Need help with new car delivery!

MSCA:

A Master technician?? My utmost respect!! :bowSince this is a car your REALLY, REALLY want, I am going to go against most everyone else's suggestion to walk away from the deal and suggest you take the car. It's not a good situation because YOU are paying for a NEW car (albeit at a "good deal") and you expect a PERFECT car. However, this "dealer-induced flaw" is correctable and it's not like the paint is TOTALLY messed up, nor is the cost to you to correct it going to be alot when compared to the purchase price of the car. That said, I would get in touch with the manufacturer's Service Representative and tell them about your experience. You've got the pictures to prove what has happened. If other complaints have been registered about this dealer, you may get some resolution and restitution for this "dealer-induced flaw".

PLEASE keep us Autopians informed (Inquiring minds what to know)
 
So after all the drama, I decided to walk away. I really wanted the car, but the dealership gave me nothing but headaches. I stopped by last Friday to look at the car with the salesman, but he insisted that he could not see the swirls in the paint. He even said that he couldn't see the swirls in the pictures I posted in this thread (I emailed the pics to him earlier) and he said that with a straight face!



I guess it's too much to ask for a car that is free of paint defects, or at least defects caused by incompetent dealership employees. If I could do it all over again, I'd insist that they leave the plastic on the car and deliver the car to me like that...



Maybe I'll just wait a while to see what changes are in store for the 2011 model year. Sometimes stuff like this happens for a reason and I'll be glad that I didn't buy that 2010. Thanks to everyone for the advice.
 
MSCA- While I sympathize with your disappointment, I'm quite certain that you made the right decision :xyxthumbs



While you wait to see what you're gonna end up with, you'll have plenty of time to develop a gameplan for doing the new car delivery thing right.
 
Accumulator said:
MSCA- While I sympathize with your disappointment, I'm quite certain that you made the right decision :xyxthumbs



While you wait to see what you're gonna end up with, you'll have plenty of time to develop a gameplan for doing the new car delivery thing right.
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So nearly a year later, I'm back in the new car game again. In about two weeks, I should be taking delivery of my new Audi A5. I placed a factory order about 10 weeks ago and the car should be at the dealership by the second week of June.



How can I ensure that the dealership's detail guys don't mess up my new car? I know the car needs to be prepped for delivery, but I don't want anyone so much as washing it. I do know that new Audis are delivered to the dealership with some sort of white fabric covering on the hood (not like the stick-on plastic sheeting that seems popular on other makes). Can I tell the dealership to deliver my car without removing any of the protective coverings? I mean, I can tell them that, but will they do it?



BTW, I'm kinda glad that I walked away from the G37 Coupe. Once I had the opportunity to drive an A5 with a manual transmission, I like it a lot more than the G37. I guess sometimes things happen for a reason...
 
Yes! Tell them not to touch it! I picked up my car and drove it home with the white plastic all over EVERYTHING! It looked ridiculous, but at least I knew no one was scratching or polishing my paint but me. The salesguy wrote all over the order and on the plastic with a wax pen "DO NOT REMOVE". The sales guy is a forum guy so he understood right away what I wanted. Awesome car, trying to talk my wife into getting one!
 
MSCA said:
How can I ensure that the dealership's detail guys don't mess up my new car? I know the car needs to be prepped for delivery, but I don't want anyone so much as washing it. I do know that new Audis are delivered to the dealership with some sort of white fabric covering on the hood (not like the stick-on plastic sheeting that seems popular on other makes). Can I tell the dealership to deliver my car without removing any of the protective coverings? I mean, I can tell them that, but will they do it?
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Yes, they can give it to you that way (that's the *ONLY* way my Audi dealer will deliver cars to me, nobody wants to take the blame if I turn it down over some little marks :D ).



Take the time *now* to discuss this whole thing with them and find out exactly how it'll be delivered to them, what they need to do, and how it will be turned over to you. Get this all sorted out well in advance so there are no last-minute issues.



Maybe point out how the cars in their showroom are utterly trashed by your standards ;)



Note that Bill D once did an unwrapping/detail of a new family car right at the Benz dealer, using his stuff. There are a number of different ways to play this.



Oh, and I'm glad things are working out OK after all!
 
Accumulator said:
Note that Bill D once did an unwrapping/detail of a new family car right at the Benz dealer, using his stuff. There are a number of different ways to play this.



Oh, and I'm glad things are working out OK after all!
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You have a mighty good memory yourself, sir. :yo:



Any higher end vehicle that arrives to the dealer in white plastic Rapgard, is fair game for an Autopian to do his prep on.



