New 4Runner delivered with bumper damage....would you still buy?

[sha4Runnerdow]

I recently had a deal fall through on a white limited V8 06' Runner. So, I contacted another dealer about 45 minutes away last week who said he had a V8 limited Shadow Mica coming in this week. Sure enough, I drove down to the dealership tonight and it was in. I got all excited until I walked around doing an "inspection" and found rear bumper damage from where it appears the trailor driver hit the white Rav4 parked next to it. The 4Runner has about a 5" long and 3/4" wide gash in the right rear bumper with white paint on it. The white Rav4 has about the exact damage to the front part of the bumper with dark paint on it. So, I am assuming the driver backed the 4Runner into the Rav4 when unloaded them this evening. And, of course he didnt tell the dealership about it because the sales manager didnt even notice it until I showed it to him. So, what do I do? Due to the complexity of the color shadow mica (which many of you know has the multi-color metallic paint), it may be hard to blend. The dealer said that the whole rear bumper would have to be painted. So, do I let them do this or say the heck with it and start looking again? Also, it scares me that the dealer said "we will have to pay for the fix seeing as how we signed for the 4Runner already". Well, duhhhhh....but, I wonder if they will half-ass the job seeing as how they are going to be paying for it. And, I am already getting the vehicle for $200 over invoice + $1500 rebate. I just dont know if I can swallow buying a new $42,000 vehicle that has to have the rear bumper painted from shipping damage. Thoughts and opinions???

 

[qs933]

I just dont know if I can swallow buying a new $42,000 vehicle that has to have the rear bumper painted from shipping damage.

I would use it to negotiate further downward. You have the power here to walk away. Tell the dealer the truth: you're buying a new vehicle, and you're not comfortable buying one that will have already been partially repainted.

Even if they do discount, if it doesn't feel right to you, walk away.

Of course, the dealer doesn't stand to lose much, as if he doesn't sell it to you, he probably will fix the damage and not tell the next buyer that the vehicle had been in a collision, albeit a minor one.

 

[highway74]

damage

I can beat that one! We bought a new 05 4Runner Limited last August from a large Toyota dealer in our area, Boch Toyota. We took delivery in the parking lot with our registration plates already attached. I did a final inspection before leaving and what did I see but a nice big gouge mark on the front bumper that fit the silhouette of a receiver hitch. The damage was not there 2 hours prior when they brought it in for a final detailing. I flipped out! They didn't even have the balls to let us know about the damage. I refused the vehicle and told them to write me up another one. They had 4 other Limited 4Runner on the lot matching the one we purchased and out of the 4 we only found one that did not have lot damage, thus the problem with big dealers with no room on their lots for inventory. We had already bought ours for $200 under invoice. I demanded another $250 off and the rear cargo liner and wheel locks for the hassle, which they gladly did, including another free gas tank fill up on our next visit. Was it worth the hassle, absolutely not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We spent 6 hours at the dealership that day before leaving with our new Runner.:bash: :bash: :bash: :bash:

 

[sha4Runnerdow]

Re: damage

I can beat that one! We bought a new 05 4Runner Limited last August from a large Toyota dealer in our area, Boch Toyota. We took delivery in the parking lot with our registration plates already attached. I did a final inspection before leaving and what did I see but a nice big gouge mark on the front bumper that fit the silhouette of a receiver hitch. The damage was not there 2 hours prior when they brought it in for a final detailing. I flipped out! They didn't even have the balls to let us know about the damage. I refused the vehicle and told them to write me up another one. They had 4 other Limited 4Runner on the lot matching the one we purchased and out of the 4 we only found one that did not have lot damage, thus the problem with big dealers with no room on their lots for inventory. We had already bought ours for $200 under invoice. I demanded another $250 off and the rear cargo liner and wheel locks for the hassle, which they gladly did, including another free gas tank fill up on our next visit. Was it worth the hassle, absolutely not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We spent 6 hours at the dealership that day before leaving with our new Runner.:bash: :bash: :bash: :bash:

OMG! Man, I tell ya, dealers will screw you over ANY way they can. I bet a million dollars the reason my dealer didnt call me (when he said that he would the minute my limited came in) today is because he did indeed see the damage and was hoping to get it repaired before I noticed it. He told me that the vehicle was do in between the 16-21st. So technically, he could have had this vehicle "fixed" before friday evening and then called. One thing that kills be about the drivers who deliver these vehicles is that they DO NOT CARE how they drive the vehicles or if they do any damage. I have been at several dealers where the trailor driver was unolading the vehicles and would shift the vehicle into "D" while the vehicle was still drifting back at approx. 5mph or more. They simply are in a hurry to get back on the road and apparantly have the attitiude "its not mine, so I dont care". Also, I have seen many vehicles that have mud in the floorboards, grease on the seats, scrapes on the door panel or floor panel from boots that they wear. And, I am sorry but I will not pay $42,000 for a NEW vehicle that looks like it has been driven through the mud. I understand they have a tough job and a good detail might get most of the dirt/stains out, but where is Toyota's detail oriented procedure when delivering the vehicles. OK, off my soap box. Bottom line, I probably would have NEVER seen the damage if I would not have "sneaked" into the dealership late this evening and inspected it myself. Since they will more than likely have to repaint the WHOLE bumper, I will take my business elsewhere and get my deposit back. Unfortunately, this is a very small dealer in the backwoods of southern Ohio and there rarely get limiteds in. So, I may have to drive 2 hours to Columbus, OH and see what they have.

