I thought I would update on my situation with the damage resulting from my deer collision...

My car went to the dealer's body shop on Friday afternoon, Aug 18th. They called me up on Thursday Aug 31 to say it was ready to pick up, but it was still missing one of the Hybrid fender badges because it was still backordered (they managed to get one for the passenger side).

I took it home (after a about 50 miles of driving) and looked under the hood to see how it looked. To my surprise, it appeared that the inverter coolant reservoir was nearly empty. I also noticed that the plastic plug in the bumper (that is exclusive to Japanese-made models) was missing, and that there was a piece of black styrofoam that was immediately behind where this cover should be. It appeared that they just pushed the plug into the styrofoam, and as a result, the snaps didn't engage properly and it fell out somewhere on the way home.

I called them the next morning, and came in to have them fill up the inverter reservoir, and to look at the missing plug.

My only concern now is that I am hearing a "gurgling" sound when I accelerate from a stop. The sound seems to be coming from the deep in the dash some where on the drivers side. I pointed this out to the body shop person, and they had me set up an appointment with the service department. It is going in on Thursday morning.

I suspect that there is air in the heating or cooling system (or the inverter cooling system) that was introduced when the radiator, inverter radiator, or the A/C condenser were replaced.

It is frustrating, but I am glad to have my car back - even with the noises. Hopefully there isn't any damage as a result of the reduced amount of coolant in the inverter. They suspect that the reservoir was filled, but driving it around purged some of the air and reduced the amount in the tank...

From what I can tell, the paint looks fine, but I cant wax it for 90 days, so the front of my car will be unprotected until winter (maybe through the winter). I wonder if the Macguiar's NXT Tech Wax counts as real wax? It doesn't seem abrasive - it is just a polymer coating...

Thanks for the update. I've never had a car come back from a bodyshop that didn't have some issue or other. Did you look at the paint job under a various lighting sources? (Outside day, night, in the garage, etc.) I've had one unbelieveably perfect paint job, one adequate, and one that I asked to have redone (wow, that was a tough sell!)

Not just Super White...Super Duper White...

Aren't body shops wonderful to deal with!

Every time I have had the misfortune to need their services my results have been pretty much the same.

Just keep up on them. It usually takes a trip or two back for them to get it right.

Sorry to hear the car was not perfect when you got it. Being a new model they probably were not familiar enough with it yet. As for the hybrid fender label maybe Steve Villatoro will send you one of his

I'm saving them for my grandchildren. Hmmm, wait... I forgot to have kids.

Steve Villatoro
www.stevenvillatoro.com
“An enlightened guide to small business mastery.”