Bought online CPO, but BODYWORK?!!!!
11-20-2010, 02:12 AM
#1
Audiworld Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Bought online CPO, but BODYWORK?!!!!
Hello, New to Audis in general and my first post. I hope this is the proper forum. I bought a 2007 Q7 CPO 4.2 from "The #1 Volume Audi Dealer in the World" online with low miles. I saw 20 plus pictures that showed it to be in apparent great condition other than a rear climate display burnout (which was supposed to be fixed).
It has become a very long story, and I love the Q7, but on arrival (I took pictures) I noted horrible scratches beyond curb rash on 3/4 rims (20's), terrible touch-up paint, 2 small rusted dents and even what appears to be a dent pulled and shoddily covered. I quickly took it to the local dealer who has been great! CPO manager there said no way this kind of body stuff should have passed CPO without repairs.
The CPO Checklist gives thumbs up on all 300 points except the Tech notes mention one mirror defective, but wasn't repaired. The Selling dealer states truck was just fine and is basically calling me a liar blaming either me or the shipper. Audi Customer Care is backing the Seller despite my pictures showing the poor paintwork, rusted dents etc. on delivery. The shipping company has documentation this was present when they picked it up. No way any of this stuff can be seen in online photos.
When I took the Q7 to the dealer, they had to replace a blower motor, a climate control display, BOTH rear view mirrors, wipers, Sunroof cassette, rear acoustic sensor, etc. All documented. Selling dealer is unwilling to pay for the paintwork and don't feel I should be upset since all my repairs were done under warranty. Any constructive input would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!
It has become a very long story, and I love the Q7, but on arrival (I took pictures) I noted horrible scratches beyond curb rash on 3/4 rims (20's), terrible touch-up paint, 2 small rusted dents and even what appears to be a dent pulled and shoddily covered. I quickly took it to the local dealer who has been great! CPO manager there said no way this kind of body stuff should have passed CPO without repairs.
The CPO Checklist gives thumbs up on all 300 points except the Tech notes mention one mirror defective, but wasn't repaired. The Selling dealer states truck was just fine and is basically calling me a liar blaming either me or the shipper. Audi Customer Care is backing the Seller despite my pictures showing the poor paintwork, rusted dents etc. on delivery. The shipping company has documentation this was present when they picked it up. No way any of this stuff can be seen in online photos.
When I took the Q7 to the dealer, they had to replace a blower motor, a climate control display, BOTH rear view mirrors, wipers, Sunroof cassette, rear acoustic sensor, etc. All documented. Selling dealer is unwilling to pay for the paintwork and don't feel I should be upset since all my repairs were done under warranty. Any constructive input would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!
11-20-2010, 07:25 AM
#2
AudiWorld Member
My thoughts... I have purchased both a 2008 V10 TDI Touareg and a 2009 Q7 TDI prestige via Audi/VW dealers over the internet... both times i purchased based on that the dealer said and a few photo simply hoping when the car showed up it was perfect (both cars were 1 year old when i purchased them.) And... both times there has been at least one thing that i didn't expect (on the Touareg the wheels had a lot of rock pitting and some significant curb rash. The Q7 was in showroom condition(they even had it on the showroom floor) except for a deep scratch on the passenger side door (no dent, just a nasty deep scratch.) In both cases i was a little disapointed... but i got over it. I had every opportunity to get on a plane and fly back east and see the cars in person before i paid the money... but i didn't... i was willing to take a risk. Would i do it again? Yes... i have two unique vehicals that i would have never found near my home and i managed to get killer deals on both... so it was VERY worth the risk!! (and if i had flown out and seen the cars i would sitll have purchased them as is!)
