Is this install as bad as it looks?

I had the body side moldings installed on my Prime this afternoon, and I refused to take it back when the dealer drove it out form the service bay. To me, the passenger side looks great, but the driver side is noticeably arced.

The first thing I noticed was the difference in the distance between the back tips (the black area) of the back door molding strips and the back edges of the rear doors. That distance is notably shorter on the driver side than on the passenger side (by over 1/2", I'd say). I believe this is because the strips on the driver side were applied in an arc rather than in a straight line.

I added the yellow lines in Photoshop. I think they highlight the difference. Would most you think this is unacceptable? The labor was $280.

 

That is exactly the question I'll be posing to the dealer in the morning. I refused to accept my car back in that condition. It's double-stick tape, so I'm guessing it can be removed carefully without issue. But I'm going to be asking what they are going to use to do that (physically and chemically), and that they take photos of the paint when the strips are off before they remount them or new ones. They're probably going to have to order new parts. It's really absurd because I very specifically told the service advisor that this would have to be done right, with no margin for error. I told him if they couldn't do that, don't do it at all, and that I would lose it if they screwed up my new car with crooked strips. It was a perfectly friendly conversation, but I went out of my way to explain that this had to be done right or not at all.

 

No, I didn't talk to the installer. And, from what the service adviser said and how quickly the job was done, I'm pretty sure they had two guys, one on each side, working on it at the same time (thus the great difference in the result on each side). I know you're joking, but there should be nothing about this that is affected by nerves. If you take your time (and I told them I was in no hurry), you can do it right. I could have done it if I wanted to invest the time, but I thought I'd pay the pros.

 

I just spoke to my service advisor. He said his foreman and their body shop manager looked at it and said that even though the passenger side looks okay, the measurements are off all over the car. So they've pulled all of the molding off and are redoing everything. I raised my concerns about the paint and they said it was easy to remove the strips as it has been cold and they were only on overnight. So, I'll see what they come up with today.

I don't know about the rest of you, but this is one of the things I really hate in life. I go somewhere to spend a good amount of money ($280 in labor alone) on product that can be implemented more or less well, and then I end up with a huge hassle. I don't try to get discounts. I say up front that things need to be done properly or that I won't be satisfied. Then I get lousy work and all of the sudden I have to be the bad guy. Poor work transforms me from being a valued customer to a pain in the butt.

It makes me wonder. For every 100 cars a dealer sends out with moldings installed this poorly, how many come back? How many people take it and never notice or don't care?

 

I just picked it back up. They sent some photos first (attached below). This time it appears to be right. I'm not getting out a ruler measure it down to millimeters, but I think it looks good now. It's a shame it took wasting a set of moldings and everyone's time to get it right.

I like the way the moldings look, but, having seen them before they were installed, I'm not very impressed with the way they are constructed.

 

Hi Henri-
Well, they did fix it and were apologetic. They did not offer any refund, though. I think they should have refunded at least part of the labor charge (the labor alone was $280), but I really just wanted it done right, and now it is, so I'm satisfied. They did offer me a free detail once the adhesive on the strips has cured, but I'm particular about who I let clean my cars and have not ever been particularly impressed with any dealership's detailing facilities. I won't mention the dealership because they did fix it and did so with a smile and not a bit of reluctance. It was just a huge waste of time and materials (they threw the original moldings away).