Dealer Crashes Viper & Wants CUSTOMER To Pay!

[VardaMan]

UNBELIEVABLE!
A friend had his Viper at a FIVE STAR Dodge dealer for some minor service. A person in their service dept. took his Viper for a road test and crashed, resulting in $9,000 to $10,000
of damage. The dealer's Service Manager told my friend that the dealer's insurance company couldn't or wouldn't pay for the repairs. He wants my friend's insurance policy to pay for the repairs.
This is the same worthless dealership that ruined my Viper ~ 3 years ago. I had recently shared this dealer's unethical tactics with high level Daimler Chrysler Exec's but it looks this dealer's conduct has not changed.
DOES ANYONE CARE?
How can he be forced to change immediately or loose his franchise?
ANY help would be appreciated but please don't tell me about the DC 800# or hiring a lawyer.
It is time for strong arm action by DC senior management.

 

[Gavin]

Get real guys - YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY HAS THE FIRST LIABILITY TO REPAIR THE DAMAGED CAR IRRESPECTIVE OF WHO DAMAGED IT !!!

If your insurance company chooses, they can go after the dealers insurance company but that is their choice.

YOU can push you insurance company to at least collect the deductable from the dealers insurance company

 

[Snake Bitten]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gavin:
Get real guys - YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY HAS THE FIRST LIABILITY TO REPAIR THE DAMAGED CAR IRRESPECTIVE OF WHO DAMAGED IT !!!

If your insurance company chooses, they can go after the dealers insurance company but that is their choice.

YOU can push you insurance company to at least collect the deductable from the dealers insurance company

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ditto...His insurance company will take care of it, and WILL go after the dealership, and MOST LIKELY will even get his deductible back...Happened to a vehicle of mine (not my viper).

 

[kverges]

The person operating the vehicle and damaging it has the PRIMARY responsibility to pay the resulting damages. Sure, the owner's insurance will pay due to uninsured/underinsured or other coverage, but it is very clearly not the owner's duty to get his insurance to pay. He may have to do so if the dealer refuses to pay in order to avoid the delays caused by a lawsuit for the damages, but it is uninformed to cavalierly say the owner's insurance should pay in the first instance.

 

[genXgts]

No wonder my car has not seen a dealer in my ownership.

with the recall coming up for mine I will be documenting conditon/mileage with photos at time of dropoff, in parking lot for good measure.

scary stuff.........

hope all goes well for the guy, although once a car is smashed it's a huge mental hurdle that I am not sure I could overcome!

 

[Gavin]

Keith - you have not convinced me - further ***-bit.... here in California the owner of the damaged vehicle has 24 hours to report the accident to his insurance company.

 

[Makara]

That reminds of when the Ritz Carleton valet guys totaled my mom's car and didn't want anything to do with it. I don't see how people can be so slimy.

 

[Marv S]

Alec,

What is Bailment?

 

[Miles B]

I would look at it this way...

Think about it not as a car with all of the insurance stuff for a minute. They broke your stuff. They are responsible for fixing it. I don't see any way they can legally weasel out of it and say "use your insurance". Now to make them fix it, you might need to take them to court. Instead, you may want to use your insurance to do that. Now I'm in Australia, so I don't know much about your insurance, but I have a feeling over here they might actually tell me to get bent if I tried to make them pay and seek. They could say "we only insure you in the car". I think the insurance co would probably pay and seek though.

I would call your insurance company ASAP and let them know what has happened. Steer them in the right direction if they don't get it. In future, strongly inquire as to the responsibility for repairs up front, and even take a contract. Lawyers don't charge much to prepare that, and someone here might even help you out with it. Might need to take it to dealership management, but I would shop around for a dealership who will agree to it. They have insurance for this stuff.. they just don't want to use it. At least, they SHOULD have insurance for this stuff. Also, the viper tech is the ONLY person who would ever NEED to drive your car. So make sure that's the only person who DOES drive your car. Otherwise, they will let salesmen take it for a test (you better believe it), and even let customers out in it.