As far as body damage/work... i don't see that at having any relationship to CPO. CPO is about making sure the car is in good condition.. mainly mechanically. You purcahsed a 3 or 4 year old car... so the assumption is that it has 3-4 years of wear and tear. It sounds like in your case the previous owner didn't take the best care or his car and when issues did happen he didn't have it repaired correctly. That's lame! But i guess that is life. Would I be upset with the dealer that sold you the car? Most likely a yes.. but that depends on what condition they said the car was in "like new" and stating "the bodywork and paint are perfect" would have clearly upset me when i received the car since they set expectations. With my Q7 i called the dealer and told them i was dissapointed the scratch on the door wasn't disclosed (in photos or verbally) and i had asked for them to document EVERYTHING (sctach/dent, etc) so that i was at least aware and there were no surprises... they said they looked over the car and it was perfect. I didn't try to get them to fix it... i just let them know i was disapointed (and if i am extremely fair... the car sat on their lot for 2 weeks before the truck could pick it up.. its always possible the scrach wasn't there when the looked it over (I certainly couldn't see it in the photos they sent me.) I guess my point is.. other than possibly false advertising and... well... lying about the condition of the car (which could always be subjective)... the dealer is probably clear of any true wrongdoing.
I think you are taking the right path... work with your local dealer and get the mechanical stuff fixed. Then.. if the pain stuff bothers you run out to the best body shop you can find and have them fix it up. Let the frustrations with the selling dealer go... just enjoy your car
Hopefylly you were able to get a great deal on it so you have some money left over to fix it up a bit.
And congrats on the new car.
As far as body damage/work... i don't see that at having any relationship to CPO. CPO is about making sure the car is in good condition.. mainly mechanically. You purcahsed a 3 or 4 year old car... so the assumption is that it has 3-4 years of wear and tear. It sounds like in your case the previous owner didn't take the best care or his car and when issues did happen he didn't have it repaired correctly. That's lame! But i guess that is life. Would I be upset with the dealer that sold you the car? Most likely a yes.. but that depends on what condition they said the car was in "like new" and stating "the bodywork and paint are perfect" would have clearly upset me when i received the car since they set expectations. With my Q7 i called the dealer and told them i was dissapointed the scratch on the door wasn't disclosed (in photos or verbally) and i had asked for them to document EVERYTHING (sctach/dent, etc) so that i was at least aware and there were no surprises... they said they looked over the car and it was perfect. I didn't try to get them to fix it... i just let them know i was disapointed (and if i am extremely fair... the car sat on their lot for 2 weeks before the truck could pick it up.. its always possible the scrach wasn't there when the looked it over (I certainly couldn't see it in the photos they sent me.) I guess my point is.. other than possibly false advertising and... well... lying about the condition of the car (which could always be subjective)... the dealer is probably clear of any true wrongdoing.
I think you are taking the right path... work with your local dealer and get the mechanical stuff fixed. Then.. if the pain stuff bothers you run out to the best body shop you can find and have them fix it up. Let the frustrations with the selling dealer go... just enjoy your car
Hopefylly you were able to get a great deal on it so you have some money left over to fix it up a bit.And congrats on the new car
.
11-20-2010, 09:34 AM
#3
Audiworld Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks Gregtay, I agree with you reply. The car was described as near showroom. I had a salesman do a walkaround on the phone. He specifically commented how nice the paint was. He did say there was a door ding (or chip?)on one of the OTHER doors. But, honestly no way he could have missed these. The issue indeed is misrepresentation. I completely understand the fact it is used and 4 years old, it has less than 40K miles on it.
My point about the CPO inspection refers to the checklist. It clearly lists each bodel panel's paint and alignment. These were marked as "meeting Audi's requirements", not "repaired" or "no". My local dealer states these panels should have been marked "repaired" if they did ANY of the touchup in the first place, which seller states they didn't. The local dealer sent an estimate from their bodyshop (at cost) to the selling Audi dealership who said it was too much and refused to pay. Is there a way to escalate the case once Audi Customer Care renders final decision in favor of seller?
I will continue to hopefully enjoy this wonderful truck, but must admit I am disappointed in my first Audi experience compared with my previous BMW amd Mercedes experiences. I am on my way to get the Q7 from the local dealer now.
