Scratches found 5 days after delivery.

[I_am_I_said]

OK, so last weekend I take delivery on a new 08 Bimmer on a 3 yr lease and today I take it in to an independent auto detailer and get it clayed and waxed. When I go to pick it up the detailer points out large scratches on the hood and trunk. The scratches are not thru the paint and can only really be noticed if you are looking for them and you kind of have to look at it at an angle. Not horrible, but also not minor. I would say on a scale of 1 to 10, they are a 4. I immediately called my CA and he advised me to come in tomorrow so the dealership can asses the damage.

Obviously since I took delivery of the car several days ago I am not in the strongest position. I have no intentions of trying to get out of my lease or trade cars, I really just want to avoid paying for this damage at the end of my lease. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I should approach this with the dealer, or how realistic it is of me to expect the dealership to not hold me responsible? I want to be reasonable, but again, I don't want to be fiscally responsible for the scratches.

Also, fwiw, I took delivery at about 9 PM, as the dealership was closing and did not do a thorough walk thru since I was kind of being rushed out - and it was dark.

[tpham]

Put yourself in the dealer shoes, how can they believe the owner not noticed during 5 days? Unless you took it home, parked and it didn't drive until now. I'm not saying the detailer did it but...

Got pics?

OK, so last weekend I take delivery on a new 08 Bimmer on a 3 yr lease and today I take it in to an independent auto detailer and get it clayed and waxed. When I go to pick it up the detailer points out large scratches on the hood and trunk. The scratches are not thru the paint and can only really be noticed if you are looking for them and you kind of have to look at it at an angle. Not horrible, but also not minor. I would say on a scale of 1 to 10, they are a 4. I immediately called my CA and he advised me to come in tomorrow so the dealership can asses the damage.

Obviously since I took delivery of the car several days ago I am not in the strongest position. I have no intentions of trying to get out of my lease or trade cars, I really just want to avoid paying for this damage at the end of my lease. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I should approach this with the dealer, or how realistic it is of me to expect the dealership to not hold me responsible? I want to be reasonable, but again, I don't want to be fiscally responsible for the scratches.

Also, fwiw, I took delivery at about 9 PM, as the dealership was closing and did not do a thorough walk thru since I was kind of being rushed out - and it was dark.

[I_am_I_said]

Put yourself in the dealer shoes, how can they believe the owner not noticed during 5 days? Unless you took it home, parked and it didn't drive until now. I'm not saying the detailer did it but...

Got pics?

The scratches are not thru the paint and they are only noticeable if you are looking for them, this is why it took 5 days for me to find them. Again, I am trying to be reasonable, I am not trying to unwind or get a different car, in fact, I don't even expect the dealer to repair the scratches, I simply don't want to be held responsible for them. I think considering, it's been less than a week, and I took delivery after closing in the dark, my request is not unreasonable.

I will try and take pics tomorrow morning, but I don't know how well the scratches will show up. I have an appointment with the dealer tomorrow, I am hoping they will just say, no big deal, don't worry about it, we will note this in your file and you won't have to pay for the repair at lease end. I think this is reasonable, and believe me, I will raise bloody hell if they don't do this...I guess my only real leverage is that I haven't filled out the CSI yet.

[Arkady]

If the scratches are not through the paint, can't the detailer buff them out?

Just wondering?

[Robotechnology]

If you're only worried about not being charged for them at lease end then, ask for whoever does lease end inspections to tell you if they'd charge for the scratch, if they won't and you can live with them, you can just drive the car and forget about them, unless you're planning on buying the car out... I'll stop here but, infer what I'm leaving out.

[///M Rakete]

OK, so last weekend I take delivery on a new 08 Bimmer on a 3 yr lease and today I take it in to an independent auto detailer and get it clayed and waxed. When I go to pick it up the detailer points out large scratches on the hood and trunk. The scratches are not thru the paint and can only really be noticed if you are looking for them and you kind of have to look at it at an angle. Not horrible, but also not minor. I would say on a scale of 1 to 10, they are a 4. I immediately called my CA and he advised me to come in tomorrow so the dealership can asses the damage.

