so my car was at the collision center getting some work done on it from a minor accident i was involved in around 3 weeks ago. I call today to ask for the update on my car and they tell me that the battery had died and while trying to jump start the car they mixed the wrong wires together and blew electrical fuses throughout my car! including the dashboard! I had no idea how to react to this but i am livid! what would you do?

 

^i would not accept the car back, until everything is fixed.
that is including the new ECU that they have to put in.
if it fried the ECU, that is.

all of this should be on their dime.

 

thats a big OOOPPPPsss

 

He did say the car still turns but alot of the interior lights don't. Then he went along and said that he will be taking the car to the ACURA dealer tomorrow to figure out how to fix this issue. I'm wondering if they will report this to the insurance company or should I? What if they don't and a month down the road something begins going wrong with the electrical system in my car and it was never reported? They can easily say i did the damage myself so it would have to come out of my pocket. On top of that, they have taken two and a half weeks to repair these minor damages so it easily puts me out of my car for maybe another week. I'm looking for the best options out of this f'd up situation.

 

^ dang that sucks... i would let the insurance company know what happened so its on record.

i have to take my car in tomorrow for some minor bumper repairs after a small fender bender and hopefully my experience goes a lil smoother.

hope they get it all fixed like new but man i would be pissed off at the amount of time it has taken and then there dumb error on the battery.

I would also hit them up for a free rental car

 

^agreed. its their error.
they should compensate you for your time.

oh, and never take it back to them for future work.

 

hopefully your experience goes 100% smoother. This is an unfortunate situation that shouldn't happen to anyone being that electricity is probably one of the most important vital functions to a car. I'm going to try for that free car rental for the inconvenience they have put me through, and there stupidity is definitely getting reported to the insurance.

 

did the insurance company recommend for you to use them? mine recommended a place which i am using just wondering maybe you can get the insurance to not recommend them to other people in the future.

 

the shop is responsible for fixing EVERYTHING they f'd up. get it in writing with the rest of yoru paperwork. your insurance will not accept responsibility for the shop's oops. the shop itself is resposible. if they want to maintain any reputation, they will make it right and get you a rental on their dime.

i watched my car get backed into a raised curb at a body shop when the car was getting moved. low speed (rolling) impact to my rear bumper all happening right in front of me. the rep was profusely apologetic as i stood there with my jaw on the ground, and my hands on my face like the kid in home alone minus the scream. the rep tells me i have to leave it (ya think??) and he would get me a rental. he also tells me they would take care of fixing the bumper that afternoon. they fixed it. eventually the bumper was replaced to an unrelated incident a year later. point is...they fixed it no questions asked to make it right no matter what.

if the shop your car is at, doesn't reassure you that things will be back to pre-accident....get everything in writing. if anything happens later, you have documentation of what has happened. if it goes to the dealer....get the dealer invoice.

good luck. certainly getting mad and yelling will accomplish nothing. getting annoyed and speaking firmly with the shop and the manager of the shop will hopefully give the shop an idea that your car is VERY important to you (ie its your baby).

 

Make them record everything that was fixed or replaced on the receipt, even if the value is $0. Then you should be covered by their standard warranty (12 mos./12,000 miles, for example).

Refuse to accept delivery without it. They won't get final insurance payment (assuming car is being fixed under an insurance claim) until you sign off on delivery.

EDIT - btw, it's actually kind of a good thing they called you. Shows some sense of responsiblity and being on the up-and-up. They could've very, very easily not said anything, tried to fix it and then played stupid when something went wrong.

Be very polite, but very firm.

 

Which shop was this? It's funny on my way home I noticed a stalled TL on Santee rd and Easton ave right in the middle of what looks like a "pond" due to the rain.

 

The fact that they called (as mentioned) and said they'd take it to acura to fix it should tell you something...they are probably a stand up place.

My opinion...the lights not working might be from the battery being super low too. There's a MAIN fuse that could have blown where the car wouldn't react to anything...it's like a dead battery, then there's the slew of fuses that could have popped and killed lighting (like under hood or kick panel). I would get a good battery and check all fuses and see what's what. The TL has a temperamental electrical system...

 

You might want to consider consulting a lawyer to see if there is anything that can be done to cover you down the road if something goes wrong.

Or get the car fixed and trade it in or dump it immediately.

 

Holy hell...you guys are intense...it's just reversed polarity on the battery. Do you really think our cars are that NON idiot proof to need to be declared "total losses" every time some moron put the jumper cables on backward?!?! If so, sign me up for the car auctions and I'll be the lookout for some sweet 3G's for cheap. J.

When I was looking for a ground loop noise from my system...I touched the ground to the wrong end of the alternator...battery smoked a little and flew the main "battery" fuse for the car. It was dead...took me all of 5 minutes and $8 to fix. This is not a major deal, I am almost certain.

 

Thank you everyone for all the useful answers. I went to the place after I got off the phone with them just so I can actually have a word with the manager of the place. He said its completely their fault and they will take full responsibility for the cost and damages done to the car. They are taking it to the ACURA dealer tomorrow to have the techs look at it. They also gave me a Free of charge rental for the extra week of inconvenience. I'm going to ask them to record all the work including electrical work that was done to the car before i sign the delivery form. I am also going to contact my insurance first thing in the morning so they can be made aware of this problem. Once i get the car back I will keep all of you updated on how its responding. anything else you guys suggest I do? I thought about contacting a lawyer now before its too late but maybe thats a bit extreme? but so is an electrically fried TL. :/
P.S. No, it wasn't the one on Santee rd but damn does that suck.

 

no need to lawyer up at this point. the shop is taking responsibility and trying to make everything right. this is the correct move on their part so the shop is doing what they should be doing to fix everything.

just make sure you have the documentation and you should be good to go if problems should arise later. just find out what kind of "warranty" you are getting for the electrical. wonder if the lifetime warranty would cover it like it would for the body work you are having done. i would read their lifetime warranty (the details).

 

Popping only the main fuse means you only messed with the hard connections to the battery. These guys blew other fuses so current went through more delicate circuitry.

Also, you screwing up is different than a business. They should know what they are doing and need to make more than good to fix it and continue to support it.

Business is business and with the TL having such complex electrical systems and devices, I would take a few extra bucks just to make sure everything is covered. In the end, the business is going to do what is right for them no matter what they may tell you.