Rocker panel damage - possibly by dealer

[Lazarus.Bird]

Hey all. I had my '21 Stinger in for a state inspection and 12,000 mile check up at my local dealer last Monday (5/23). Today I just noticed some damage on/under the rocker panel under the front passenger door just behind the front wheel.

I can’t get under the car but it drove normal this morning with no error codes, and the exhaust sounds normal, so I don’t think it was converter theft or anything malicious.

The dent on the bottom is around the size of a quarter and has a pretty definitive hexagon shape on one side. Thinking the dealer messed up lifting it or maybe left a socket driver or something on the lift and started raising it. I'm not very mechanically inclined but I asked some of my gearhead buddies and they came to the same conclusion.

I'm not too upset as mistakes can happen and this is fixable, but by nature I'm just assuming the dealership will refuse to own it and blame it on something else, so I want to be prepared for the discussion.

It's basically impossible this was any type of road damage from driving, and I also highly doubt someone tried to steal my converters. I live in PA where there are a million trucks and SUVs. The Stinger seems like a more difficult converter theft target, plus I'd expect a much larger imprint from a standard hand floor jack. Plus there are no other signs of any malicious intent.

I would appreciate any input on this, as well as tips for how to approach the dealership about this. It's possible they will own it and take care of it for me, but I want to be prepared if they push back.

 

[MerlintheMad]

That was caused by improperly raising the car. It's happened before several times on here. Just be straight up, that the damage wasn't there before you brought your car in.

 

[nhcowboy28]

As paranoid as it will sound, I go around the entire car in good light video recording the exterior and interior while feet from the stealership when servicing (for something I can’t do myself).

Focusing on commonly touched areas (rockers, fenders, door handles, etc).

I farking hate stealerships.

 

[Deviate]

Yep thats lift damage. Been there got that, still do. My dealers service Mgr. and i came to an agreement on a few things so i was "lucky". Definitely go back and bitch about it. The techs should definitely be put on notice. And like @nhcowboy28 said fully inspect before and after.

 

[Grump]

Yup, lift damage. Lots of pics in this thread;

Damage done by Dealership need opinions

So dealer did an oil change and on lift partially crushed part on driver side rocker panel, I contacted dealer visited dealership and he said he would replace the whole rocker panel, didn't really apologize but said he would fix it now my Stinger is 12 weeks old and I'm pretty pissed that I'm...

stingerforum.org

Dealer fixed mine even tho I didn't notice until after a long weekend. Check my rocker panels with the advisor before and after every visit now.

 

[Lazarus.Bird]

Dang, that's practically the exact same type of damage.

 

[Lazarus.Bird]

Stopped by the dealership this morning. Service manager took a few photos and told me they'd order a new panel, have the body shape paint it, and call me to come in when it is ready to be installed. They didn't even float the idea that the damage could have been caused by something else.

So while I'm annoyed that this happened, the dealer is making things easy on me which I appreciate.

 

[JSolo]

^^Make sure the paint matches before they install it.

 

[D.J.]

While changing my rear tires today.

I took a photo of the correct way to lift our cars with a hoist... Such that the hoist arms can not contact the side skirts.

It really is easy to damage the side skirts if care is not taken.

Kia dealerships should do better. No excuse for causing damage to a car on the lift while lifting.

These 4 images are from the rear of my car. (Front is the same but not photographed)

 

[G-623259]

same damage happened for me at Costco, they said I should have rubber hockey "pucks" spacers to give to garages to use when lifting the Stinger, since not all shops use these (would think the dealer would know this)

 

[MerlintheMad]

^^^This is not on us, to provide protection when taking our cars to a service center. Incompetent use of a lift, that's all this is.

 

[JSolo]

Going into disco tire next week for balance/rotate. Bringing my own pucks.

 

[Rodtheviking]

One of the reasons why I bought pucks.

 

[Lazarus.Bird]

Btw I actually noticed both rockers were damaged (makes sense) so the dealer is replacing both.

 

[alexia.x]

Hey all. I had my '21 Stinger in for a state inspection and 12,000 mile check up at my local dealer last Monday (5/23). Today I just noticed some damage on/under the rocker panel under the front passenger door just behind the front wheel.

I can’t get under the car but it drove normal this morning with no error codes, and the exhaust sounds normal, so I don’t think it was converter theft or anything malicious.

The dent on the bottom is around the size of a quarter and has a pretty definitive hexagon shape on one side. Thinking the dealer messed up lifting it or maybe left a socket driver or something on the lift and started raising it. I'm not very mechanically inclined but I asked some of my gearhead buddies and they came to the same conclusion.

I'm not too upset as mistakes can happen and this is fixable, but by nature I'm just assuming the dealership will refuse to own it and blame it on something else, so I want to be prepared for the discussion.

It's basically impossible this was any type of road damage from driving, and I also highly doubt someone tried to steal my converters. I live in PA where there are a million trucks and SUVs. The Stinger seems like a more difficult converter theft target, plus I'd expect a much larger imprint from a standard hand floor jack. Plus there are no other signs of any malicious intent.

I would appreciate any input on this, as well as tips for how to approach the dealership about this. It's possible they will own it and take care of it for me, but I want to be prepared if they push back.

Same issue here, took my car to big o tires to have my wheels swapped out- both sides dented outwards and about 2in in length. I dont have an upclose pic but you can see how they flare out.

Might just buy some side skirts to try and cover the damage but being extra precautious next time I take my car to be lifted anywhere.

 

[JSolo]

Car was at the dealer twice in the last 7 days. You bet this is something I checked for. Sadly we must stay on top of all details and not trust anything these days.

 

[Lazarus.Bird]

I was originally shocked when this happened but it is sad to see how often it occurs. The dealer did a nice job swapping mine out with the replacement parts so overall I'm satisfied but still absurd this happens.

 

[JSolo]

Lazyness? Not paying attention. Who knows. Hell, I even took my wheel off to verify cotter pins were in the lower ball joints and axle nut redimpled. All appeared good. The lugs even came off with a standard wrench (meaning they didn't overtorque them).

Mine had this repaired.

2.5T awd front diff leak @ 5400 mi

Did an oil change today. While inspecting the underside found this. There was a thin line of oil on the oil filter housing (black blob above the shaft) and on this mid shaft (driver front). It wasn't there before when inspected back in march. Nor was it there at last oil change last fall...

stingerforum.org

 

[MerlintheMad]

Same issue here, took my car to big o tires

I was just at Big O getting a nail taken out of the RF, and a month before that getting a brand new RF. Nothing has attracted my attention down on the rocker panels. Whew.

 

[Buzzrush]

Might just buy some side skirts to try and cover the damage but being extra precautious next time I take my car to be lifted anyw

The Maxton side skirts WILL NOT cover the damage to the panels FYI. I know...believe me. They just mount flush to the bottom of the rocker panels. There may be other options that will cover it up, but Maxtons do not. Just trying to save you some grief if you decide to go that route.