Rear-ended twice in nine months

[webvictim]

Bit of an essay here but bear with me. It raises some interesting questions.

My 2013 S4 is currently at the dealership being repaired again after I got rear-ended for the second time in nine months. I feel like the unluckiest owner around - two very similar impacts, both to the passenger side at the rear. The first one was a really old guy who didn't see me stop at a crosswalk and ploughed into the back of me in his Lexus; this time it was a young guy with all his extended family in a Honda SUV who seemed not to be able to see the red light I was sat at. I feel like a bit of an idiot as I didn't pursue a diminished value claim immediately after the first repair - the statute of limitations in CA is three years, so I figured that when/if I decided to sell the car or the three year deadline was approaching, I could get it valued, check KBB for the official price and then submit a claim to the old guy's insurers for the difference. Mistake number one. My intention this time is definitely to submit a diminished value claim straight away.

I was told beforehand (by the same dealership, Rector Porsche Audi in Burlingame) that the car couldn't be CPOed because the repair would show up on Carfax. I don't believe it's there, although I've yet to check this fully. Other than that, I guess there's nothing stopping me from trying to get it CPOed? I'm starting to feel like I need to get this car sold off ASAP before anything worse happens to it...

The main issue is that Rector have now had my car for nearly five weeks. I was hit on the evening of Friday January 31st and got the car towed there first thing on Monday 3rd February. The insurance assessor went out that same day, agreed a figure with them and then called me - I was given an estimate of 7 days for the repair work. After hearing nothing from Rector after 7-10 days and trying to call my SA a number of times, I eventually heard from him. He told me they'd found more damage after stripping the car down, the assessor had been out again and they were looking at "another week or so". I waited, again heard nothing, called a load of times and eventually got a call back. Same story - more damage found, and I was now looking at close to the end of the month before I'd get it back. The story is that originally they'd been looking to repair the rear quarter panel rather than replace it, but now they were looking at a full replacement as they wouldn't be able to do a satisfactory repair. As it stands now, the story is that the car was going to be in the paint shop yesterday, drying today, then getting put back together Friday/early next week and "detailed", with a view to me having it back next Wednesday (12th March). The SA has promised to call me and update me, but based on his previous performance, I'm not holding my breath.

By the time I get it back (assuming the timescale is correct this time), it's going to have been about six weeks to repair the damage. I'm concerned and curious - I feel a bit like I'm getting bullshitted here. I'm not very happy at all with the lack of communication from the dealership overall and the service I've been provided; the guy doesn't call when he says he will and it's pretty hard to get hold of him despite having his mobile number - I'm going to raise this with him when I go to pick up the car. Rector refused to give me an Audi loaner (because "we don't give loaners for repairs") and instead offered to call the Enterprise rent-a-car just down the road who they have a partnership with. They've provided me with a very bland Hyundai SUV at a direct cost to me of about $1500/month. I even had to go back the other day to start a new rental period, because "any rental longer than 30 days is a lease and we don't do leases".

Do I have a right to be angry with the dealership? This is a $12k repair (the previous rear-end repair was $11.5k) and even despite that, I feel like six weeks is one hell of a long time to wait. The labour estimates on the quote come out to 73.5 hours total. When I combine this with the fact that I'm paying for a rental car out of my own pocket at the moment (although of course it'll be submitted to the other guy's insurance company for repayment) it just feels a bit like I'm getting played - almost like the dealership is deliberately dragging their heels over the repair so that Enterprise can max out their profits from it.

Should I complain to the body shop manager about the delays? Maybe try to get them to fix the curb rash on my wheels for free as a gesture of goodwill? Threaten to complain to Audi direct?

Here's a few photos:

[CONTROL TWO]

wow this is odd. the same exact thing happened with my 2011 S4: rear ended once, fixed at rector, got it back, rear ended again, rector has it for 2 months, etc etc .. car cannot be CPO'd, several trips back and forth to the dealership for the assessor, poor communication.. i am simply going to get rid of the car because at 45,500 miles my warranty is close to expiration with no option for an extended warranty.

i wouldn't bother talking to the body shop manager - he's a complete joke. also give the car a good inspection before you take it back because after having my car for two months to do these repairs they gave it back to me with several underbody panels missing screws, a backup camera that does not function properly, and a misaligned trunk. it had to go back to the shop for another week to solve these issues because the body shop couldnt be bothered to do a bit of quality control. they will do a half-assed job if you let them.

