Weird situation

[fiveliterbeater]

well the day that i finally pick up my car has came. i actually got it yesterday and the car looks awesome with the headlight conversion, lip spoiler and HID fogs. but the day after i pic up my car, as i'm sitting in traffic, glancing around the car, i notice that my rear TV thats part of the infiniti mobile entertainment package is damaged. the plastic cover has been taken off. see the pic attached.



immediatly i pull over, pull out the remote and try to activate the rear TV and it drops down a little but not all the way and there in no video whatsoever! no navigation or movie will show up on the rear screen. at this point you can all imagine whats going on through my mind so i take the car back and explain to them whats going on.

after i explained the problem, they said they don't know what happened but they said to drop the car off and they will take it to infiniti to see whats wrong with it.my question is, can they say: "no, we are not going to fix it because i should've noticed it before i left the shop?" keep in mind they had my car for 45 days and i had it less than 24hrs before i noticed the damage.i mean, i told them that i'm really in a tough spot because they did a really good job on my car, but i don't know how to tell them they broke my TV which makes no sense because they had no buisness back there in the first place.just thought id ask if there are any legal remifications that i can use to my advantage. and by the way, i took a few shots of my M with the 6000k HID fogs and i tried to take a pic of the front of the car with the sport headlight conversion and the lip spoiler on.





this is what my car was stock:

[M35 Sport]

This is off topic but how is the e-class compared to the M

[M45Runner]

What did they do to your car (not the damage, but the work) that takes them 45 days - Just a HID conversion, fog light and lip spoiler? Maybe I am missing something here....

I can't imagine why they will touch your rear drop down screen, since there is no interior work involved, right?

[NightWatch]

Unfortunately the burden of proof is going to be on you unless someone at their establishment fesses up and says they broke it. I've been in the same situation before where a wheel shop scraped one of my wheels mounting a new set of tires. Because I didn't inspect the wheels with them when I dropped it off and I didn't catch it until I washed the car when I got it home they denied any knowledge of scraping the wheel. Now when I drop the car off I do a vehicle walk around with the service advisor and make him write on the work order that there is no visible damage and I do the same when I pick it up. Takes a few extra minutes on each end, but its worth it should anything happen while they have the car.

[fiveliterbeater]

This is off topic but how is the e-class compared to the M

it has its ups and downs; power-wise its an E320 so it's pretty gutless on the freeway. build-wise, i'm sad to admit that it's built way better than the M. the doors for example; it takes one finger to close the door on the M, on the mercedes, you need to use your full hand and shove the door close because it's really heavy. if i were to guess, that mercedes would last longer than my M as far as features go, i have waaaaayyyyy more options than the Mercedes does, but it does have one option i wish we had; it's got the famous air-matic suspension. the car has adjustable air struts that will either make the car as stiff as a skateboard or really soft like a cadillac all with the flick of a switch. the car can also lower itself 1/2 inch or raise 1/2 inch to get over speed bumps or steep driveways.on the freeway the mercedes is a little more noisy than the M and the mercedes gets more looks because of the 3 pointed star on the hood.why couldn't infiniti put that on our cars???

[fiveliterbeater]

they had my car for that long because it was vandalized pretty bad; i had gotten keyed on the hood, fenders, bumper and headlights and my windshield was bashed in. thats why they had it that long. it still was a pretty long time though, but still, i don't think that im able to inspect everything on the car before it leaves right?

[NightWatch]

No, obviously not, but it might be worthwhile to inspect the "likely suspects". For example. My car is going in for its 7500 service which includes balancing and rotating the tires. I will be sure to go over every inch of the wheels with the service advisor when I drop it off and again when I pick it up. There's not a mark on them and there better not be when I pick it up. I will also pop the hood and inspect the engine compartment, that all the plastic pieces were put back correctly and the tabs were not damaged and they wiped up any fluid spills.

[EcstaSPT]

Do you know who keyed it?

[Double E]

Then I'm thinkin it was part of that damage ..and you're just noticing it as part of the vandalization.

