Dealership Ruined Brand New (14km) Car's Interior

LEddzzo on 29/02/2024 - 18:03
Last edited 29/02/2024 - 18:37 by 1 other user

Hi everyone, I'm reaching out to the community for advice and support regarding a frustrating situation with a car dealership.

I recently leased a brand-new $58,000 car through a novated lease agreement. Unfortunately, the leasing company included a leather protection product (without my knowledge but I agreed to it eventually) that the dealership applied before delivery. Upon taking delivery on December 22nd, 2023, I noticed stains on the seats and trim, which the dealership initially dismissed as the protectant drying. However, the stains persisted.

During my first service in January 2024 (1 month / 1,000 km), I requested the dealership rectify the issue. Unfortunately, they refused, claiming the product was third-party and directed me to the manufacturer for warranty claims. Fortunately, the leather protection manufacturer intervened and confirmed the dealership's improper application of the product. The dealership eventually accepted the mistake and then attempted to remove the stains themselves, but were unsuccessful.

Their current solution is to replace all the seats and trim with new covers, which raises concerns:

Potential for increased cabin noise: Removing and reinstalling everything could create rattles and compromise the car's original feel.
Reduced resale value: Replacing original components and getting the interior repaired might negatively impact the car's value, especially since I plan to buy it out at the end of the lease and sell it privately.

Please advise what are my options here? Are there any questions that I need to ask them? Any concerns from having interior replaced? I plan on bitching and bitching and bitching and calling the car manufacturer and anyone and everyone else I can think of, but I’d like some advice on the best course of action.

Thank you in advance for your insights and assistance.

Automotive

Comments

    • MandMs13 on 02/03/2024 - 20:06

      The fact you are getting negs with your reasoning shows this site has gone down the toilet

  • Seksistefan on 01/03/2024 - 10:02
    +7

    To be honest, I can't be bothered reading all the comments

    1. what is your problem Eddzzo? They stuffed up, but you also stuffed up by accepting the car in the "not so perfect condition". See the stains, refuse to accept
    2. dealers are scum, but since they offered to replace the seats/seat covers, what do you thing they will replace them with? officeworks special? They have to do it with original parts as not to void any warranty
    3. since you want to buy the car after the end of the lease, what is your problem with the resale value? you know it on the day when you've signed the lease

    The bottom line is

    1. stop whinging and whining, make sure that what dealer does is all legit and thank your lucky stars that they offered you the fair resolution, instead of $50 voucher for generic seat covers from supacheap.
    • rambao9 on 01/03/2024 - 11:27

      ^
      They stuffed up but offered to rectify the problem with possibly the best outcome you can ask for. I'm not sure why this thread is even a thing?

      • digitalbath on 02/03/2024 - 13:14

        Because they obviously want to either get a new car for a replacement, or try and get out of their lease.
        They just need some more people to agree with their entitlement so they can have an excuse to cry like a baby.
        Read the OP’s replies. They don’t want a solution, they want a reason to whinge.

  • MandMs13 on 01/03/2024 - 10:29
    +3

    Oh quit your moaning… jeeez… just get them to change your seat and trim covers and be done with it. Sounds like you don't even know what you want

  • Liamhos08 on 01/03/2024 - 11:35
    +1

    OEM parts fitted by the manufacturer will not lower the resale value. They may not know third party car detailing products but they sure as sh!t know their cars inside & out.

  • Kremleen on 01/03/2024 - 11:37
    +1

    This guy has too much in his head. Is it his first time buying a brand new car? Cars, like any other product, have problems and can be fixed. If a car is fixed/replaced by a dealership with genuine parts by brand approved technicians then what's the problem? What happens when down the line you need to make a warranty claim on another part of the car? It's no longer gonna be factory fitted, muh resale value

  • jonkvh on 01/03/2024 - 12:18

    As my second job was working in a dealership, as for advice, just take it up with the Dealer Principle. The fact that the Detailing staff effed it up, is on the dealer. Plus, they've already had the Leather Sealant maker back you up, so you shouldn't have a hard time at all, especially if you tell them you intend on keeping the car.

  • joka on 01/03/2024 - 13:04
    +4

    You're going to get the car back with mismatching coloured seats/ door trims.

    The panels will all rattle because the doors had to come off. Those doors wont align correctly to the car and there will be unsightly gaps.

    The power windows wont operate like they used to. The car will smell of the technicians BO.

    This is terrible news for you. The days must drag on and the nights must be sleepless.

    • gromit on 01/03/2024 - 14:44

      unlikely, colour matching is hard for older cars and colour changes. new cars it should not be a problem at all. I had the leather on my 3 month old car replaced for sections of one seat due to it being inadvertently torn by a saw that was sticking through side of box. I was concerns about colour match but as hard as I tried I could not spot that anything had been replaced at all.

