damage done at dealer

Dropped 3 month old M5 at dealer for 1,200 mile break-in service this morning. Just got to work and received call that another one of their customers backed into my car. ARGH!

They say they are collecting the drivers insurance details. Is the dealership also partially responsible since they are in custody of my vehicle? Should i demand a loaner from dealership while my car is being fixed?

They are recommending i get the car fixed elsewhere, is this typical?

anything else i am missing here? please help!

If the other person was driving the car that hit you -- and not a shop employee -- the dealer would have little responsibility (just as if you were in a supermarket parking lot and some other customer hit you). The fact that they recommend taking the car elsewhere for body repair means their shop is overbooked, or they don't have a dealership body shop but use a contract shop (some do this). You will probably not get a loaner for this but will get a rental from the other party's insurance unless the dealer wants to keep your goodwill. It really is between you and the other party now, the dealer is pretty well out of it -- just like Safeway would be. Good luck and it was a bummer!

I am not sure what their legal responsibility is but clearly they are partly to blame. If I was to go to safeway I would choose a safe out of the way place to park my car lowering the probability of this happening. Unlikely they were looking out for your M5 like you would have been. Furthermore If they except no responsibility for what happened what is to prevent your car from being damaged everytime you take it in for service ? No way I would go back there if they don't address this issue.

"If they except no responsibility"

Umm...accept.

Originally Posted by Runon MD1

"If they except no responsibility"

Umm...accept.

Whats the big deal, we understand what he means. Are you the moderator for miss spelled words?
cheers
vern

Originally Posted by Runon MD1

"If they except no responsibility"

Umm...accept.

Point taken. Would have gotten it correct accept I hadn't had my coffee yet

We really don't have enough information to go on to make a determination of any dealer fault, responsibility here. If the car was in the dealer's parking lot and another car driven by someone not connected with the dealership hit it then there would be no fault on the store's part (just like safeway). However, if a dealer employee directed the car to be parked in a specific location that was "at risk" of being hit by a careless driver (i.e. across the entrance lane) then there would be responsibility of a sort. Just like any other business you park in their lot at your own risk and if someone else (not connected to the business) hits you then it is their fault. Hard to see this any other way.

Look up the concept of "bailment".

Bailment as opposed to license -- yes, a good point would be made for the dealer's liability here. One could even say that the dealer would have the duty to go after the offending party's insurance to "make whole" the M5 owner. Since the dealer accepted the car into their "care" for a consideration then (unlike Safeway) they would have a duty to safeguard the car. I was wrong, it is different than a free parking lot.

Originally Posted by vern

Whats the big deal, we understand what he means. Are you the moderator for miss spelled words?
cheers
vern

Yes. I am the moderator, Vern.

And, to prove it, it's misspelled, not "miss spelled."

Cheers back atcha, Vern. And don't bother telling me that it's "at you."

What ever happened with this?

Originally Posted by Runon MD1

Yes. I am the moderator, Vern.

And, to prove it, it's misspelled, not "miss spelled."

Cheers back atcha, Vern. And don't bother telling me that it's "at you."

Hey Dude back atcha you better check "spell check",( misspelled- miss spelled).Moderator
cheers
vern

What was the final outcome on this one?....not the spelling contest, the OP's problem with the dealer.

Originally Posted by UncleJ

What was the final outcome on this one?....not the spelling contest, the OP's problem with the dealer.

Isn't it odd that most posters never come back with a post telling us the out come.
cheers
vern

Hey there. Been meaning to reply with outcome.

4500 in parts and labor. New bumper cover, left front fender and light. The light alone was ~1900. And it was only slight cracked in the mount.

Parts took about 3 weeks to show with another week delay as they realized they needed another part after the disassembled.

I was also able to claim diminished value. I had an estimate if 9,500 they countered with 4 and we split the difference.

I usually keep my cars for a while so maybe I'll use those funds to cover extended warranty and maintenance. Any thoughts on how those perform with bmw?

Thanks again for all the help. Sorry took a while to respond.

Z. Thanks for the wrap up! Always nice to see how these things turned out.