[webvictim]

It's funny you should say that. Following the last repair, my one side of my exhaust started hanging off after a month or two. I took it back to Rector - they told me it was only held on by one bolt and made me pay $180 for replacement bolts, bracket and labour. We'd had an exhuast stolen from the parking lot at work recently so I put it down to thieves trying to steal it and not managing to get all the bolts off, but now it just sounds like shoddy work :/

Did they say they can't CPO it because of Carfax? I'm wondering whether it's Rector who reports it or the insurance company. I had 4 items on my Carfax report before the last repair and there's still only 4 now, so it doesn't feel like the last repair went on. Too early to say with this one.

[IanCH]

Dude... Why are you letting them dick you around like this? You paid 180 dollars for a fix of a repair they did... That's just total wtf material right there.

[raudiace4]

I would bitch them out. Sorry OP, sorry this happened to your S4 again. Get rid of that car ASAP.

[Dannydyn]

Sorry to hear about your ordeal. Trust me I know how it feels, as I too, smashed my S4 back on Jan 29th, and I’m still waiting on getting it back. Granted, my hit was much worse (I posted pics in a thread here), and my total damage amounted to be over $21K not including the 30-day rental I got from my insurance company (which has long expired). I guess I’m luckier than you in the sense that I seem to be dealing with a good body shop. They are very responsive and reachable whenever I need them, and have answered every question and inquiry I had, very promptly.

Looking at your pictures, the damage is nowhere near as bad as mine, and I’d say you definitely should have had it back by now. My question for you is: Why did you take it to a dealership and not to an authorized and/or reputable body shop? Did you do some research on where you want to have the car fixed, or did you just take them to the nearest dealership? If I were you, I’d take a drive down there. Make some threats (AoA, lawsuit, BBB, etc.), and demand they get their shit together and get the repair done ASAP.

Otherwise, I honestly don’t know what to say. The damage is definitely not bad enough to warrant a 5 weeks wait. Like I said, take a drive down there, and start making some threats.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

[RickFLS4]

Unless there is frame damage, accidents on a CarFax do not preclude CPO. It is left to the dealer's discretion. A dealer that knows the history may decline certification and send it to auction after trade in, with another dealer certifying after picking it up at auction. Case in point:

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...lanta-Area-CPO

My original estimate for repairs to the car in that thread was around $12K / 1 month. The final cost was double that amount and repairs took 4 months. I traded the car in to my Audi dealer (for my current S4) about a month into the process because I was fed up with rental car (that I was about to need to start paying for) and didn't really want the A6 back after the extent of repairs. At that point, I thought repairs would be finished within a couple of weeks and didn't realize the original estimate was doubled. Repairs were completed by an Audi authorized body shop, with the dealer performing some of them as well.

[webvictim]

Dude... Why are you letting them dick you around like this? You paid 180 dollars for a fix of a repair they did... That's just total wtf material right there.

Well, at the time I didn't know why the hell the exhaust was hanging off - it was sufficiently long afterwards that I figured if they'd put it back together badly, the issues would've shown beforehand. Also with the theft at work it was just poor timing - I'm quite a trusting person and I was more willing to believe that someone had tried to steal the exhaust rather than that it'd been put back together badly. I posted in the cars group at work and people were definitely skeptical about anyone trying to steal the exhaust (mainly because the car is so low) and suggested it seemed more like something else - unfortunately I had no way to prove that Rector might have been responsible and I just wanted my exhaust fixed. I don't think I have any way to come back against them now.

Looking at your pictures, the damage is nowhere near as bad as mine, and I’d say you definitely should have had it back by now. My question for you is: Why did you take it to a dealership and not to an authorized and/or reputable body shop? Did you do some research on where you want to have the car fixed, or did you just take them to the nearest dealership? If I were you, I’d take a drive down there. Make some threats (AoA, lawsuit, BBB, etc.), and demand they get their shit together and get the repair done ASAP.

Firstly, sorry to hear about your S4; I saw the photos and winced but didn't realise it was you. Kinda glad we don't get snow over here in the Bay.

When I got rear-ended the first time, my parents were in the country staying with me and were actually in the car during the crash. My dad's advice was to send it back to the dealership where I bought it for repair so there could never be any questions over servicing, warranty work etc - if they were the only people who'd ever worked on it, they couldn't very well turn around and say they weren't going to fix things due to a bad repair, for example. The car was literally three months old at this point and I couldn't think of a compelling reason to send it elsewhere, plus the decent independent body shops that were Audi approved were about the same distance away so it seemed logical to send it to the dealership. They took a month to repair it, but that seemed fair because they had to wait 8 business days for a part to be delivered from Germany and then weld it all in, etc. I went away fairly happy with the repair that time (not knowing that the exhaust falling off a couple of months later was probably their fault).

