I had a brand new car – factory new – no damage – no scratches – just brand new. Unfortunately I decided to take it  to a car wash. The R….l  P…m Car Wash had the amazing deal of a $5 car wash… now I know why. As I already  stated, the car was brand new. After paying my $5 for the car wash and going through the tunnel I was “quite  surprised” to see a long scratch on the roof of my new car.
I confronted the owner of the carwash Martin E. He checked the video and I received a written report from R…. P..m Car Wash that there was no evidence of a scratch before entering the car wash. I was told that Martin E. knows  somebody who could do something like a touch up if that would be ok. A brand new $35k car and asking me if I  would be ok with a touch up made by a friend who knows somebody who has a friend … I denied that and went to my  car dealer. They estimated the damage to $500. After faxing the estimate to R…l P..m Car Wash they suddenly  denied all responsibility and liability.
They pretty much told me that I did the scratch myself. Right – as there was no damage before the tunnel – I must  wash, climbed on my roof, made a nice long scratch into my paint,  jumped back in the car, dried my self up, changed the wet clothing against the exact clothing I stored in the back of  the car, and went then to the owner to show him the scratch and ask him to get it fixed. Right, that is the way I like to spent my off time. Again, there was no evidence of a scratch before I entered the tunnel. And yes I do have a written  report of R…l P..m Car Wash

Long ago, when I was in college, I worked Saturdays at a local car wash. To give you an idea of how long ago it was,  the price of a full-service, exterior and interior cleaning was only two dollars. I worked with the exterior finish-up crew,  doing the final touch-up cleaning and drying by hand. As a grand finale´, we would open the driver’s side door for  the customer to get in and cruise off. Most did with a smile on their face – happy to leave with a shiny car (and,  hopefully, a tip for us workers). Some paused to check our work before getting in. Most of these inspectors were 
very satisfied since we had a good finish-up crew. A few would complain loudly that the car wasn’t really clean. Most of these people were driving beat-up cars which hadn’t seen soap and water in months. Or years. They were  expecting and demanding a miracle.
One of the benefits of my minimum-wage job was that I didn’t have to explain or argue. I simply called the line boss  whose job it was to deal with complaints. Usually he would patiently explain that a simple car wash could remove dirt but couldn’t restore the shine on a dull, weathered surface. Only a compounding and waxing could do that. If the  customer didn’t accept this, the line boss would call for the owner.
Our car wash owner was a short man in his ’50s with thick glasses and a dour disposition. Invariably, he would walk  up to the complaining customer, look him up and down as the owner’s face turned an apoplectic, beet-red. Then the owner would scream at the top of his lungs, “Waddaya want – a $25 Simoniz job for two bucks?! Now – get outta here and don’t come back!” If the customer threatened to tell his friends of such mistreatment,  the owner would yell, “Go ahead and tell them. They’re probably jerks just like you!”
You won’t find this kind of dialog in any customer service manual, and I certainly don’t recommend that you utilize  this technique for handling customer complaints. But there is a lesson here. Some of your customers may have unreasonable or unrealistic expectations. As a business owner, you need to  determine what the cause is. Is it because they’re just plain unreasonable people? Or is it that you’ve indicated  (perhaps inadvertently) that you can deliver the impossible.
In your business, you should spend some time with new customers outlining the terms of the sales transaction. Tell  them what you plan to do. Discuss the scope of the project. Outline what is included in the deal. And what is not  included. What is the expected completion date or delivery date? What factors may change this? Too many  businesses take on a project with a defined scope-of-work and then, halfway through the job, the customer changes the work order. If this happens, you must provide feedback to the customer immediately – how this will affect the  price, the delivery date and anything else.
Before accepting a new order, you should always probe to find out what the customer’s expectations really are. If  they’re unrealistic, you can tell them so before you start working on their order. Setting the rules of engagement at  the start will prevent misunderstandings and problems later on. Be sure to do a competent, capable job for all your customers. That’s how to build your business. But don’t give 
them a wax job at car wash prices. If you do, you won’t stay in business long.

Hello,

Just want to share my sad experience with the C.ltex Car Wash this afternoon.
I stupidly decided to wash my car at a C.ltex petrol station (automated car wash). Apart from doing a very average  job for $12 (substantial amount of dirt still remained after the wash), the brush actually ripped the whole rear wiper  (actually broke the metal mounting) on my Volvo XC90.
I went to talk to the shop assistant who was less than helpful. He couldn’t put me in touch with his manager and just  told me to contact the guy who is managing the shop on Monday. He said he has manager’s mobile number but  would not ring him because it was not important. Well, it was important to me! I asked him to call after which he  became abusive and called me a “c%nt” and started suggesting that the wiper may have been already damaged or  was rusty prior to this accident. It’s a 2004 car, not brand new but new enough for this not to happen. Furthermore,  the washer broke in two places one of which was metal with no rust on it whatsoever.

