. I'm kind of curious, did they not provide a radio code when you bought the car? I always assumed that came with it. If you're the one that disconnected the battery then that's why they're charging (again, if they were a nice dealer they'd apologize for not providing the code with the car purchase but they don't seem like that kind of dealer).

Whether or not you think it's worth the hassle is up to you, personally I'd just write them a bad review and find a new dealer.

Also, where on earth did you pay $2,000 for an STi lip? They're like $5-600 shipped from Japanparts.com, at least to the US anyways...

That's hardly a fair comparison, we're talking about the absolute back of the underside of a (aftermarket) lip on a car. If I were buying it brand new with the STi lip installed and found that damage I may ask for a little more on the price or a free oil change or something but it certainly wouldn't stop me from buying the car.

$2000 for a lip? Holy fackers.

hold up! 2k for the front lip?! boss status!

Sorry for the misunderstanding, I meant $2k for the whole kit lol.

Do yourself a favor and don't take pics with a cell phone next time. I can't even determine (conclusively) that there wasn't damage prior to the dealer visit. And even if you do, make sure the pics are in focus!!!!

As for this whole thing: work it out with them FIRST before you come to the internet for advice/judgment/rebuttal. The last thing you want is a dealer that treats you like ass because "everyone else on the internet" already determined guilt.

-alex

^ that's what I was thinking, damn 2k?? Not even CF.....
That sucks though, even though the damage is extremely minor and would inevitably happen, they should still own up to it and apologize. At least offer to repair it, maybe not 2 grand though, that would look like a rip off to anybody.

ETA: I see, 2k for the whole kit.

Let it go, it will be better for you. This damage is clearly not worth a fight, or time and bad emotions.

Already dealt with the Service Manager, he was giving me hell. They are not admitting at all, no apologies, no working it out... Just straight on "NO! Not our fault!"

Regarding the crappy initial picture; I know it sucks but I just took it as a precaution, never knew it actually came to this...


As for letting this go; I will certainly not let a dealer push me around like this. We, as consumers have our rights to complain if there is such bad service.

My guess is that you signed a document when you dropped off the car that releases them from liability from any non-OEM parts on the car. That is pretty standard fare for a car dealership and I wouldn't expect them to pay for the damage to it. Thats the legal side of it.

As for the non-legal, customer service side of it, they should pay to repair it, maybe not replace the whole $2k kit but definitely should offer something. That would be the correct thing to do.

-Mike Paisan

http://www.pbase.com/paisan/image/153798190.jpg
Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Enthusiasts since 2001.
Like us on Facebook! | E-mail: sales@azpinstalls.com | 725 Fairfield Ave | Kenilworth, NJ 07033 | 908.248.AZP1 (2971) |AIM: AZP Installs
"Race Tested, Enthusiast Approved!"

Would STI parts not considered OEM aftermarket? :(

I will ask again. Did they see/hear the video?

They are aftermarket, since they are not sold as part of the OEM as Delivered vehicle sold in the USDM/CDM markets. As far as the dealer is concerned that could be a gold plated lip from cusco or a $5 lip bought on ebay. I know it may pain you to read that but that is the unfortunate reality. Similarly, if that lip were to have a failure or defect in manufacturing, you could not return to a USDM or CDM dealer to get it fixed under your warranty or even replaced since it is not part of the OEM parts sold in these markets.

-mike

No, they have not yet. However, they did see my pictures and chuckled at me for taking advanced pictures before bringing it into service. They even said "You knew we were going to scratch it??"

Yeah that is suspicious and weird. Honestly that is a very anal thing to do. However you have the video with the sound. To me that's the end of discussion.

Unfortunately, we do not get our radio passcodes from the dealer. I've checked with all our local members who bought their cars from the same dealer and it seems like it's the same deal with them as well.

Hard to clearly hear what they are saying. I cranked up my volume max and tried to make out what they are saying, still couldn't...

The Asian guy is trying to figure out what to do, since it appears he scratched it. The guy on the right is being a complete ****, saying it's not CDN/US part, not their problem.

Clearly they damaged the car for sure, otherwise why keep looking under the front lip in the videos.

The asian guy was the service advisor and the other guy that was being a complete **** is the Service Manager.

In the last video towards the end of the video, you will see the tall Caucasian male who I can safely assume drove my vehicle. I understood what he said though... "Not our problem!"


Also, to be fair they are only looking at it because I complained back in the waiting area.

I'd recommend trying to resolve this behind the scene with the dealer & then with Subaru Canada. If you get no resolution & have exhausted all your resources then I'm sure the news media would love to jump on the juicy story.

Sucks to hear that they can't take accountability of the situation.

Guess I won't be getting my car serviced at Don Docksteader anymore.

That's terrible.

If they had the nerve to ask me "So you expected us to scratch it?"

I would of been like "So do you expect to keep having business? I am willing to take any necessary legal actions to resolve this issue. I am willing to share my experience on yelp, google reviews, and any other review site your dealer is on. I will even dedicate an entire website to my experience here. If necessary I will contact the BBB. I would reconsider your options.".

