sry110

iTrader: (17)

If you are unsuccessful with getting the owner to cooperate or even with a lawyer, at least you could go over there and make a scene in front of other customers so that maybe it will negatively affect his business. You might not gain from it, but maybe others in the future will not lose. Fight fire with fire I say, if it comes to that.

There is also reporting him to the BBB, but you would have to check if there are any disclaimers in place that protect his business from this type of incident.

jtabraham

iTrader: (46)

I'll never understand why people are so litigation-happy. Nissan paint is known to scratch extremely easily. You took it to hand car wash and let strangers wash your car. All it takes is a small piece of debris in their wash mitt or brush to cause the scratching...not like they're doing it intentionally.

Just take it as a lesson learned, and don't go there again.

The Brickyard Rat

iTrader: (1)

Get an estimate to fix and offer to split bill with carwash. There is not enough here for a lawyer who will charge more than cost of fixing.

toy4two

you would be surprised, I've talked to car wash owners / managers and they have money set aside for things like this, actually the biggest thing is ripping rear wipers off SUVs. Should not even have to go to court, just ask if he could help you out.

Oh, and don't take your Z to a carwash, do it yourself in one of those $2.00 car wash stalls.

Risky_Business

iTrader: (4)

I wash my Z myself by importing Evian by the case, using an industrial blow torch to generate some super misty vapors, mix those with tears of baby lambs and then use a dropper over each and every square inch of the body...but hey...that's me.

Sorry to hear about this. It is recoverable. G to the L.

trains1937

Hope you have learned to not take your car to a car wash, hand or no hand. I asked about this from the board members when I first got the Z and the overwhelming opinion was "Don't take your car to to a carwash." Its bad enough thinking about how they could damage the exterior but think of what they might do as they climb around in the interior. Gross.

flintgauge

scratch and wash FTL! never never never, never, take your car anywhere that you don't wash it yourself! No one else cares about your car but you.

C4talyst

Damn, I feel for you man. This happened to me too, took my car to a hand wash place and they used dirty water, ended up with several scratches on the rear quarter panel. My car was a 2000 Jetta though with over 100k miles and I decided not to push it.

In your case I'd start with a letter to the carwash owners. If you want to attempt legal action in the future documented communications will be necessary. Send them a letter and see how they respond. They will likely offer to attempt to repair it for you, using the cheapest route possible.

You can also file a complaint with the better business bureau and perhaps with your state's corporation commission. Could you find out who their insurance company is and file a claim? Also do you have any witnesses you could use? Small claims court without an attorney may be an option.

If all else fails, you could drive by and shoot the place up.

Overlord#1

iTrader: (1)

I like the quote in the sig. Ha.

OZZMAN

i took the car back to the carwash so they can "examine" the scratches and the guy goes on and on about how they get 25000 cars a month and that scratches are very very rare .... Anyway he ended up putting some sort of polish or wax on the car and it didn’t do much so he referred me to another auto detailing shop to try to buff it out......Another thing mentioned True or False IDK? He said that the whole car doesn’t need to be buffed and that I shouldn’t look forward to buffing the whole car because it will cause little swirls in the paint no matter what WTF?

Peak350

iTrader: (6)

If you take your time, move from abrasive to smooth, and use a SERIES of pads on a good high speed buffer, no swirls will be noticable. Paint is never perfect, its always got micro swirls, but detail shops at those places usually blow. I worked at one for a while.....I don't take my car to places like that because of it.

Ichigo

iTrader: (6)

You have no direct proof that the car wash caused the scratches. You can go make a scene but that will more than likely only get you in trouble with the local authorities. Im not taking the car washes side by any stretch, but these are the facts you are up against.

The only way you would have any chance in getting them to pay for anything is if you had a statement from a body shop stating that there were no scratches on the affected areas prior to sending your car through the wash, and another statement from a body shop after the car came out of the wash with the scratches. Of course that inspection would have had to take place before you left the car wash because you could incur that damage while driving from the car wash to the body shop.

Video would have been easier but it doesnt sound like you had your camera handy.

It will cost you twice as much to try and force that establishment to pay for the damages. Chalk it up as a learning experience and move on. Then get yourself a california car duster

crazydelicious

iTrader: (5)

Putting up the sign doesn't absolve them from being legally liable for causing damage to a vehicle. However, I do agree it will be extremely difficult to prove THEY caused it. Your best hope is the owner realizes you were a repeat customer and values that. Good luck.

I am with Z

are they really that bad? you make it sound like your car got keyed. or are they surface scratches

Chef-J

iTrader: (58)

my boss's truck...

he told me to take it to car wash and get steam vacumeee...and i did...
come back...
was **cked up...dent rear bumper...got big scratch on side...T T

Chef-J

iTrader: (58)

+1

OZZMAN

i can feel the scratches if i run my finger across it...

High Octane

Pretty much exactly what I was going to write. Good advice.

thrill350z

iTrader: (1)

keep going there and bitchy. Squeaky wheel gets the grease.

SOCAL350

iTrader: (11)

So last year a car wash damaged my Volks to the tune of 1000 to polish them out. Owner denied and denied doing the damage.

I filed two weeks after the damage in small claims here in california. A month later the owner of the car was showed and called me a few choice names in front of the judge. After showing tons of pictures and explaining the cost and structure of the wheel the judge gave me a $1400 dollar judgement. As great as it was to win that does not mean the car was has to pay. The Car Wash then filled to make payments to me on that for 5 years. Another month passes, after going back to court and a no show by the car wash the judge closed the case for good. Three months after that I finally got a check after I threatened a Till Tap from a sheriffs office.

What I now know: Wash your own freakin car. That 5 to 6 months just sucked.....Im just glad it had a happy ending.

Good Luck!