After he rang his supervisor he told me that he didn’t want to talk to me and to call back on Monday. I’m not even  sure I want to bother contacting the service station after such abuse.

Prior to pulling up at the car wash, my partner said to me there was some money in the car door & would I put it in  the Ashtray with the other bits of change…. Which I did, I put the $8 (4 x $2 coins) just as we pulled up to the car  wash.
We had our coffee & read a magazine whilst the car was being cleaned. We got back in the car & put the change in the ashtray from the change from our  however the $8 had 
gone!!!

Fortunately, we were still at the car was & my partner spoke to a guy there & asked to speak to the manager, which  the manager was soooooo rude to us. He checked the vacuums for the coins, but they wouldn’t have vacuumed the ashtray surely (it only had coins in, nothing else). No coins were found in the vacuums, therefore someone  obviously took it….. there is no other reason for this, how could it go missing if it wasn’t vacuumed up.

The money was definitely in there, I had just put it in…!!

The manager accused us of lying and making the story up.

We were offered by another man either a free car wash or our $8 back… of which we requested the $8 back as we  wouldn’t be going back to a company who took from us the first time round, let alone giving them a second chance. Again the manager accused us of lying & making it up…. !! what!! For $8!!!

tut tut tut!

i went to bl.e w.ve car wash yesterday on 05-06-08, on my lunch break. i got the basic wash, for 20 some dollars.  there is a coffee shop next to the car wash so i decided to grab a coffee for a minute and waited. when i got my car  back, the first thing i went to look for was my ipod. i didn’t even get in my car, and i noticed my ipod was missing. i  was 100% sure i had it cause i hid it too. so i went to tell the manager that my ipod was missing and thats were it all  starts. he told me no body touch my ipod without even looking at me , he told me no body steels at blue wave car  wash, he kept calling me mama or mami or sexy mami, he got in my face and screamed at me. he was a Spanish  older guy , i am 20 years old and tiny, and for a guy to scream at me like that hurts my feelings. i asked him to  search the guy who was cleaning ” empty”my car . he refused i asked him i want my ipod back and he ignored me  and left . i asked him for the owners number , he ignored me and said that i was sleep walking and that i am  illusionary. he didn’t offer me nothing . i left crying, and mad, and on top of that it was the worst car wash i have ever got. this is not right . there is a lot of complaints for this place. this place should close down. please i am begging u  guys to do something about this . ill probably never get my ipod back or my money for it “$ 200”, but i want to let  everybody know how easily they steel and they all back each other up. he curses at me in front of everybody.

“We drove our truck through a car wash at a gas station today. The car wash damaged our truck. My husband was  advised to fill out an accident report and that he would be contacted tomorrow. There is a sign at the car wash  stating that they are “not liable”. Legally does that mean that they are not responsible for any damage done to our  vehicle? Is there anyway around that?
Unfortunately, this is going to be one of those situations which will turn almost entirely on a combination of the  business and contract law in your state, the case law in your state, and the specific facts of the case.
Without knowing any of these things, what I can say is that the more “routine” the damage to your truck was, or the  more it was a function of a problem with your particular truck, the less likely you would be able to hold them  responsible in court. For example, if your paint got a small scratch, or your antenna bent, or your weather stripping  on your door was missing and so your interior got wet, you’d be less likely to be able to hold them liable than if  something completely out of the ordinary, like a brush roller crashing through your window, had occurred.
But the only way that you can know for sure is to talk with a lawyer in your state. Many lawyers offer free  consultations. Of course, it could be that they intend to make good on the damage, given that they told you to fill out an accident report. If not, you’ll need to carefully weigh your options, and the cost of each. You may also want to  consider small claims court.

A funny thing happened just the other day. I was sitting in my car, in a queue for petrol at my local garage and I was  watching a woman take her old Rover through an automated car wash. I was just thinking that it was high time that I wrote an article about automated car washes and the damage they can do to your car, when there was a loud  bang… then a grinding noise followed by some scraping sounds.

The lady managed to free her car from the car wash and as she inspected the damage, I rushed up to the scene. I  was about to say “Excuse me, I am writing an article on the dangers of automated car washes…” when it struck me  that the coincidence was so bizarre that she probably wouldn’t believe me and think that I was just some weirdo with a car wash fetish (I haven’t, I’m just shy and maybe a little paranoid). I didn’t have my camera with me and I  frantically searched my car for any leaflets or brochures that I could give her. By this time staff members and the  manager had swarmed around the scene like secret service body guards, so I had missed my opportunity to invite  the lady to contribute to this article (if anybody else has a bad experience with a car wash, I’d love to hear about it.  Maybe if we can get enough people, we can start a support group).

