side skirt dents

[branvan]

My car had one small dent under the driver's door when I bought the car, presumably from the car being placed up on a rack. After a moment of temporary insanity and being the victim of being too busy to go to my real mechanic, I took my car to a different shop for the tire balance I needed... and they are now MUCH worse... Now, I took the car back to the shop and had them look at it, since I am sure that they caused the damage, but they say there is no way they could have done that (yeah. ok, whatever.) plus the guy says because he remembers the one small dent, he is telling his boss that the car came in with all the dents.

I guess my question is a) this pretty much looks like it could have been done by a rack, no? and b) if I am unable to get them to pay for this - anyone else had something like this fixed? how much $$? and finally c) this seems to be a common problem in these cars, i see them all around town with dents in the same spots.. what's up with that? is there some way to prevent this, short of not putting the car on a rack?

[Audiophil]

The car is only supposed to be lifted where those dimples are at each end of the skirt. I would take it back and ask them to put it up on the lift.

Then, take some photos if they don't use the dimpled ends and ask when to expect a check for the repairs.

[marvins_dad]

Search this forum for "rocker" there are about 6 threads about this issue.

Here is one where I break down what it cost to get mine fixed.

http://www.newbeetle.org/forums/show...ghlight=rocker

Because of the low clearance our rockers are injured easily.

I don't know if this is because of jacking up or not. Our cars should be jacked on the inside lip near the round indention in the rocker or on inner support members.

[Darkstar]

That sucks!!!
I paid $600 to repair one side that was about that bad.

My .02: If it's scraped underneath (v.s. not) would be a clue as to what happened.
No deep scrape, and they most likely lifted it improperly.
Scraped, and they may have drove it over a curb or could claim that you drove over a curb or something. I would assume it's their fault since there is a dent on the front and the back where they would have lifted it.
If you have a good insurance policy and body shop that would discount the comprehensive deductible, then it may be easier to just go have it fixed without the hassle of arguing with the tire balancing shop for repair fees.

The dents usually happen from taking a turn too sharp and hitting a curb, or being lifted from the rocker instead of the proper jack points. There are several rubber pieces under the body that to the unfamiliar eye may appear as a jack pad, but these have no reinforcement and will bend easily. (Ask me how I know? I noticed a huge hump under my rear passenger footwell from the bulging metal that I had to stomp down. I literally jacked my car up, and learned my lesson. Save the beer for after working on the car).
And like Audiophil and marvins_dad said: It should be jacked from the reinforced frame that is behind the dimples (not directly under the dimples).

Anyhoo, GOOD LUCK!! We're rootin' for ya!

[branvan]

yeah my insurance deductible is $500 right now.. the price you pay for having 3 cars! so i'm not sure i can get the body shop to discount enough to cover much of that considering i'm expecting about a $600 job.

I could probably live with the one on the passenger side but the drivers side makes me shiver every time I see it. I'm sure it isn't as noticable to everyone else but me, but it bugs me.. so I don't think I'm going to leave it like that, one way or another..

[bugsy98nb]

Ouch That sucks Bran . Hopefully you can get this resolved with out any money from your pocket .

[who_me285]

I almost ahd the same thing happen to my lancer. I was in teh back watching them work on my car when the guy came out with a jack and started to lift it up by putting hte jack on the side skirt and not on the frame. I quickly told him about what he was about to do to my car. I always stay in the back and watch if they don't tell me to leave. Most places won't let you sinnce you are a liability back there, but I stay if they don't say anything. So yeah you jsut gotta watch out for epople not knowing how to use a jack.

[Lnzbug]

Yeah, some place just don't know jack
Good luck getting it fixed. Mine also are dented but I'll live with it because as soon as I fix it something will happen. It's LN's law

[branvan]

Originally Posted by Lnzbug

Yeah, some place just don't know jack
Good luck getting it fixed. Mine also are dented but I'll live with it because as soon as I fix it something will happen. It's LN's law

i'm starting to think that i may leave mine alone too, i keep picturing having it fixed for about a month before some other idiot does the same thing again...

[DannyRandomState]

I feel your pain there Bran.

Sunshine has one on the passenger side too. I've thought of getting it fixed but I'm kinda in the same bost as Ellen.

[branvan]

Well - I got the driver's side fixed this week and I just got to go and pick him up today!!

Since I couldn't prove where it happened, I decided to go ahead and pay for it myself since I found a good shop that gave me an estimate of $499, one dollar cheaper than my insurance deductible..lol..

Anyway it looks sweet now I'm much happier and feel it was well worth the $500. The passenger side is still curved up but I didn't want to pay another $300 for that one and it doesn't bug me near as much as the dents all over the drivers side did.

Here's some pics of the finished product.