Dent in my roof that I didn't notice when I bought it.

[Throwback]

I bought my Certified Pre Owned 2014 Trail Base in October with 25k miles. I guess because I'm not tall I didn't notice that the roof has a dent in it about in the area where the sunroof would be.

The dealer uses an independent paint-less dent repair guy and I had him fix a door ding on my wife's RAV4 a while back and he does great work. I called him and met him to look at the 4Runner dent and he said "Yeah, I remember seeing this one when they were prepping it to be put on the lot." He said that he can't fix the dent with his process which is why it wasn't fixed before it was sold.

I'm kind of irritated with the dealer for not disclosing it, and I'm surprised that it was allowed on a Certified Pre Owned vehicle. I'm also mad that I didn't catch it before now. I have to stand on the door sill to see it, which is something I didn't do before buying the truck.

So, is it worth bringing it to the sales manager's attention and seeing if they'll even discuss it or am I on my own? I don't want a bunch of drama if it's not going to be fruitful.

Secondly, does anyone know what it would take to fix and should I have the dealer's collision center look at it or an independent shop? Any idea what it would cost to properly repair and what that process is? I'm peculiar enough that it will bother me for a while just knowing it's there even if I can't see it normally.

Thoughts?

 

[sherryKangz]

I don't think there is any harm in bringing it up with the sales manager. They aren't legally bound to fix it but they might do something in goodwill.

 

[Yukon4Runner]

I was shopping at Valenti Toyota in Rhode Island for a certified pre owned 5th gen a while back...I stoop up on a tire and looked at the roof. Damage all over it...probably a garage door prize.

The salesperson gives me the minion "whaaaaaa?" look...I also notice on the certified inspection report that the body condition was left blank with no check marks for pass or fail.

Nice try slick.

 

[Cymon]

If it doesn't work with the sales manager, the best fix may be a well placed full length roof rack.:eyebrows:

 

[Vinsil]

You can ask but you bought a used vehicle and had the chance to inspect it. Certified does not = perfect. It means the dealership inspected it and felt confident enough in the care and condition to certify it which they then jack up the price passing it on to you. Not a horrible thing, I've bought two Camry's that were certified and was happy have the longer warranty.

The dealer might have know about the dent, the guy said it couldn't be done in a paint less removal process and the dealer was not going to pay the body shop to fix it. Simple, they will only invest so much to get a vehicle ready to sell (they have pack built into each used vehicle to replace minor things and to cover reconditioning such as a detail or new tires).

You can ask but I bet you will get told no in the end.

 

[Throwback]

Yeah no sweat, I didn't buy it as a CPO for the body or anything. I mainly bought it because used Trails are very rare here, and getting one with KDSS and the CPO warranty for the KDSS was attractive. I'm too cheap to buy a brand new truck. Plus I knew I would want to take the rig off road and would feel like a moron doing that in a fresh brand new truck.

I met the dent repair guy outside of the dealer thinking that he could fix it for a couple hundred bucks. I don't expect the dealer to do anything, and it's not a huge deal.

That being said, since the paintless guy couldn't do it should I take it to the dealer collision center for a quote or to an independent shop? I'm a fan of using factory/OEM stuff as much as possible on newer higher value vehicles. However, I don't know enough about bodywork to know if there's a real difference in what the dealer shop would do versus any random independent body shop.

Oh yeah, and does anyone have a guess what repairing that would cost?

 

[Vinsil]

I hear ya. Used Runners here don't exist either and if they do, they cost alsmot the same as new...and we wanted a trail with kdss so I get it!

I'll be off-road this weekend. No plates yet. F IT!ound:ound:



I would just think the dealer is not the only good game in town. Look around for reviews on local body shops, you might find better talent and quality with an independent shop as well, dealerships don't always keep the best around!

No idea on cost, not a body guy. Good luck!

 

[tigger]

A proper repair would run probably $1000 to $1500 to repair it to your standards as the whole roof would need repainting. They could try to blend it, but it would be slightly noticeable. Changes are they would just fill it with bondo. It's a pretty stretched dent making it difficult to try to pull and smooth but they may be able to pull the headliner and hammer it from underneath. Not really worth it for something you can't see but up to you and your pocketbook.
The dealer would do the same thing as a body shop. So it's a matter of who has the best paint man. When I bought my RX a few months ago, they had to repaint the hood. They farmed out the job to a local body shop as there are only 2 in Vegas that can accurately match a multi stage factory paint. It was a perfect match.

 

[Cymon]

I was pretty anal with my vehicle for the 1st couple of months with scratches and stuff, so I understand where you are coming from, but if you are really going to take it off road you'll get some matching trail scars soon enough. After the 1st dent and set of pinstripes I reminded myself why I bought this vehicle and it wasn't to just go to Costco. IMO if you can't get it fixed for pretty cheap just chalk it up to the fact you already got the 1st one out of the way (although understandably it is much harder to live with because you were not the one to put it there).

Good luck, hopefully you can get it worked out for very little $ out of pocket.

 

[Throwback]

Yeah I paid $33k before tax/tag for this one which I thought at the time was a good deal with the extended warranty since it was exactly what I wanted. I know a million times more about 4Runners today thanks to this forum than I did the day I bought it. That's a bad trend for me and I keep saying I'll join a forum of whatever big ticket item I want next for a couple months prior to purchase and it never seems to happen. Oh well.

I put on KO2s and ran Tray Mountain Trail here with the dealer tag the second weekend I owned mine.


So the point is that the dealer body shop doesn't use special Toyota OEM paint and stuff that independent shops don't?

I just read through my paperwork and the CPO checklist is checked for "vehicle clear of any body dents." :ybrick:

 

[tigger]

They would use the same paint.

