I have 3 stories of New Cars Damaged before delivery do you ?

[Mark Gregory]

I heard recently that BMW had $15 million dollars of damage by sand at a Ship Port to their BMW's   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5958601/BMWs-worth-11million-scrapped-filled-sand-port.html

 

Remember the Volvo ad from the 1970's where they where stacked on top each other . I heard they had fallen off the Dock into the salt water . Then they where scrap so they made the ad .

 

In Toronto in the 1980's all the new Provincial  Police cars where awaiting delivery and got covered in paint from a Ship in the harbour been repainted . Insurance claim I assume ?

 

Anyone else have good story ?

Edited July 17, 2018 by Mark Gregory (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

When I was building C5 Corvettes with a big tuner shop, we would order new Corvettes from GM and have them drop-shipped to a local dealer. That dealer insisted that they had to do "dealer prep" on the cars before we could take them--it was a GM rule, they said. I thought it was BS, but they didn't charge us anything, so I don't know what their real argument was for it. Anyway, one of the first FHC cars came in (fixed-head coupes) and their "prep" guy managed to pick up a tiny pebble in his washing rag or sponge and every single panel on the car was covered with tiny swirling scratches, many down to the primer. After a truly awful argument in the service bay that nearly led to fisticuffs, we took the car, painted it ourselves, and sent the dealer the bill (somewhere around $12,000, I think). That black Corvette was so much blacker than the factory cars--they all looked dusty compared to our paint. Anyway, after that, all the cars came to us still in their wrappers without any prep work done.

 

Does that count as damage before delivery? Not quite "falling off the boat into the ocean" awful, but certainly something a consumer would not have seen--if it had not been us taking the car, the dealer probably would have repainted it and sold it as new.

[8E45E]

This one was posted on the Studebaker Forum nearly ten years ago:  http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/huge-hail-storm-damages-up-to-30-000-new-volkswagens-a-562478.html

 

I commented VW could have then marketed them a 'Slazenger Edition' with appropriate scripts on the front doors. 

 

Of course, new car dealers in hail-prone areas of the country have "Hail Sales".

 

Craig

[1912Staver]

I worked at a GM dealer out here on the west coast in the late 70's. Most of the new vehicles were sent out by train. Lots of minor damage , bumpers rubbed, grills bumped, the odd bumped panels. And bullet holes now and then, the cars on the train made a tempting target as they crossed the empty expanses of the prairies.

 

Greg in Canada

[R Walling]

These are brand new cars in the bucket that were spilled out or a sunken ship.

 

Edited July 17, 2018 by Roger Walling (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

I knew a guy who worked in a body shop at the GM factory in Oshawa Canada in the sixties. Most of their work was touching up scratches or replacing a dented bumper. He said the worst job they ever had was a Cadillac limousine that fell off a transporter and wrecked one side. If it had been an ordinary car they would have scrapped it but this was a special order limousine with special equipment bound for the Middle East and it would have taken 6 month to build another one. So they repaired the damage, straightening and replacing body panels as necessary then repainting the car complete. The repair job took a month. He said they used a lot of lead but when they were done you couldn't tell it had been damaged and it passed all inspections for a new Cadillac.

[Wheelmang]

20 minutes ago, Rusty_OToole said:

He said they used a lot of lead but when they were done you couldn't tell it had been damaged and it passed all inspections for a new Cadillac.

Wonder if, with all that lead, it wore out the tires on the side repaired?

[Frank DuVal]

Waaay back, 1980? I was walking through Al & Don's used auto parts (Ellerson, VA) and saw a brand new Buick LeSabre sitting there. The now flat roof was level with the passenger compartment.  It was top car when the carrier fell over! ?

[Bhigdog]

When I picked up a new Fore-Runner that I had ordered the salesman said there was some delivery damage that had been repaired on the passenger side. Now that he mentioned I could see a bit of difference in the finish but only in the right light and if I looked REAL close. After some back and forth they agreed to a repaint credit and knocked $4000 off of the price. I did intend to have it repainted for the entire 10 years I drove it.............Bob

[kgreen]

I was talking to an employee that worked the shipyard in Brunswick, GA several years ago who told me that cars that became damaged in the shipyard were scrapped, not repaired.  He said it was to prevent opportunity seekers from damaging expensive cars then buying them at discount. 

 

I would wonder, based on the degree of damage, if the destination dealer would ever have a chance to accept the car, repair it and then sell it.

