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Need Help, Car Wash Damaged Wheel..Course of Action

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Old 07-15-2006, 03:00 PM
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SOCAL350
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Default Need Help, Car Wash Damaged Wheel..Course of Action

I need some help from all my Z friends here on the board. Its really unfortunate that this has happedned but it has and now I need to deal with it.

I took the Z in to be detailed this morning at a place called Royal Car wash in Pasadena. Ive been going there for years and have Never had an issue before today. I took my Z in to be detailed this morning and upon recieving it back and taking it two blocks home I notice that something they used took the clear coat off the wheel. The picture ive posted is the worst of them but they are all damaged. You can see in the picture that the water after the wash was able to create a drip mark through the chemical and that part was not damaged.

I placed a call as soon as I saw it to the place when I saw the damage. Me and another board memeber at that point went down there to see what could be done. They wanted to see if they could work on it so I gave them the chance. I returned 3 hours later to find they have loaded the polish on but nothing visually has changed. He said the owner was out and he would talk to him about what more could be done to get them fixed. I honestly dont expect them to do anything.............so this is where I need peoples advise.

Questions like........what will it cost to refinish and where? What kind of legal recourse should I be getting ready for and where do I get started. Im hoping this thread is read by some people who have dealt with this issue. Thanks ahead of time for you advise.

Jeff

Old 07-15-2006, 03:04 PM
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BhashaZ
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Well, you can wait to hear from the owner first, but after that, you may want to try a clay bar and then follow up with some Wheel Wax. I don't think it'll help, but it's worth a shot!
Old 07-15-2006, 03:07 PM
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Ed 718
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Screw that make them pay but why would you trust someone else putting unknown chemicals on your Z ( Don't take this post as a flame ) ...I never trust a car wash place using the same dirty rags on other cars on my car. I have NEVER EVER taken my Z to the local wash or else they would add swirls for days on it...
Old 07-15-2006, 03:08 PM
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rythex
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They probably used an acid based wheel cleaner that removed the clearcoat. They probably thought the lip wasn't clearcoated and just polished and f'kt it up
Old 07-15-2006, 03:11 PM
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ZU L8R
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Originally Posted by rythex
They probably used an acid based wheel cleaner that removed the clearcoat. They probably thought the lip wasn't clearcoated and just polished and f'kt it up
+1 Only thing to do now is have the wheel taken apart, stripped and repolished.
Old 07-15-2006, 03:11 PM
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Nexx
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Originally Posted by rythex
They probably used an acid based wheel cleaner that removed the clearcoat. They probably thought the lip wasn't clearcoated and just polished and f'kt it up
+1, wow, thats terrible, never let anyone else wash your car especially with these high maintainence wheels we are using. about the only thing left to do is have the lips either repolished and have all the clear coat removed or chrome the lips. I say have the lips chromed, maintaining polished lips sux ***.
Old 07-15-2006, 03:12 PM
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SOCAL350
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Originally Posted by Ed 718
Screw that make them pay but why would you trust someone else putting unknown chemicals on your Z ( Don't take this post as a flame ) ...I never trust a car wash place using the same dirty rags on other cars on my car. I have NEVER EVER taken my Z to the local wash or else they would add swirls for days on it...

Ed believe me hind sight is 20/20. Im just trying to fix an issue at this point.
Old 07-15-2006, 03:13 PM
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B-Unit
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yep they used an acid based cleaner. its ok to use that stuff on chrome but the polished 2 pc rims with clearcoats get jacked with em. i dont think u can fix other than get the lips re-polished/re-chromed. or get a new rim. either way u should go back to the place in person and MAKE them pay for what its going to cost to repair them. its absolutely unacceptable that a detail place not know how to clean the types of rims that are so common on todays cars.

-B-
Old 07-15-2006, 03:17 PM
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SOCAL350
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So the BBB has six compaints on them so its looking like I will not get a chance to settle with these guys.

Anyone want to guess at what its going to cost to break the wheels down and either chrome it or sand it and clear coat it?
Old 07-15-2006, 04:51 PM
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some guy did it a while ago with his volks. i think it was like 150 a wheel or so.

-B-
Old 07-15-2006, 04:53 PM
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Wendy
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I hope the owner pays for that damage.
Old 07-15-2006, 05:55 PM
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Ed 718
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Hey SoCal I think Albert ( farenheit ) did his so maybe contact him about that...good luck but hopefully those bozo's will take responsibility...
Old 07-15-2006, 05:57 PM
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zand02max
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This is why I wash my own cars! I would never let someone else touch my expensive Volks, Never! Def is some type of wheel spray cleaner!
Old 07-15-2006, 06:00 PM
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SOCAL350
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Ok ive established I should have washed my own wheels.......I need real advise here so please..........dont post if you dont have any, find another thread to bump your post count.

Thanks Ed I will look him up.
Old 07-15-2006, 06:04 PM
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zand02max
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Originally Posted by SOCAL350
Ok ive established I should have washed my own wheels.......I need real advise here so please..........dont post if you dont have any, find another thread to bump your post count.

Thanks Ed I will look him up.


Sorry about that, but hope you learned your lesson, GL fixing your damaged wheels! Best course of action is to be nice to the owner!
Old 07-15-2006, 06:15 PM
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I had a friend who took his car "to the car wash" (indian guy from van wilder voice lol) and they ran his car into another cars bumper on the track, cracked it, and they paid for everything to get it fixed, without hassles. I believe these places have insurance policies for mishappenings like these. So hopefully this post gives you some hope, however not really sure if every place is the same.
Old 07-15-2006, 06:29 PM
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JasiJ
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Hey SOCAL350
I had the same thing happen to me (see thread below)
https://my350z.com/forum/wheels-and-tires/202635-help-white-haze-on-rims.html
The ONLY thing that has helped, but not fixed the issue, was Wheel Wax, and trust me I have tried them all, Mothers, Eagle 1, Turtle wax, etc. The ONLY thing I have not tried and PIAA recomended was NXT All Metal Polish (which is on order http://www.meguiars.com/?wheel-care/...l-Metal-Polysh)

BUT I do not have my hopes up. I would recomend finding a quality repolish place and have them redone as that is what I am going to do UNLESS the NXT fixes them, I hope! Good luck. I'll post when I get the NXT and let you know if that fixes mine.
Old 07-15-2006, 07:23 PM
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BhashaZ
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Here's more info:

https://my350z.com/forum/showpost.ph...95&postcount=6

(from original thread: https://my350z.com/forum/cleaning-and-detailing/180803-polishing-rims.html)
Old 07-15-2006, 07:23 PM
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Originally Posted by SOCAL350
So the BBB has six compaints on them so its looking like I will not get a chance to settle with these guys.

Anyone want to guess at what its going to cost to break the wheels down and either chrome it or sand it and clear coat it?
there is a membe her named VOLKZ33 or somthing like that he is form LA but he works for volk ask him
Old 07-18-2006, 08:58 AM
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You have REALLY got to stick it to the car wash. The SOONER THE BETTER.

Plus, I hope you kept a receipt or at least paid with credit card, the car wash may try to deny that you were even there.

Get a lawyer to write a letter ASAP, include pictures of the damage and show the receipt for your wheels.

A car wash damaged my mom's power seats before, and they basically did what I said -- tried to deny that she ever was at the car wash, but she had a receipt proving it. Then once our friend (attorney) wrote a letter, we were paid ASAP.


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