    • DiscoJango on 02/03/2024 - 17:55
      +1

      They might even put doors from a completely different car on. The speedo will suddenly change to mph Op will have ptsd and need to be hospitalised.

  • dudebargain on 01/03/2024 - 14:31

    Did dirty mike and boys ruin the car?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1j4mK6cs_A

  • keejoonc on 01/03/2024 - 14:41
    +4

    While the whole experience is annoying and could have been avoided, you OP are just being obnoxious.
    If they replace the seats and trim and it turns out bad, raise it with them at that point.
    What makes you think it's going to affect resale?? Are you going to advertise the car for sale saying the seats have been replaced with rubbish aftermarket alternative? How would the potential buyer even know whether the seats were replaced? Gosh, some people choose to live a difficult life for absolutely no reason.

  • Poor Ass on 01/03/2024 - 15:25
    +3

    I bet it's a BYD Atto 3 Extended with some accessories leased with either the scumbags Remserv, Maxxia or Smartsalary for a total rip off job

    • CocaKoala on 03/03/2024 - 02:16

      I realised it's very hard to get any value out of a lease as most of these companies try extremely hard to milk every drop of any incentive and offer nothing to the consumer. What's worse is they show pictures and graphs, all a bunch of crap intended to deceive. Most will just be much better off buying the car outright or even avail a regular car loan.

      But, but, the lease company pays for my petrol, tyres, maintenance, etc. No, they don't. It's your money.

      • Poor Ass on 03/03/2024 - 09:34

        The main incentive when buying an eligible EV under the exemption is that it can be fully paid with untaxed and get free on purchase as well as running costs

        It will be unfortunate if the employers offer set choices for NL companies and they can be a complete rip

        I actually do the comparisons between different companies and actually explain if it is worth while for them instead of these NL companies just sweet talk and don't give a shit

        It's your money but untaxed money in this case and can even beat cash. People just need to understand it better and get someone decent to explain it to them not a salesman

        • CocaKoala on 03/03/2024 - 17:58

          The problem though is that most employers will only offer one or two choices and they will rip people off as you said.

          • Poor Ass on 03/03/2024 - 21:02

            @CocaKoala: Yep sad

            But can try if they can give a lower rate saying the other company is cheaper or something

  • MrKnowItAll on 01/03/2024 - 15:55
    +1

    I don't see the issue, they'll swap the trim / seats and you're all set - it'll be as if nothing happened. To try and put your mind at ease, I remove the seats from our cars every year to clean under then (children are messy creatures) and not once have I had any issue with an increase in NVH. You should be able to trust the dealer with this because undoing 4 bolts is much, much easier than applying a finicky product to interior trim. I'm not saying they won't mess something up, but it's fairly unlikely.

    If it came time to sell, you could be upfront and say "it's got all new trim as the dealer applied the leather protector improperly" or say nothing because it would be impossible to identify the swap.

    • Poor Ass on 02/03/2024 - 09:23

      Probably just the inconvenience and also risk of damaging the rental

  • JuryWheel on 01/03/2024 - 16:39
    -1

    Replacing trim and seat covers wouldnt be that tricky - Id just go with that. If its not done correctly, dont accept the car back until it is? What more can they do really…?

  • wade2006 on 01/03/2024 - 16:41

    There's no obligation for you to buy the car after novated lease agreement and still its still under warranty so you won't be out of pocket for any potential issues.

    The dealership are playing ball, if they screwed it up once, it's most likely that'll try their best to not screw it up again.

    Suggest to deal with problems as they, or if they, come up. At the end of the day, it's their problem, not yours, to fix any issues and so that gives you leveridge over them.

    • Poor Ass on 02/03/2024 - 09:27

      There is an absolute financial responsibility for the lessee to pay the residual or refinance the residual when the lease matures

      It's not a rental car that you can hand back

  • Daddy Chill on 01/03/2024 - 18:51

    Just get some RM Williams seat covers and you be sweet

  • opt on 01/03/2024 - 18:58

    Their current solution is to replace all the seats and trim with new covers

    Are they offering to replace the seats and trim with new genuine parts or reupholster with 3rd party covers?

    Reduced resale value

    If they are replacing, then it should not devalue the car because everything will still be genuine, and no one can tell a difference. But if they are going to reupholster, push back and demand new replacements.

    Potential for increased cabin noise: Removing and reinstalling everything could create rattles and compromise the car's original feel.

