Who's to blame?

So here's the full story:

I drop my car off to get some work done. Shop has it for about 3 weeks. They do the repairs get it detailed. I don't see the car but ask them to had a dent taken care of. They send it to the body shop. Get the car back and then send it to the detailer to get cleaned up for me. I go to the detailer with one of the guys from the shop, open the door and notice both seats have ripped along the stitching in the center of the seats. Big gashes, 2-3 on each side and 3 inches long. Hard to miss. The seats weren't great but they were intact and there wasn't the pulling there is now around places that haven't ripped. Wouldn't call them cardboard before but not new. I had asked the shop to find out about redoing the interior including the seats in the past.

So the shop says that the leather is too dry for a repair and they don't know what to do. They didn't notice the condition of the seats from the body shop when they got it back or from the detailer, so they don't know who to blame. Obviously to me it seems like no matter what the shop is responsible, but whats the fix? I really would feel bad about them having to cover the cost of new seats but I sure as hell don't want to do it either! Shouldn't they have insurance to cover something like this?

Thoughts?

 

I once took my Trans Am in, for a sun visor and a shifter boot....

The Trim Shop blew out 5 of the ten speakers in a special Factory System.

Stuff like this happens and it's very hard to get satisfaction.

I just bought new speakers and went forward.
You should do the same, order new leather (they are probably right about the age of the old material) and go forward with "maintaining the car"........no one on repairs seems to respect the owner's property any more. It's hard to find a shop that does.

OTOH, it sounds like they were just unlucky to be jumping around in your car when it was 'time to let go"......

Sympathetially,
Tex

 

the worst part is, I put a LOT of love into those seats recently!

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=241762

 

Rats!

Maybe just replace the bottom halfs????

 

At first I got the impression your seats were older, dry and possibly ready to rip, but after looking at your may 09 cleaning pics they look damn good, I'm suspect that somebody had a photo shoot etc.. with somebody standing in the seat putting undo weight on seam areas? Anyway somethings not right, Otter

 

Yeah, they will have insurance to cover it.


But that will most likely ruin your relationship with them if it was actually the body shop's fault.

 

The leather does age, especially in open top cars. At some point it's beyond what all the magic lotions described in FChat DIY interior threads can accomplish.

I'm not even a fan of Leatherique, and it gets worshipped here.

A white 328 is a rare and great color. If the car is in good shape generally, I would spend the money and have the interior (all tan leather) professionally redone. You won't turn a profit on it, but it will feel like a new car. If you were in California, I would recommend Thomas over at Symbolic.

This isn't cheap, but my opinion is that within 10 years there will be serious buyers (as opposed to nickel-and-dime'rs) entering the 328 market and sorting the proper ones from the re-dyed and spot-painted cars.

What I would discourage is slapping new seat covers on it -- the doors and console won't match, and the overall effect will look worse.

 

Sounds like the seats were ready to go and the excessive shop wear and tear pushed them over the edge.(you probably wouldn't be so rough on them)

I'd just get them recovered best you can to factory. Address the other areas later if you want.

 

sucks, but sounds like normal wear and tear to me. Most people just plop into the seat and that will cause alot of stress to worn out materials. Now if you can prove somehow it was not normal wear and tear, you might have a case.

 

Its a daily driver. So if it was "normal" it would have happened while I had it. At least one of the rips. but 3-5 happening in the same week they had the car is excessive.

Bullfighter, thanks for the genuine input. I'm not sure I'm going to keep this car or the TR or either of them. I've really been wanting to upgrade to something new. or newer. I already sold the 348 to put towards it. So not sure about dumping a lot of money into the interior to have it redone is the right answer for me.

Just pissed that its looking like this is going to come out of my pocket.

 

Why not call your insurance agent, tell him the whole story, show him before and after photos, and ask for his advice? Perhaps there is an already prescribed course of action in this situation, and if anyone will know, it's your insurance co.

There were a couple of times when my car was damaged by someone else, and I called my agent and my insurance co. talked to the other driver's insurance co. (in one case) and in the other incident the other party was a shop; both times I benefited from my insurance co. knowing what to do when I didn't.


I don't buy the b.s. about a shop not noticing ripped seats.

Seats don't just rip. Being older is not a total excuse.


Maybe the ultimate resolution will be you and whoever ripped them splitting (no pun intended) the cost of the retrim. (?)