Obviously since I took delivery of the car several days ago I am not in the strongest position. I have no intentions of trying to get out of my lease or trade cars, I really just want to avoid paying for this damage at the end of my lease. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I should approach this with the dealer, or how realistic it is of me to expect the dealership to not hold me responsible? I want to be reasonable, but again, I don't want to be fiscally responsible for the scratches.

Also, fwiw, I took delivery at about 9 PM, as the dealership was closing and did not do a thorough walk thru since I was kind of being rushed out - and it was dark.

Likely some new person at the dealer was tasked with removing the protective wrap. This happened on my 2005 but it was very localized and eventually buffed out only being in the clearcoat.

[Eliot]

They don't come with plastic wrap. They're de-cosmolined at port.

The detailer did it!

[Orient330iNYC]

my first thought is that the detailer did it with dirty clay. if they're running front to back, i would strongly suspect the detailer.

[///M Rakete]

They don't come with plastic wrap. They're de-cosmolined at port.

The detailer did it!

Not talking about the cosmoline.

My understanding is that for dealerships within 50-75 miles of the VDC the cars are sometimes transported in open carriers (which I've seen although very rarely) and thus are provided some minimal protection in the form of this wrap (which I was told, perhaps incorrectly - frankly I never noticed whether there was any wrap on the open carriers I saw, have to look next time.

[I_am_I_said]

my first thought is that the detailer did it with dirty clay. if they're running front to back, i would strongly suspect the detailer.

They don't run front to back. He spotted them pretty much right at the beginning and called me. The detailer didn't do it.

I went to the dealership today, and they were really awesome about it. First, they said the scratches were too minor to cause any billing at lease end and they insisted on trying to buff them out at no charge. They were able to get all the scratches off the hood, and greatly reduced them on the trunk. So now you really have to look hard to notice anything and only in the sunlight. Everything worked out just fine, phew......:)

[JSpira]

My understanding is that for dealerships within 50-75 miles of the VDC the cars are sometimes transported in open carriers (which I've seen although very rarely) and thus are provided some minimal protection in the form of this wrap (which I was told, perhaps incorrectly - frankly I never noticed whether there was any wrap on the open carriers I saw, have to look next time.

No. All BMWs are sent in covered wagons.

Here is a shot of my car being loaded onto the truck at the VDC.

[Vitacura]

Glad to hear they were able to remove most of them. Now enjoy the car! :thumbup:

[X550-ED]

Nice! No wonder why I haven't seen new BMWs being transported in open trailers.

No. All BMWs are sent in covered wagons.

Here is a shot of my car being loaded onto the truck at the VDC.

[vincec]

OK, so last weekend I take delivery on a new 08 Bimmer on a 3 yr lease and today I take it in to an independent auto detailer and get it clayed and waxed. When I go to pick it up the detailer points out large scratches on the hood and trunk. The scratches are not thru the paint and can only really be noticed if you are looking for them and you kind of have to look at it at an angle. Not horrible, but also not minor. I would say on a scale of 1 to 10, they are a 4. I immediately called my CA and he advised me to come in tomorrow so the dealership can asses the damage.

Obviously since I took delivery of the car several days ago I am not in the strongest position. I have no intentions of trying to get out of my lease or trade cars, I really just want to avoid paying for this damage at the end of my lease. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I should approach this with the dealer, or how realistic it is of me to expect the dealership to not hold me responsible? I want to be reasonable, but again, I don't want to be fiscally responsible for the scratches.

Also, fwiw, I took delivery at about 9 PM, as the dealership was closing and did not do a thorough walk thru since I was kind of being rushed out - and it was dark.

if i were you, i'd go back to the detailer and demand to have my money refunded. if they were a good detailer they should have been able to remove the surface scratches on the clear coat with their rotary and polishing compounds with no problems.

also, whats the point of getting it clayed and waxed? were there already a lot of surface containments on the paint?