This time I just went with the same option again, the one that caused me the least hassle. I at least knew that the body shop would probably do a decent job of the repair, I just wasn't expecting it to take this long. If it does happen again (I'm seriously considering getting rid of the car as soon as I get it back) then I'll definitely take it elsewhere for repair. Rector is now 30 miles away from where I live too, so not a compelling choice, plus now it actually feels a little bit like they're sick of seeing me.

Fundamentally the reason I haven't screamed down the place before now is because I'm usually quite a reserved guy; British (polite to the bitter end), not at all experienced when it comes to dealing with garages/body shops and possibly a bit naïve. Every time I've told the guy on the phone that he hasn't called me back when he said he would, he's just shrugged it off and blazed on into talking about something else. Whenever I go there he seems to be running around doing four different things and so I feel bad for chewing him out over not being as attentive as he could. I guess I need to be more persistent. I know he's going to ask me to rate him 10s on his Audi performance survey when I pick the car up; I gave the sales guy less than 10 once and he emailed me saying "I killed him" on it... apparently getting anything other than 10 is not acceptable. At least then I have some leverage to say I'll only give him a decent review if he makes things right, I guess.

[CONTROL TWO]

looks like our damage was pretty similar





i wouldnt expect to get it back any time soon if i were you. i was lucky enough to have a second car i could use while they were doing the work, so the rental car thing wasnt an issue. this whole experience has left a very sour taste in my mouth as far as rector is concerned. since my family has lived in the bay area we have bought between 15-20 cars from them & have a great relationship with the sales dept. the service dept has always been a little up and down, but in general it has been acceptable (with poor communication being our biggest complaint). fast forward to this repair job and it still leaves me a bit dumbfounded how they could do such a terrible & sloppy job for what has to be one of their best customers.. i don't meant to toot my own horn here, but we've bought multiple S8's, R8's, and a GT2RS from them.. if they have a better customer, i'd like to meet him! so, if we can't get quality service on a repair job, i wouldnt expect youd get anything better.

[webvictim]

Heh, that's almost a carbon copy of the damage. I'm mainly just amazed at the fact that drivers seem to be so bad here - I drove in the UK for ten years before moving here, a good chunk of that in London, full of tiny streets packed with cars and terrible traffic all the time and yet never had an accident. Move here and nobody seems to understand how momentum works.

The sales department at Rector were okay - a little slimy and clearly wanted my money, but they did go out of their way to make sure I could get financing (not particularly easy when you're new to the country) and answered all my questions quickly. Service has been alright too - again, they're sometimes a little slower than I'd like, but at least then I have Audi loaners to ease the pain. This whole experience has just made me question whether ownership is better than leasing - at least if I leased I could expect some kind of compensation for the time I wasn't driving the car. At the moment, I'm stuck in a crappy rental paying my car loan off with nothing to show for it.

[CONTROL TWO]

the incompetence level of drivers around here is simply amazing.

please post an update when you get the car back. if they have done a sloppy job we should definitely go in and have a meeting with the owner about their body shop.

[webvictim]

Latest update is that I should get the car back late Friday. I'm going to hold off on giving back the rental car until I've inspected the repair thoroughly, made sure they've put the exhaust back on properly this time and negotiated with them regarding the awful timescale estimates and poor communication.

[LeadToRome]

If there's a next time do a little research and take it to an independent body shop that specializes in fine cars, in about 10 seconds I found these guys right in Palo Alto: http://www.cavallinos.com/index.html

No reason the stealership has to do that work.

[CONTROL TWO]

Latest update is that I should get the car back late Friday. I'm going to hold off on giving back the rental car until I've inspected the repair thoroughly, made sure they've put the exhaust back on properly this time and negotiated with them regarding the awful timescale estimates and poor communication.

make sure to give them a call friday before you drive up there. i got the "it will be ready this week" three weeks in a row before it was actually ready

[webvictim]

No reason the stealership has to do that work.

Indeed, and next time they certainly won't be. Lesson learnt.

make sure to give them a call friday before you drive up there. i got the "it will be ready this week" three weeks in a row before it was actually ready

Yeah, I've been promised a call tomorrow with an update and I will be making sure to call on Friday before going.

[Dominick's S4]

My brand new 2014 S4 with 5K miles was smashed in the rear end and it took 8 weeks for all the repairs to be complete.. Yes.. 8 weeks and $22K.. They did a great job but it was excessive and everyone made out better than me.. They guy that hit me totaled his car and got a new one within a week.. I spent 8 weeks driving a rental Camary.