    Comes down to what they are going to replace. If it's just the seats and a few trim pieces like door cards, it should not cause unfixable rattling. Seats are bolted down with a few bolts; the whole assembly can be easily removed and re-installed securely. Door cards are usually clipped in, which is quite easy to remove and re-install as well. But if you do hear rattling after the repair, then take it back and get it fixed.

    Please advise what are my options here?

    What happed is unfortunate, but sometimes stuff just happens, that's life. If the dealership is going to replace everything with new genuine parts in a timely manner and offering a courtesy car if the repair is going to take more than a day then I don’t see what else you can do. If you are after compensation, then no, that won't happen, nor will they replace the whole car. Its no different to a warranty fix.

  • Eeples on 01/03/2024 - 21:14

    Let them fix it.

    Take before and after pictures.

    If it’s not fixed then keep complaining.

  • Mumbles on 01/03/2024 - 22:13
    +2

    Basically there are no other options (unless you are insanely good at bitching). You have to give the dealership a chance to rectify/repair.

    To a new owner it hurts to see the first damage to your new car. My brother keeps hurting over his first door dings, paint stone chips and scratched wheel rims.

    By the time you sell the car it will probably be 5 years at the end of a novated lease. If you like the car and bought well then it might be 10 years on a second lease. At 10 years, 1 extra rattle over a dozen is not going to depreciate the value of your car. At 3-5 years unless you are extremely lucky you'll have blemished your own vehicle with damage way more noticable than imperfectly stitched leather car seats.

    This is advice from a WRX owner who's brand new car was damaged by a Subaru dealership 3 times in two consecutive servicings before the WRX's 1st birthday. My car is now 18 years old and the remediated panels with aftermarket paint look better than the factory painted Subaru panels. Individual dealerships might be cheap but so is the manufacturer!

    No need to be fearful of depreciation.

  • fry001 on 01/03/2024 - 23:02
    -2

    I feel the dealer lying about it being only the “protectant drying“ should allow him to exchange the car. If he took the car knowing the stains would stay then replacing the seats is fair.
    Just because a company deals in expensive items they should still be held to the same standards as other retailers.

  • velcrochicken on 02/03/2024 - 09:03
    +1

    I get the fear. Dealer has an apprentice pull the seats out to fit new trim, scratches the hell out of other trim or door paint during the process.
    Than you have another problem to deal with.

    • Poor Ass on 02/03/2024 - 09:29
      +1

      Same risk as when you leave your car with someone else

      Some people just don't give a shit

  • 82norm on 02/03/2024 - 10:30
    -2

    All car dealers are scum.

  • fredz0r on 02/03/2024 - 10:46
    +1

    Need to take it up with the leasing company. The dealership didn't apply it was applied a 3rd party company like motorone or tint a car.

  • shhusan on 02/03/2024 - 21:56

    I don't see what the problem is… they are trying to do the right thing and replacing all the seats and trim with new covers; seems very reasonable! I don't see how it would cause rattling… just tell them if it does. It's a $58,000 car, not a Ferrari. I don't think anyone would notice that the seats have been replaced if they were buying it second hand. It is going to depreciate in value anyway… this would play a very minor (if anything) impact.

  • thermos on 02/03/2024 - 22:42
    +1

    From experience, I would take lots of photos prior to taking the car in for rectification such as plastic trim etc.

    Many years ago, I had a defect in the seat cover. They replaced it with the wrong seat cover pattern and then once sorting out the correct pattern, managed to scratch another plastic panel. Thankfully, I had pictures taken outside the dealer and they ended up sorting it out after many attempts.

  • umoddbro on 03/03/2024 - 10:10
    +1

    OP wait till someone dings your car in a carpark, I'm guessing you won't be sleeping all week!

  • Devaust on 03/03/2024 - 11:41

    Make sure you have every exchange, every dealership communication to you if possible in writing. This is especially important if down the road you encounter issues directly arising from this issue.

  • 82norm on 04/03/2024 - 12:54

    Take them to fair trading.

  • 82norm on 04/03/2024 - 13:02
    -3

    If the dealer is fair dinkum, they’d take it back and sell it as a demo. You then get a replacement vehicle. As for the neggers, let’s get a vote on what you’d choose then!

    • 82norm on 04/03/2024 - 14:31
      -1

      The negative vote vindicates my argument.

  • vulpesvulpes on 05/03/2024 - 17:36
    +2

    I had a similar situation - picked up the car and after I drove it home we spotted above the drivers A pillar there were marks in the roof liner - dealer accepted the error and swapped my car for a loan for a few days while they sent it to a proper interior shop to have the roof liner replaced. All parties happy except the dealer who spent $$$ on a deal that was already pretty lean for them. I didn't ask for a new car, I was just polite and we sorted it out like adults.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join