[Harold]

When I sold new Fords in the 1980's a new Tempo came in with substantial roof damage.  Ford paid the dealer for a proper repair, but the sales manager took the cheap way out and had a pop-up roof installed instead, with lots of filler around the edges.  The problem was that the pop-up was installed very far forward to match the location of the roof damage and in the process the dome light was eliminated.  The car was on display in the showroom and I told a prospective buyer about the roof and lack of dome light...….he bought the car anyway!

[46 woodie]

I live on Long Island and commercial vehicles are not allowed on the parkways. All of the overpasses were designed by Robert Moses, extra low,  not to allow busses to use them, keeping NYC residents from using the beaches on Long Island. Once I was waiting for my car at a Chevrolet dealership and a car transport was parked that had the roofs torn off all the cars on the upper deck. Oops! At least once a month an 18 wheeler gets it's roof mangled.

[Rusty_OToole]

2 hours ago, Wheelmang said:

Wonder if, with all that lead, it wore out the tires on the side repaired?

Lead body solder was the only filler allowed on new cars. All cars had lead fill on certain seams like where the roof joined the body. I expect the limo was heavier on one side than the other but not enough to make a difference.

[36 D2 Coupe]

Back in 1974 I ordered my first new vehicle - a basic Dodge Club Cab pickup. Wrangled a really good deal from the dealer who was not too enthused about it. Finally decided  to send a registered letter to the CEO of Chrysler Canada after 4 months of no show and excuses. Got an almost instant response informing me said truck would arrive at the dealer's lot in 3 weeks. It arrived with "HOT" written all over it, missing some interior trim and a huge dent in the side of the cab. First stop was the body shop to get the damage repaired. Not sure if it was shipping damage or sabotage but either way I was not impressed.

[Bill Harmatuk]

I guess we all forgot the cash for clunkers.

I was visiting a salvage yard, two to 3 times a week, back then and it made me sick.

I think scrap prices were high and people cleaned out the woods. The scrap yard would NOT sell anything once it came in the gate.

I begged the people for a 1 1/2 ton Chevy farm truck in mint condition.

 

Bill H

[Brass is Best]

I was in the Ford River Rouge Mustang assembly plant in 2000 on the day they built the 300 Cobra R Mustangs. The first few units maybe cars 1-15 or so had the engine literally shoved through their hoods. The way the assembly line worked was the engine sat on a lift and the car body moved over top. When the two were lined up the engine raised up from the bottom. The issue was the Cobra R engine was much bigger and something was causing a misalignment. So the hoods were pushed up and destroyed. The fix was to remove the hoods on the remaining cars and install them at the end of the line. I think everyone of those cars did a burn out from the end of the assembly line onto the chassis alignment rig. It was a circus atmosphere that day for sure.

 

 

[brasscarguy]

My wife and I visited the Ferrari factory a few years ago. To set the stage. We stay at the Planet Hotel just across from the main gate of the factory. One morning  a light rain was falling. After all Ferrari's are finished, they are driven several laps  on the factory formula track across the street then off into the countryside for some 50 miles. Then back to the factory for a final check.

 

This particular  day, as I remember, a new Ferrari California came back on a flat bed tow truck with the front end pushed in a bit. Only a 1/4 million dollar car with 50 plus miles. This was an OH=============Sh*% moment. Not the way to start the test drivers day.

 

just sayin'

 

brasscarguy

[Pontiac59]

Sometimes these cars are donated to auto tech schools as trainer vehicles.  Some 20 years ago the school I went to had a decent fleet of them; a 91-ish S10 Blazer with the roof scraped down flat, a '95 Chevy extended cab pickup with just very light scrape marks in the cab top; a 91-ish 454SS pickup with a maybe both fists sized dent in the top cab back...  a 91 Corsica that had blown it's engine up, threw a rod with like 62 miles showing... a 90-ish Buck Lesabre sedan with the roof and back thoroughly mangled...  a 90 or so LeBaron made for French export and apparently just never exported... there were more I don't remember. They had purposely cut one '86 Buick Regal down to little more than a frame with engine, cowl and one seat.   

The body lab would rebuild insurance company totals to sell, which would pay for new equipment and the car they redid was a Corsica also.  While the donated cars were not supposed to be parted out in any way, just scrapped when they became obsolete,  parts from at least one of two very similar maroon Corsicas made it into the rebuild - the blown motor IIRC was rebuilt in the engine lab even though it was so bad inside it needed a sleeve on one cylinder.  Probably the only one in the world that had that much work put into it.  