I'm sorry, but not one messes with my car.

OP:
Here is your problem and solution/suggestion.

You evidently did not trust the dealer before going there - Questionable action.

Since you did decide to go there with paranoid (your admittance) feelings (THE PROBLEM), you should have expressed to them (SOLUTION) that you are concerned with any damage that might occur to the vehicle and TOLD THEM that you had taken photos of your vehicle just prior just to taking it in and at the very least had the dealer inspect your vehicle in specific areas of your concern.
It had subsequently appeared, possibly, to the dealer that you were trying to commit fraud or to 'trap them'. I suspect that they made the correct decision. With my suggestions above you could have prevented the problem but decided not to.

OP and OTHERS:
Faulting and expressing that the dealer is not doing business properly is NOT the correct or moral procedure. Suck it up and GET OVER IT and GET SMART. DO NOT PLAY DUMB. You asked for opinion, this was mine... You now know what to do the next time you have anyone of suspect working on your car.

BTW: Your video is not effective evidence against the dealer.. It is merely confirming that they are denying something that would be otherwise evident by verbally denying the damages occurred by them..

I know what you're trying to say and I appreciate your response but what if lets say after I told them this, they decide to turn off my dashcamera? Whoops, there goes my evidence.

Maybe the scratches were an extra cost option :lol:

If I bought a Chevrolet Camaro and then went back to the dealer and complained about it not being able to keep up with a 4WD Jeep on rocky trails would I have a leg to stand on????

Like I said, it is not effective evidence. It is superfluous.

My damage wasn't nearly as bad as yours but I have a tow hook plate mount on the front of my car. When I brought my car in for service last summer my plate was all sorts of bent up. I could tell it was from the service tech's legs leaning on it. People need to pay more attention to what they are doing.

Again:

1) bad pictures = no conclusive evidence, stop using that as judgment against them. No one will be able to determine what the condition of the lip was before, so you might as well stop there.

2) They can give you hell all they want, but as already pointed out: you taking pictures beforehand and being paranoid about the situation almost makes the dealer feel like they're being trapped.

If I were you, I wouldn't have bothered communicating that there was pictures beforehand. I would discuss that there were scratches, then escalate with video evidence if they deny.

And no, Subaru corporate is NOT a solution for you in this case. See below.

Nope. The lip was sold in Japan only, you imported it on your own and you're left to service it on your own. That's how dealer optional parts work if you buy it and use it for a market it wasn't originally intended to be sold in.

Just because it's made by Subaru doesn't mean they are obligated to cover it in all countries that they sell a car.

Again, why discuss this after the fact? The way you're presenting this, you're ASSUMING they will damage your car. Isn't that the whole point of having a dealer work on your car, that you will have good faith that they won't damage the car?

If I were you I'd not bother with any evidence. I'd ask the service advisor beforehand to inspect the car (esp the front lip), and tell them that it's easy to scratch. They should note on the service work that "aftermarket lip installed" or something to that effect, to take precaution. If the lip came back damaged after you were done, you can then negotiate and/or bring up video as evidence.

But if you want to assume they'll fuck up, then they'll fuck up.

-alex

Thanks for your input. I've already decided and on top of that I've talked to my salesman who sold me the car and he even agreed with me. He mentioned that there was even a policy about backing up vehicles into a stall with curbs.

It's really douchey of the dealer people not to just fucking apologize to you for scraping your lip and throw you a bone of some kind, but at the same time it seems like a waste of your energy to be getting this worked up about it-- it's a plastic thing that goes on the very bottom of the front of your car. It's going to get scraped.

Just think of this way: they've freed you from having to experience that awful remorseful feeling you'd have felt yourself when you put the first scrape on a pristine, factory-fresh front end. There's a reason people put <$200 splitters on their hundred-thousand dollar GT3's-- they're gonna get scraped up. If it's a show thing or something maybe put a cheap splitter on when you're using the car, and pop the STI one on for shows?

Technically, they scratched a $400 lip. But, they obviously scratched it a bit. Couldn't you at least tell them before hand to be careful of the lip kit, and request to back the car in when finished?

Agreed with whoever mentioned before, your lip is going to see much more damage over the years.

Damn your sig. I was like dafuq... sorry for off topic

The funny thing about this is that there's a $100 STi lip that, for all intents and purposes, looks and functions the same as the $400 one. If I was going to get a lip, I would go for the cheaper version because I know that it'd only be a matter of time before I scrape it again and I wouldn't really sweat it too much. It's not like it's going to rust and fall off.

But seriously, they should've just comped the oil change and call it a day.

Got me too.

Thus endeth the joke!

i went to a rally cross event and never worried about scrapes under the car again.

IT would be something if they broke it, but they didn't. You'll get scrapes like that from road debris.

Face it, your car is going to get scratches and dings through out its life. It's not even damage you can see unless its off the ground on a lift.