Hello I recently purchased a 2011 Black ssv from a reputable dealer. Unfortunately I did not see that it had hail damage. Though very small and only noticeable on certain angles and light. I told them that if I knew they were selling me a car with hail damage, I would not have bought it. I took the car back to the dealer and they agreed that it had hail damage and were sorry as this one passed through the thorough checking system. I asked what options I had. As the car was purchased under finance, if I was to have it replaced, I would have to pay out the old loan and apply for a new one. Pay fees all over again. They told me they would repair the hail damage and compensate with some cash. $1000.00. I told them only if the repair work would be done properly. ( a good job ). They agreed that if I was not happy with the work they would look at replacing the car. It only took one day for the repairs and it was done. To be honest I was not happy with the job, even though they said it looked good and you could not see the hail damage any more. This is true, I could not see any hail damage. I also had the car inspected by a qualified mechanic at a cost of $300.00. They told me that there were abnormalities in the paint work. The thickness of the paint varied all over the car, and there were scratches in the paintwork. In the few weeks that I have had the car and before I realised about the hail damage, I had paid $400.00 to lower it and put an x-force exhaust on for $820.00. I have not transfered it into my name as of yet until this gets resolved. Does anybody know what my rights are and where do I stand on this issue. Thanks George
From the dealers perspective, you have nothing. The is roadworthy, defects in paint is not something that is covered under warranty, or even an issue with the sale of a car. It doesn't make the car unfit for it's purpose. A brand new car will have discrepancies in paint thickness, that's just the way the paint is applied, it's all automated so a robot cannot do the same job as a human. You also have 14 days to transfer it, the dealer would have submitted their paperwork, so if you don't transfer it, you will have to pay extra. It's also up to you to make sure the car is what you want. You looked at it, you obviously drove it, and by signing the contract, legally, you have accepted the car in it's condition. They fixed it, you can't see the hail damage anymore, what's the problem? To put it bluntly, you own the car.
If you can't see the hail damage, how can you not be happy? Is there a big patch that's a different colour? The dealer doesn't really have any obligation to do anything in this respect (it's road worthy and that's the only obligation they have), you inspected the car and bought it. They have gone above and beyond to offer you a repair. The paint may be varied and scratched all over the car, but this is probably because of a previous owner rather than the dealer being dodgy. Also, one day for a hail dent is waaay more than enough time to do it properly. Also, qualified mechanic doesn't mean qualified painter. Take it to a body shop if you want a proper opinion about your paint. Pretty much, you looked at it and made the decision to buy. If it was a private sale would you have gone back and complained? The dealer says you can take it back, try work it out with them. But your argument is not strong based on paint. Possibly see if there's a cooling off period in your state. Just remember the dealer has no obligations to pay any costs of your loan.
Mate you seem to be very set of associating blame to the dealer for something that is your own fault. YOU should have inspected the car properly, preferably under the sun, to see any defect, or got a inspection person out to look at it. Paint thickness reports are fairly normal in a comprehensive inspection. The dealer did a good job of selling you a car 'as is' with the legal second-hand warranty. Paint defects isn't a warranty issue. And the dealer had no responsibility to even fix what they did, it was very good of them to do it. So now the dents are gone and you are still unhappy. WHY? Sounds like you are just having a sook mate.
Also remember that you only noticed it a couple of weeks after having the car, there is really no evidence to say that you bought it like that. The dealer is completely within their rights to argue that it happened after they sold it. Unfortunately it could be your word against theirs. That also raises the point that how are you so sure it came from the dealer like this and it wasn't caused by some other piece of road debris.
thanks all This has now been resolved. I have had the car inspected by NRMA. There were just a few minor issues which I agreed to fix myself. The dealer has also agreed to compensate me quite nicely. NRMA did not notice any hail damage on the car. Now its time to just enjoy.
