Well, it was bound to happen. They say the hardest scratch, ding, or chip on a new car is the hardest to deal with. Yup, it's pretty darn hard.

I was out at dinner last weekend and had to valet my car (no self parking). I didn't even think about looking over the car for damage, especially since I had three guests with me. The next morning while I was getting into my car, I noticed what I thought was bird poop or the like on my drivers side door. To my horror, when I tried wiping off the area, I knew it was actually a deep paint chip. Arrrgghh!!! It was pretty obvious that the chip was deep and had removed the paint. So now I have this great big white mark on my GS.

Needless to say, a call to the restaurant and valet manager was worthless, since all I got was the standard denial. All I know is that the car was flawless when I washed and waxed the GS in the morning.

So now I have to figure out how to minimize the damage. Any suggestions? My salesperson at Longo Lexus sent a bottle of touch up paint fed ex overnight at no cost (great service) and I've ordered the Langka kit in hopes it can mask the damage. I really don't want to repaint the panel, since the car is so new.

So I guess the moral of the story is DON'T EVER VALET YOUR CAR. Ha, I wish this was an option in Los Angeles. I know it's only a car, but man, this sucks. My girlfriend said it looked like I had been shot Hope no one else has a similar experience.

 

one more picture

 

that sucks man. I'd be pissed

 

INHOCJP

That sucks, but in the prophetic words of a CL member you know, you'll now have to move on with your life.

JB

 

While I've never had any issues with valet parking, I'm never comfortable with it either. I have often thought of starting a business called firstding.com where we pick your car up from the dealer and place a huge ding in one of the doors. Then you don't have to go through the heartbreak that you just did. This has got to be worth something

On a more serious note, I would call the place where you had dinner and explain your displeasure and note to them that you will never dine there again because of this (1. Having to valet, 2. Having your car dinged).

 

That's exactly why I'll never give up my keys to the valet. If I have to go some where that requires
valet parking, I'll get a rental car instead for the night. Sorry to hear about that. It really sucks.

 

Sorry to hear that, especially for a new car.
That's why I never go to valet only restaurants with my own car, except when I'm driving rental cars while travelling.

 

Spent $300 on advertising for a billboard above their restaurant
that says "look what the valet's do at XXXXX restaurant".

See how long it takes for them to fix your car...... and re-inburse you for the billboard, otherwise you'll leave it up for the full term of the contract :

 

That sucks. I would raise so much hell that they begged to fix my car. That is your best bet of getting them to fix it.

 

Oh man...that dent looks really bad. I feel your pain. You should go to a dent remover and have the dent removed, then bring your car to a body shop that can touch up the paint. Meaning the kinds of bodyshops that can fill the chip in, sand it so its even with the rest of the car and then polish and buff the area so that its not noticeable anymore

 

Doug, that's a great idea. Think of how much future pain and suffering you'll save new car owners from

I’m going to try and use the Langka method first. Thought about taking it to a body shop, but I just know that if I spend all the time, money and energy to get this fixed perfectly, it’s just a matter of time before some other idiot damages the car. But I do wonder how much a body shop would charge.

Quite true my friend. I love my GS, but I don’t want to live in fear of driving it anywhere. Shoot, I find myself circling the parking lot multiple times in order to find the “perfect spot.” But somehow, no matter how careful we all are, sh*t happens. Case in point, I was at Longo this past weekend and I parked my car to run in and see my salesperson. When I came back out, a somewhat obese individual was looking at a RX330 with a salesperson who had parked next to me. But this guy was leaning/sitting on my car while talking to the salesperson! I couldn’t believe it. When the guy saw me walking over with an "unpleased look," he apologized and quickly moved. Geez, some people have no clue.

Thanks for letting me vent guys. I think my girlfriend was about ready to leave me if I kept complaining to her

 

damn that's sad to know, jay

besides the scratch, is it dented or ding? i would try to use touchup paint and a toothpick and touch it up very vey slowly. do it a lot of times but every time just tiny bit, rather than one time job a big slump of paint on.

then later on try the langka or the wet sand....

sorry to see that jay

 

That's the worse - when people deny

Anyhow, I would re-consider getting that door repainted. Luckily, you're car is new and the paint hasn't even remotely started to fade. When they repaint, the color should be dead on.

I would think around $250 +/-

Sorry you had to go through this

 

Hmm, maybe. I'll see how the touch up with Langka goes first. If it looks bad, then I'll probably get a repaint.

Do you think they'll have to repaint the entire door? Or can they just repair the damaged area?

 

I saw a valet drive a Bimmer straight through a fence once.