 

[Vinsil]

Yeah I paid $33k before tax/tag for this one which I thought at the time was a good deal with the extended warranty since it was exactly what I wanted. I know a million times more about 4Runners today thanks to this forum than I did the day I bought it. That's a bad trend for me and I keep saying I'll join a forum of whatever big ticket item I want next for a couple months prior to purchase and it never seems to happen. Oh well.

I put on KO2s and ran Tray Mountain Trail here with the dealer tag the second weekend I owned mine.


So the point is that the dealer body shop doesn't use special Toyota OEM paint and stuff that independent shops don't?

I just read through my paperwork and the CPO checklist is checked for "vehicle clear of any body dents." :ybrick:

:heh:

Rock on, sounds like a good deal!

Yeah, a good body shop will use oem or better materials.

 

[Throwback]

Update:

I went in for my 30k mile service and before going to the service garage I went and spoke to the used car sales manager. He was very nice and said he didn't know how it got on the lot that way, and would do whatever to have the body shop fix it on his dime. The body shop guy said he would pull the headliner, use heat to shrink the metal, and repaint the whole roof. He was also a 4Runner guy and showed me pictures of his SR5 with TRDP wheels.

Anybody see any reason I wouldn't want them to paint the whole roof? Resale issues or anything later on? The manager mentioned that having a roof repaint might be a red flag to a buyer later on, and he would offer to just compensate me directly if I'd prefer.

 

[MattAK]

Update:

I went in for my 30k mile service and before going to the service garage I went and spoke to the used car sales manager. He was very nice and said he didn't know how it got on the lot that way, and would do whatever to have the body shop fix it on his dime. The body shop guy said he would pull the headliner, use heat to shrink the metal, and repaint the whole roof. He was also a 4Runner guy and showed me pictures of his SR5 with TRDP wheels.

Anybody see any reason I wouldn't want them to paint the whole roof? Resale issues or anything later on? The manager mentioned that having a roof repaint might be a red flag to a buyer later on, and he would offer to just compensate me directly if I'd prefer.

Sounds like the perfect way to get the cash for a roof rack to me.

 

[Matt fe2o3]

Update:

I went in for my 30k mile service and before going to the service garage I went and spoke to the used car sales manager. He was very nice and said he didn't know how it got on the lot that way, and would do whatever to have the body shop fix it on his dime. The body shop guy said he would pull the headliner, use heat to shrink the metal, and repaint the whole roof. He was also a 4Runner guy and showed me pictures of his SR5 with TRDP wheels.

Anybody see any reason I wouldn't want them to paint the whole roof? Resale issues or anything later on? The manager mentioned that having a roof repaint might be a red flag to a buyer later on, and he would offer to just compensate me directly if I'd prefer.

I think what they propose is perfectly fine. When I bought my new 2015 in late 2014 there were a couple 2015's on the lot. One had roof damage. Slight but noticeable. I'm in maritime and have been on more PCC (car carriers) than I can remember. Many, if not all, have several adjustable height decks and it does not take much of a mistake by longshore labor to ding them (esp the roof) when driving them off the ships.

I had an 02' PSD Excursion that had a seam welder miss part of the rear seam - rained inside. New headliner, bondo and paint made it right - but fitting a headliner is not easy. Anyway get it done and back on the road and :lookout: sheet metal issues are simple.

 

[Throwback]

As cool as a it would be to take compensation from the dealer and buy a roof rack, at the end of the day I'd rather have a complete 4Runner without any obvious flaws like that. As long as the roof repaint isn't a negative later on I see no downside to getting a free roof rework from the dealer.

I know some guys here run their trucks so hard that the dents eventually blend together like a golf ball, but that's not really my speed. I have a '66 CJ5 with plenty of dents that I can beat on if the mood strikes me. :madgrin:


I'll update once the work is complete. Right now tracking a first week of January timeline with three day expected turnaround.

The dealer deserves a positive mention here as well - Cherokee County Toyota, Canton, GA. :thumb:

Oh yeah, and if anyone in the area is looking for a new 4Runner they have a bunch right now. TE (non KDSS) $36k, TE (KDSS) $37.8k, TEP (non KDSS) $38.7k, and a handful of SR5 4x4s for $35.8k.

They have a good stock of 4x2 4Runners too, but I can't look at the poor things.

 

[Simpleman74]

lets say the dent was there when you bought it back in October..... apparently didnt bother you until now.... just don't climb up and look on top of the roof and it wont bother you again....

 

[Throwback]

Well, it was there for sure when I bought it. The paintless guy that the dealer subcontracts said he remembered it because he couldn't repair it with his process when they were prepping it for the lot.

Anyway, yeah it didn't bother me before because I didn't see it and assumed the roof was straight. Now I look at it when I'm walking up on the truck from across a parking lot and due to the rake of the vehicle it's relatively easy for me to spot.

 

[<<<<]

They knew about it, they didn't disclose it, they lied or at best neglected to mention to you... They would be nonexistent to me I'd take their excuses, have repairs done and called them "dead" to my business in the future. You are giving them credit which they don't deserve.

 

[philsey]

Kudos to your used car manager, real stand-up guy IMO -- I would NOT have predicted that. That cost will affect his bottom line, ergo his paycheck.

As to your dent, I know it bothers you. But given all (headliner, repaint) involved, I suggest you understand this is a slippery slope - repair-wise. Really not sure I'd go there.

(To the UC Mgr, (nicely)): "Look, I'm not real pleased with this dent, and I know this will cost your department time and money, but I'm not sure if you and I will benefit from all this. Is there some way you can compensate me in a way that we both come out with a win"? ..... or some such .....

This is what I'd do ..... I see the "cure" as worse than the "disease".