 

[nauticalniremor]

Re: damage

I can beat that one! We bought a new 05 4Runner Limited last August from a large Toyota dealer in our area, Boch Toyota.

Hey, I just bought my 4Runner from Boch Toyota and had no problems - but my brother is the GM there. I don't think he worked there last August - I hope not!! Just thought I would share that with you - small world. Next time you buy a car, you could always tell him you know his sister Erin LOL - :yesyes:

 

[Uneek]

From what I hear through other people who worked at dealers and a detailer, this does not happen very often, but far from few. I wouldn't say a lot of cars get damaged, but I hear bumpers getting scuffed or scratched that can be buffed out happens more than we know. I think a disclosure is required on a car that has repairs made to them before it's sold. (About a decade ago, I remember BMW being sued for almost $500k when a dealer sold a car that had its door(s) replaced which were damaged in transit and the owner was not notified about the incident.)

The enemy driver to these cars are not so much truck drivers who deliver these cars, but the sales reps themselves. When I was shopping at the other dealers, I've seen sales reps floor it, brake at the last second like they're auto crossing in the small tight parking lots. At that same dealer a Camry had its front bumper way out of alignment from the fender and headlight. My buddy who worked at Honda said when he was pulling out an Odyssey for a customer noticed that both its bumper and a S2000's bumpers were scratched. Sure enough, someone else scratched them while backing up and didn't say a thing, because he was the one that checked the cars in after they were delivered. The truck drivers themselves are responsible for the vehicles until they are off the truck and on the dealer's lot. The cars are suppose to be inspected before the dealer accepts them. If they're damaged in anyway, the truck driver owns that car, thus the truck driver is the only one who unloads the cars. I've been told this by the manager of detailing dept. at my dealer and my buddy who worked at Honda.

Toyota needs to ship their vehicles in enclosed trailers like Volvo and Audi, but it's probably not cost effective since they sell so many more cars. I saw the Volvo dealership get their shipment of cars from a truck that side panels that slid back like curtains with a full cover on top. My cousin's A4 was wrapped and covered in an enclosed trailer when it arrived.

I got lucky and took delivery of my truck with one mile on it, so it didn't get driven a whole lot by others. I hope future 4R owners will have a similar positive experience in getting theirs.

 

[sha4Runnerdow]

UNEEK, you make some very valid points. I have a ton of respect for tractor trailor drivers as I had an uncle retire from the profession and have a fiancee' who's father is a TT driver. But, I must admit that it is amazing how dealers, managers, and detail personel treat these vehicles. I mean, you would think that they would take care of the vehicles and treat them as if they owned them. I don't know how many times I have seen these people driving around the lots like a bat outa hell. That is exactly why I like to order my vehicles or buy vehicles with under 10 miles on the odometer because dealer personel DO NOT CARE about taking care of their inventory. People do not take care of property that they don't own. So, that is exactly why I "sneaked" down to the dealership tonight to see if my Limited had come in. I even told them to leave the plastic on the seats and I would detail it. I sure am glad I drove there or I probably would have never seen the damage. Car dealers are simply the most selfish, greedy, out to screw you over people I have ever seen. I have know idea how in the heck they even sleep at night. Oh well, back to the drawing board because I will not buy this vehicle knowing they have to repaint the whole rear bumper.

 

[toto]

My dad got a car with lot damage one time - didn't notice it until the 3rd time we looked the car over. It was a small scrape on the bumper from the concrete base of a light pole.

The dealer had their own body shop, so he agreed to sign something that said "repair bumper to customer's satisfaction or replace." They took the bumper off and repaired and repainted it. It turned out fine, but the experience was aggravating - not something you expect from a new car.

Don't worry about the color match. A good body shop knows what they're doing with paint. I was rear-ended in an RX330 that was Flint Mica, almost identical to the Shadow Mica. The body shop did a wonderful job and the rear bumper matched the rest of the car with no problem.

 

[HRD2PLZ]

I had the dealership fix the tailgate on my galactic grey 4Runner before I picked it up. There was a big scrape down the side of it. Paint is matched very well, if I didn't know, I wouldn't be able to tell.

Have them fix the truck (since they can't sell a new vehicle like that anyway) and if your still not happy with it, then walk away.

 

[Mark86]

I don't know how your dealer is, but you can barely fit a dime between the new cars at the dealer i bought my truck from. It is amazing how close they put these cars. I would give them the option to fix it, but don't sign any papers. Use it to negotiate the price down as well. If it doesn't work out, just leave and go to another dealer!

 

[highway74]

damage

Erin, I'll keep that in mind, Boch gave the best deal around without question on the 4Runner and our trade. The sales manager I dealt with said he had no idea about what had happened and said he would take care of it and look into the problem. The problem they have there is that they are so big the vehicles are literally wedged into the lot and a great deal of vehicles had lot damage the time I was there making my purchase. There are salesman in and out all day long pulling vehicles for test drives etc. The won't let the customer drive till it's out of the storage lot, maybe they should let the customer pull it out as we might be a little more careful, lol.

 

[Koz]

I would have them fix it to MY approval and take an addional $1000 off.

Koz

 

[SevenJ]

When I bought my first car, I didn't look very closely at it, and picked it up in the rain, so I missed a repair mark. The car came in on a dealer trade (honda civic) and instead of removing the old decal from the original dealer, they took what looks like a paint brush and painted over the old decal. They then put their own decal over top of that! In between the letters and the logo you could see the botch job. It was a small spot on the tailgate, and not all that glaring (I initially missed it) but I couldn't believe they would hack together the repair like they did.