MiamiCowboy

Touch up. Move on.

dork

I was a professional auto painter for a good part of my working career. With that as my background, I post my opinions.

I'll give the OP the benefit of the doubt and agree with him that the chip wasn't there when the car was delivered. In my opinion, that's 50/50. DAMN few would find that on a delivery inspection. With an auto painter's eye for detail, I've spent about 30 minutes each looking over every car for which I ever took delivery, and even after an engine inspection I might have missed that chip. That said, I'll agree, AutoNation chipped the hood's edge... the fibers loose on the chip could stay until they're manually removed (by sanding). There's nothing in an enlarged version of the OP's photo that says to me the chip is fresh; it could be 4 months old, too. So I understand the service writer's viewpoint, "I don't see how we could have done this.". Me, either. A moot point, I guess, since the OP makes the claim. My point is, there's no evidence to back the claim that it was caused at AutoNation. Only a video of the delivery to AutoNation would serve to prove the hood's condition. Even without a painter's experience, if I was a judge, I'd say there's no case here.


"does not understand how damaging this was to me"... You're kidding, right? Exaggerating, I hope. It's a car. It might take a year of ownership and driving, but something's gonna happen equally bad to your car on the freeway or in a parking lot that'll match this "damage". Your daily stress levels must be through the roof. What you need is a heart attack to put daily incidentals into perspective. (Not really; just a comparative idea--but ask me how I know.)

"I treat my things with the utmost care and respect"...

"utmost care", ok. "RESPECT"?? Your THINGS?? OP, you're entirely too ****, even in your speech/semantics/syntax. Loosen up your grip on your perspective on 'life'. To paraphrase, "This is unacceptable."... there's that word again, "unacceptable". Who started this idea, that things are "unacceptable"? What, a trivial chip on the edge of the hood? If it's "unacceptable", get used to the idea that a tantrum demand of a new hood is gonna go over like a bean fart in a packed elevator. NO business will either honor the demand nor want your return business; a fact of "life". The way to make it personally acceptable is to pay the money to replace the hood and have it painted. You'll lose the time it costs to repair it, pay for the labor; you'll pay to have the color blended across the fenders and bumper, and probably rue the day when your personal outlook set a standard that established that this chip became unacceptable.

All the previous responses are dead ***** on. Have it touched up and move on. You won't see it from inside the car. Hell, after it's touched up, you won't see it unless you strain.


You're "half-right"; the chip is through all the layers of paint and clearcoat. But the major body parts on this car, including the hood, are composites, not metal. And the claim that it will "...lead to problems down the road."?

No, not even if the chip was left "unrepaired". Touching up the area will render it cosmetically improved and "acceptable" to most (not making a mockery here, just using the word in a normal context) but touch-up paint won't alter the damaged undersurface.

Nope.

If in fact you didn't miss this during delivery inspection, and again, I'll stipulate that-- your demand for a new hood marks you to the business world as completely unreasonable and someone whom the business would rather not deal with. You may not like that I say that, but that's the fact. Fifteen years' experience in the auto industry is my perspective. If you become adamant about your stance that it's "unacceptable, or vocally aggressive, you'll not get anything for such a request except hard feelings in both directions and a complete reluctance to work with you again.

Everything you ask for (and should you return for other service) will be fulfilled to its' legal minimum under duress until you tire of patronizing the business and go elsewhere. And they'll celebrate with their own attitude of "don't let the door **** hit you on the way out".

No offense meant in any of my comments; it's just the way we'd view such a customer reaction. The way I wrote it and the way it came out may sound harsh and insulting or intolerant, but I was in a business that operated for profit with "profit" as it's only benchmark. Good repeat-customer relations were a requirement of the staff ONLY in the sense that it brought return money.

Only your last question/statement shows any tolerance. The rest of your outline of the situation portrays a personal standard (or an attitude, if you will) that no one in business-for-profit wants to deal with, and if you're gonna get anywhere, it's the wrong tact. You can get better results with honey than vinegar.

krwunlv

Accidents happen, we are human and fallible by nature. Have the dealer repair this section of the hood and us it as relationship building. Asking for a new hood is outrageous for a simple accident that resulted in a small chip. My old vette, they dropped a tool on the hood, it happens. I noticed it because there was some lint from the micro towel they used to dry off the car. I asked them to fix it as if it was never there. They did, gave me a few freebies and handshake to say thank you for being understanding. I understand its your car, that you paid a bit of coin for, but its a car, a material possession that is built to get dirty, get scratched and be driven. Had it been a rock chip on the fascia of the car, would you pay to replace the entire thing or just sand, paint, blend and polish?

Frosty

Get an estimate from the best body repair shop in your area to fix it properly. Take that estimate to the dealer and ask them to reimburse you. Unless they have a reason to change the way they treat Corvettes, they won't change. If they won't compensate, don't go there again and let them know you will call them out by name on Corvette forums and other social media

Vetteman Jack

No way they will replace the hood for damage that small. If they did the damage, just ask that they have the area touched up and then go about enjoying your new car.

ersatz928

A dab of touch-up paint....a whole repainted hood probably won't match.
**** happens....on my very first drive of my C7, a rock hit the windshield and left a little pock mark.....don't sweat it.

edzvet

I've had damage to cars and bikes over the years and the thing that made it worse was that I was focused on that flaw and constantly looked at it. Most people will admire the car and not even see it.

YO-EL

And be ready to get laughed out of the place, they might think it's joke!
Or be ready to get gouged, because anyone who goes to a body shop for a fix on a less than a 1mm chip, is probably willing to pay anything!

But seriously, here's the remedy..
ALL dealers have a guy who comes out once or twice a month to spray shoot and make repairs on lot damaged new cars.
I'm 100% positive they will get their guy to do this and you'll NEVER be able to tell.
Ask for it.

Skid Row Joe

Lousy photo. Can't discern where the damage is.

..Have em fix it their way. If it's noticeable when you pick it up, then have em redo it. Still not right? File a lawsuit against the dealership. Name all individual involved you spoke with as co-defendants. Including the grease monkey that did the damage.

..Report back.

Foosh

Joe, they fairly obviously had the wiper arm(s) up, probably checking to see if they could get the owner to pay for replacement blades (not a warranty item), and then raised the hood.

A lawsuit for that kind of damage? Seriously? It would cost the owner way more than the fix, and good luck finding a lawyer to take that lawsuit.

Silver C7

Inform the dealership, let them see the damage (if they haven’t already), let them know they are responsible. Take it to a body shop of your choosing, let them repair it (not an insurance job). Submit the bill to the dealership, I’m pretty sure they don’t want any negative publicity and will gladly pay. If not, call a lawyer and let the negative pub begin...

Vet Interested

When has Skid Marks ever been taken seriously?!

PatternDayTrader

Lol …

sTz

+ 1

Off topic, re: Avatar. Fan of Wall Street? Always thought that painting was bizarre... Goya’s Saturn Devouring his Son.

PatternDayTrader

You could say I'm a fan of wall street, since that's how I pay my bills.
There is a thread over in PRC with quite a lot of discussion about Goya and avatars, and Saturn Devouring in particular.
I didn't understand art until I saw the black paintings by Goya.
Go add some comments about art that you like if you want. It could turn into an interesting thread.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...destroyer.html