I had to replace a rear seat belt retractor at my dealership and this is what I found when I got home.





All scratched up on the plastic panel and also tore the rubber lining along the rear passenger door. The tech must not have been careful when taking out the rear seats. I am going to make some phone calls next week.

 

Damn bro that sucks, things like that have happended to me while visitin the dealership getting things fixed. I learned the hard way. I just inspect the car inside and out after its done at the dealership to make sure they didnt do things like that and not say anything. Hopefully they replace that part for you for free.

 

and


lol....id be myself...damn dealer! id make some angry phone calls and demand satisfaction!

 

Looks like they leaned on the lower anchor bolt while it was dangling. Doubt it was from the seat. Still sux. Shit happens. I wouldnt have let the car leave my shop before replacing that panel.

 

oh damn.
best believe i'd be heated as well and making phone calls. someone is gonna pay

 

I can just about guarantee it is from the back of the seat. I have had my seats out a few times. Those metal tabs on the bottom of the seat did that.
Make em replace the trim pieces and and paint they scratched

 

Yeah that is quite a bit of damage, how could someone not know they did that to your car?

I notice though the panels aren't very scratch resistant as i've noticed on the driver side seat belt next the the window is scratched up to high hell.

On my old black interior car i could just armor all it and it the scratches would be less noticeable.

Is there any alternative other than replacement? How would you go about fixing something like that?

 

Yeah that happens- DIYers are advised to tape off the panels to prevent just that occurance!
Its not a big deal to get replaced- no anger is needed or going to get what you want- a new plastic piece installed- this time with care, not by the new guy learning!

A simple visit to the shop- chat with Service Manager - who looks at the car and says I am terribly sorry- we will order that piece and call you--
In a week call and make sure the part was ordered or came in- never trust anyone! they get busy~
Then they install- you inspect the car before leaving- are the seatbelts pulled thru and all working- no damage to the other side plastic ?
Ok thanks- goodbye
End of story

 

there are sharp brackets on the seats and its easy to mark something up with them,
or tear the leather on the other half, especially if removed alone-
2 people passing the seat back or bottem out the door is much safer- more eyes

 

Haha wow the same exact thing happened to me when I got my shocks installed. They scratched that exact piece and tore a hole in the rubber door lining.

Both are super easy to replace, just remove and put the new one in. IIRC the plastic piece cost $6, but the rubber was something like $30.

 

man...i hate to see that...
i mean whoever replaced the retractor KNEW he scratched up the plastic panel still hope that the owner won't notice it until days later and tried to get away with it.....

sigh....it's so sad to hear...

 

what dealer is that?

 

Did they cause the scratches on the paint within the door jam as well?

If this was one of my techs (me being a Service M back in the day), they would be severely disciplined - not for the damage itself yet for not bringing it to my attention immediately!! We had our fair share of mishaps at my dealership yet we would call the owner immediately and have him/her delay coming in until all was like new. We would also never present a vehicle with this type of issue without a full explanation of how it happened and how we are/were taking care of it. That's the problem with many businesses (and politicians) today, no one takes accountability for their actions or inaction's.

As 01tl4tl mentioned this stuff happens, but techs, let alone service departments that just assume this damage will be ignored or accepted by the customer would not receive my repeat business or positive feedback etc..

Make them - "make it right".

Good luck

 

The dealership is Rallye Acura in Roslyn, long island. Last time I was there they replaced the rear struts, not even one scratch was there. This time the service was damn poor, not only did they scratch up the panel and the rubber lining. They didn't even push in the rear pillar all the way. It was just hanging there. I was in a hurry to pickup the vehicle and did a run through on the exterior of the car and didn't find any wrong. I was extremely pissed when my wife pointed up this scratch the next day when we had to go to the market. I will be contacting my service advisor first thing tomorrow. It is just unacceptable that the tech will leave this damage without letting anyone know. I understand accident happens, but as long as the dealership acknowledge the error on their part, I wouldn't be so upset.

 

they're supposed to remove and replace that panel with a new one when they remove the seat... sigh

you can pull out the rear seats without small scratch but you will have atleast 1 mark if you don't cover that panel

 

^^^ I've had my seat out twice and have yet to leave a scratch, It's called paying attention to what your doing. No more, no less...

