I took my 2008 350z in to a dealership yesterday to have some z1 mounts installed. As far as I can tell, they did a great job on the mounts. However, I jacked up my car later that day to find that they squashed a frame rail and left a huge flat spot. I am fairly certain that I didn't lose any chassis rigidity, and it doesn't poke through the floor or anything. It just sucks that it is there. My friend made a good point yesterday. He said: "Whenever you go to car shows or get compliments you will know in the back of your mind that it is there."

So what do you guys think? Is it worth taking it back? They probably can't fix it, and it isn't hurting anything but I am still torn on what to do.

Pictures

 

First picture is just for reference btw. This is what the rest of the frame rail looks like

 

Like you said it doesn't change any performance aspect of the car so what is the dealership going to do? Say sorry?
I think you just have to cut your losses on this one

 

This kind of stuff is why I don't go to dealers. In signing for the work, you probably gave up any ability to sue them for damages like this.

 

Alright. This is what I was thinking beforehand but I wanted to get some other opinions.

I don't trust anywhere else to do it.

 

I would be pissed personally. From your pictures it looks like they lifted from the middle of the car (blue circle) when they should have been lifting from the green circle. I would also go over your floor boards; here's a disturbing read for you:

https://my350z.com/forum/2003-2009-n...up-a-350z.html

 

I would take it back to them and show them. Sounds like a tech didn't know what he was doing. You wouldn't be surprised how often this happens at the dealer. Most of the time they have high school kids do the oil changes, so a more experienced mechanic can work on something worthwhile.

 

Looks like what happened to me. You can even see the impressions from the floor jack. Luckily I checked and it didn't go through the floor board. I am going to go double check after reading that, though.

The frustrating part is I can't prove it was them. I am a younger guy so they are going to look at me like I'm the high school kid, even though I am cautious about where I put my jacks. Are you saying take it back just to show them so they don't do it again to somebody else's car?

 

Definitely return to the dealership. They damaged your vehicle with their lift. The tech didn't use the lift correctly causing damage due to improper mounting procedures. Body shops can correct this under the dealerships tab. Good luck.

You didn't ask for "Install aftermarket motor mounts, and damage vehicle in process."

 

confront the service manager face to face, tell him how you feel and that you know they did it - see what his reaction is, if he plays like its no big deal or denies it.. can't do much at that point.

he might admit it and offer a compensation? or maybe some free nismo parts

 

I agree I am pretty young as well but by no means a high school punk. They would most likely say I did the damage etc. Dealers always like to cover their bases and deny fault.

 

Talk to the service manager first. Threaten to file a complaint with Nissan's HQ if they try and ignore you. I had an issue with the dealership that sold me my 350Z. It was a trade-in at an Acura Dealer who did a ****-tastic job inspecting the car before accepting the trade in. Some minor things didn't work or were simply missing (no idea why). This was a life-lesson for me. No matter how simple something is on a car, test everything when buying used. In my case it was the window sprayer's tank and pumps. It just wasn't even installed in the car! So both my front and rear window sprayers were just for show. Who the hell removes this from a car? I thoroughly inspected the vehicle for any signs of an accident. Everything is correct, no collision damage anywhere or signs of repaint/over-spray. The previous owner intentionally removed it....probably to save weight.

I had already purchased replacement parts on my own and wanted to be compensated for it. This happened just weeks after I purchased the car from them. I came in with all the paperwork and explained my grievances to the used car manager. He was only willing to offer me a full tank a gas and have Acura's techs install the parts I ordered. No reimbursement for the parts.

I said that's BS and that I didn't trust Acura Techs to work on a Nissan. I left rather PO-ed and a few weeks later I received a check from the dealership compensating me for the parts, labor, and BS I had to go through.

 

If the dealership truly cares about their reputation, they will take care of you. With online consumer review websites like Yelp, businesses are very much aware of customer satisfaction and take it seriously.

 

Ok before I go to the dealership I need to know what I actually want. If they can actually fix it like Technic05 said than that is great, but what if they can't fix it?

 

my advice is that just forget bout it...out of sight out of mind... your friend said it will be in the back of your mind well I had the same thing happen to me but like very small like it hardly got pushed up but honestly when you go to a car show no ones gonna be like "hay lets check under his car to see if everything is even" they will be to busy with the rest of your car to even have anything like that pop in your mind...go to dealership see if they will fix it if you want but it just hammering it down or just get them to give you money back for damage if you want

 

I definitely wouldn't let it go unnoticed. If anything, they need to be aware of their mistake because the next time it could crimp someones fuel or brake lines. No part of your car should be dented just to lift it.

 

Absolutely, 100% go back to the Dealership and speak to the Service Manager face to face. Nissan has a reputation for poor customer service throughout North America (especially service dept's) and will ABSOLUTELY resolve your issue. I work for one of the nation's largest dealership groups and our Nissan stores are always scoring very, very low w/ customer service. If you need to, make them well aware that you will submit a bad survey- this will toss up red flags to not only Nissan, but that dealership's Sales department, General Mgr's office, and all the way up the ladder!!!! If they broke it, they should fix it- no question about it.

 

You should always bring things like that to the attention of who worked on your car... No matter who it is.

 

Called them today and they told me to bring it in tomorrow. They were super nice so we will see how this goes...

 

interesting a Nissan service place doesn't know how to properly lift their own cars