Platinum arrived scratched

[cgertz]

Ordered my Ruby Red Platinum in July it was delivered to the dealership last week. Since I am still overseas my wife called and talked to the dealership to find out about pickup. This is a vehicle purchased through Military Auto Sales so the delivery dealer is not the dealer the vehicle was purchased from. The delivery dealer originally said that the vehicle just arrived but she pressed him knowing the actual delivery date. He finally gave her the “truth” or at least part of it. Turns out that the vehicle arrived with scratches from shipment. He indicated that the new paint is extremely hard to match and that their normal paint contractor quit.

I am not too worried about the delay, I am still here for another two week or so and it will have less miles on it when I get home. Wife already had trips planned without me. She is going to go to the dealer tomorrow to try and get pictures of the damage. I already paid the full price to Military Auto Sales since it was due 30 days prior to delivery.

My question is,
How common is this for new vehicles to arrive with scratches? If it were something I bought off the lot I would not know unless they did a bad job on the repair.
Should I be concerned since the delivery dealer is not really making a commission on the sale?
Would the repaired paint have the same factory warranty? (ok no comments about Fords paint warranty )

 

[MuscleJunkie]

Ordered my Ruby Red Platinum in July it was delivered to the dealership last week. Since I am still overseas my wife called and talked to the dealership to find out about pickup. This is a vehicle purchased through Military Auto Sales so the delivery dealer is not the dealer the vehicle was purchased from. The delivery dealer originally said that the vehicle just arrived but she pressed him knowing the actual delivery date. He finally gave her the “truth” or at least part of it. Turns out that the vehicle arrived with scratches from shipment. He indicated that the new paint is extremely hard to match and that their normal paint contractor quit.

I am not too worried about the delay, I am still here for another two week or so and it will have less miles on it when I get home. Wife already had trips planned without me. She is going to go to the dealer tomorrow to try and get pictures of the damage. I already paid the full price to Military Auto Sales since it was due 30 days prior to delivery.

My question is,
How common is this for new vehicles to arrive with scratches? If it were something I bought off the lot I would not know unless they did a bad job on the repair.
Should I be concerned since the delivery dealer is not really making a commission on the sale?
Would the repaired paint have the same factory warranty? (ok no comments about Fords paint warranty )

I would not accept it.. Get another undamaged one - it's not like they are a rare vehicle. It's worth waiting to get it right - trust me!

 

[TinMan4154]

I would not accept it.. Get another undamaged one - it's not like they are a rare vehicle. It's worth waiting to get it right - trust me!

This!!!

 

[cgertz]

I was definitely thinking about refusing it. The problem is I need to get it registered before I return home or I will have to pay sales tax on it.

Depending on how bad the "scratch" is it might not be worth the $5k in taxes to refuse it.

 

[Sgt1411]

I would not accept it.. Get another undamaged one - it's not like they are a rare vehicle. It's worth waiting to get it right - trust me!

I agree DO NOT ACCEPT IT!

 

[peterk9]

For some reason, scratch and paint chip issues have been reported quite a few times lately. Definitely get a picture of yours before having any work done or making a decision to refuse acceptance of it.

Peter

 

[TinMan4154]

For some reason, scratch and paint chip issues have been reported quite a few times lately. Definitely get a picture of yours before having any work done or making a decision to refuse acceptance of it.

Peter

Peter is right. These dealers need to start rejecting these things, and maybe when none of the dealers have any inventory and all of them are sitting at the factory because they were rejected Ford will start putting in quality control procedures.

 

[blwnsmoke]

Peter is right. These dealers need to start rejecting these things, and maybe when none of the dealers have any inventory and all of them are sitting at the factory because they were rejected Ford will start putting in quality control procedures.

This is not a Ford issue, this is a delivery company issue. The companies are union and Ford does not have any pull when it comes to the delivery company. Once they are released to them, they are responsible for the vehicle from then on till it gets to the dealer.

Dealer should have inspected it and if bad enough refused it. At that point, it is the delivery company that eats the vehicle, not Ford because again, it is the delivery companies issue.

 

[FordShelby]

For some reason, scratch and paint chip issues have been reported quite a few times lately. Definitely get a picture of yours before having any work done or making a decision to refuse acceptance of it.

Peter

Correct you are. We refused one from our local dealership b/c of paint issue. They were of the opinion that it happened during transport and an attempt to repair was made before it made it to the dealership.

 

[cgertz]

Well, my wife made it to the dealership and one of the salesman gave her the keys to look at it. Of course the fleet manager was not there so she could not get any of the details. She only found one small issue in the paint. Looks like it was more of an alignment issue at the factory and it rubbed during transport. We shall see after the repair how it looks but I do not think i should be a difficult repair.

