Ordered RX-8 damaged in transit
 

After 4 months of waiting, my car finally arrives but the bumper was damaged on shipping truck.

The salesperson told me about it and said they're working on filing a claim with the trucking company and replacing the bumper before I take delivery. I didn't make a fuss about it. I understand the dealer didn't have any control over the situation. Plus, I already ordered clear corners for it.

Today, people are telling me I should back out of the deal and that I shouldn't buy "damaged goods."

What do you guys think? Does this type of damage happen a lot?

It's just a bumper. It can be replaced. Just make sure that you double check the work. If it isn't perfect, dont go through with the deal.

I wouldn't worry about the bumper either. The replacement will come prepainted and since your car is new, it's not like you have to worry about one more faded than the other.

That would go nicely with the Mazdaspeed spoiler I ordered with the car.... Hmmm..

Don't worry about it. It's just the cover they are replaceing

yeah,its a 'new' bumper compensated anyway...juz like u got ur ride 2day,sell it 2mrw,its still considered a used-car...

I'm impressed they even said anything.

What if something else was damaged on the car other than the bumper itself, like the frame?

Ya, i would bitch a little man. You don't know how it got damaged or what else is damaged. At least try to get some more freebies out of it. ;) Can't wait to see the car though! glad to hear it is here finally.

Just get wait for another one... or have them take some money off the price to justify you buying the MS Bumper.... :)

Maybe some of the folks on here who work at dealerships or transport new vehicles to the dealers will have better insight, but I understand that vehicles frequently, if not consistently, get banged-up on their way from the factory to the dealer. This should not come as a surprise when you think about all of the people and facilities that a new car can pass through before it gets to the showroom. Fortunately, the damage is usually very minor and just some touch-up and detailing is needed to make the car look pristine again. Either way, all or most of us may be driving away with "damaged goods" (albeit minor) when we leave with a new car.

this is correct, usually about 1% or less of the cars are damaged, but they do get damaged, usually door dings and bumper dings, as long as the damage is under $1,500 dealers are not required to inform buyers. and if the damage is too major then we just dont accept them from the manufacturer and they have to buy it back. I reall wouldnt worry too much about it, as long as you really cant see the difference it should be ok, the only concern i can think of is that it is a black car (i'm guessing black because of your avatar). you do have the right to say no to the purchase if it is a lousy match job, but I bet you really wont notice it unless you look really closely, also I dont think there is any frame damage, they probably just gouged the bumper when loading the vehicle onto the truck. but hey still try to get what you can out of it, it is a great bargaining tool.

First of all, let me say how sorry I am that happened. I can only imagine how you must feel. Not being snotty, but why did you order? I would think there would be enough Mazda dealers in Denver to find the car you want. Of course, you would have no way of knowing if those had ever been damaged.

I don't understand why them filing a claim has anything to do with you. The car needs to be fixed, it's not your problem who pays for it. Why would he even mention that? Did they tell you about the damage because they were being very upfront with you, or did they know you were on your way and they had to?

I dont know if you've settled on a price or not, but if I took delivery I would make sure they took some more money off. Another question I have is whether or not the paint on the new bumper will be different in any way from the rest of the car. It may look fine to the naked eye, but there are other ways they can test to see if there has been repair work done by diagnosing the paint. I just traded in my Audi and the used car manager at Audi went over the whole thing with some handheld device that told him whether or not it was the original paint. If you take that car I would make sure they prove to you that the paint on the bumber will measure as the same paint on the rest of the car. In 3 or 4 years you don't want to try and trade it in and have someone tell you it's rear bumper has been damaged and repaired, and then offer you less money on it.

You have to make up your own mind, but I personally would probably go find another car. That's just my opinion, and I tend to be very anal about my cars.

Thanks for all your replies. I'll see if I can get anything off and how the replacement looks.

RX22-
The only reason I ordered is beacuse there were no black with red interior GT's in Denver.

You are correct; the claim has nothing to do with me. It is just another delay they told me about so that I knew not to expect to be able to take deliver of the car until next week.

Looking back, it is hard to say if the they were being upfront with me or they came clean because they had to. The fact is, I initiated the call to see if my car had been delivered and then she told me about the damage. Not sure if you can read in to that.

I never knew about the paint reader device. I'll try to get them to prove there is no noticable difference. Thanks for that heads up.

I could see where black w/ red interior would be a hard find. If you want me to I can find out more about the paint reader device, whatever the heck it is.

Good luck, I know this is a hard decision. I know I probably couldn't stand to wait another 4 months.

:confused:
I went back to dealership to get some pics of the damage. My saleswoman wasn't there, but I talked to the manager on duty. I asked him about paint detectors and he told me there's a device that is basically a "bondo detector" that some dealerships use; he didn't know of any paint difference detectors. Other than that, he wasn't too helpful. He's going to give a message to my salesperson to give me a call tommorow. We'll see how this drama plays out...

You are proabably right. Here are some pics. What do you all think?

Close ups

Don't forget to get that fog fixed too.
It should be fine after they replace the bumper and front air dam. Make them order and mount the new one. That black plug is part of the car too.

Makes me want to puke...

Try and get some freebies out of it,or some money off....definately should be able to squeeze something out of this.

It is still nice and shiny...:) Can see you in the bumper! hehe. That really sucks man . Hope it all gets taken care of.

Thanks man. I hope it works out too. All that rain we've been having rinsed off all the dust that was on the car. You can see it on the pavement in the first picture I posted.

Well "paint detectors" (which are just magnets) won't work on the bumper..since its not metal.

The damage looks fairly minor in the respect they can probably "fix" the bumper instead of replacing it-- I wouldn't accept that on a BRAND NEW car myself.

You need to find out if they are going to replace or repair is, and if I were you I'de mark your initials or something on the bottom (non-visible) portion of the bumper or a sticker inside it or something so u know if they are screwing you..

I'd tell them to put the Mazdaspeed bumper on it and call it a deal. In reality, the cost to them may not be that much more, and then if any non-matching paint issues ever came up there would be a logical explanation. As it is right now they have to replace both the bumper and the front air dam. If they won't agree to that I would walk. Of course that's easy for me to say sitting here with my keys in my pocket. I know you're probably dying to get your car. Let us know how it turns out. Once again, good luck.