Forums Forums Enthusiast Forums A - Z Autowirral Warning to all car owners : Jet Wash Damage

hi, i dont know if this is the correct section. I want to warn all car owners not to use the jet wash at the bp/snax24 petrol station. The reason being a 3pound wash i paid to wash my car has left it leaving a rather expensive total respray of my whole vehicle. I used there soft brush to give the car a good wash which transfered some sort of paint all over my car, i only noticed when i used the lance to jet the soap away that the brush had basically painted my car. I informed the cashier who claimed he was not the manager and kindly told me it was my fault and i hadnt cleaned the car properly. Eventually he came to look at the soft brush and the jet wash and agreed that the brush had infact transfered the paint to my car and assured me that the manager would be in touch with me in the morning to resolve the matter. The next day i had no phone call so i went down there to be told again by the same person that the manager wasnt in but again he would be intouch in the morning. The next day i got a phone call from the manager asking me to call down to resolve the matter, which i did. When i got there the same cashier then told me infact he was the manager and told me the equipment had been tested and there was no way that the paint came from there it must of been there before i cleaned my car? He then handed me a complaint form and said if am not happy fill it in. I emailed headoffice with photo evidence of the brush and the damage to be told by them that i used the jet wash at my own risk and i should claim of my insurance for a repaint of the car.

I never thought a £3 wash could cost me a respray but it looks like its going to. Its either that or my car stays full of paint that stands out a mile and will make it almost worthless to sell on.

I hope this stops others going through the same.

all car washes state on a sign, (Use at own risk)
However I do not think that is legally binding, so do pursue the matter.

I think they'll probably stand on the "reasonable care" defence, they can't possibly check the car wash after every use so as long as they can prove it is checked regularly, that there were no complaints before you, and that they closed it after you, they'll probably get away with it.

I had something similar with an automated wash many years ago when it decided to eat both of my wing mirrors, I did the usual complaint, and received the standard reply of use at own risk. I insisted they check the machine to which they phoned me later that day to say that they had and there was no problem with it.

Luckily I knew someone who worked there and they mentioned in passing that a funny thing had happened and that it had torn off the area managers wing mirrors, so the next day I called them, told them what I knew, not where from, and that they had attempted to evade their liability by deception, namely by stating that when they had checked it they said it was fine when they knew it wasn't, I got the cheque in the next post.

The part you might want to push is why the manager lied to you and denied he was the manager and what did his delaying tactic achieve, tell them that you'll pursue it through the small claims court including their inherent dishonesty and let a judge make up his mind who is responsible, you might find this gives them the incentive they need.

Notice or no notice, it's irrelevant, if you can prove their car wash damaged your car, they are liable.

Don't expect the owners to hold their hands up and submit quietly to a claim because that sets them up for any future claims or presidents,-----and that will never do.

You are going to have to do the leg work and IMO the first thing you are going to have to do is prove you used the car wash on the day your car got damaged. (

Don't get tied up in people not excepting responsibility at the garage and don't expect them to back your claim of damage done, in other words you showed them.

It may add a little weight but only after all the other .s & Xs have been taken care of.

Proof, decent Photos, Correspondence, an independent report would go down very well and include two or three estimates, then either Media or small claims court.

If you can not show/prove the car wash is responsible, forget Court, go for media coverage IMO


Do you have the slip that you was given with the code for the car wash, this should be sufficient as proof of purchase/use?

Surely their log on the car wash would show that code being entered and used... Well, i'd have thought so.

Worth mentioning in the letter about potential media coverage and/or legal action?

Good Luck

Try contacting your local trading standards office...they may be able to advise you.

I'm pretty sure that any business is legally obliged to have a notice or sign stating its registered office address and that is where you should write to/serve notice to.

Use the county court, you can download the forms and it costs very little money. you do have to give due warning in writing before sending the claim to court. most large businesses just cough up on reciept of the summons unless the claim is totally riduculous because it will cost them more to defend it than to pay and the chances are it wouldn't ever get to court.

Info on claiming Clicky

Download forms Clicky

You've got my sympathy mate but why not use the hand car washes that are available now? Saw damage years ago from automated and would rather do my own sponge off than use them again.

i all wys use this car wash and i have no problems there i think its good i get the gold £4 one hope it was a one off not sure if i want too go there agaian now yhats for letting people know

Wouldn't use the automated as they have same problem, grit collects on bristles and transfer to your lacquer, giving your paint job a lovely brillo'd finish, same with jet wash wax wands, basically wrecks the paint.

Best hand washing with a clean grit free sponge IMO and treating with a wax to retain the showroom shine

If going down county/small claims court, check your insurances, mortgage, bank account benefits and any union memberships to see if you are entitled to free legal advice/representation.

Unless it's eaten away at the lacquer, try a cutting compound such as t-cut (plus a decent detailing wax for afterwards). If you've resigned yourself to a respray anyway, you've not much to lose.

However, sounds like vandalism of the equipment rather than malicious intent by the owners of the garage. The difficulty is proving the staff were negligant. With the length of time now past any unscrupulous manager will have had the the staff on duty fraudulently fill out any sort of equipment "sign off" sheets as though nothing was wrong (and you won't be able to prove this is the case unless you got said sheets at the time of the incident).

If you are fully comp, get some quotes and compare to the excess on your car insurance.

I didnt realise you got a paint job at a Jet wash!

The chances are that your paintwork still is recoverable and may NOT need a re-spray after all.

Have you tried to remove any of the paint with Acetone or Cellulose thinners using a soft cloth?
If your car paintwork is a factory finish you are highly unlikely to damage the original existing paint finish but the solvent almost certainly will remove the offending paint.

PB

Nobody washes my cars apart from me

That includes those american car wash places, 1st and last time i went to one i told them NOT to put TFR on my paintwork nor spraywax and they did so never again, best to do it yourself.

You should only use a sponge after jetwashing the excess dirt off 1st.

Never use the automated systems as they will wreck your paintwork.

I've used the Arc for years, never had a problem. Shame they shut the Campbletown Road site down.

If it's a nice day I'll handwash it and use meguiars, but generally the 1.50 (sometimes 99p lol) or the 2.20 wash at the Arc will do lol.

Motorway driving for work = it's only going to get rotten within a few hours anyway!!

I used the arc in brom a few years back, the lad somehow snapped his squeegie think on the boot and left a nice 20" scrath across my boot. I noticed this when I got home so I went back, showed the manager, filled out an accident/damage form and within a week there was a cheque for £250 to get it fixed.

I also used a hand car wash on borough road and the guy using the sponge didnt realise there were stones on it and left lots of hairline scratches all over the rear quarter. I again had a moan but it got me no where.

Some times youwin, sometimes you dont.