With that CLK cabrio, I explained to the manager my intentions and he agreed provided the staff witness the process. They were pretty amazed. :o :D



When it came to my Honda, the vehicle was already on site. I was firm I didn't want any dealer prep and I closed the deal with that understanding and a complementary car care kit. Just be polite and explain your passion. The dealer ultimately shouldn't care too much. They do want to make the sale and you as the buyer are showing them you're already committed so going with your wish isn't a big deal to them in the long run.
 
Thanks everyone... I'm calling them tomorrow and telling them that I'll pick up the car still wrapped up. The only thing is that I should probably take the exterior wrapping off myself before I hand over the check, right? I mean, the wrap on the hood could hide dents/dings and I wouldn't know until I got it home.
 
MSCA said:
Thanks everyone... I'm calling them tomorrow and telling them that I'll pick up the car still wrapped up. The only thing is that I should probably take the exterior wrapping off myself before I hand over the check, right? I mean, the wrap on the hood could hide dents/dings and I wouldn't know until I got it home.
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Yes, that is correct. In my case the manager said they had to see the car without plastic for that reason so I removed it while the staff watched. I'm sure that was the topic of water cooler chat for months afterward. :o :D It was my mother's car after all, so it had to be absolutely right.



It's going to be such a big thrill to do it. Do take your time. If you'll be using a solvent like Prepsol or New Car Prep, let it soak on the plastic for a little bit first toloosen the plastic and be super gentle removing it. I refused to be rushed ( not that anyone tried to, but still)



When it's all done, we'd love to hear about it! Post back here and let us know all about it! :bigups
 
Bill D said:
Yes, that is correct. In my case the manager said they had to see the car without plastic for that reason so I removed it while the staff watched. I'm sure that was the topic of water cooler chat for months afterward. :o :D It was my mother's car after all, so it had to be absolutely right.



It's going to be such a big thrill to do it. Do take your time. If you'll be using a solvent like Prepsol or New Car Prep, let it soak on the plastic for a little bit first toloosen the plastic and be super gentle removing it. I refused to be rushed ( not that anyone tried to, but still)



When it's all done, we'd love to hear about it! Post back here and let us know all about it! :bigups
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Okay, quick question-- I looked at the newly delivered cars in the Audi dealer's lot and they all come in exactly the same way: They have a sort of white "fabric" covering the hood only. This is not the tight white "cling" type plastic that you see on other new cars. It almost looks like one of those breathable car covers, but thinner. It's actually soft to the touch. I'm not sure how it is held on, but it doesn't seem to be adhesive because you can easily pull on it and lift it up off the hood. The rest of the paint is uncovered. The trim around the windows has a clear blue tape that pulls off easily. Other than that, there doesn't seem to be too much to do when it comes to unwrapping the car.
 
Wow, that's something new I'm unaware of. I'd love to see a photo of that. Down here I still see Audis in white rapgard plastic wrapping on trailers being shipped down I95. The material you describe sounds like a cinch to remove. I'll try to investigate more into this new material. I'd keep the one that came on your car as a memento.
 
Bill D said:
Wow, that's something new I'm unaware of. I'd love to see a photo of that. Down here I still see Audis in white rapgard plastic wrapping on trailers being shipped down I95. The material you describe sounds like a cinch to remove. I'll try to investigate more into this new material. I'd keep the one that came on your car as a memento.
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I plan on going to the dealer today, so I'll snap a picture of it for you.
 
Accumulator said:
You might ask them what the "official procedure" is for the unwrapping.
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I'll do that.



BTW, what is the "official" procedure for peeling the conventional white plastic sheeting off of a new car? Just grab and peel?
 
Heh heh, yeah I bet so. I'd be super :shocked: if the dealership gets/let alone reads the official technical bulletins that have been written on it.
 
MSCA said:
BTW, what is the "official" procedure for peeling the conventional white plastic sheeting off of a new car? Just grab and peel?
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Beats me :nixweiss But you'd think it's something like "scrape it off with a puttyknife" or somesuch, the way they mess new cars up.



Heh heh, it's been so long since I bought a new vehicle that I'm completely out of the loop on this stuff!
 
As promised, here are a few pics of the material Audi uses on the hoods. I also noticed that they do use small pieces of the more conventional white plastic "cling wrap" (for lack of a better name) on the upper doors. And some Audi's also have it on the trunk lid, but not the A5 or S5 for whatever reason.



Picture3442.jpg


Picture3444.jpg


Picture3445.jpg
 
And here's a pic of my A5 (well, not my exact car, but mine will look exactly like this one, but with a black interior).

I love this shade of grey (it's called Quartz Grey) because it has some depth to it and won't show dirt like darker colors.



A5wall2.jpg
 
Hey MSCA,



Thanks for posting! Wow, the new hood wrap looks similar to the material used in inexpensive car covers. Possibly an added deterrent to acid rain?
 
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