I don't leave any of my vehicles anywhere without asking them about this up front. And I let them know I am angry when they come back with 30 or 40 miles extra on the clock.

<FONT COLOR="#ff0000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by Miles B on 10-24-2002 at 02:02 AM</font>

 

[Bonkers]

Keith, Gavin is correct. When you hand the keys to you car over to a dealership its the same as letting a friend borrow it for the week. Neither your insurance or their insurance company cares about who technically was at fault, especially if its off property.

A member in my treasure club recently had a local dealership try to sell his Benz on consignment. He thought that since the dealership agreed to put it in the showroom that he did not need to have his own personal coverage so he dropped it. In an unfortunate turn of events the car was stolen from the dealership and was found half way to Pittsburgh. The cops still have not found most of the car yet. He sued the dealership and lost because the Dealership accepts no responsibility for damage to anyones car on the property. Now he is without Car and Court Costs.

Moral of the story is you really need to TRUST the site you hand your keys over too. Some are better than others, but its ultimately your insurance covering the mishaps to the car in their care...

 

[Bonkers]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Miles B:
So make sure that's the only person who DOES drive your car. Otherwise, they will let salesmen take it for a test (you better believe it), and even let customers out in it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'll vouch for that as well. My first (and only) test drive of a Rouch Mustang turned out to be a customers car in for repair. I didn't know it at the time, but I feel bad about it now...

 

[Mike Adams]

I don't know about in the US but here in Canada our garage insurance would have to cover it. The vehicle is covered while on the hoist or in the hands of or mechanic. The ONLY thing the customers insurance is responsible for is Theft, Vandalism, or if the car is hit in the parking lot when no one is driving it. That being said a responsible dealer would offer to fix the car if and only if it was their fault.

This dealer sounds like a bit of a flake I would contact chrysler, and the local news paper.

 

[joe117]

My Viper was at Ralph's Dodge in Calvert Co. MD, for mechanical repair when one of THEIR folks backed one of THEIR company trucks into the hood. They were rude and difficult to deal with in this situation. They claimed that they were only responsible for the hood damage. Since the paint on the car was not new, I had to put out $1000 to get the whole car painted so it would all look the same. I don't think I got a bad deal out of it. My problem was the very bad attitude that they developed as soon as this happened, telling me that my car was old and the paint on the hood wasn't in good shape before they hit it. At one point the service manager told me that my Viper was only worth "less than $10k".
Can you imagine ruining someone's property and then getting upset with the property owner?
Ralph's Dodge in Calvert Co. MD, is one dealer who I know will be hard to deal with if they screw up your car.

 

[Joseph Houss]

Here's what I've experienced (not with a car, but with a refrigerator that flooded out my basement after a repairman "fixed" a bad ice-maker relay):

Insurance company will surely subrogate the claim.

This is why you pay for insurance. The "victims" insurance company, once contacted, and after they have details of the incident, will immediately communicate with the dealers insurance company ... and "fault" will be decided (obvious). A common "negotiation" that occurs prior to elevating the issue to a inter-insurance company court battle. No matter what the outcome, the "victim" is immediately repayed for the damage.

 

[pdmracing]

If you think thats bad, we had a local member who dropped his car @ a 5 star dealer here in Georgia. Later that day he is watching the news & sees a live report of a viper that hit a pedestrian & then knocked down a telephone pole. Being a silver RT10 & on the same road as the dealership, he called to see if it was his car, they said no. He then visited to make sure & it was his car. To this day the dealeship has never apologized even after purchasing 2 vipers from them. He has had simular experiances with the insurance, but I think the dealers insurance called him with a low ball 40k +- offer (on a 2000 rt10).
Anyways I will see if I can reach him so he can lend his insight.

 

[Dan Vargus]

The issue is not who should pay. The issue is and has been for sometime that too many dealers (NOT ALL DEALERS) think that it is OK to joy ride, and destroy customers Vipers with impunity. When are these Dealers going to knock it off????
Dan Vargus/GT2-001

 

[99 R/T 10]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
When are these Dealers going to knock it off????
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Never because DC will never hold them accountable.

