[screamin_st]

I dropped my 2013 Focus ST off at my local dealership yesterday morning to have the motor mounts replaced they had already ordered under warranty. I was at work when I got a call later around 2 PM and I thought it was the dealership letting me know it was ready until the service advisor told me the technician was backing up and cut it too short and ran into a parked truck. It was a 19 year old who happens to own a 2013 Focus ST. I was pi$$ed @ff!!!! Are you kidding me??? I just got it brand new last October and it only had 3000 miles! The worse thing is the color is Tangerine Scream. Now it is no longer new and it won't ever be the same again. The advisor told me they would finish the warranty work then take it to their body shop to repair. I said no I'm coming to look at it first. I showed up while it was in service still on the lift no battery in it. They waited to call me about the damage to my car?!? Unbelievable! The right rear quarter panel is crunched and the bumper has scuff marks a long the side. I didnt have time to wait to talk to the service manager I had to head back to work. I reported it to my insurance. I'm not sure if this will go against me either. The service manager called and said he was very sorry and was willing to do whatever to make it right. YEAH get me another car! Of course not. Ive taken other new vehicles I've owned to delearships before and never had this happen. I should have left it alone and lived with the noise. It would have been new still. I guess my luck has taken a turn. Sorry this was too wordy but I had to rant. I will try to post pics later.
Take care everyone.

edit: pics

 

[agr964]

Man, that sucks. :thumbd:

Give all the contact information you can about the dealership and responsible parties to your insurance company, as they need to know the vehicle was in an accident and who was responsible. As the dealership is repairing it, it should not count against you.

Take pictures of all damage. Let them fix it, and insist the body shop must use all Ford parts.

Insist they provide you with a loaner vehicle if they haven't already.

Once the damage is all taken care of, then you should make sure they compensate you for reduced value. The value of a car that has been in any sort of accident is going to plummet, regardless of how well they fix it.

The entirety of the blame lies with them, so they will need to do what it takes make up for it.

 

[GoldenHour]

accidents happen. it's just a car. let them fix it to your satisfaction and move on. I was rear-ended at a stoplight last week and my ST goes in for a new bumper today. the lady was profusely apologetic and I was grateful that neither of us were hurt. my car will be fixed and the sun will rise tomorrow.

 

[MK3 ST3]

Document it, make sure the insurance has the driver (technician, porter, whatever he is) and the dealers insurance information.

Also I'd complain to the Ford representative for the dealer, as they probably will not tell Ford.

 

[t4thfavor]

Ditto above, but make sure you get them to cover gas while you are in the loaner, and that they give you a decent loaner. That's borderline "I'm never setting foot in your dealership again!"

 

[Shomare]

Had similar happen. Went to pick up my new Fusion and the salesman backed it into the corner of the garage damaging the rear bumper. They had to delay delivery by a day to repair it.

In the end, a dealer will guarantee their work. If it's not substantial damage, let them repair it and be done with it.

 

[rodmoe]

Also may want to see if this shows up on your AutoFax as a hit and get the money for your vehicle being damaged as it may resale for less cuz of this maybe..

 

[XRJoe]

Are you sure your personal insurance needs to know? Mine explicitly states the coverage on my car does not cover a dealership or anyone else working professional in the automotive industry. This should be completely covered by the dealer's insurance.

 

[Mustang Man]

Yeah all telling your insurance will do is guarantee that it shows up on a Carfax or Autocheck report.

Don't beat yourself up on it, accidents happen the world isn't perfect and neither is the technician. With how many cars us technicians touch a day and how much is going on in a shop there are bound to be a some slip ups from time to time.

