dear S2K members, please comment on the following incident for justice to be served.....

yesterday a friend of mine brought her BMW 5-series to a reputable shop (anonymous for now) to get her flat tire fixed. After picking up her car, she realized on the rear side of her BMW that a brand new huge dent with a 10-inch scratch had been made. Apparently, another car, possibly truck, had collided with her car while it was sitting in the lot. Being furious with the damaged, my friend had called the shop and asked for them to pay for the damage since she had trusted the shop with the safety of her car while it was being repaired. The shop refused to do so and so she called up her own insurance company to get a few pointers on this matter. Agreeing with her, the insurance agent also stated that the shop should be solely responsible for any damages that occurred with the car on their lot.

in short, i'm also furious that the shop said they will not take responsibility for the accident. to make the long story short, i would like to get comments on what the proper action should be. I know that I wouldn't trust my S2000 to such shops if they do not guarantee the safekeeping of the customer's vehicle.......

any comments would be greatly appreciated........thanks for your time.....

 

Need more information. What kind of lot was it, the main, public lot, or a more private, custodial lot? Who was last to drive the car? (who parked it the spot that it was damaged?) How much time elapsed between when the car was picked up and when the damage was noticed? Where did the car go between the time when it was picked up and when the damage was noticed. Even with all of this info, I'd be hard-pressed to lay blame completely on the shop. Her comprehensive coverage might pick it up since the car was parked and unattended at the time of the accident.

 

the parking lot where the car was parked belonged to the shop (private lot not shared by other shops) she had left the car there during lunch time and picked it up after work at around 6:30pm. Since the sky was already dark, she did not check for any damages and drove home. she has her own private parking at home so the damage would not be possible at home. she did not go elsewhere afterwards. She first noticed the damage as she pulled into the parking lot at work and stepped out of her car. The damage was very obvious at daytime on the driver's side. hope that helps......

 

I would report the incident to insurance and then have the insurance company pursue this further. I would also make sure that the auto shop understood the circumstances leading to this and never go there again unless they are forthcoming with you and figure it out. while technically, they may not be liable, I would not go to a vendor or business that does not at least work with me, the customer, in instances like this. Thus, I will never go back to Stevens Creek Honda, where the management would not discuss with me, any liability for theft that occured on their lot.

If things dont work out, please post the name of the company so that we can properly warn others.

Good luck.

 

my friend had talked with the shop and they had agreed to bring this to the general manager of the store. i'm not sure what results she will get, but it just frightens me when I think about bringing my car there again. when i used to own a mitsu 3000gt, i had my allignment, wheels, tires all serviced at that shop and they do great work. From now on, I'm gonna make sure the liabilities involved before leaving my car at the next shop and my car is due for a 7500 mile service soon.......