[PJPHughes]

This, on a new bumper (thanks to a girl scraping me a month ago and ripping the bumper mounts on the left side. The previous bumper had screwdriver damage from both DEF Fluid fills by incorrectly trying to open the flap. I complained lightly but didn't do anything about it. This morning, I even showed the service adviser the new bumper, how to open the flap, and he called a service tech over, who watched me open it, with two fingers.

Two hours later...WTF? Needless to say I've called the service manager about this. Anyone else suffer this? It's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things but I keep my car spotless and scratch free, so this is really annoying. The dealer service department should know how to open this flap!

[stevers314]

What did the service manager say?

Maybe ISTA told the tech to use a pry bar, since they do whatever that bullshit says to.

[Quasimodem]

Yikes, I have done some minor damage on mine, small paint cracks/scrapes near the edge of the opening, but nothing like that.

Oh, and from your picture (unless the photo was reversed) it looks like the damage is on the front of the hole, this shows they didn't know what they were doing. You push in on the front of the hole and you might need to stick a screwdriver in on the rear of the hole to get that to pop out.

I put this nick (on the rear of the hole) in when I tried wrapping a screwdriver with a paper towel. It didn't work.

But notice I had to get a lot closer with my camera phone to take a picture of this, so it is not nearly as big as the ones you posted.

[dixy2k]

you only need to use your fingers to open that lid. No tools.

[panerainovice]

I've seen a thread awhile back with this same issue. There isn't a question that they should have it fixed and repainted for you. Nobody else touches that cap besides the dealership.

[GreekboyD]

Originally Posted by dixy2k

you only need to use your fingers to open that lid. No tools.

Yep.

[335dFan]

Originally Posted by GreekboyD

Yep.

Yep yep.

[PJPHughes]

The Service Mgr looked at it, confirmed their techs tried to open it incorrectly. He took a picture of it and will be meeting with all service reps and techs this week and will show them the pic in their weekly meeting. I told him this was the third DEF fill from them, and each time, they've done the same thing, which showed the training on it didn't sink in very well. I even sent my SA a video of me opening the flap in my driveway! He said they normally just send it to their body shop...but as I just got the car back and the bumper and left rear quarter scrapes were repaired and the paintwork is flawless, this tiny damage isn't worth f-ing up the recent work. I asked him about potentially comping all or part of the extortionary $770 oil service. He said he'd get back to me. Hmm...

[AzureHaze]

Strange. I recently got my DEF filled up with Century West again because they didn't fill it up correctly during my last service but I didn't see any half ass attempts with opening the cap. Just the mistake of a dumb tech I guess.

[EPOS]

Happened to my car. Even told the SA to tell the tech to be careful. Upon picking up the car the SA had me inspect the car to make sure no damage was done...well they used a freaking screwdriver and damaged it on both sides of the lid. Before I could even say a word the SA got the manager right away. Manager took 2 seconds inspecting the damage and immediately said they will take care of it and apologized. The repair was done well and I can't complain with the professionalism that both the SA and manager had.

[335dFan]

At the risk of seeming naive, I don't get it. Even for a ham-fisted guy like me who can screw up the simplest item, how hard can it be to use your finger to depress the cover on the left side. It just pops out. I've done it myself. Of course it helped that the selling dealer had his service guy show me how to open it.

[Quasimodem]

Maybe put a giant vinyl yellow arrow with "Press Here" pointing to the left side of the plug. And another on the right side which says "Pops Up" and then on the bottom of the plug another sticker which says "Do Not Pry". Like they do on military aircraft.

[JDG]

Originally Posted by 335dFan

At the risk of seeming naive, I don't get it. Even for a ham-fisted guy like me who can screw up the simplest item, how hard can it be to use your finger to depress the cover on the last side. It just pops out. I've done it myself. Of course it helped that the selling dealer had his service guy show me how to open it.

Some people do not know how to this operation and the plastic is surprisingly soft. Most people's basic instinct is to try to pop it open with some tool, aka the screw driver.

[Quasimodem]

Originally Posted by 335dFan

At the risk of seeming naive, I don't get it. Even for a ham-fisted guy like me who can screw up the simplest item, how hard can it be to use your finger to depress the cover on the last side. It just pops out. I've done it myself. Of course it helped that the selling dealer had his service guy show me how to open it.

It is not that simple on my car. I have seen people say this before and I just dont get it. I press the lid in on the left side until it hits something in the inside of it and the right side of the lid will not pop out. I have always had to use some tool to pry the lid apart from the bumper cover on the right side. If I press the left side any harder, I suspect the only thing I will do is to break the hinge plastic piece on the top and bottom of the lid.

[335dFan]

Originally Posted by Quasimodem

Maybe put a giant vinyl yellow arrow with "Press Here" pointing to the left side of the plug. And another on the right side which says "Pops Up" and then on the bottom of the plug another sticker which says "Do Not Pry". Like they do on military aircraft.

+1 So far I have been lucky at two DEF refills at the same dealer in the Wash DC Metro area.

[geko29]

Originally Posted by Quasimodem

It is not that simple on my car. I have seen people say this before and I just dont get it. I press the lid in on the left side until it hits something in the inside of it and the right side of the lid will not pop out. I have always had to use some tool to pry the lid apart from the bumper cover on the right side. If I press the left side any harder, I suspect the only thing I will do is to break the hinge plastic piece on the top and bottom of the lid.

I was starting to think this was very odd, but I just went and tried it. I've opened it 3-4 times before with no issue, but right now my experience is identical to yours. I don't know if it just got stuck over time from road grime and salt, or if it currently being -10F has something to do with it. I'll try again when it's not so bloody cold and see if it improves. If not I might have to keep a spudger handy the next time I take it in for service.

Seems like the fix would be to put some sort of reinforcing rib behind the panel, since it's apparently easier to flex the panel than to release the clip.

[floydarogers]

I'm embarrassed to say that I screwed up mine with a screw-driver when I refilled mine a couple months ago. Wouldn't open and got mad.

Road grime seems to be the fault in my case.

[Quasimodem]

Originally Posted by floydarogers

I'm embarrassed to say that I screwed up mine with a screw-driver when I refilled mine a couple months ago. Wouldn't open and got mad.

Road grime seems to be the fault in my case.

Come to think of it, might try spraying some WD-40 while pushing in a bit on the right side of the lid (between the edge of the lid and the bumper cover) before trying to take it off might work.

The lid has to stay on pretty securely, otherwise we would all be complaining about losing the lids on the road, or at least having to put them back on again because they are found hanging by their plastic tie-ons.

There is a flat plastic lip on the right hand side that has to pop out, a little lubricant like WD-40 might do the trick. But WD-40 is a solvent too, so if you try that, make sure you wipe it all off afterward.