‘Tis the season! One family learned the hard way that bringing your children to purchase a new car at the local Audi dealership isn’t always a great idea. This brand-new Audi Q8 was damaged while someone wasn’t paying attention, and it was an expensive mistake. Did you know that if a vehicle has to be repainted, it technically is not new anymore? Who knew?

How did this Audi Q8 get damaged?

According to a local news station, 7 News, the parents of a young child were left with a hefty bill after a trip to a dealership. The couple brought the child to the local Audi dealership while picking out a car. It is no secret this can be a tedious task. The young child happened upon a rock on the ground and decided to partake in some arts and crafts – on the side of the Audi SUV.

A brand-new Audi Q8 was the first victim. The child took a rock and drew into the side of the Q8 SUV before moving on to another car. The dealership found a Q3 later with a flower drawing on the door’s side. The Audi Q8 has a base price of around $70,000, so the paint job isn’t cheap. The news reports didn’t detail the other damaged vehicles, but it says 10 total cars needed repainting. While little kids are not big, these youngsters work fast.

A repainted Audi Q8 is technically no longer a new car

Did you know that a dealership cannot sell a vehicle as new if it has been repainted? This was news to the children’s parents as well. Since the vehicle was repainted after the arts and crafts, it technically is no longer a new car. If the dealership were to sell the car as new and the owner discovered the repairs, it could be sued for false advertising.

In the same vein, a used Audi Q8 or Q3 holds a much smaller value than a new one. That drastically reduces the amount the dealership can get for these cars. On top of that, the dealership has to repaint the vehicles before that can happen.

The Audi dealership sued the family for just under $30,000 in damages. The couple rejected that amount and eventually settled in court to pay around $10,000 for the damaged Audi Q8 and Q3 SUVs.

This is an easy lesson to learn from afar

Perhaps bringing a child to a car dealership isn’t the best idea. Children get bored quickly, and purchasing a vehicle isn’t quick. It isn’t clear if this used/new car policy was specific to this dealership or just bad luck for the parents, but it is still a lesson learned.

The paint on luxury vehicles like Audis tend to have multiple layers and higher-end materials involved. This situation might have been a cheaper lesson if the family was hitting a Toyota dealership, but that was not the case here. Perhaps the kid has a future in art cars.