RotarySpirit

Well, the dealership coated my car's underbody with some tar-based rust protection. I've already looked around the forums and the consensus seems to be that this isn't such a great thing.

My question is: If it's there now, should I leave it or get rid of it immediately? If I should get rid of it, how would I go about doing that?

scottmhr1

Probably imposiible to get rid of it all. Just make sure all drain holes in doors and other places are free of the crap!

Dookie_Rx-8

got any pictures??
does it look like that "Rhino" stuff they put on trucks??

yiksing

If its doesn't cause anything to overheat then just leave it

RotarySpirit

Okay, so here's the full story:

I was dumb (mostly excited and naive) when I purchased my RX-8 and agreed to the environment package that the dealership was offering. I signed the papers to get paint guard, rust guard, sound guard, and fabric guard done to the car.

A couple weeks go by (actually, 5 days go by and I get rear-ended, but that's another story) and I never get this package done. After talking to a friend who's opinion on cars I respect in general, I call them and tell them that I don't want this done to my car. The finance person tells me, "I'm sorry, once you sign the contract, our company automatically pays this 3rd party company to do the job." Okay, fine. So get your money back from them right? Well, the answer is no, I can't get my money back. So I figure, fine, I'm paying for it. I'll get it done.

I take it in and it gets done and I find out this coating of tar all over my underbody and it pisses me off to no end. No where in the documents that I signed did it say that they were going to spray tar underneath the car. Not only is the underbody covered in it, but my front SHOCKS and SPRINGS (both sides). I'm not the most knowledgable on cars, but you don't tar parts that move.

I call the custom relations manager (who has been pretty nice with me so far) and explain the situation to her and tell her that I'm very unhappy. She calls me back later telling me that she's talked to the manager at the detailing company where it's done and it's actually the sound guarding. It's not rust guard which is something they drip into the little nooks and crannies around your car body. Oh, and that covering the shocks and springs is normal. WTF??

At this point she says, "I have 2 options for you, we can refund your money, or we can take it back to the car shop and have them try to remove the tar from the shocks and springs." I said, "Look, if you hire some painters to paint a room in your house and they paint over the windows, are you gonna let them be the ones to fix it?" I go on to mention how I had to be forced to get something that I didn't want, and they told me I couldn't go back on, have a crappy job done, and THEN I get my money back? Why the hell didn't you just give me the money back in the first place!

I told her that I wanted my money back, but I want them to replace my front shocks and springs as well. She was hesitant at this point and I said, "Look, I can bring the car to you tomorrow and have you look at it. It looks...unhealthy." So that's where I am at this point.

The thing, though, is that even if I do get my money back and the springs/shocks replaced, I'm still gonna be upset knowing that there is tar all over my underbody. It's my car, I want it the way I WANT IT. The refund and the replacement is better than nothing, but am I wrong for thinking they owe me more? I was even thinking of trading the car in at this point (for another 8).

Sorry for the long *** post but I was pretty upset and I hope someone reads this and can give me an opinion.