My point about the CPO inspection refers to the checklist. It clearly lists each bodel panel's paint and alignment. These were marked as "meeting Audi's requirements", not "repaired" or "no". My local dealer states these panels should have been marked "repaired" if they did ANY of the touchup in the first place, which seller states they didn't. The local dealer sent an estimate from their bodyshop (at cost) to the selling Audi dealership who said it was too much and refused to pay. Is there a way to escalate the case once Audi Customer Care renders final decision in favor of seller?
I will continue to hopefully enjoy this wonderful truck, but must admit I am disappointed in my first Audi experience compared with my previous BMW amd Mercedes experiences. I am on my way to get the Q7 from the local dealer now.
11-20-2010, 10:35 AM
#4
AudiWorld Member
Thanks Gregtay, I agree with you reply. The car was described as near showroom. I had a salesman do a walkaround on the phone. He specifically commented how nice the paint was. He did say there was a door ding (or chip?)on one of the OTHER doors. But, honestly no way he could have missed these. The issue indeed is misrepresentation. I completely understand the fact it is used and 4 years old, it has less than 40K miles on it.
My point about the CPO inspection refers to the checklist. It clearly lists each bodel panel's paint and alignment. These were marked as "meeting Audi's requirements", not "repaired" or "no". My local dealer states these panels should have been marked "repaired" if they did ANY of the touchup in the first place, which seller states they didn't. The local dealer sent an estimate from their bodyshop (at cost) to the selling Audi dealership who said it was too much and refused to pay. Is there a way to escalate the case once Audi Customer Care renders final decision in favor of seller?
I will continue to hopefully enjoy this wonderful truck, but must admit I am disappointed in my first Audi experience compared with my previous BMW amd Mercedes experiences. I am on my way to get the Q7 from the local dealer now.
My point about the CPO inspection refers to the checklist. It clearly lists each bodel panel's paint and alignment. These were marked as "meeting Audi's requirements", not "repaired" or "no". My local dealer states these panels should have been marked "repaired" if they did ANY of the touchup in the first place, which seller states they didn't. The local dealer sent an estimate from their bodyshop (at cost) to the selling Audi dealership who said it was too much and refused to pay. Is there a way to escalate the case once Audi Customer Care renders final decision in favor of seller?
I will continue to hopefully enjoy this wonderful truck, but must admit I am disappointed in my first Audi experience compared with my previous BMW amd Mercedes experiences. I am on my way to get the Q7 from the local dealer now.
But... hopefully the selling dealer cares about how they treat their customers. I purcahse Audi's because the customer service i recieve from AoA and my local dealer are way beyond anything i could ask for.. and i LOVE Audi engineering. I know my local Audi dealer would make things right if one of their sales reps misrepresented a car... no questions asked. Normally i would also expect AoA to step in and help but being that it's body work/paint work on a used car i am not sure there's much they will do since they weren't in control of the repair parts/work.
It does sound like your local Audi dealer has been great even on a car they didn't sell you... so at least you know you will be well taken car of. And... hopefully the selling dealer will step up and help out. If you have any comminication regarding the cars condition in email then i would call up the GM or owner of the selling dealership... simply ask them for their opinion.
11-20-2010, 12:50 PM
#5
AudiWorld Super User
There is no part of this that is your fault. CPO should be enough to tell you the vehicle is a safe buy.
You guys are waaaay nicer than me. I would have sent the car back immediately on delivery, called the BBB and AOA and called the selling dealership twice a day until they had a rational conversation with me about it. Then I would have called the bank to try and stop payment, then posted on every single forum, even the VW ones.
The whole thing is TOTAL BS.... CPO should be absolute. There is no excuse, its a scam pure and simple.
Man, I am so sorry this happened to you. At least you are getting a dealer to back you up.
Whatever you do, definitely, definitely complain to the BBB. They have a lot of weight and can protect other people from getting worked over.
