Volkswagen Owners Really Love Their Cars

And they always will . . . even after the diesel scandal.

I had to give my own Volkswagen (seen above) some extra love recently.  I found a rippled paint smudge, almost like a large fingerprint, on the right side mirror cap of my car, along with two perfect circles in the right fender.  I assumed that both were the result of the accident I had back in December.  Specifically, I thought that the painters at the body shop may have created the smudge while repainting my right fender and that the body shop left the circles in place due to the bolts underneath.  (I hadn't noticed either because I'd gotten the car back in January and didn't pay much attention to the right side; most of the visible damage was on the left, though the shock wave of the impact  did cause some internal damage on the right.)  I thought I could get the shop to fix the smudge under warranty but didn't think the fender was a big deal.  The guys at the shop insisted the mirror-cap smudge wasn't their responsibility, but, ironically, they noticed the circles and said that they shouldn't be there.

Long story made short - I got the mirror cap replaced for a couple hundred bucks, but I got the fender redone for free.  I also saw a rippling of the B-pillar door trim on the right side.  Was that caused by the shock wave of the accident?  Likely not, and I'm just going to let it go; it's not worth it.    Because two different people hit my car in parking lots, and because I hit my car against a a concrete lamppost base parking lot back in December in a blinding rainstorm, I've become a regular customer at the body shop.  I've had my VW in there four times now thanks to my bad luck in parking lots; I don't want to have to bring it in a fifth time.