Mike

 

[Mark Young]

SHEEZ! Makes me darn glad we have the excellent 5-star dealer we have here in San Jose. A friend of mine had his Viper in for the recall work, and someone damaged his driver's door while it was there. The dealer repaired the door, repainted everything to make sure it would match (96 white - tricky color), returned the car better than he dropped it off. To top it off, they took his Durango in and gave it the full 50K mile service for free just to apologize for the incident (which is rare at this dealer!).

I'd wage a personal campaign against them till they made right.

 

[Tomer]

Joe117

Reading your post about your 94 RT made me furious!!!! The dealer
dweeb backed into your hood, and you had to pay $1000....Thats nuts...Any self respecting dealer should have paid for a NEW hood and complete paint job on the car...ssuming the hood was structurally damaged that is...

Then I would have considered sueing them for "reduced value" or whatever the term is for the value your car may lose as a result of being damaged (in the event of resale).

I would be real tempted to bring the Service Manager out behind the building and "negotiate" the terms...arghhhhhhhhh

Tomer

 

[Big Medicine]

Guys, read your insurance policy. The dealer carries the same provisions as yours. Which is insured, the driver or the vehicle? Both!

Liability - Pays for screwing up someone elses property. This is the insurance that the dealer will file on. (his policy, not yours)This is the "driver's" insurance. Covers things he screws up.

Comp/ Coll - Pays for repairs or replacement of your personal property due to your own negligence. This is the insurance for "the car". Handing the keys to your car over to a dealer, who any reasonable person would presume to be competent, does not constitute negligence on your part.

It's their fault, they pay for the fix. Take them to court if they refuse. They're trying to bluff you.

If all else fails, call me & I'll help you arrange to make him an offer he can't refuse.

 

[Andrew2KRT10]

This is a very clear case. I remember I went to one of those New-Owner-Orientations that some dealers give after you buy a car. Okay....stop laughing....I only went becasue they had food and give-a-ways.

The service manager made it very clear that if your car is in for any service and in any way gets damaged, the Dealer is not responsible. They expect you to file a claim with your insurance company to pay. Your insurance company will obviously try to go after the dealer's insurance company for the deductible, but that's the way it goes.

Should the dealer be "nice" and take care of the situation quietly? Depends on how much noise you make, how good of a customer you are, and how you go about it. They don't want a headache, remember that. They don't want a ********** guy with a Viper driving around town bad-mouthing their dealership.

Good luck

 

[genXgts]

These posts make me sick to my stomach.

I'm going in for their recall in the next few weeks to a dealer that I have never dealt with before (largest Viper dealer in Canada.)

I don't want the car test driven, I don't want the car damaged, I don't want the car repainted "better than new" in their eyes.

What I do want is the car fixed competently with what the recall campaign states.

On second thought that is not correct as DC seems fit to reinstall straps and bolts to save a hundred bucks on what is a six figure car up here, I truly don't get it. The customer foots the bill for parts that are necessary, yet DC will not provide as part of the recall, which one can only assume is financial reasons. Unbelievable.......

I'll be posting a thorough review of whatever the outcome of my experience, good or bad, as I would hope others will continue to do the same. I hope it to be positive!

 

[Gavin]

There is a saying: "A little bit of knowledge is dangerous"

Big Medicine does not know of what he speaks.

 

[Jason Heffner]

A driving instructor at a semi local road course wrecked my Viper, and I mean totalled it. My insurance company wrote me a check for 67000, sewed the track and no rate increase for me.

Keep in mind, what's best for you is to get your car fixed as fast as possible, it's easy to lose sight of this when you're mad at someone. You're pissed of at the dealer and you want them to pay, they will, but for now, just let your insurance company handle it and then , if you feel the need you can go after someone for loss of value or whatever you want. Good luck.

 

[Big Medicine]

I'm sure he did make it clear, & I'm sure he believes it. But it's not the truth.

EDIT: That is, unless you are stupid enough to sign the waiver w/o exception to the fine print. This is the piece of paper they ask you to sign before you leave your car in their care. Notice the word "care". They are liable otherwise.