You guys are waaaay nicer than me. I would have sent the car back immediately on delivery, called the BBB and AOA and called the selling dealership twice a day until they had a rational conversation with me about it. Then I would have called the bank to try and stop payment, then posted on every single forum, even the VW ones.
The whole thing is TOTAL BS.... CPO should be absolute. There is no excuse, its a scam pure and simple.
Man, I am so sorry this happened to you. At least you are getting a dealer to back you up.
Whatever you do, definitely, definitely complain to the BBB. They have a lot of weight and can protect other people from getting worked over.
11-20-2010, 10:49 PM
#6
Audiworld Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks to all. I picked the Q7 up today. The local dealer completed all the repairs I listed and gave me a copy of estimate for the paintwork (dealer cost $1250), which the seller had refused. Seller did pay for the rims to be resurfaced, so I guess I can take some solace from that.
Other than that, after a 45 minute call with AoA, in which they stated that since the seller says the truck was "fine" when it left, there's no way to prove the body issues weren't done by me or the shipper (despite my photos). I explained the body issues were poor paintwork and old dents, neither of which I could have done. Like I tried to paint over damage I had done and then blame the seller?!! Ultimately, AoA has asked me to forward all my pictures, and documentation for "internal evaluation".
I did additional research on the dealer online and found multple complaints about this dealer's ethics. I guess it's a lesson from the School of Hard Knocks. I've had great luck buying online before.
I hope it is ok to finally say the dealer's name, but I will post this everywhere I can...
You should be very careful if you plan to buy or service a car at PRESTIGE IMPORTS (Audi and Lambho)in Miami, FL. I emailed the salesman and manager warning I would do this very thing if they didn't do what I felt was the right thing (repair the paintwork, I will do the elbow grease and buff all the other scratches etc. as I do understand it is a used truck). Especially if one considered another dealer agreed with me and I as the buyer wasn't happy.
Finally, I'll ask again, besides blogs, BBB etc. Is there anything else I can do? Thank you. I hope to enjoy this forum for a long time.
Other than that, after a 45 minute call with AoA, in which they stated that since the seller says the truck was "fine" when it left, there's no way to prove the body issues weren't done by me or the shipper (despite my photos). I explained the body issues were poor paintwork and old dents, neither of which I could have done. Like I tried to paint over damage I had done and then blame the seller?!! Ultimately, AoA has asked me to forward all my pictures, and documentation for "internal evaluation".
I did additional research on the dealer online and found multple complaints about this dealer's ethics. I guess it's a lesson from the School of Hard Knocks. I've had great luck buying online before.
I hope it is ok to finally say the dealer's name, but I will post this everywhere I can...
You should be very careful if you plan to buy or service a car at PRESTIGE IMPORTS (Audi and Lambho)in Miami, FL. I emailed the salesman and manager warning I would do this very thing if they didn't do what I felt was the right thing (repair the paintwork, I will do the elbow grease and buff all the other scratches etc. as I do understand it is a used truck). Especially if one considered another dealer agreed with me and I as the buyer wasn't happy.
Finally, I'll ask again, besides blogs, BBB etc. Is there anything else I can do? Thank you. I hope to enjoy this forum for a long time.
11-20-2010, 11:08 PM
#7
AudiWorld Super User
Well, one thing I didn't say, and I am sorry about this... Congratulations on the Q and welcome to the forum. You will most likely love your Q7 and already did the hardest part, found a Q and found a great dealership.
Congrads.
Congrads.
Trending Topics
11-21-2010, 04:59 PM
#9
AudiWorld Member
I'd call the dealer on that one... if they sold you car with a bad battery they shoudl replace it... that one seems rather straightforward. I don't know of any dealer around me that would hand you the keys to a car and a few days later tell you a dead battery wasn't something they were going to take care of.
11-21-2010, 08:21 PM
#10
AudiWorld Super User
I'd call the dealer on that one... if they sold you car with a bad battery they shoudl replace it... that one seems rather straightforward. I don't know of any dealer around me that would hand you the keys to a car and a few days later tell you a dead battery wasn't something they were going to take care of.