[8E45E]

7 hours ago, brasscarguy said:

My wife and I visited the Ferrari factory a few years ago. To set the stage. We stay at the Planet Hotel just across from the main gate of the factory. One morning  a light rain was falling. After all Ferrari's are finished, they are driven several laps  on the factory formula track across the street then off into the countryside for some 50 miles. Then back to the factory for a final check.

 

This particular  day, as I remember, a new Ferrari California came back on a flat bed tow truck with the front end pushed in a bit. Only a 1/4 million dollar car with 50 plus miles. This was an OH=============Sh*% moment. Not the way to start the test drivers day.

Perhaps!  If it was due to mechanical failure, which was entirely possible, it was better that Ferrari found out on their own test loop before it got in the hands of a customer!!

 

Craig

[Steve Moskowitz]

As a new car dealer for 30 years I have lots of stories but the one I will never forget was in 1973 having to go the rail yard in Chicago to inspect damage to cars on a train (I was a District Service Manager for Olds at the time).  Someone installed the tie-down chains incorrectly and the cars came loose and just played bumper cars on the entire trip.  The entire load of damaged cars were SCRAPPED due to safety concerns. 

[Restorer32]

During hurricane Agnes several new car dealerships here locally were flooded. Several hundred new cars were crushed under the watchful eyes of a factory representative. First the interiors were slashed with a razor cutter then into the crusher they went. 

[RansomEli]

Back in my less reasonable days, I bought a new 1976 Fiat 131 sedan. Great car (hah!) but within a year the upholstery started peeling apart. 

 

Turns out, when each car came to the US, the upholstery was sprayed with a fire retardant to meet US regulations. However, this caused the upholstery to peel apart.

 

Every 1976 Fiat 131 in the U.S. received new, dealer-installed replacement seats. 

 

This was my second Fiat, so shame on me. 

[8E45E]

17 hours ago, 36 D2 Coupe said:

Back in 1974 I ordered my first new vehicle - a basic Dodge Club Cab pickup. Wrangled a really good deal from the dealer who was not too enthused about it. Finally decided  to send a registered letter to the CEO of Chrysler Canada after 4 months of no show and excuses. Got an almost instant response informing me said truck would arrive at the dealer's lot in 3 weeks.

There is more than one Dodge dealer around.  I'm sure you would have found one who would have most likely appreciated your business, unlike this one.

 

Craig

 

 

[Bud Tierney]

I can second 1912Stavers comments above...

In early-mid 60s?? had a close relative working as mechanic in a GM agency in El  Paso...

On new car/train day all mechanics not committed to immediate rush jobs were taken to train yards, where they tried to get cars running well enough to get them to the dealership...

Along with the carefully noted (and possibly photographed?) existing body damage would be a litany of running gear problems; the one he shook his head at was a transmission in the back seat of one sedan...

[plymouthcranbrook]

I purchased a 1983 Plymouth Reliant  brand new.  2.2 engine, 4 speed manual trans. Within the first 5000 miles the clutch went out. Warranty replace, continued driving both wife and myself(wife better with clutch than me). At about 11,000 miles the clutch went out again.(Should note that car was hard to get rolling with clutch. Car often stalled unless great care was taken). Another warranty replacement  I asked why this was happening and was told we did not know how to drive a manual car.  Continued to drive the car as we really did like it. But at 15,000 miles clutch failed again. Warranty expired, had to pay for repair out of pocket. Appealed to Chrysler customer service board, claim was denied as they had already replaced two clutches and we obviously did not know how to drive a manual car. Shortly afterward I took it to a local shop for a front end alignment. They told me when I picked it up that they could not align it correctly as there was severe damage to the subframe of the car probably from an accident or something like that.  I went to the dealer and was told that there was nothing they would or could do. So I have never bought any cars from Chrysler from that day on.

Funny thing was about a year after getting rid of the car it pulled up next to me at a stop light and when the light turned green the person driving it stalled while starting out.

Edited July 19, 2018 by plymouthcranbrook (see edit history)

[kevin1221]

I have worked 40 plus years in the auto industry, so I have seen many damaged vehicles. In 1976, I ordered a new Ford Econoline van. I had planned to due a street van conversation that was very popular at the time . After many delays, it finally arrived at the dealership I worked at. But it was on the bottom level of the transport. The roof had been heavily scraped while loading, and they scraped it again coming off the transport truck. Needless to say, I did it take the van. I eventually bought a used van.

 

In the 1980s, I moved to Florida. The state has very strict requirements regarding disclosure of damage on new cars. Any body, paint or upholstery damage in excess of $600.00 had to be disclosed in writing to the first retail customer of the car. In most cases if we received a car with even light or moderate damage, we refused acceptance of the vehicle.