[SeaBassHWD]

looks like our damage was pretty similar





i wouldnt expect to get it back any time soon if i were you. i was lucky enough to have a second car i could use while they were doing the work, so the rental car thing wasnt an issue. this whole experience has left a very sour taste in my mouth as far as rector is concerned. since my family has lived in the bay area we have bought between 15-20 cars from them & have a great relationship with the sales dept. the service dept has always been a little up and down, but in general it has been acceptable (with poor communication being our biggest complaint). fast forward to this repair job and it still leaves me a bit dumbfounded how they could do such a terrible & sloppy job for what has to be one of their best customers.. i don't meant to toot my own horn here, but we've bought multiple S8's, R8's, and a GT2RS from them.. if they have a better customer, i'd like to meet him! so, if we can't get quality service on a repair job, i wouldnt expect youd get anything better.

Dumb question. Did you ever get out of a ticket due to your license plate frame?

[webvictim]

I was promised a call yesterday with an update - true to form, I didn't get a call. Rang the guy again today and left him another voicemail asking for confirmation. Blood out of a stone, I tell you.

[CONTROL TWO]

Dumb question. Did you ever get out of a ticket due to your license plate frame?

I have had a couple of different experiences. In most cases they will still write the ticket, but will write it for a lesser offense.

I was promised a call yesterday with an update - true to form, I didn't get a call. Rang the guy again today and left him another voicemail asking for confirmation. Blood out of a stone, I tell you.

typical

[Chrissy0874]

Sorry to hear you got hit twice. My S4 windshield cracked after 3 months, and as soon as the day after I replaced it (out of my own pocket), I got swiped by a driver in a Honda accord. I felt like it was a bad luck car. Luckily, the other driver insurance accepted responsibility, and paid for everything. I even got rental Audi A4 with 600 miles for 2 weeks while my car was in the shop, so I could not complaint much. The body shop did a good job, and my S4 is now restored to the condition before the accident.

[webvictim]

typical

Yep, didn't get a call on Friday. Called at 4:30pm, no answer. Guy calls me back an hour later to say that he might be able to get it done today but it'll probably be Monday. He's now promised me "early Monday". He's digging his own grave here.

Sorry to hear you got hit twice. My S4 windshield cracked after 3 months, and as soon as the day after I replaced it (out of my own pocket), I got swiped by a driver in a Honda accord. I felt like it was a bad luck car. Luckily, the other driver insurance accepted responsibility, and paid for everything. I even got rental Audi A4 with 600 miles for 2 weeks while my car was in the shop, so I could not complaint much. The body shop did a good job, and my S4 is now restored to the condition before the accident.

Nice. Good to hear it all got sorted. Was the rental A4 from a standard rental place? Feel like I need to find somewhere with better cars in future. I've had a Hyundai SUV for the past six weeks.

[CONTROL TWO]

even if it ends up being early monday (which it probably wont be) remember to inspect it with a keen eye before taking delivery. sounds like a situation where they're gonna rush it just to be done with you

[webvictim]

even if it ends up being early monday (which it probably wont be) remember to inspect it with a keen eye before taking delivery. sounds like a situation where they're gonna rush it just to be done with you

Yeah - I almost said to him "don't rush it, I'll wait" because I didn't want them done so quickly. Definitely going to be taking my time over the inspection though. As it is I'm planning for them to hold onto it for a few more days to refurbish my wheels as compensation for their slowness. It's been over six weeks now, a few more days won't really matter.

[webvictim]

For those following along at home, I did eventually get my car back on Friday 21st March. I gave it a thorough inspection all round and the repair job seems pretty good - everything lines up, paint is good and there aren't any obvious problems, other than the fact that the car stank of detailing chemicals. Thankfully that's finally going away after a few weeks of having me back in it. The guy at the dealership didn't really have a good explanation for why everything took so long other than that it was a big, expensive repair job. In the end I decided not to go completely mad at him - he ultimately seems a reasonable guy and my patience through the delays seems to have bought me some credit in terms of he and I being on the same page and the dealership ultimately being mod-friendly to me in future.

Unfortunately my left-hand exhaust has started to hang down a little on the left-hand side so it's back in tomorrow to get that fixed. At least it's happened now rather than in the future so I can get them to accept responsibility and fix it. I certainly won't be ever be taking the car there for repairs again. As for servicing I'm undecided as yet - I have little knowledge of Stevens Creek Audi and what their servicing is like, so I'm possibly better off sticking with the devil I know.

[Acejam]

Ouch. Definitely sounds like the story of a victim.

[webvictim]

Heh, you don't know the half of it... the guy who hit me is lying to his insurance company, alleging that I cut him off and pulled in front of him which caused him to rear-end me. The truth is that I'd been stationary at a stop light for 10-15 seconds when he came out of nowhere. He's a young guy, probably doesn't want his premium to go up and thinks he can get away with it. He's an idiot - rear-end claims are incredibly hard to fight. Hopefully I win in arbitration and he has to pay all my costs.