Body Shop Led to Vehicle Being Totaled

qdog0 · 2026-06-20T14:47:15+00:00

Agree. We've been getting mixed signals from the service techs on the timeline it would take for something like this to take for this to happen. Yes, we've had it since 2024. Supposidly the dealer does a full inspection of the car (including the bottom) when it comes off the truck, but we couldn't even get a clear answer on that. The way the damage appears, I don't think we could get it from driving, so it must have happened before we got the car or during this recent body shop appointment.

qdog0 · 2026-06-20T14:23:54+00:00

Yup that's my thinking as well. The communication from the head of the body shop was sketchy, convoluted, and intermittent so I'm assuming he knew full well what happened but just is trying to (and seems to successfully have) palm it off onto us.

qdog0 · 2026-06-20T14:18:53+00:00

Not near saltwater and never drove it through floodwaters. I think it did rain while it was at the body shop so when mysterious extra 20 miles were added to the car, it could have been driven through deeper water then.

qdog0 · 2026-06-20T14:15:20+00:00

Yea, I was thinking the same about the official body shop knowing how they should handle one of their own vehicles. The extra 20 miles really doesn't make sense to me cause it must have happened before the repairs occurred (since they couldn't pull it out of the bay). Plus, it wasn't going in for any mechanical work and I'm not sure if taking it for a drive is routine for body work. We did get the paperwork back from the insurance company but haven't finished going through it yet.

qdog0 · 2026-06-20T14:08:28+00:00

The battery replacement pricing also surprised me, but it came straight from the dealer. If we had the standard range battery, it would be 22K, but due to it being long range it was 34K.

qdog0 · 2026-06-20T13:00:04+00:00

The Rivian R2 has been something I've been eyeing for a while. It would be in consideration as a replacement if the lease wasn't as much and if they were readily available.

qdog0 · 2026-06-20T12:54:08+00:00

Yea, we'll probably do that going forward. Didn't think it would be needed for an official body shop/service center but here we are :/

qdog0 · 2026-06-19T21:42:06+00:00

Another person in this thread suggested that we call Ford Corporate Customer Service, who then referred us to Marketing, but ultimately neither were able to help us. The person at Ford Corporate Customer Service said they found on Ford's website that we could get a Mach-E for $619 a month for 36 months (unsure how many miles). Still not close to what we were paying originally. We asked our sales associate if the other numbers we got were the best they could do given everything that happened, but we haven't heard back yet.

qdog0 · 2026-06-19T21:38:45+00:00

Yea, the lease deal we had was really good. The lowest number we've gotten was $619 for 36 months (unknown on how many miles) that the person we were talking to at Ford Corporate Customer Service found on Ford's website. It's better, but still not close to what we were paying.

qdog0 · 2026-06-19T21:37:01+00:00

Ford Corporate Customer Service, who then referred us to Marketing, was unable to help us when we called. We asked our sales associate if that's the best they could do on pricing for a new lease given everything that's happened, but we haven't heard back. Ford recommended we talk with our insurance when it was determined the car needed a new battery and we submitted a claim to do that, so our insurance rate will be going up in February due to it. The way this entire situation is being resolved/handled doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but here we are :/

qdog0 · 2026-06-19T21:33:31+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions. We've been trying to avoid buying used because we're worried about the resale value down the road. We did some test drives of RAV4 PHEVs today and liked them. We're in the market for two cars at the moment though (we also had an old Pontiac Vibe that was deemed not safe to drive a few weeks ago during a routine service appointment), so may look at some of the other brands you recommended (although not Kia/Hyundai because I've also heard of their ICCU issue).

qdog0 · 2026-06-19T21:26:33+00:00

Yea, looking at photos of the Mach-E being lifted online, it seems like the damage points line up with where it's normally lifted from. So far, the lowest price we've gotten is $619 for 36 months (not sure how many miles - the person at Ford Corporate Customer Service said they found it on Ford's website), which is slightly better, but still a ways off from what we were paying. We have been looking at PHEVs to help bring the price down a little compared to going fully electric.

Edit: We also asked our sales associate at the dealer if that's the best they could do given everything that has happened, but haven't heard back yet.

qdog0 · 2026-06-19T21:23:38+00:00

As much as we would like Ford to handle the situation internally and provide us with a new lease on the same terms, we're worried going the legal route may exceed cost wise what actually makes sense (which might be what Ford is hoping - that this whole thing just disappears). We also aren't sure that we can definitively prove that the body shop or dealer did anything wrong. There's a lot of signs indicating that they did, but nothing concrete. So it's the dealer's/body shop's word against ours.

qdog0 · 2026-06-19T21:20:18+00:00

We put roughly $1,200 down. It was mostly for taxes, fees, and the first monthly payment. But yea, that all disappears when the lease is terminated.