 

Kevin

[Restorer32]

I bought a new Ford F150. After about 5000 miles I noticed a rear tire slowly going flat. I jacked it up, removed the lug nuts but could not remove the wheel. No amount of coaxing, kicking, pulling or cussing would remove the wheel. I drove slowly to a garage for air then went directly to the dealership. Me..."I had a flat but couldn't get the wheel off".  Service manager with a know it all smirk..."Did you remove the lug nuts?". Long story short, 3 hours later the dealership finally got the wheel off by heating up the center hole with a torch. Same problem with the other rear wheel. Turned out both rear axles were a few thousandth too large and when the wheels were pulled into position by the lug nuts they were a very tight press fit. Two new axles did the trick and I got the last smirk.

[plymouthcranbrook]

1 hour ago, Restorer32 said:

I bought a new Ford F150. After about 5000 miles I noticed a rear tire slowly going flat. I jacked it up, removed the lug nuts but could not remove the wheel. No amount of coaxing, kicking, pulling or cussing would remove the wheel. I drove slowly to a garage for air then went directly to the dealership. Me..."I had a flat but couldn't get the wheel off".  Service manager with a know it all smirk..."Did you remove the lug nuts?". Long story short, 3 hours later the dealership finally got the wheel off by heating up the center hole with a torch. Same problem with the other rear wheel. Turned out both rear axles were a few thousandth too large and when the wheels were pulled into position by the lug nuts they were a very tight press fit. Two new axles did the trick and I got the last smirk.

My neighbors brother had a similar problem with a 2004 Ford pick up. It took both of them about 2 hours to get the wheels on all for corners to release when they wanted to check the brakes and rotate the tires.  Once removed the wheels never gave any more problems. Not rusty as the truck was about a year and a half old at the time.

[Restorer32]

Not even a sledge hammer would remove my wheels. After at least 2 hours of trying the Service Manager ask me if I minded if they used a torch to heat up the center holes. It was under warranty to I didn't care. I ended up with a loaner car while they ordered and installed new axles. I got new wheels also since they had damaged them hammering on them from the back.

[1912Staver]

On the vehicle ferry I recently retired from, the Deck Officer in charge of loading must pay constant attention to the tide if it is falling.  As the tide falls the clearance for tall vehicles reduces due to the increasing angle of the loading ramp. 

 One of the last vehicles to be loaded this particular sailing was a car transporter with a load of new vehicles destined for Vancouver Island.  A brand new Ford PU. was on top , at the end of the trailer.  Huge bang and crash! The roof of the PU. hit the top of the car deck. Smashed the cab and broke all the tie downs pulling the truck off the transport trailer and landed upside down on the car deck.  Quite the mess! Definitely a write off. And a bit of a red face for the loading Officer. {not me, I am a Engineer}

 

Greg in Canada

[Terry Bond]

Long before I could even drive,  a family on our street bought a "new" car from the local Pontiac dealer.  It was the most beautiful black 59 Bonneville I'd ever seen, equipped with every imaginable option.   I'll never forget that leather interior and all that chrome!   They would never have been able to afford a car like that but the story was a whole fleet of them had been ordered by some foreign country and during shipment, some had broken loose in the hold of a ship and got bounced around a bit.  They were refused on the receiving end and shipped back.  From there they were brokered out to different dealerships at discounted prices and sold as-is.  There wasn't a darned thing wrong with that car except a scrape at the end of the rear bumper.  I wonder what every became of that car?  

Terry

[junkyardjeff]

I worked at a Chevy dealer inspecting the vehicles when they came off the trucks and found damage daily.

[CarlLaFong]

On 7/18/2018 at 8:09 AM, Restorer32 said:

. First the interiors were slashed with a razor cutter then into the crusher they went. 

I wonder why they would go to the trouble of slashing the upholstery? It isn't as if someone will uncrush the car to salvage a seat or door panel which, in all likelihood, would have been destroyed during the crushing process ????

[Joe in Canada]

I could tell you many stories. Here is two with trains. Around 1974 the brakemen went for lunch without putting the brakes on. The train rolled down the grade through the bay doors hitting the end shearing off the wheels. The cars continued skidding across the floor luckily only parts inventory was tossed every where. Workers scrambled for there lives and nobody was hurt. The plant was up and running the next day. 

The second one was around 2005 where there was around 300 pickups scraped in Oswawa that day.  

