Hello All, This is my first thread on 6speed, but I'm sorry to say it's for sad reason. See story below, I'd love to get some opinions. It's actually an M3, but there are so many of you in this group, I had to see if you knew of any similar stories in the Porsche world (plus, a buddy of mine with a 996tt came along for the initial review of the damage).

Part 1:
Ok Guys, this could be a long thread as the journey just begins...sorry for being so long.

I took my '03 M3 in to a local BMW dealership for an oil change and modest warranty service a few days ago and they completed the work, called me back and said to come and pick it up. The car had been worked on, taken for a 2 mile test drive, and signed off by the first technician. I missed the call, so I called my SA around 4:00 and was told my car had just been in an accident. Obviously shocked, I went down to the dealership with a work colleague.

Once my SA greeted me with the un-calming, "are you the M3 guy?", I was met by the Shop Foreman who told me that they have a "random testing procedure" that my car had been "randomly selected for a pre-determined route" for customer satisfaction purposes.

I enquired who was driving and how old they were, but wasn't shocked when I was told a 21 year old had been driving.

After seven miles of driving, apparently a car pulled out in front of him and he couldn't avoid it, causing him to lose control and spin out, 180'ing the car into the curb at close to 50 mph (estimated by the police who measured skid marks, etc). It was in a 30 mph zone, BTW. He was about 3 miles from the dealership at that point, so we can assume a 10 mile "loop"

Now the dealership is saying they will fix the car to it's original specs, but they haven't even put it on an alignment rack to measure the sub-frame/unibody. Their parts cost, without labor, paint, or the Schnitzer nose and HID fogs comes to over $6000.

The GM came out and said he was absolutely adamant that there will be no deduction against the resale value of the car as it will be back to factory specs, but you need to know it was in mint condition, never even dinged, and had a clean carfax when I brought it in.

I told them to not perform any work until I could evaluate my options (this was on Wednesday, crash on Tuesday), but by Friday I received a letter from their attorney stating I had to let them do the work or remove the car from the lot within 5 days, unless I be charged a daily "storage fee".

I hired an attorney, but what would you guys do? I really don't want the car back with a crash on it as I wouldn't have bought it that way in the first place. Plus, I know the value will be affected, not to mention and boogymen that might come out due to hit down the road, when the car's out of warranty. It hit rear driver side rim first, completely buckled the suspension and wheel, then bounced to the front blowing the side bags and taking the front wheel/suspension out, then blew the front bumper cover off.

That's it for now, bummed out, but appreciate any thoughts.

 

Wow!!
OK, If I were you I would insist that they buy the car from you at its market value before the accident or give you a great deal on a trade in. Do not take the car back!! If they refuse then hire an attorney asap. Sorry to hear about this. Good luck.

 

That car will not be the same ever again, even if they do an amazing job of fixing it. Do not take the car back at any cost!

 

You can make them fix it and sue them for depreciation.

Christian

 

Dont accept a repair. Insist that they buy the car for full (undamaged) value and sell you a new M3 at cost. They are not offering to compensate you for your lost use of vehicle, time and inconveniance, or breach of your trust. If you sue you will probably recover much more than Iam recommending asking for especially since the dealership driver was speeding when the wreck occured. That fact would probably open them up to punitive damages if you sued. The letter from their lawyer is designed to intimadate/discourage you. It is also a probe by them to see how tough you are. Get a good attorney to write them a demand letter containing references to all the liabilities they face if they fight. The next letter you get from them will likely be alot more polite. IMHO (but Iam no lawyer).

 

Agreed, worst is, you are without a car. I truely believe this will work out in your favor though, and will come out ahead, goodluck and that is HORRIBLE news, i cannot believe it!

 

Sorry to hear this. Get your lawyer on the case now! Screw them and their 'storage fee'. It's obvious the value of the car is now severely damaged. They should cover the cost of a comparably used/CPO'd M3.

DO NOT ACCEPT THEIR OFFER! Good luck.




Thread needs to be moved.

 

If there's no deduction against the resale value of the car, I'm sure they'd be happy to buy it from you. Otherwise, toss them to your attorney like meat to a dog.

 

don't take the car back.. get an attory, have them sell you a new M3 at dealer cost

 

btw, sorry to hear that.. it is absolute crap what the dealer is trying to stick u with... what dealer is this anyways? absolute bs.. all i have to say is, that dealer is in soooo much trouble...

 

I hate to say it but, SUE THE **** OUT OF THEM!!!!!

 

I'll hold off on naming names for now (I'm trying to give them the chance to make this right, plus I want to talk to my attorney tomorrow), but suffice it to say the BMW dealership is part of one of the country's largest auto dealer networks.
They have given me a loaner (the only right thing they've done), even though it is a big marshmellow 5-series. My guess is they'll want that back soon enough, when they see I'm not having their repair idea. Even funnier, the GSM has told me that he couldn't find me a replacement car ANYWHERE as they are too hard to find, plus he couldn't sell me a new one, as they don't make them anymore. Such a loser...

 

Yes, you should get much more out of this than a fixed car. Any attourney should be able to tear these guys to shreds in court. I think a new car and compensation money is in order.

 

you definitely should check out http://savagebmwsucks.com/

 

You should sue them this instance. Do not hesitate.