As for them waiting to tell you, this is probably how it went down after the incident. Technician backed into the truck, pulled forwards investigated the damage, freaked out for a couple minutes inside. Went to his service adviser to explain what happened. Service adviser then had to go to the shop foreman and or service manager, at this time the technician would return to working on the car, the 3 of them(service adviser, shop foreman, and service manager) would then come over to investigate the damage and possibly call an adviser or manager over from their body shop to look at it too. After they figure out all what is damaged the service adviser would return to his office to call you to inform you of what happened, the shop foreman and service manager would then go and call their insurance to explain what happened. All this time the technician would have been working on the car which could make it appear that they waited since he was able to get a decent bit of work done since the TSB is a fairly easy job to do.

 

[dovecom]

It won't count against you. It won't affect the resale, cause it won't hit Carfax. Since your insurance won't need to report it, and there is no police report and the airbag didn't deploy, it'll never matter. It won't affect performance either because the chassis won't have sustained damage.

If it had a lot of miles on it, I would say just relax and let them fix it. You'll never notice. Being so new though, maybe you can talk them into a replacement. If not, insist on a new bumper cover, NOT a repair, even though they can heat it up and reshape it. The problem with that bumper cover is the tabs that hold it on will get broken when they take it off to replace the quarter panel. Then it can develop a rattle. I sold my 2012 SEL because of persistent rattle from the bumper being removed for warranty work. Check the paint repair carefully. A good body shop will do as nice a job as the factory, maybe better. Maybe they could increase your warranty period. Certainly they could do free oil and tire rotations until the basic warranty runs out. They might give you more than you thought. Just ask what they think they should do to regain your trust.

 

[screamin_st]

Thanks LS3 MN6 I will do that.

 

[screamin_st]

Thanks agr964. How do I get the reduced value for the damage?

 

[screamin_st]

Good advice t4thfavor....Im driving a 2014 Edge rental.... pretty nice ride.....and I called them to get compensated for the gas since it will cost a bit more for me to drive the edge 80 miles to and from work.

 

[screamin_st]

Yes I spoke directly with my adjuster after they confirmed the damage and who was driving they told me it wouldn't go against my policy. I'm pretty confident it wont cause my rates to rise.

 

[screamin_st]

Thanks dovecom, some of the tabs are loose already and the paint came off the bumper. Ill check with gieco and see who their premier shops are. Im also asking around locally to see who people recommend.

 

[agr964]

Yes, things happen, but a new car is not simply a car. It symbolizes a huge financial investment whose actual value is determined by many factors. The incident may or may not end up on the report, but if it does the vehicle value will immediately drop. Up to you if you want to go there with the dealer. If they fix it quick and do a quality job and nothing shows up, I wouldn't worry about it. If it does show up, you might want to pursue some additional action because:

"...values are generally 3 percent to 12 percent lower after an accident, compared to similar vehicles without an accident history." -- CarGurus

And if they do shoddy workmanship, keep going back until its done right, and there are no rattles due to broken clips, paint imperfections, etc. They should make it just like it was before. Noisy wheel gets the grease as they say.

 

[dovecom]

sounds like, then, a question for the dealer. Will this end up in the vehicle's history. You probably will end up selling it back to the dealer when you're done anyhow. But a good question to ask anyhow.

 

[screamin_st]

Hello everyone... I just wanted to give an update on the status of my FoST. I'm still in the rental however the ST has been at the body shop and is ready. Now all I have to do is pick her up and hope that the car is like new again. I spoke with the dealership's service manager yesterday about them paying the 500 ded. I guess he didn't realize the car was going to be fixed this soon and had to get back to me on payment. I also mentioned a comp for the diminished value of my car now due to the accident. I asked him if they were willing to order and install a programmer kit form ford racing. After talking to the manager I'm not 100% sure they are going to take care of me. I think the kit cost around 500 plus whatever the installation charge would be and has a 3/36 warranty. Hopefully this works out I'm happy at the end. I will be giving an update after I pick up my car.
Thanks to all for your insight. It has been helpful.

 

[Cowlynz]

that sound like good news. Good Luck!

 

[Mustang Man]

$500 deductible? Did you go through your insurance?