   New car manufactures are not allowed by law to repair an A surface body panel with a filler and sell it to the public. Over the years I would think many damaged cars were used as staff vehicles and then sold as a used car to the public.  

 

[capngrog]

8 hours ago, Joe in Canada said:

I could tell you many stories. Here is two with trains. Around 1974 the brakemen went for lunch without putting the brakes on. The train rolled down the grade through the bay doors hitting the end shearing off the wheels. The cars continued skidding across the floor luckily only parts inventory was tossed every where. Workers scrambled for there lives and nobody was hurt. The plant was up and running the next day. 

The second one was around 2005 where there was around 300 pickups scraped in Oswawa that day.  

   New car manufactures are not allowed by law to repair an A surface body panel with a filler and sell it to the public. Over the years I would think many damaged cars were used as staff vehicles and then sold as a used car to the public.  

 

 

CARnage for sure!  Do you have any idea of what the damage $$$ figures were?  Were the rail cars damaged as well?  If they scrapped 300 pickups, that would be $4,500,000 at $15,000 per pickup (that's just my wild guess at an average vehicle cost).  Does that sound about right?

 

Cheers,

Grog

[Restorer32]

On 7/21/2018 at 11:29 AM, CarlLaFong said:

I wonder why they would go to the trouble of slashing the upholstery? It isn't as if someone will uncrush the car to salvage a seat or door panel which, in all likelihood, would have been destroyed during the crushing process ????

Upon reflection I think they removed the seats etc before crushing the cars for scrap thus necessitating the slashing. 

[misterc9]

My father worked for the railroad. One day he took me to a train wreck. A whole train load of new 63 Chryslers and Plymouths derailed then went down a steep embankment. They had cranes to hoist the cars out. They smashed the glass out of the cars to put the cable through to lift them out. Plenty of guys were there writing on clipboards. Wish I had a camera that day.

Edited July 24, 2018 by misterc9 (see edit history)

[Guest]

I was working at a Porsche dealership in 1978 when the 928 was new (and still considered a pretty terrific car).

A returning and slightly difficult customer had special ordered a 928 in his choice of color with a full compliment of options and the delivery date was set.

These cars ran right around the $30K mark (when a brand new Corvette could be had for less than a third of that figure) so customers could be a little testy if everything wasn't just so....especially this fellow.

Car arrives on time and is sent right to the shop for it's PDI and road test. All is good.

The customer calls and asks about his car. The service manager tells him the car has arrived, is almost ready for pick up and "believes it is out on test drive as we speak".

The customer replies "Yes, I know it has arrived. I'm watching it from my office window, doing donuts in the parking lot next door".

 

[capngrog]

7 hours ago, GregLaR said:

I was working at a Porsche dealership in 1978 when the 928 was new (and still considered a pretty terrific car).

A returning and slightly difficult customer had special ordered a 928 in his choice of color with a full compliment of options and the delivery date was set.

These cars ran right around the $30K mark (when a brand new Corvette could be had for less than a third of that figure) so customers could be a little testy if everything wasn't just so....especially this fellow.

Car arrives on time and is sent right to the shop for it's PDI and road test. All is good.

The customer calls and asks about his car. The service manager tells him the car has arrived, is almost ready for pick up and "believes it is out on test drive as we speak".

The customer replies "Yes, I know it has arrived. I'm watching it from my office window, doing donuts in the parking lot next door".

 

 

C'mon Greg, how about "the rest of the story"?  In what's left of my mind, I can make up several wildly divergent endings to the story, ranging from the logical to the absurd, but I'd like to know how y'all handled the triggered irritability of this "slightly difficult customer".  Were the police involved, restraining orders issued, hot air balloons destroyed, promotional clowns unmasked, animal control called, dead fish flung, mayhem committed ... ?

 

Cheers,

Grog

[Guest]

Practically all of the above Grog. ? 

When the guilty party returned from his road test several management personnel were waiting for him. They asked how his trip was, then told him the great news. He went white as a sheet. He was a younger fellow who should not have been test driving that particular car in the first place. They told him the customer was on his way down and if he asked for the tech's head they would oblige. Which was too bad because he was a very good mechanic. Well, the customer showed and proceeded to dress that fellow down in a fashion that was uncomfortable to say the least. Like a drill Sargent with an unruly private. The entire complex listened to that rant. The tech's position was indefensible so the managers let the customer have at it. Surprisingly, at the end of it all, he did not call for the tech's head. He was very lucky to keep his job. Extemely humbled and hopefully a little wiser.