Dealer crashed my car, where do i stand legally?

[seraphine]

I took my 6 month old suzuki swift in to the dealer for it's first service today. The dealership rang a few hours later to tell me that the service went fine but on the way out of the garage it had a 'little bump'. They said i would be able to keep the courtesy car (with an excess of �500) as it won't be repaired until after christmas. I went to see the damage and it turns out a 'little bump' is a new bumper, headlight, fog light, alloy, side wing, perhaps driver door as it will not open and possibly bonnet. Whilst they were very sorry about this i am now concerned about the effect this will have on the value of the car and concerned that if i agree to them repairing the car i will lose any rights i may have legally. Does anyone know where i stand? i don't want to be an arse but as it also had a mechanical problem requiring a whole new brake system a few months ago i'm wondering if i should just get out now! Cheers Suzanne

[almcd007]

Their drivers and staff are fully insured to drive your vehicle. Don't let them fob you off.

IT SHOULD NOT COST YOU A PENNY TO GET THIS CAR PROPERLY REPAIRED.

They should claim on their own insurance and supply you with a car in the meantime. If they cannot supply you with a car - then it's reasonable to hire one and claim the whole lot back from them. Speak to your insurance company who may be able to help you with a hire car and/or claiming the costs back from them. If the repair is done properly it should not reflect in the value of the car after the work has been done.

[Toureman]

You do not have much chance of a "get out" what you should do is have a good go at the garage (as it was their fault) and get them to waive the �500 excess because it is their fault you are not driving under your own insurance.

[bloaterbum]

Tell em p44ss off fix the car and a courtesy car gratis the cheeky things .Amate of mine had his car nicked off the ramps whle in for a service .They tried to give him a second hand crate as a replacement .NO WAY

[allclaret]

as any kind of insurance claim is recorded if this is mended with insurance companies involved your car will have some kind of damage linked to its history for ever!

if the dealer is the one that sold you the car in the first place i would be asking a solicitor about trying to get a new car out of them.

[bigbubba]

allclaret, that is not strictly true.

Providing the damage is not serious enough to warrant the vehicle being registered as damaged repaired then there will be no history linked to the car.

The only issue would be whether the quality of the repair would be good enough. With the car only being six months old I would push the garage for a new replacement, be warned though that they are not obliged to provide you with this.

With regard to the �500 excess on their insurance, this is fairly standard for the motor trade as courtesy cars are never treated with respect. To avoid the excess, you have the option of putting the car on your insurance and reclaiming the extra premium from the garage.

Good Luck!

Bubba