damage caused by garage

blacksmith105

took my car to local garage to have the brakes done and all ok , went to collect it and they had powerwashed it as part of the service .
However in doing so they blasted a chuck of paint from the rear bumper , did not notice it until yesterday and brought the car back . They looked at it and said that there was no primer under the top coat and thats why the paint came away ... ie trying to bs me and not there problem .
I told me that the car was damaged on their premises and i never asked them to powerwash the car therefore they are responsible for getting the bumper resprayed ...
They told me to go and get a quote for the respray and come back to them .. respray will poss be around 150-200
Am i right in saying that they will have to pay for the respray in full ..

S Line

They were doing wash as part of their customer service (not all garages do!!) it sounds like there might have been a sub-standard repair and respray done on the bumper. Factory paint work and quality crash repair paint work should stand up to a power wash.
If it is factory paint and the car is under warranty try a main dealer. They would have to accept that power washing factory paint shouldn’t cause it to peel
If the bumper was resprayed by a crash repair garage.
If you went proper crash repair garage as in a place with a proper premises and who charge VAT, they should offer a warranty with their work.
If you went to a ‘hole in the wall’ place where the bloke works out of a shed and ‘will do it cheap for cash’ - well you get what you paid for – T.S.!!!!
I’m sure there was no malice involved and perhaps the man with the power wash should have had quick look at the paint work before washing it and worked around the loose paint-work. However as you correctly state you didn’t ask for the wash – however I’m sure you will admit up until you saw the damaged paint you accepted the wash gratis??
I would suggest a fair solution would maybe be 50/50 payment for the respray.
I would also suggest that if your car is just transport to you – that you are not an automotive enthusiast who washes their car every Sunday with toothbrushes and a fresh sponge that maybe you could get a the mark touched up with an art brush and drop of paint. Done neatly and provided you don’t bring out the magnifying glass it could be quite acceptable

VinnyTGM

Depends what sort of pressure washer they were using, if they were washing it with hot water and went to close to the paint, it could peel.

S Line

Well I’d guess that most garages would have a middle of the road power wash (not some big diesel powered yoke that can remove chewing gum from pavements!!), one good enough to throw a few suds over the car to give a quick wash.
They weren’t being paid to valet the car, so I would guess the power wash bloke wasn’t up close and personal trying to wash the car to show standard (I’m sure his gaffer doesn’t want to be paying his men for unbilled half hours spent valeting cars)

kildare.17hmr

S Line wrote: »

Well I’d guess that most garages would have a middle of the road power wash (not some big diesel powered yoke that can remove chewing gum from pavements!!), one good enough to throw a few suds over the car to give a quick wash.
They weren’t being paid to valet the car, so I would guess the power wash bloke wasn’t up close and personal trying to wash the car to show standard (I’m sure his gaffer doesn’t want to be paying his men for unbilled half hours spent valeting cars)

Thats exactly what most garages would have, its what we have and every other garage around that sells, services and valets cars

S Line

Whatever about equipment the point still stands. If the power-wash man used normal force when washing the car – it’s probably faulty paintwork.
If he was acting like a frustrated valeter and thought he was preparing the car to show at this week’s Top Gear Festival he might have been too vigorous/enthusiastic . However as I am also familiar with the garage trade, I would not tolerate lads spending too much effort on courtesy washes. A quick wash and on to the next paying job !!!!
Factory paintwork and quality crash repair paint work should be able to resist damage from reasonable use of a power wash.

sean1141

op maybe the car was damaged and resprayed before you took ownership of it?? if it was a bad respray you would be aswell to get it repaired right if you are fussy.. as said above maybe a touch up would be ok if your not to bothered...
in some garages they might have a young lad who washes the car after the work is done and sometimes the guy doing the work washes it.. if they were anyway busy it probaly only got a quick wash

Bandara

I've come across this a good few times over the years (I have carwashes etc)

EVERY single time the car had been resprayed touched up previously to a poor standard.

simply put no matter what power the jetwash (even the high end concentrated stream ones) they will NEVER ever even get close to being able to remove paint from a car unless the paint has not been sealed, has been poorly resprayed or the panel etc has a crease in the paint work which has caused it to bubble/ripple already

If the section of the car in question has previously been resprayed/otherwise compromised from the way it left the factory then its not their fault, but if in the HUGELY unlikely event is a perfectly painted panel then it is.

Why don't you go back their and use the powerwash yourself on the opposite side of the car, I promise you there is no way in hell you will manage to move the paintwork on a normal paintjob, you can spray it for days and it won't budge.

I have a 5000psi rated jetwash (which is about double the normal) and its never damaged paint in 6 years of washing about 30 cars a day.