I gave my 2007 RL (in excellent condition) to my daughter last year. This week, after some routine work at the dealers, and just before she was to pick it up, the dealer called to inform her that they had "run it into a pole" and it would have to be repaired at their cost. It was on the way to the Acura body shop. I have not seen the car or any pics of the damage as yet....don't really know the extent.

Now, she is contacting her insurance company (USAA) and instructing Acura to stop any further work on the car until the insurance company can have a look. Even in excellent condition, I suspect, unless the damage is very minor, that given the age of the car there's a good chance the insurance guys will total it.

Question 1: Have any of you had the occasion to deal with this kind of "dealer fuc* up" situation damaging your car? What can you tell me about the experiences....and any "Tips from the Top" on how to proceed?

Question 2: If the car its totaled, I believe she can still have it fully and properly repaired, perhaps by Acura, and then go to a "salvage" title, right?

Your thoughts?

I have had a couple cars in the past that dealers and also an independent shop have damaged in multiple ways. Your already in better position than I am as they owned up to the f'up. Couple things to consider:

1. they are fixing at their cost and effort sounds like they wont be filing under their insurance, might not have worry about salvage

• I would confirm their approach before branding the title unnecessarily by filing claim with your insurance
• check out the satisfaction with their body shop with reviews, make sure folks being delivered cars back in acceptable shape prior to accident
  • if low review score ask if you can bring to your preferred shop
• if any panels/parts need replace depending what they are they can use used parts or aftermarket, find out their plan

2. its ok to have your guys inspect to make sure they fix all visible issues and then there may be hidden damages until they tear down area affected they need to account for which they may overlook since they are doing it themselves
3. i took pics of every bit of damage

• go look at it ASAP before they tear it down and you assess damage with adjuster

I would insist that the dealer (or their insurance) pay for it to be repaired, even if the repair exceeds the value of the car. It's their fault, so they need to make the car whole, regardless of the cost. Of course, unless the something unrepairable happened, like the frame is bent. But if it was simply moving around on their lot, it's probably a low speed impact and hopefully just cosmetic damage.

Thanks for the inputs guys.

Once we got a look, it turned out the damage was superficial, and the dealer is being very accommodating in their response.

Exactly! I Cannot stress this enough!

Good news! Sounds like the dealer is taking care of you. Some porter probably backed into a pole or something of that nature.

I'm glad the dealer owned up to causing damage! That right there is huge!