Dealer chipped wheel - am I overreacting?

[KFN]

Took the car to my local dealer to have summers put on. Told rep over phone I'm "that guy" when it comes to condition of car and that it has no blemishes anywhere, period. Washed the car before heading over to be sure, and had the rep do a walkaround with me when I dropped it off. He gave me the usual, car is wet (rain), lighting, etc. but car looks immaculate (writes "immaculate" on sheet). I even say I'm most concerned about the wheels. THE WHEELS.

When the car is ready he says "oh, the tech noticed a small chip on your right rear." What? The whole reason for the walkaround was to establish condition of the car! He persists, saying he didn't use a microscope and the tech is saying it was already there. Given our previous conversiation(s), I say the tech should have brought it to my attention before working on the car. Rep needs to "talk to his manager" now.

Granted it's not a huge chip, but the wheels were 99.9% perfect.

What would you do?

[Gossypiboma]

Thats large enough I would think you would have noticed it before, but the edges do look grimy as if its been there awhile and not new.

[Helmsman]

KFN,

me, I'd go bananas over that. Certainly "big" enough to need refurnish specially as the rims was in perfect condition. What did they do? Either they took a ride, which they shouldn't, or they damaged the rim while changing tires if that even was done.

Recently had my ZCP refurbished, started with the one needing it but when tricky for the guys to get the color right I had all four done. Ended up really nice but again took all four.

I'd never le the dealer of the hook on this man.

Good luck

[8600RPM]

I was getting cocky after 7k miles in my f80 thinking how I was going to keep this car, including wheels blemish free. I was thinking how the heck I managed to curb my e92 wheels in several spots. Sure enough in a tight no touch car wash (just to show I'm not careless in general going to those brush washes) I curb a rear rim a bit.

At first I was upset but at the end of the day I don't think twice about it. It taught me again to just focus on enjoying the car. I know it's not your fault here and I'm sure you have a case but in future you may need help from your dealer and I'd save that fight for something more important

[TTO898]

Originally Posted by BigBoosting

Thats large enough I would think you would have noticed it before, but the edges do look grimy as if its been there awhile and not new.

What he said.

[martini]

I'd have them fix it and remember, "the customer is always right". I had an incident with the dealer and they scratched my car. Service manager said he'd get back to me on what they can do. After not hearing from them for a day, I emailed the GM for the dealer and she called me within minutes. Long story short, she apologized quite a bit and they took my car and fixed everything. DO NOT LET THEM OFF THE HOOK!!!

[KFN]

@Bigboost/TTO: You wouldn't happen to be service reps, would you? I kid, I kid.

Chip was absolutely not there when I dropped the car. As stated, I went over the car twice, once while washing it last night (with my hands) and again at the dealer.

I'm aware of two paint chips on the entire car and they are smaller than the tip of a pencil. I can assure you, I would have noticed this.

For the purpose of the thread, assume the dealer did it.

[///M Ryder]

I had a very similar situation a few years ago. Dealer offered to repair and repaint the wheel. Dealer also said if refinish job was not to my standard they would replace the wheel with a new one. Well guess what happened......I got a new wheel. Press for a new wheel......repaint will never match.........Phil

[Amirsm3]

Originally Posted by BigBoosting

Thats large enough I would think you would have noticed it before, but the edges do look grimy as if its been there awhile and not new.

This. That doesn't look fresh at all.

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by 8600RPM

I was getting cocky after 7k miles in my f80 thinking how I was going to keep this car, including wheels blemish free. I was thinking how the heck I managed to curb my e92 wheels in several spots. Sure enough in a tight no touch car wash (just to show I'm not careless in general going to those brush washes) I curb a rear rim a bit.

At first I was upset but at the end of the day I don't think twice about it. It taught me again to just focus on enjoying the car. I know it's not your fault here and I'm sure you have a case but in future you may need help from your dealer and I'd save that fight for something more important

this.

[thekurgan]

From the look of the photo, it appears to have a piece of paint/clear flake still lingering. I'd say it's fresh, and the impact was something dirty, like it hit one of the lift guide pieces, which are usually pretty nasty. The nick on the spoke of the wheel, is not fresh.

[Agent-GHQ]

Shiets..., you can clearly see down to the 3rd layer!

Had a recent incident when I took my car to patch a nail hole. The installer not only scrape my wheel but pierced a hole in the tire. I immediately talked to the mgr and was offered to replace a new oem tire and repair the wheel.
Of all places, you'd think an established tire joint like America tire would have the right tools and training to prevent these incidents

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by 8600RPM

I was getting cocky after 7k miles in my f80 thinking how I was going to keep this car, including wheels blemish free. I was thinking how the heck I managed to curb my e92 wheels in several spots. Sure enough in a tight no touch car wash (just to show I'm not careless in general going to those brush washes) I curb a rear rim a bit.