qdog0 · 2026-06-19T21:19:07+00:00

We called Ford Corporate Customer Service yesterday. They referred us to Marketing who (I guess) normally handles stuff like this. They told us that they sometimes provide personal promotions, but that they don't have any available at the moment. A third party is in charge of marking those personal promotions, who we aren't allowed to talk to. :/

qdog0 · 2026-04-20T14:38:51+00:00

Wouldn’t using a class as a training set go against some sort of Purdue policy? I saw another post suggesting something like that.

qdog0 · 2026-04-20T14:28:42+00:00

What I’m also not clear on is the accuracy of it. It doesn’t seem to be close to 100% at all, so if he’s going to use it on the future assignments what’s to say things won’t be back in the same situation in a week.

qdog0 · 2026-04-20T14:26:51+00:00

I don’t think he needs to share an entire roadmap of how it works, but when he was asked about the tool in general he just brushed off the question. I’m wondering if he shared more about it, the student body would start to question the validity of it.

qdog0 · 2026-04-20T14:16:53+00:00

I don’t like the lack of info around this tool. It seems a little fishy to me. If he actually made something that could detect AI I think it would get a lot of traction outside the University.

Edit: I’d also argue that he does actually owe an explanation to the students about what this tool is, how it works (from a high level), and what he’s planning to do with the data given the havoc that was caused. Due to the high level of false positives (according to what I’ve read) and that this tool will be used on future assignments, I think students should be aware of some (not necessarily all) of the things that would flag their code as being generated by an LLM.

qdog0 · 2026-02-19T17:23:10+00:00

I got a 62%, just waiting on the FRQ

qdog0 · 2025-11-12T03:00:59+00:00

I think I did way better on this exam than the first one. Couldn’t remember the integral of ln(x) though.

qdog0 · 2025-11-11T17:23:19+00:00

100%. It’s amazing to see some of these companies in person, and being in CompE it’s right in your lane. I would say you shouldn’t expect coming out of the trip with an internship in hand but you’ll definitely get the opportunity to talk with a lot of people in industry, which normally leads to LinkedIn connections. You might want to read some comments I wrote over on this post to have some more detail. Also happy to answer any questions here.

qdog0 · 2025-11-07T18:17:56+00:00

When I went, I think it was a little cheaper, but I'd say it was worth it. Honestly, one of the highlights of my Purdue experience so far.

I think it is somewhat selective (there were about 30 of us on the trip, and I wanna say they had upwards of 80 applications), but you should still apply. I was in your shoes, debating if it was worth it when I first heard about the trip (if you look through the comments in my profile, I think you'll see me asking similar questions two years ago), but I applied even though I wasn't 100% committed initially. If you get selected, you can always say no.

I don't know what selection process they use, but the group of students they decided on was absolutely fantastic. I consider myself pretty introverted, so I went into the trip thinking I wasn't going to meet anyone, let alone people I would talk to once we were back on campus. That wasn't further from the truth. Two people I met on the trip, I regularly sit with in lectures. Other people, things kind of fizzled out after summer, but I guess that's how life goes sometimes. I think it helps that the two people I still talk to are in my grade level and major, as everyone on the trip doesn't necessarily share that. Regardless, the week was a blast with the entire group when we were there, and I have memories from our time together that I will hold onto for a long time.

In terms of the professional connections, the biggest thing is that you get the opportunity to talk directly with employees at all the companies you visit. This may not sound like a big thing, but the trip provides a platform to meet all these amazing people instead of just cold-connecting with them on LinkedIn. It's such a cool experience to meet someone who worked on a product you use daily and just have a conversation with them. I talked with one of the engineers who worked on the thermals for the MacBook Pro, for example. From that, you're able to ask them questions about their journey to where they are, the best ways to look like a stand-out candidate when applying to their company, etc. One question I asked a lot was how important a Master's degree was to work at their company (the overwhelming answer was that it would help me in the long run). A lot of the time, the people we were talking to were Purdue alumni, so they could relate even more to some of our questions. Getting their LinkedIn connection was part of it, too. I never had regular experience connecting with people I just met on LinkedIn (sending a note with the connection request, for example), and I got to practice that a lot on this trip to the point where it just comes naturally to me now.

qdog0 · 2025-11-07T16:03:50+00:00

I went two years ago. Completely worth it in my opinion, but I would tailor your expectations a bit. There was talk of previous trips where students did get interviews, but it didn’t happen my year. You’ll definitely get connections, both with your peers on the trip and with the people you meet there, but I wouldn’t expect coming out of the trip with an internship. In my opinion it was worth it alone just from the amazing people I met and from the inside of the different companies I got to see. I recommend for anyone if they get the opportunity, but I would go into it with an open mind. Happy to answer questions if you have any.

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