New FG II - Possible hail damage

[martyk54]

Just thought I'd see if anyone has had a similar experience in the past...

I'm waiting on an FG II, of which the delivery has just been postponed again (ordered in mid-Nov 2011). My dealer is in Melbourne, which copped a mass of hail on Christmas day, causing damage to every car in it's midst. My dealer has not received the car as yet and are asking questions of the factory. The time it's taking suggests something is wrong. Originally I was told my car was not damaged in the storm but now my dealer says they're not so sure and are trying to get information on it... pending.

So, obviously I'm considering Ford's ability to 'repair' damaged cars that haven't yet left the factory (damaged on a factory lot), before selling them as new. Does anyone know if this is acceptable?? Surely not. I've already told my dealer I'll refuse to accept a repaired car. Anyone experienced similar in the past or know what consumer rights are relevant here?

Cheers.

[Road_Warrior]

How do you know they will try and repair it and try and sell it to you?

In WA after the big hailstorm of 2010 all the hail damaged new Fords were farmed out to Pickles and auctioned off.

[poppa smurf]

I doubt that ford would repair them,......they would simply write them off for insurance and the insurance company sell them off to an auction house

it would, however postpone the delivery schedule as the damaged vehicles have to be replaced by new ones

[martyk54]

Originally Posted by wimpy

I doubt that ford would repair them,......they would simply write them off for insurance and the insurance company sell them off to an auction house

it would, however postpone the delivery schedule as the damaged vehicles have to be replaced by new ones

Road_Warrior - Point is, how would I not know? The dealer told me the car would arrive weeks ago, yet it hasn't. All they can tell me is it's likely due to the storm... nothing more. Only an idiot wouldn't be concerned.

Is a little transparency too much to ask? If the car is damaged I'd be happy to wait for a new one, I don't care... The storm was 3 weeks ago though, my dealer is pestering Ford for answers but still nothing. I'm not a fussy customer in a general sense, but information on a purchase of something as significant as a car should be a given. At least if customer service is valued anyway.

[Ghiaman]

Originally Posted by martyk54

Just thought I'd see if anyone has had a similar experience in the past...

I'm waiting on an FG II, of which the delivery has just been postponed again (ordered in mid-Nov 2011). My dealer is in Melbourne, which copped a mass of hail on Christmas day, causing damage to every car in it's midst. My dealer has not received the car as yet and are asking questions of the factory. The time it's taking suggests something is wrong. Originally I was told my car was not damaged in the storm but now my dealer says they're not so sure and are trying to get information on it... pending.

So, obviously I'm considering Ford's ability to 'repair' damaged cars that haven't yet left the factory (damaged on a factory lot), before selling them as new. Does anyone know if this is acceptable?? Surely not. I've already told my dealer I'll refuse to accept a repaired car. Anyone experienced similar in the past or know what consumer rights are relevant here?


Cheers.

G'day Mate,
I'm the Asset/Fleet Manager for a not for profit organisation, I ordered a FG 2 XR6 EcoLPi in early december and was told at the time that it would be delivered end of december, forward to 2nd week of January and it arrived. However when i went to collect it, i was told the reason it had been delayed was it had been caught in the hail storm and the boot had been damaged. the boot had been repaired using PDR and we received a further $1700 off the already heavily discounted price. Had a good look before i signed anything and couldnt see any problems so was happy to accept it. At the end of the day we will only have it for 2 years / 40,000k's, if it was for me personally like you I probably wouldnt have accepted it.
Hope that Helps.

[martyk54]

Originally Posted by Ghiaman

G'day Mate,
I'm the Asset/Fleet Manager for a not for profit organisation, I ordered a FG 2 XR6 EcoLPi in early december and was told at the time that it would be delivered end of december, forward to 2nd week of January and it arrived. However when i went to collect it, i was told the reason it had been delayed was it had been caught in the hail storm and the boot had been damaged. the boot had been repaired using PDR and we received a further $1700 off the already heavily discounted price. Had a good look before i signed anything and couldnt see any problems so was happy to accept it. At the end of the day we will only have it for 2 years / 40,000k's, if it was for me personally like you I probably wouldnt have accepted it.
Hope that Helps.

