dealer crashes customer's Z
 

A few weeks ago, customer brings in his 2014 Nismo 370Z (4 months old) for some concerns with alignment and bearings. Mechanic checks out the car, takes it for a spin, somehow loses control and hits a parked car. The damage was substantial and the Z ended up getting totalled. This was at our store.

Obviously the customer was irate, and that is completely understandable.

Today, we finalized the terms of his new Z. He asked me to get him another 2014 (wasn't crazy about the 2015). We have him financing the same amount that he owed, with a much better interest rate, and waiting on the Armytrix Valvetronic exhaust that we threw in as part of the deal. We matched his down payment, didnt charge any extra for the Audio package and ordered the exhaust for the inconvenience.

(complimentary Audio, complimentary Armytrix, and a 4% lower interest rate which saves him $6k in finance charges)

Unfortunately we couldn't fire the mechanic for the accident, but he definitely won't be driving any customer's cars again.

I don't want rumors to start about how we screwed up, so I figured I would post it here on my own. The customer and I both believe that the end result was more than fair, and he picked up his new Nismo today. Just has to wait 3 weeks or so for his exhaust to come in! Thank you Kevin, for allowing us an opportunity to make this right for you!

Yes we definitely screwed up, but we owned up to it and made good on it.

So what were the concerns with alignment and bearings on a 4 month old nismo?

Did that cause the accident or reckless driving?

embarrassingly enough, I believe it was wreckless driving

Wow. Well done guys. I'm very impressed by the way you're handling this.

I heard about this elsewhere on the web and was wondering what the outcome would be. Sounds like the customer ultimately came out ahead, good to hear.

why can't you fire the mechanic? Union?

exactly - as much as I hate the situation, he is a union employee that had an accident, so can't be fired for that. He sure as hell, wont see a Z or GTR on his lift again

:drama:

:icon17:

Glad you stepped up and made it right. :tup:

I know this is tied up in the union, but I think that's reasonable if he's otherwise been a good and valuable employee and he was honest and forthcoming about the whole incident.

Everyone has a bad day, but unfortunately for him, this one was catastrophically bad.

I'm sure you will NEVER have a problem with him again.

You gents did the right thing -- my hat's off to you, sir :tiphat:

Wait -- the customer turned down a 2015?!

Joe, pics?

So if you owned the business and that money came out of your pocket you would still keep that employee?

I know for sure I would not feel sorry for him as I fired him.

I really am not understanding the seeming hatred for the 2015... I think it looks great.

I hated the 2013 (standard Z) when I saw pictures but then I saw one in person I changed my tune. I wonder if people just haven't seen the 2015 "in the flesh" because it really is a stunning car.

Then again it is a little more subdued with the smaller wing, so, different strokes I guess.

For the most part Dealership such as this have insurance too.

As they say there are many ways to skin a cat. Make this employee life difficult and let him make the voluntary resignation if he is protected by a union.

Let him pay a portion of the responsibility like salary deduction. That would squeeze him and would just quit.

Interesting. I am impressed like everyone else. Nicely done :tiphat:

Our Acura dealer keeps breaking $hit on our ILX but never enough to total it out :ugh:

That's what insurance is for...

Everyone makes mistakes, so I'm not against second chances. But in a small company, you typically don't get to make mistakes of that caliber and keep your job.

It depends. If every other day he helped make the workplace a success, I might be furious, but I'd be shooting myself in the foot to let him go.

If he had a record of being "on the cusp" and then managed to wreck a car, I'd feel differently.

He certainly wouldn't be up for a promotion anytime soon, but unless his actions forced the business to shut down if they didn't absorb his salary, all we're doing is throwing out a good worker who had a bad day. That means another person who is unemployed and a family who may be in dire straights. That's a hard lesson considering everyone carries insurance and US wages are stagnant...

I'm guessing the dealership has still turned a profit this year, making this compensatory act possible.

Leaning towards cutting someone loose the second they become a liability in one way or another is the norm in the US -- how's that been working out for the workforce?

Maybe he's been a screw-up from day one? If so, then see my second point.

If this is the first time he's managed to royally screw up, my guess is it will not only be his last, but he will be determined to toe the line henceforth.

I am certainly not criticizing Koeppel for wanting to fire him -- I'm saying, it might be for the best that they didn't if they can cover the the liability and they now have an employee who will be doubly motivated to appreciate his job and work hard.

Beyond that, I am always going to be more sympathetic to the worker than the boss, given the power/opportunity/risk-reward differential.

What if the OP hired the guy -- should the person who hired Crashy McCrashypants also get the boot for picking a loose cannon from the applicant pool? We're getting into "dog bites person, who gets the blame, the dog or the owner?" territory...

I think the dealership handled themselves admirably and appropriately in this ugly matter, and my prediction is, it will more than make up for any immediate losses by way of continued patronage from folks.

If I had gone though all this, I'd be furious, but I would also continue to do business there. Actually, I kind of did just go through this with another place; they made good, and I am still there, happy as I had been before.

I can't get behind that.

I'd want to see more high finance guys squeezed first. Somehow, that never happens. This dude turns a wrench for a living. If this is the third time he's done bad, fine, he should go, but if not, I suspect there will never even take an extended lunch break after this.

Heads on the chopping block? That's for le aristocrat class, not proletariats... humps who keep the machine going. It's too harsh. Also, see my other commentary on "dog vs. owner"...

Finally, what you are describing is essentially workplace harassment and if it doesn't cross any union/federal laws it damn well should.

I would like to think that if Koppel handled themselves so admirably in the overall resolution of the problem, then day-to-day acts of petty vengeance to "drive him off" will also not be happening...

Would you want to work for or do business with an organization that liked using bullying and harassment towards employees they had issues with? Would you trust that policy would always and only be used judiciously?