 

This is bull sh*t!! I can't believe they would do something like that and not say anything. I had a similar experience at my Acura dealer, I had one of those Mead school binders that have the zipper net pocket in the front. I had mechanical pencils, pens, etc in the net pocket, had the binder on the floor in the passenger side, I guess when they vacuumed my car, they took my binder and carelessly put it on my passengers seat with net side face down...um we all have leather in our TLs....so you can probably think what happened next. The metal tip of my mechanical pencil was sticking out of one onf the little holes in the net and it scratched my leather seat! A 1.5 inch scratch, not too deep luckily but I was still very upset, but I did not realize this till I got home and I figured it would have been a hassle to go back to the dealership and argue, besides, what were they going to do? Put a new leather seat in my car. I just learned to check my car quickly but thouroughly after every service visit, its a shame we have to do that though

Anyway, to the OP: good luck I hope they can fix this for you.

 

Actually yes - that's exactly what they "possibly" would have done.
- For future FYI, they can replace just the leather seat "cover", not the entire seat. You can get either the seat bottom or seat back.

You are correct however, they might have argued with you ending in just a waste of time. Lesson learned I'm sure to not leave anything like that in your car the next time you get service.

 

Thanks for the info, I heard that the leather they use is from an aftermarket leather company therefore its not Genuine Acura leather and it won't look exactly the same, based on what you know...is this true? I'm sure others will find this info helpful also. Thanks

I case you are wondering where I heard this from, it think it was on the forums here, someone took there new 2004 TL into the dealer cause of excessive wear on the leather seat at only 4k miles or so (This was a issue for some early 04s) and thats what they said on there, leather was going to be replaced by an after market leather company, and did not look like OEM TL leather (perforated and stitch lines, etc)

 

Damn that's horrible. I don't trust the STEALERSHIP.

 

Unfortunately, this kind of thing can happen anytime you have your car serviced anywhere, not just at dealerships. The good thing is that you found it almost immediately afterward, and the service department will have little or no valid excuse as to how or why they did it.
And of course thier hope is that you won't notice it. Techs get dinged for causing damage to customer cars, it affects thier ratings. So obviously, they aren't going to bring it to your attention (that is if they were even aware they did it, which is most likely).
Call the service manager, calmly explain what you found, make sure he will be at the dealership when you bring it back, and he will most likely have it corrected at your earliest convenience. These guys are usually very good about that.

Sorry it happened...

 

Not the case, yet I would not doubt that some dealerships would attempt to have some issues fixed by a local upholstery shop... We did the same at my dealership yet only for non-warranty issues. An issue like yours however, (new car, damaged caused by us..) would have resulted in genuine OEM replacement parts.

As for your TL and Acura, they have genuine OEM replacement seat covers/leather. They literally pull the one off and clip the new one on. Quite the easy process once the entire seat is out of the car - especially for the seat bottoms.

I had to have my drivers "seat back" replaced due to a strange "melting" phenomena on my 04TL. The replacement cover looks identical in color, leather, taste and smell.... :-) My only complaint after the swap was it wasn't quite as smooth as the original. Time and a few hot TX summers have fixed much of that however. But it is an exact replacement to the original.

Someone else may know from experience but I believe the seat bottom piece is less than $150 if you ever wanted to do it yourself. Once the seat is out all you need is a pair of dikes and hog-ring pliers..


Cheers

 

Oh well,
Stuff does happen.....the test is how nice they are to you. Luckily it is all throw-away parts, so no biggy.

I'll bet the tech has some explaining to do but give them a chance to make it right without all the threats.

Did they think that you'd miss this damage? It isn't an old minivan!

QR

 

just take it back to the dealership; i'm sure they won't give you any trouble about something like this...every dealership has a "star" rating they have to meet. if you complain to american honda = they're dead.

 

just take it back to the dealership; i'm sure they won't give you any trouble about something like this...every dealership has a "star" rating they have to meet. if you complain to american honda = they're dead.

 

This sucks, I have 2 minor ones on that plastic piece. I can blame no one but myself though......happened the first time I took my seat out 2 years back.

 

yea that happened to me 2 just show the service manager there should be no problem

 

That sucks!!!
I did the same thing when I installed my suspension...its from removing the rear seat...
thought I was being carful..

 

I did the same thing too. I removed the seat myself. I bought the new panel already and will get help the next time I remove the seat. I just don't see how the tech would release the car like that. Did they think you weren't going to notice?

 

Well, I just stop by the dealership this morning and show my service advisor the damage. He will order the replacement parts and will contact me when they are in. I only have 2500 miles on my car and I have been to the dealership 4 times already.

 

sorry about the car man, at least your dealer is owning up to the damage to your car. lucky you didnt go to Acura of Bklyn!!!