Re: RE: new GLX paint problems

[Bruce Stapley <bstapley@megsinet.com>]

On Thu, 9 Jul 1998, Matt Womer <Matt.Womer@speech.com> wrote:
> Subject: RE: new GLX paint problems
> 
> Just to state the obvious...  I got the car back today
> and well, they fixed about half of it, and made some worse.
> 
> The spoiler has streaking on about half of it still, and
> the trunk now has marks on it below the spoiler, and they
> appear to have knicked the Jetta bag somehow.
> 
> They clearly just buffed it out and didn't repaint it.
> 
> The only real question in my mind is now do I just call
> VWOA or the dealer to complain...  grumble.
> 
> - -M
> 

I've been confused to the point of awestruck by your previous postings
as to this problem, and have tried several times to formulate a response
before now, but was unable to distill it down to something digestible
before you went ahead with the dealer's suggestion to repaint.

As I understand it, you took delivery on a brand new GLX which was (at
the dealers ready admission) damaged before delivery to you.  Although
the damage sounds to be severe enough to breach the sales contract (the
dealer signed a contract stating you would get something which was never
delivered to you: a car in new condition), the dealer tried to downplay
the extent of the damage, and said the car could be restored to like-new
condition by repainting the car, which the Service Manager claimed would
be a better paint job "than the factory stuff" (a statement which, if he
was talking about the body panels and not just the spoiler, is so
intentionally untrue as to be criminally fraudulent).  You also called
VW's 800-# Customer Service.  The fact that VW didn't immediately step
in to ensure that you got a new car suggests to me that VW believes the
cause of the damage might fall to VW and not the dealer, and VW decided
to fuck you too.  You said that VW said that your warranty coverage
after the repaint would be 3/36, which is better than the 2/24 coverage
you seem to believe you originally had.  But I assume that the repaint
will void the actual factory rust-through warranty on the paint, which
is SIX YEARS!  

While I'm not a lawyer and I don't play one on TV, I believe that things
got immeasurably worse when you let the dealer attempt to fix the car
instead of demanding a new one, because now you've established that you
accept the car as delivered as essentially satisfying what you had paid
for -- in conjunction with a remedy you accepted from the dealer -- and
once you accept a remedy of any kind in a business dispute, your rights
to get anything more rapidly dwindle to near nothing.

At this point you have essentially the same two options you've had from
the start: demand a new GLX or demand that they repaint until it looks
perfect.  Again, that second option means you've bought a brand new car
with less-than factory quality paint and a less-than factory-original
warranty -- and that's not what you contracted for.  Does your accession
to the work performed so far actually preclude your right to the first
option?  Well, it's true that you have, in some legal sense, accepted
the car.  But you did so at the urging of the Service Manager, and the
dealer has a vested interest in not giving you another Jetta, since the
damage could well be their fault.  Also, the SM made statements which
indicate he is unafraid to (in the immortal words of Dr. Scully)
deceive, inveigle, and obfuscate, which supports the position that the
dealer screwed you.  (Or at least that the SM is an idiot.)

So I don't see what else you can do except go to VW again and push
harder; ask to speak to a Cust Serv supervisor or a regional rep or
something.  Perhaps you should do this in conjunction with a serious
screaming fit in the showroom about how they committed fraudulent,
malicious connivery against you.  And if that doesn't work, I'd consider
consulting a lawyer with contract law experience, if not direct
experience in this particular area.  Again, this is just my opinion, and
I'm only an engineer, not a lawyer.  And I'm going on what I can infer
from what you've posted.  And what I infer is:  You got fucked.  And you
didn't even get kissed first.

Bruce Stapley
Black 98 GLX