Thank you for the feedback.

 

[Odrapnew]

Looks like it was wet/raining when your wife looked at it. That can make it very difficult to see some scratches. I would recommend having the dealership detail the Ex (wash/dry at a minimum) and have her go back to inspect under good light/sunlight.

 

[peterk9]

Well, my wife made it to the dealership and one of the salesman gave her the keys to look at it. Of course the fleet manager was not there so she could not get any of the details. She only found one small issue in the paint. Looks like it was more of an alignment issue at the factory and it rubbed during transport. We shall see after the repair how it looks but I do not think i should be a difficult repair.

Thank you for the feedback.

I don't see any paint damage in the photo. A bit of misalignment but that is nothing.

Peter

 

[MuscleJunkie]

I don't see any paint damage in the photo. A bit of misalignment but that is nothing.

Peter

Do you not see where the paint has rubbed off on the edge of both panels. Simply unacceptable for a vehicle at the price point this one sells for. To be honest simply unacceptable for any new vehicle being sold in today's marketplace.

 

[peterk9]

Do you not see where the paint has rubbed off on the edge of both panels. Simply unacceptable for a vehicle at the price point this one sells for. To be honest simply unacceptable for any new vehicle being sold in today's marketplace.

Difficult to tell with all the water drops if it is paint damage or reflections that I'm looking at. There might be one small white spot on the upper left panel but that appears to be something that is easily fixed with a touch up pen. The larger longitudinal white spot on the upper right looks like a reflection in the water.
As Odrapnew posted, it is very difficult to see. Let's see what it looks like when dried off.

Peter

 

[scarpi]

I've been staring at that picture looking for damage and frankly I only see a very slight panel misalignment. You guys must have better eyes than me. In my opinion look at the vehicle closely after it has been washed and dried. It is hard to see anything with the water drops on it. But I really can't see anything that is a problem in that picture. Is that the only "damage"? Are there other scratches somewhere on the vehicle that you are talking about? I really don't see a problem with what that picture is showing. Just my opinion though.

 

[cgertz]

From what I have been told, the lower part is the hood and the upper section is the door.

That white spot is paint missing down to the metal. The lower section damage is a little harder to see in this picture but it is being repainted as well. A little more worried about the hood with all the other reports out there of hood paint issues. It's documented so I am sure they will make it right.

With regards to quality, I am not sure this small issue is surprising. In my normal job we supply equipment that costs around $14 million and there are still issues. As long as the manufacture makes it right (no matter what it is) then I would be happy. They key i that they make it right and not try to take shortcuts to make their job easier. They are not under any time crunch so there is no reason not to do it right the first time.

As for seeing it in the sun.. good luck Sun won't come out again until April. Think I have had my fill of sun for the last six months anyway. At least I get to see pictures of my new toy, and the rain.

 

[MuscleJunkie]

I've been staring at that picture looking for damage and frankly I only see a very slight panel misalignment. You guys must have better eyes than me. In my opinion look at the vehicle closely after it has been washed and dried. It is hard to see anything with the water drops on it. But I really can't see anything that is a problem in that picture. Is that the only "damage"? Are there other scratches somewhere on the vehicle that you are talking about? I really don't see a problem with what that picture is showing. Just my opinion though.

 

[Nasty]

Oddly enough this is where I'm seeing issues in Explorer paint lately. Chips on seams where the body panels meet. My Explorer had a few little chips on the front edges of the front doors. They are pretty small like that and I was able to just touch them up with some touch up and you can't tell there was ever anything wrong there. After seeing them on my Explorer I went and checked out a bunch on the lot and quite a few of them were much worse than mine. I'm wondering if it's just an issue with the robotics being a little careless moving the panels.

 

[MuscleJunkie]

Why accept a brand new vehicle anything less than perfect? My opinion is any paint repair will never been better than what is put on by the factory.

You already take a huge depreciation hit when you drive it off the lot. Wouldn't it be better to start off with something without any repairs?

 

[dco43054]

Why accept a brand new vehicle anything less than perfect? My opinion is any paint repair will never been better than what is put on by the factory.

You already take a huge depreciation hit when you drive it off the lot. Wouldn't it be better to start off with something without any repairs?

Lots of vehicles have paint repairs before delivery. I know that BMW has multiple shops that take cars from the boat, inspect them, and fix any issues. If done properly, the repair will be invisible and the car will carry the same warranty.

I'd be more concerned about the panel fit. If that's being caused by a misaligned hood that is not aligned properly, it will continue to cause an issue.

A buyer certainly has the ability to refuse delivery of a vehicle, but I'd be looking at the sales agreement for the implications of doing so.

In this case, if I could save $5K in sales tax, a couple little rub spots wouldn't prevent me from taking delivery.