Seems reasonable that the person who did the dirty deed would have also tried to reach in & yank on the screen as a cool e-bay souvineer.

Oh yeah...you need to move bro. That's a dirty 'hood to keep the M in.

[M45Runner]

Good Point - it might be part of the vandalization and the insurance should cover it as one incident.

But, you should consider moving, especially since you have the M and a E-class Mercedes.

[fiveliterbeater]

but my TV wasnt broken when i took the car in though! thats the whole point of my frustration. my car actually got keyed at work. i work in Montclair which to anyone who doesnt live in CA, it's pretty much the ghetto. my neighborhood is actually pretty safe and peaceful. when i took my car in, the inside of my car was never touched, just the outside. everything on the inside worked just fine. all the body shop did was repaint the bumper, fender and the hood and replaced the lights and replace the windshield.but after i get my car back, my TV is broken but i didnt notice it because i was just so happy to have my car back.

[M35 Sport]

it has its ups and downs; power-wise its an E320 so it's pretty gutless on the freeway. build-wise, i'm sad to admit that it's built way better than the M. the doors for example; it takes one finger to close the door on the M, on the mercedes, you need to use your full hand and shove the door close because it's really heavy. if i were to guess, that mercedes would last longer than my M as far as features go, i have waaaaayyyyy more options than the Mercedes does, but it does have one option i wish we had; it's got the famous air-matic suspension. the car has adjustable air struts that will either make the car as stiff as a skateboard or really soft like a cadillac all with the flick of a switch. the car can also lower itself 1/2 inch or raise 1/2 inch to get over speed bumps or steep driveways.on the freeway the mercedes is a little more noisy than the M and the mercedes gets more looks because of the 3 pointed star on the hood.why couldn't infiniti put that on our cars???

______________You know I thought the same thing about my car when I noticed how light the doors were. Then I found out, they are aluminum as opposed to steel. Maybe one day I'll get the chance to drive a benz. I always read how people say how solid and long lasting they feel. Oh yeah...I think a few people with modern day CTS(s) with the FE2 and FE3 suspension might resent that comment

[M4T5]

Wow....the Mercedez is noisier on the freeway than the M????? I really cannot imaging since that is my biggest complaint about my 07 M45! The M's pick up a lot of road noise IMO. It seems to pick it up mostly through the tires or the suspension.I better make a wise choise on my next set of tires for my M I guess! I actually need to replace them now. 3/32-4/32 left on them with a nail in one of them. They are still the OEM RSA's with a little over 23,000mi on them.I really think the lower section of the car could have used more sound dampening insulation and possibly better body or suspension isolators.

About the posters situation.... If you think they did it....call them out on it and go from there. I guess you could still add to your insurance claim if all else fails.By the way, was this vandalism prevoked, someone you know, or a random hit? A person who does those kind of things needs to be shot.....If caught someone doing that to one of my rides....that would more than likely be their last time!

J

[fiveliterbeater]

by being noisier i meant its a "tad" noisier than my M but both are pretty close. if it came down to the wire, id have to say the mercedes is a little bit more noisier though.

[Ouija]

with all that vandalism is it possible the vandals broke the tv and you never noticed it?

[mjlyn]

by being noisier i meant its a "tad" noisier than my M but both are pretty close. if it came down to the wire, id have to say the mercedes is a little bit more noisier though.

Wow, i'm also surprised at that comment. My biggest complaint with my M is the road noise. Had a 2004 530i that was much quieter. Never owned an E class but have been a passenger in a couple of them. What year is your E?

[fiveliterbeater]

well its not my car, its my girls car and its an 03 E320. remember i have the "Luxury" M not a sport (even though i'm converting it over to one minus the RAS) so my struts might not transfer road noise as much as a "sport" M.
Modified by fiveliterbeater at 12:47 PM 6/22/2009

[fiveliterbeater]

and to (Ouija), my car was never broken into. it just got vandalized on the outside.

[M4T5]

Mines not the Sport M either, but it is still a bit noisier than I would have thought it would be.Maybe I just need a new set of tires...... I just don't know which ones to buy quite yet......

J