Paint damage during PDI , what to do ?

[Dutchbird]

Recently we have taken delivery of our delayed XC90 Inscription, when the car was still at the PDI stage ,we had a look at the car and noticed marks on the driver side passenger door and along the rear flank upto the rear light cluster.

We made the dealer aware of the marks and he assured us that their "professional" valeting team would rectify the problem. During the handover on a dull day ,it did seem that the marks were indeed gone. However after three weeks of rain and sunshine the marks reappeared but this time with swirl and severe rubbing marks. We took the car to an other Volvo dealer for advise and they were shocked at the state of the paint work, they said that it looks like they used Brillo pads to remove the marks. They also said that they must have used like a paint detail spray ,which has polish in it but it does wear off after a period.

We then contacted our dealer about the problem ,having just paid them nearly 59K for the car that we were not too impressed. Unfortunatly this not the only problem we have with the car. The leather dashboard has faulty leather marks just above the iPad look a like. This has been reported to Volvo UK , who said it must be "human error" for the car to pass quality control .The whole dashboard unit needs replacing but at the moment there is nil stock. Should we trust the dealer to replace the unit as more damage could caused by removing and inserting the dashboard?

Has any one else had problems with their new XC90 on delivery?

What advise would you give re the paint damage and would you get the dashboard replaced?

[A lex]

The dashboard issue is up to you.... how long do you plan on keeping the car?

If 10 years, id leave it as in 10 years time who is going to care about a bit of dash damage.

If <2yrs id change it, as a buyer will haggle on it....

Theres no reason that the dash should become more damaged just because its been out and back in - they are designed (after-all) to be replaceable.

Paint work:

A certain amount of swirls is completely normal, even on new cars. Other damage is not acceptable. Id probably take the advice of a professional detailing company/3rd party to see what is necessary before approaching Volvo.

[Dutchbird]

Thanks for the above reply.

We intend to keep the car about 2-3 years and then see what the new XC60 looks like ,as we do not intend to take the XC 90 back to The Netherlands. Road tax to start with!

The dashboard is rather disappointing but with our car luck at the moment we are still of the opion best to leave alone.

As for the paint work we might go for an independent paint assessor as you suggested and give Volvo then option.

Should have stuck to my guns and gone for the new Mercedes GLE but that's history.

[volvo for ever]

thats a shame id be devastated ,,i would want it all changed not repaired contact volvo customer service

[A lex]

I saw a new GLE on the road yesterday.

Absolutely gopping, ostentatious PoS. You could surely only buy that with your eyes closed

[TruckbusUK]

Originally Posted by Dutchbird

Should have stuck to my guns and gone for the new Mercedes GLE but that's history.

You have my sympathies in your disappointment, shoddy PDI and remedial works by your dealer on your new XC90.

However my family have several BMW's, Mercedes and an Audi, all less than 3 years old, and none were delivered in an acceptable condition by the dealers.

Just concentrating on the paintwork, the worst was Mercedes, both a B180 and an E350 Estate, both cars, different dealers had shocking paintwork, orange peel city on the E350, and dull paintwork on the B180.

The arguing and resentment with the dealers and the total don't care attitude of the customer services at Mercedes UK has resulted in "we will never buy Mercedes again" from both my sister and my daughters husband.

So I am sure Volvo are producing cars no different, and relying on poor dealers ... the song is the same in lots of areas in the industry, but as for "Mercedes quality" .... that's was something that disappeared in the early 80's IMO.

The BMW and Audi are similar with don't care dealers who once they have your money really don't give a crap.

Its a sad reflection, and I don't want to burst your Merc bubble, but from my experience, I wouldn't hold them up as the bastion of quality you may think they are.

I really hope you get your Volvo issues sorted, as it seems to be a cracking car, and as with all marques and models teething issues with production and delivery do eventually get ironed out ... maybe what you are experiencing is the downside of being an early adopter.

Robin

[Marc01]

Can you post pictures? Expecting noticeable swirling and scratches on a new car is not acceptable especially if you care about such things (let's face it most people are happy to take it to a car wash and have the paint abraded by poor washing, and that's fine it's just a car after all) but on a new car I'd expect the he bare minimum swirling, mine had literally none, you really had to stare at it in certain lights to find them. Obviously a year later and even with careful washing the swirls are more noticeable to my eyes but not to 90% of people. As for orange peel that seems to affect most brands these days.

On an XC90 I'd expect a pretty high standard! Maybe have the paint professionally corrected and invoice Volvo (on their agreement) as I doubt and has been shown that their in house valeting team have the know how and are probably just hiding the damage like you pointed out making it worse.

[Marc01]

And because I am a miserable git these days I'd make it them change the dash, and make it very clear that on a 60k car you expect it perfect.

[Shooter69]

Yep I would be taking it back too no way I would accept inferior paint or dash on a 60k car

[Ducklakeview]

As said above, it's a new car, and as such, should be pretty much perfect, displaying no signs of wear and tear or use. It's around 10yrs since I bought a brand new car, (530D touring) BUT at the time, I went over it with a fine tooth comb, on the delivery day BEFORE signing the finance docs, but I rejected the vehicle due to paintwork defects alone, car was black and full of orange peel. Dealer remonstrated that their valeters would "polish it out" and my response was, "I am about to pay £28k for a car and you want to remove some of the paintwork before I take delivery? No thanks" I actually canceled the order and went next door to MB, where I bought their low mileage dealer principal's demo, which had impeccable fit & finish, and was also £4k cheaper...

Mike