Car Wash Problem yesterday.

daisyplant

:eek: I brought my car to the carwash yesterday and during the wash I noticed that it was taking a very long time at the back of the car. The two side washers probably spent a minimum of 3 to 4 minutes on the area of the two back wheels. This morning I notice a distinct difference in colour on both sides of the car in this area as if the paint has been taken off by the brushes. The car is metalic black and these areas are quite dull and scraped looking. I called the garage this morning but the manager wont be there until tomorrow. Can anyone advise as to what I should do as the car will probably need a respray. Thanks.

Saruman

Not sure anything. You use these things at your own risk. I know they will do nothing for broken mirros or aerials etc.

mike65

NEVER use a drive-through car scraper er wash, only use hand-held equipment and preferably do it yourself.

Mike.

Duff

mike65 wrote:

NEVER use a drive-through car scraper er wash, only use hand-held equipment and preferably do it yourself.

Mike.

I concur!

daisyplant

Are they not obliged to fix the damage the car wash caused to my car, even if the car wash was faulty at the time? Surely this cant be the case?

jame5_b

a few weeks ago i brought my yaris through one of them car washes and it took my rear wiper straight off. i went in to the garage but the manager wasn't there. the next day i went to toyota to get a new one and it was €80.:eek:

got them to make out a quote and i brought it back to the garage and the manager paid me out the money straight from the till after i filled out a claim form. that was the first and last time i ever used one of them washers.

Rowley Birkin QC

Yeah I avoid these things if at all possible. Pretty hard to find a proper (pressure washer) system in dublin though.

Only shell tiger washes around here for the work shy city-boys!!:rolleyes:

cyrusdvirus

The texaco on the N4 in Lucan, lads there do a good job

Green_Martian

mike65 wrote:

NEVER use a drive-through car scraper er wash, only use hand-held equipment and preferably do it yourself.

Mike.

Agree 100%, i bought my own pressure washer unit and do my car myself in the driveway. I never trusted the car washes after it took the aerial off my old car.........:p

Esel

mike65 wrote:

NEVER use a drive-through car scraper er wash, only use hand-held equipment and preferably do it yourself.

Mike.

Apart from the American-style 'rag' wash in Omni, Santry!

DonJose

My local garage has a huge disclaimer that they are not responsible for any damage caused, most car washes will have this disclaimer. The manager will most likely point this out.

overdriver

bigkev49 wrote:

Yeah I avoid these things if at all possible. Pretty hard to find a proper (pressure washer) system in dublin though.

Only shell tiger washes around here for the work shy city-boys!!:rolleyes:

B&Q pressure washer, 38 euro!

Alun

DonJose wrote:

My local garage has a huge disclaimer that they are not responsible for any damage caused, most car washes will have this disclaimer. The manager will most likely point this out.

Don't quote me on this (might be better to go over to the Legal forum) but I don't think these disclaimers are worth the paper they're printed on. If the equipment is faulty in some way and damages your property then they're liable in law, and no disclaimer can absolve them of that responsibility.

PauloMN

pheadbeaumont wrote:

edit: spam removed

Is that the only thing you are going to post on this forum?

Seth Brundle

It is because I have banned them!

colm_mcm

The American style wash in Santry always seems to be out of order though.

ZiabR

mike65 wrote:

NEVER use a drive-through car scraper er wash, only use hand-held equipment and preferably do it yourself.

Mike.

Agreed, you will never be fully happy with the way your car looks unless you do it yourself.

rebel.ranter

Alun wrote:

Don't quote me on this (might be better to go over to the Legal forum) but I don't think these disclaimers are worth the paper they're printed on. If the equipment is faulty in some way and damages your property then they're liable in law, and no disclaimer can absolve them of that responsibility.

A lot of places put these type of signs up to deter people from enquiring when this type of damage occurs. Our car park here in work (we lease spaces) had a similar sign up about cars being parked at your own risk. My car got damaged one day & I went to the manager of the complex and he spouted this line. I mentioned that I didn't really want ot get a solicitor involved but would take it all the way until it was resolved. He changed his tune after that.

Terrontress

The other issue is where the sign is.

You have paid for the car wash inside the garage and therefore made the agreement there. A sign on the carwash itself is meaningless.

astraboy

I would recommend you try buffing out the scratches first if they are not too deep, if the lacquer, or clear coat on top of the paint is still intact you can use certain products to remove the blemishes and return the shine. Go to a motor factors and they should have various scratch remover products, buy some car shampoo and wax/polist as well. Try washing the car(by hand, using products like auto glym etc), then dry it and use the scratch remover stuff as directed. Usually it will be like waxing the car, put the liquid on the area, and buff it until the scratch starts to disappear(for want of a better word). Regular car Polish may also work if the scratches are not too deep and you put some elbow grease into it! Finally, wax the car to give it a some protection and keep it looking fine in the sunshine!

I hope that helps OP, I don't want you to spend money on a respray unless you need it. Most repair places will prob charge you and arm and a leg for a respray and if you can fix the damage for less the E30 of products and a few hours why not. If you want, post up some pictures of the damage and we may be able to see how deep the damage goes.

G Luxel

I have my present car for the two years and I have only washed it with a bucket of water and a sponge. When I get the car serviced, I insist that it is not washed, just returned to me as is. In the last few weeks I saw a sign at one garage which read '' This car wash does not wash any Citroen C4s".

gobby

bigkev49 wrote:

Yeah I avoid these things if at all possible. Pretty hard to find a proper (pressure washer) system in dublin though.

Only shell tiger washes around here for the work shy city-boys!!:rolleyes:

Celbridge has two garages with the proper power washers.

The maxol will also wash the car for you. Damn fine job they do there too. Well, they did when I worked there anyways

gobby

astraboy wrote:

I would recommend you try buffing out the scratches first if they are not too deep, if the lacquer, or clear coat on top of the paint is still intact you can use certain products to remove the blemishes and return the shine. Go to a motor factors and they should have various scratch remover products, buy some car shampoo and wax/polist as well. Try washing the car(by hand, using products like auto glym etc), then dry it and use the scratch remover stuff as directed. Usually it will be like waxing the car, put the liquid on the area, and buff it until the scratch starts to disappear(for want of a better word). Regular car Polish may also work if the scratches are not too deep and you put some elbow grease into it! Finally, wax the car to give it a some protection and keep it looking fine in the sunshine!

I hope that helps OP, I don't want you to spend money on a respray unless you need it. Most repair places will prob charge you and arm and a leg for a respray and if you can fix the damage for less the E30 of products and a few hours why not. If you want, post up some pictures of the damage and we may be able to see how deep the damage goes.

Carefull with any scratch remover. Most of them are abrasive and work by removing a thin layer of clearcoat. You can get some compound waxes that are designed to "fill in" the scratches but they are far from perfect and often require regular re-application

This link is to an article about removing swirls which are small scratchs.

Also mentioned was that a different colour was revealed on the car. Worse case scenario here is that the clearcoat and an outer layer of paint have been scratched off. This would require a repray. Could the OP post a picture of the car showing the unaffected areas and the affected ones?

wyndham

I saw last week that there is a carwash inside the Irish life Shopping Mall Carpark where they do it by hand. Think it's a service for people who would be parking in there for the day anyway. Don't know about price etc.
It is hard to find a jetwash these days in Dublin. There used to be a good one in the Shell Garage beside the Tara Towers hotel, but the site was sold last year. Cars would be queued up of a Sunday for it.