Thanks for the info mate, much appreciated.

The text I've made bold above... that's the kind of thing that really annoys me. If I turned up to collect the car and was confronted with story of repair, I'd seriously lose my *****. That's complete rubbish customer service.

[Poetic Justice]

I don't believe it's legal to sell a car that has been hail damaged without making the buyer 100% aware of it.

[Ghiaman]

Originally Posted by martyk54

Thanks for the info mate, much appreciated.

The text I've made bold above... that's the kind of thing that really annoys me. If I turned up to collect the car and was confronted with story of repair, I'd seriously lose my *****. That's complete rubbish customer service.

I guess they made a judgement call at the dealer (they know me pretty well!) and decided to repair it knowing that i would be ok with it. My main concern with something like that is resale value, i checked the areas of damage and decided to accept it. The fleet sales guy did say that communication from Ford had been pretty poor, they only got the full details when they questioned why the boot was damaged apparently!! That might explain why your dealer is having trouble getting answers. Good luck with it anyway, the driver of the XR6 i collected is very happy with it so far.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by martyk54

Thanks for the info mate, much appreciated.

The text I've made bold above... that's the kind of thing that really annoys me. If I turned up to collect the car and was confronted with story of repair, I'd seriously lose my *****. That's complete rubbish customer service.

Call the dealership and let them know that you know about the hail damaged car coming out of Broadmeadows,
see what they have to say and whether they 'fess up. If you're not sure at delivery, take a beater along to check it out,
someone like that will be valuable if there's a problem, re discount size or whether to not accept the vehicle.

[Ghiaman]

Originally Posted by SCUD

I don't believe it's legal to sell a car that has been hail damaged without making the buyer 100% aware of it.

Yeah the Sales guy told me that and said that they legally had to tell the customer, hence why it was listed on the invoice.

[martyk54]

Originally Posted by SCUD

I don't believe it's legal to sell a car that has been hail damaged without making the buyer 100% aware of it.

Surely that's the case..

Thanks for your help guys!

[Nikked]

Depending on the damage, they could be repaired. The dealers don't need make note that they are repaired, but if the owner asks if they have then the dealer is legally bound to say so.

Dealers repair cars all the time, vandal attacks, transit damage, lot damage etc.

Even factories do.

[Poetic Justice]

I believe hail damage is a different case though, Nikked.

[Bossxr8]

I've just heard that there were over 1500 cars caught in the hail storm, and they won't be sold as new vehicles. They will be repaired and sold off as a hail damage repair vehicle. They will build replacements for them, but expect delays. Not all cars were damaged though, and ones with only very minor dints that have PDR might be offered to a buyer with a discount.

You wouldn't pick it had been repaired. Dealer will legally have to tell you, Broadmeadows will enforce that for sure.

[Joe5619]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

I've just heard that there were over 1500 cars caught in the hail storm, and they won't be sold as new vehicles. They will be repaired and sold off as a hail damage repair vehicle. They will build replacements for them, but expect delays. Not all cars were damaged though, and ones with only very minor dints that have PDR might be offered to a buyer with a discount.

You wouldn't pick it had been repaired. Dealer will legally have to tell you, Broadmeadows will enforce that for sure.

Such a shame so many cars got court up in this. Ford Aust always seems to have one hand tied up. When they sell them repaired are they still considered as new car sales? I’m glad they are not trying to on sell them new cars as that would **** me off too

[Polyal]

As long as its repaired to the point where you cant notice then whats the harm...id be up for a bargain FG!

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by Polyal

As long as its repaired to the point where you cant notice then whats the harm...id be up for a bargain FG!

If it gets new paint, it will better then fords efforts!

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Joe5619

Such a shame so many cars got court up in this. Ford Aust always seems to have one hand tied up. When they sell them repaired are they still considered as new car sales? I’m glad they are not trying to on sell them new cars as that would **** me off too

I don't know. If they are registered for the first time wouldn't that still make it a new vehicle?

[martyk54]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

I don't know. If they are registered for the first time wouldn't that still make it a new vehicle?

I was wondering the same. Can anyone elaborate on a vehicle repair being registered and accessible via the 'VIN' number? Again, I'm assuming because a car has yet to be registered, this information will not be recorded. Is this correct?