At first I was upset but at the end of the day I don't think twice about it. It taught me again to just focus on enjoying the car. I know it's not your fault here and I'm sure you have a case but in future you may need help from your dealer and I'd save that fight for something more important

This. Honestly, going to the track allowed me to get a lot more enjoyment out of my car and from a different source, which I think is probably why I'm not as obsessive about aesthetics as many others here seem to be. I even have 3 dings on my right rear quarter panel, all of which made me sad when I first discovered them, but none of which I ever really think about now (though I admit it does help that they're on the passenger side.) Yes it sucks that your wheel is chipped and even more so if it was the tech's fault, but it's a car driven on the road, not a piece of art encased in a plastic bubble. These things are bound to happen, if not at the hands of a tech then due to some careless person opening a door onto your body panel or even your own moment of carelessness at some point. If you can learn to accept that, you'll be happier, less stressed, and probably live longer.

As for the inspection, I get what you're saying on principle, but in the walkarounds I've done with dealer staff before taking a loaner, neither I nor they have ever taken a close look at the wheel. It's more for scratches, dents, broken plastic, etc. I can't honestly say I fault the tech for not looking at the wheels that closely. And yes the chip looks big in the photo, but from a few feet away and higher up the way people would be looking at it under normal circumstances, I doubt anyone would see it unless you asked them to spot an issue.

But even if you're right about the dealer causing the issue and even if you could conclusively prove it (which it doesn't sound like you can), I'd consider whether making a stink about this is really worth the longer-term impact of your relationship with the dealer and your SA. My SA hasn't been perfect every time, but I've taken those issues in stride, and my SA has gone above and beyond for me in about 50 different ways over the last 4 years -- I'm pretty sure those two are related.

Bottom line: Give it a week and I doubt you'll still be obsessing over that wheel. If you are, try to get your enjoyment out of the car based on how fun it is to drive rather than the fact that it looks immaculate.

[GB///M]

that sucks OP. Hope they get it taken care of and repair the wheel. Which dealer was this? Perillo?

[M3Bimmer77]

I wish they repair it. Definitely they will not replace it and lucky if they fix it. It all depends on your relationship with the dealer. Wish you the best of luck

[obe100]

Originally Posted by GB///M5

that sucks OP. Hope they get it taken care of and repair the wheel. Which dealer was this? Perillo?

When I lived in Chicago (about 10 years ago) I bought my first BMW from them......treated like a king. Everytime I took it in for service, photos were taken of every inch of the car by the service desk.

I now live in the tri-state and even the service center in NY does the same thing. Is this not happening everywhere else? Hit or miss....I'm assuming.

Good luck OP....hope it works out.

[jra85]

Had the dealer put two nice chips in my ZCP wheel while the car was in service a couple years ago. No clue how, though they suggested perhaps it was the automatic car wash they put the cars through and at least owned up to doing it. They offered to have the wheel repainted but I demanded a new wheel, and had to go through numerous conversations with service advisers, managers, etc. before they finally gave in. I wouldn't have been able to live with a repainted wheel let alone with the damage.

[thekurgan]

^^^^ Yup, looks similar to the OP.

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by jra85

Had the dealer put two nice chips in my ZCP wheel while the car was in service a couple years ago. No clue how, though they suggested perhaps it was the automatic car wash they put the cars through and at least owned up to doing it. They offered to have the wheel repainted but I demanded a new wheel, and had to go through numerous conversations with service advisers, managers, etc. before they finally gave in. I wouldn't have been able to live with a repainted wheel let alone with the damage.

"Wouldn't have been able to live" with a repainted wheel, never mind a chipped wheel? Seriously?

[spitfire9200]

To everyone in this thread saying live with it - If OP did it himself, then yes, either pay to fix it or live with it. The fact of the matter is that OP made it very clear that he wanted his car taken care of and even emphasized the importance of the wheels to his service adviser.

He was told that his car would be taken care of up to HIS standard. They even did a walk around and wrote it down. Then the damage occurred and they tried to convince OP that HE missed it and it wasn't their fault. They didn't own up to it or just try to resolve it. That's a huge red flag. They were responsible for his property and they signed the form THEY filed out with the previous condition. OP's vehicle should have come out the way it went in. The chip is "grimy" because it probably hit the lift rail as someone else pointed out. Those are usually really nasty; or a dirty tool etc.

OP - get it taken care of. I would agree to try the refinish and if it doesn't match they agree to give you a new wheel. I've had 1 wheel refinished before on a 370Z (similar color) in the past and it matched fine.

I wouldn't be pissed or throw a fit; just calmly explain the situation and then escalate it. I'd be surprised if it wasn't eventually taken care of.

[imkrister]

Everyone will have their own thoughts on this, some will say don't worry about it and live and let live. Others will say you should ask for an i8 as a replacement (sarcastic).

I had a dealer do damage to my ZCP's and my SA wouldn't own up to it, but had no problem refinishing the wheels. They look good, but are no longer the EXACT same color as the original hypersilver (all 4 wheels were refinished so you cant tell). One thing to consider is the damage is a deep chip and some refinishers just re-spray over top, versus bringing the chipped area back up to the height of the surrounding paint.

How much this bothers you (the OP) is 100% personal and up to you. Just my .02 with my experiences. Hope it all works out.

[tdott]

I bet the fact that you were 'that guy' the tech did it out of spite. People are like that, which is why I hate taking my car anywhere. I'm lucky to have a family member that owns a shop and I do my own work there including wheel balancing and mounting.

The few times that I do ever have to take my car somewhere I'm always paranoid.