What's A Fair Compromise (If Any) w/ The Dealer?
 

Hold on, this is a a long one: Made a service appointment with my dealer as a someone tapped the front bumper of my wife’s ‘22 Macan S just hard enough to crack the front grill and damage the Homelink transceiver underneath the bumper cover to the point it didn’t work. There was also a rattle from one of the mufflers, two recalls, and it needed new tires.

Made an appointment to get a loaner, which ended up being a ‘24 Macan. Took five days to get parts in, and cost me $6600 out of pocket (for the tires and the damage, the recalls and muffler done under warranty).

Before returning the loaner, I Shop-Vac’d the floors and seats as our 11 year old son can make a mess. There was some dust on the center console trim, so I used the vacuum on that too. As I did that, I noticed a line left on this trim piece from the plastic nozzle. Note that this trim piece has embedded capacitive buttons for HVAC, heated seats, etc. I honestly didn’t think anything of it, as I assumed a quick wipe with some interior detailer and a microfiber would take care of it.

Returned the loaner, paid, picked up our car and all seemed well. The next day, I get an email from the service advisor saying there was a scratch on the trim and that they take the condition of their loaners seriously (which I get). They have asked me replace it. For $2500. I specifically asked if it could be buffed, and they said no.

In the meantime, our Macan has started acting up since gettimg it back from them. Specifically, the rear hatch has been opening on its own randomly. Doors left locked/unlocked, doesn’t matter. Sometimes, it’s right after parking it, sometimes it’s after it’s been sitting for multiple hours. Most of these occasions, the key has been hanging on a peg in a cabinet with no one near it, so this isn’t a case of accidentally hitting the button. I replaced the key battery with no change.

My wife and son were at a busy Walmart yesterday, and came out to find the hatch wide open with hundreds of dollars of my son’s sports equipment sitting there for anyone to grab. Then, last night, we were woken up at 2:30AM to a cop pounding on the front door. Turns out the hatch had opened, set off the motion detector in the garage, and triggered the home security alarm. Somehow, we didn’t hear the alarm siren. The cop was not amused; they charge for false alarms (though I think they give you one grace incident a year).The only thing I can think of is the rear hatch issue is some sort of missed recoding thing related to the work they did. Can't be a simple coincidence this happened immediately after getting it worked on. We had to bring our Macan back this morning so they can "investigate", and now I have to go back again as they say they need both keys to properly research this.

I’m pissed. I took the time to bring it back, get another loaner, and (hopefully) have them fix their mistake. Until they do, it can't be driven it in public. My wife is freaking out the hatch will open while driving, and we can’t park it in public safely.

Am I out of line in being pissed that the dealer expects me to cough up for my mistake but (I suspect) will offer zero compensation for theirs? Do I just suck it up and pay?

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Your mistake caused physical damage: $2500. Their mistake cost you time and inconvenience. If the value of your time and inconvenience can equal $2500, maybe from loss of use (but you said you got another loaner), then both can call it even. I have the feeling they're still going to hold you for the damage. Instead of paying out of pocket though, have you considered filing a claim through your insurance? Should be covered under comprehensive.

I did call my insurance; I'd lose my $400/year safe driver discount for four years (assuming no other claims) plus have to pay the $500 deductible. I'm leaning towards paying out of pocket, and asking for the damaged part.

I do see what you're saying. I should have added more detail: it's $2200 for the part, and $300 for labor. Is there a fair argument to be made that the multiple hour-round-trip drives I've had to make to correct their mistake should wash out what appear to be the two hours labor they're attempting to charge me?

Check with your credit card and see if the damage is covered under their rental car insurance coverage. Many CC companies offer free rental car insurance if you pay with a credit card and most dealers make you fill out a rental contract for a loaner car.

That's a good idea, but unfortunately I didn't have to give a credit card for the loaner.

They should fix your car at no additional charge. Maybe as good will throw in a free next oil change. Nothing more is reasonable IMO.

I know this will ignite flames, but who lets their 11 year old trash cars? Especially one that's not yours. Spoken as a father of three (now 33 - 37, all successful and happy). No draconian parenting needed, just sensible limits.

Who said anything about trashing the loaner? He had a soccer tournament over the weekend and the artificial turf field leaves little bits everywhere.

Out of box thinking - trade your car for the loaner completely repaired and at a good price…

Gotcha - the way you phrased it originally sounded like he actively made a mess. No offense intended. Hope it works out for you.

Delete - duplicate

Request a conversation to the person that would need to approve any sort of price adjustment and nicely make your case. This has worked for me in the past. Not go get what I wanted but at least a compromise.

YTA, its not your car and you damaged it. Doesnt matter if you "meant to" Also the trunk issue seems unrelated, also your responsibility to repair, If I was the service manager I wouldnt give you a second loaner either

The dealer has a right to request a repair since you damaged it. Under the law in most jurisdictions, this means that the dealer needs to be made "whole" either by you reparing the damage or paying them what it would cost to repair. So, offer to get it fixed.

Buy some plastic polishing compound and see if that fixes the scratches. There are many online polishing agents made specifically for automobile instrument panels and controls. Try on one small spot first. If the dealer refuses, then just tell them you won't pay anything, but you will fix it for them, and see how they react. If they take you to small claims or threathen you with collections, just write back that you offered to fix it. So they will need to let you first attempt a fix before they take any other action.

However, do watch out for unscrupulous dealers (most of them). They often have outside insurance, so many times dealers will double-dip by filing a claim for damages and then going after you for the same! So, watch out for this.