I sure as hell won't be accepting any repaired car as new without a HUGE discount.

[Gobes32]

As far as I was aware Fords stock never got damaged as they're cars are under shade cloth, whereas Toll's yard next door copped the lot. The tricky part is, Ford no longer own the cars next door. Toll is responsible for them until they get to the dealer.

[peterhellmann]

What a spew!

[Uncle Niceguy]

mmmm pickles auctions here i come depending on price what do yas reckon a turbo 6 ute would go for???

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by Gobes32

As far as I was aware Fords stock never got damaged as they're cars are under shade cloth, whereas Toll's yard next door copped the lot. The tricky part is, Ford no longer own the cars next door. Toll is responsible for them until they get to the dealer.

Ford hardly have any stock if any under shade cloth anymore..

All the stock sitting on the grass got damaged and has been offered to dealers at cheaper prices as is (not fixed). Dealers can then chose to sell the cars as hail damaged at cheaper prices giving people the option of repairer them with PDR.

The cars that Toll had are under Tolls insurance, what happens there is anyones guess but I would say they are the ones that are questionable at this stage.

[robertjp]

having been caught in this hailstorm and seeing what it did to laserlight there is no way a shade cloth would have stopped those bricks.

[martyk54]

I was told today that my car HAS hail damage, in 3 spots apparently (XR6T Ute - 2 spots on bonnet, 1 on roof), which I find a little hard to believe... Until I see it though I obviously can't comment.

First they attempted to offer me the car WITH the damage and a discount, I didn't even entertain that at all. I mean WTF?? I said I'll only accept a car that looks mint, so they're going to repair it and see how it turns out. I'll still expect a large discount off of it or I'll order a new one, which they'll happily do for me. They couldn't tell me what the discount would be. I do know that Ford has given this dealer the car at a discounted price, would anyone know what kind of discount this would be?? What would you fellas expect to get discount wise in accepting the vehicle?

Result - no car for a long time either way.

[fordfreak1]

my mate works for a huge panel shop with a few big car companies under their belt.

and i tell you what, they get cars into them that get damaged in transport or in this case hail that dont even have rego yet, and have 1-10 kays on them. they get a quick fix and back to the dealership to get sold. no one would know.

[nickdl]

Originally Posted by DASH GT

Ford hardly have any stock if any under shade cloth anymore..

All the stock sitting on the grass got damaged and has been offered to dealers at cheaper prices as is (not fixed). Dealers can then chose to sell the cars as hail damaged at cheaper prices giving people the option of repairer them with PDR.

The cars that Toll had are under Tolls insurance, what happens there is anyones guess but I would say they are the ones that are questionable at this stage.

So who will repair the cars? Does Ford choose a panel beater or do the dealers end up picking their own?

[xisled]

Originally Posted by Gobes32

As far as I was aware Fords stock never got damaged as they're cars are under shade cloth, whereas Toll's yard next door copped the lot. The tricky part is, Ford no longer own the cars next door. Toll is responsible for them until they get to the dealer.

Fords holding yard in Broadmedows got hit about 1500 cars damaged. That is why the long wait on a replacement.

[martyk54]

Originally Posted by xisled

Fords holding yard in Broadmedows got hit about 1500 cars damaged. That is why the long wait on a replacement.

My dealer says that some people have already taken delivery of damaged vehicles with a discount, some are refusing to take delivery if repaired - even with a discount. Their prerogative. As you say though, there will still be a long wait for replacements I'd imagine.

By the sounds of it, I was lucky mine was still on the Ford lot when damaged. I wouldn't have the same flexibility if it'd been damaged on the dealer lot. Would anyone be surprised if dealers repaired unwanted cars (discounted by the factory) then sold them as new cars anyway? I wouldn't.

[duaned]

If the vehicle has been repaired to as good as rolling off the factory floor, and combined with a furthur discount then I see this as a good outcome. Depreciation will hit as soon as you handover your coin so it does help with every dollar you can furthur save. On top of that, with the arrogance of people these days it won't be long before your pride and joy displays dents that were not optional extras from the dealership you purchased the vehicle from.