Seriously, I urge you to re-think this stance in general if it's something you feel strongly about.

there wont be any harassment, or monetary compensation coming from the mechanic. Koeppel handled the situation, and we will move forward. he has a job, and I am sure he will go above and beyond from this point forward!

Pics?

I can understand keeping the mechanic on the payroll. Here's a story from personal experience:

Years ago, I worked at a Dodge dealership as a "lot attendant" for the summer (between high school and college). My job was simply to park the cars. I parked them when the customers brought them in, I retrieved them and parked them in the mechanic's lift, parked them when the mechanics were done, and pulled them around when the customers picked them up.

When things got slow, I would occasionally park the rental vans (mini-vans) when customers returned them. One afternoon, the rental desk guy gave me the keys to one of their vans and asked me to park it. I went ahead and jumped in and took it to the back of the lot. The rental vans were parked in a row of spots where there was an overhang from another parking area (where they parked the big vans).

My method of parking (learned from having to park big pick-up trucks) was to back into the space while sticking my head out the window and watching the tires to see how much space I have in the parking space. Well, what I didn't account for this time was how far out the back of the full-size vans stuck out over the over-hang. So as I backed into the space, watching the ground to check my distance, the back of my mini-van collided with the bumper from a full-size van. I was lucky, as the damage was only a big dent in the rear hatch, next to the handle (no broken tail lights or windows).

I went back in and told my manager about it. He was annoyed, but understanding (the week before, one of the other guys drove a customer's car off of the oil-change lift). I didn't find out until a month later that it cost about $500 to fix it.

It was definitely a learning experience for me. Every single car that I parked after that, I double checked myself on everything. I definitely put in the extra effort to make sure I didn't mess up anybody's car.

tl:dr I worked at a dealership parking cars, put a big dent in a rental van, double-check myself on everything after that to make sure I never damaged another vehicle.

I have dented cars myself, plenty of lot guys do. We move 600-700 cars per month, so there are certainly plenty of mishaps. Accidents happen, most are innocent. This seemed more wreckless than innocent, which is why my first reaction would have been disciplinary. I run the sales department, and always make sure the customer is taken care of first, then I deal with any other issues afterwards.

We can only count this as an accident, mark it on his record, and be sure all of our employees understand the severity of a stupid decision. Koeppel has been in business for 75 years, and we are one of very few dealerships with an A+ rating in the BBB. We are also one of few that are active on GTR and 370Z forums, as well as local car shows and meets, and loads of community affairs. Our reputation is worth lots, and can not be risked by employees at any point. This has been brought up to all employees in all departments, and a lesson has been learned for all.

The customer is happy, all employees have been taught and trained and we will move on and continue to grow. It was a lot of hard work to get to that point, but we are now there!!!

I am glad that you guys made good out of it. This is definitely an embarrassment but you made it good. Good job!

here is the pic of car after accident, doesn't look as bad as it was. Nismo = expensive replacement parts. airbags, suspension, bumper, hood, headlights, etc

^NICE!!!

Your service guy was definitely fúcking around, lol


Because this is the forum... Part out? ;-)

Damn!

http://freeemoticonsandsmileys.com/a...%20driving.gif

Ouch.

Yeah, that's a big whoopsie. Glad it all worked out for everyone involved.

I spent so much time putting together everything for the customer and his new car. We had the option of keeping the Nismo, but I just couldn't spend any more time with the whole situation. I wanted to, but I run 4 stores, and we sell over 7000 cars per year, so it would've been too much time, and for too little reward so we passed!

why can't a dealership total mine! looks like I'm moving to new york

Say that again...total my Z any day!!!:excited:

I take my hat off for the way that you make the new deal with the guy dude! :tup: just awesome... I pay that other dealer wont do that for him...

So good job!

Now if only every dealer in the world handles these cases as well as you do. Over in BC Canada we've had a few incidents that went quite viral of some guys at Audi doing the same thing, nearly totaling a few S4's. The customer in these cases had to fight with the dealership for compensation, but seems like you handled it great. Props to you guys for that, if I was local to the dealership I would definitely be taking my business to you

Good job on making things right you guys! Way to stand up and take responsibility.

I guess this is where engaging Valet Mode would be appropriate haha. Whenever I leave my car anywhere with someone else that is going to drive it (mechanic or not) I put it in Valet Mode. If they want to test drive the car they can do it with me in the car.

Heck most mechanics and people in general are afraid to try and move my car in gear with my Spec Stage 3 clutch. My friends at Jiffy Lube who do my oil changes (I bring my oil, they do labor pretty much) let me drive my car in and out of the bay because of my clutch. My Mechanic does the same thing. As well as my body/fabrication shop 168 Motoring.
Everyone is afraid of my clutch except 1 person and its cause he has a stage 2 haha

Now that's how a company stands up and makes things right.! Where were you guys when the dealer didn't re-latch my CF hood and it flew off and smashed into a car behind me .:/ They never made it right and I had to argue for weeks just to get any resolve.

Resolve was a POOR paint job that lasted 3 days flaked and came off.

Much props man!

Kudos to Koeppel for handling this well. I can only imagine being the mechanic that had to tell his shop foreman... "Uh, guess what I just did..."

Glad no one got hurt too

That's awesome that you guys owned up to it and it sounds like the outcome was a hell of a deal. Kudos!

I would of turned down the 15 as well. interior is nice but that front bumper is something i just cant do like ever or the duck bill spoiler or the wheels... yes all this can be changed i know but its just knowing that its not numbered would bother me. Great way to handle the situation guys I know a lot of dealers wouldnt have gone that extra mile to handle this in the way you guys did.

The Z owner should have demanded to total the mechanic's wife!