While the manager of the garage ushered the woman into an office around the back (I heard him promise her a full  refund!), I inspected the car and the car wash until the filthy looks of the garage staff made me feel so  uncomfortable that I had to leave. I’m not quite sure what happened, but it seemed that the top rotating roller had  come loose from it’s axle and dropped down onto the back of the car, ripping off the rear windscreen wiper which  was now in bits on the roof and bonnet. Worse still, the brackets and runners which supported the roller had broken  and bent and were protruding from the pillar which housed them. As the car wash had continued to go through it’s  automated program even after it was broken, these brackets had scraped their way down the the rear quarter of the car causing serious damage to the paint and bodywork. I cursed myself for not having my camera with me and went back the next day to get some photos of the broken car wash but it was fixed and already back in action. Efficient  aren’t they?

It was a missed opportunity and to be honest, the kind of damage caused on that occasion wasn’t really what I had  in mind when I had decided to write this article. But all the same I do hope this anecdote does make you think twice  before you take your pride and joy through an automated car wash. If you should remember this witty and well  written article (did I also say I was modest as well as handsome?) as you are just about to feed your tokens into the  slot, I ask you that pause for a moment and take the time to carry out a quick inspection of their equipment.

You will probably find that most car washes have bristles. These are really no different to the bristles on a garden  broom… only longer. If you were to clean your car yourself by hand, you would probably use a soft sponge and a  chamois leather. Would you scrub it with a broom? Not on your Nelly!

No good for car cleaning

not good for exterior Valeting

In fact as far as I can tell, they have made the bristles slightly thinner and slightly longer than a normal car wash, but the material used is still a stiff nylon type plastic.
It is thick plastic wire of about 1mm diameter. The endings are worn and look as if they have been rolled and bashed  between bricks. This comes from whipping against your car at high speeds.
To be fair, many of the newer car washes are of the ‘soft wash’ variety. These are softer than the broom bristles, but thing for your paintwork. Would you want it lashed with plastic  wire? So if you have taken my advice and copped a feel of an automated car wash, you will will not need much  convincing that these evil machines scratch paintwork. Yes I did say ‘evil’ and no I don’t think this is sensationalist.  These damn machines should carry government health warning like cigarette packets are forced to do

i have been to sc..ters carwash recently under the new managment i was very dissapopinted with the way the entice people with there prices and then charge extra when final payment is being made.but overral it was pretty average

T.sco car wash damaged my car

I took my car to the car wash at T.sco on Abbeydale Road yesterday and it scratched my rear window! It’s not huge, but it’s certainly noticable. There are about 5 or 6 lines on it where the brush, or whatever was on the  brush, scratched the glass. I am a bit annoyed as it’s my new car, but realise that they probably have a ‘use at your  own risk’ policy on the machine. Anyway, it’s the last time I’ll be using it and thought I’d warn others just in case it  wasn’t a one of incident. Anyone know if there’s anything I can use to get rid of the white coloured scratches? Isn’t  there some liquid that fills the scratches and hardens or something?

If you really want to get your car paint destroyed go to Cr..tal Carwash at Blakehurst !!!!!! 😡 I was watching them wash my car from Start to finish and I almost had a heart attack. The Vaccum Hoses were  banging against the paintwork, then I saw one of the guys start to soap the car down WITHOUT RINSING IT FIRST ! : eek:
When I drove the car to the nearest petrol station to give it a inpection the paint work look like some one ice skated  on it!
😡 😡 😡

I took it back and talk to the manager and he said that “…black paint will always show scratches..” I said ” of course it  does especially when the scratched were made in your car wash..!” The manager said to bring it back nex tweek and see him for a complimentary hand polish……. I never went there 
again………………..I actually drove past this car wash once, and while sitting at the lights, I noticed one of the  attendants soaping down a new car with what appeared to be a soft scrub brush……” Great ”

Now I know many of my readers are looking for information, opinions, and analysis on new and used sports cars.  Today while driving around my hometown of Burlington, New Jersey I saw something that has single handedly forced  me to write this article.

As I was cruising around today in high 60s sunny weather I saw a line almost into the street at my local car wash.  Now this isn’t out of the ordinary but it’s what I saw next that was shocking. In the line were three cars that I couldn’t  believe were headed through, a black Z06 Corvette, silver Porsche 911, and finally a dark green Mustang Bullit.  What’s the problem you ask? The problem is the damage a car wash can do to your beautiful new sports car.

Throughout high school and parts of college I worked as an auto detailer at multiple dealerships in both New Jersey  and Pennsylvania so I have experience in the field of car care. From my experience taking a vehicle to the car wash should be done only for certain reasons because of the scaring it can cause on your vehicle. So in turn I’ve decided  to give a few tips and reasons to advocate hand washing.

1. Convenience- Most people use a car wash because it’s fast and easy. While car washes can help in a pinch they  create more issues than they fix. First off no car wash gets all of the dirt and grime off of your vehicle, while the  brushes and such get most of the filth off it is the job of the person towel drying the car to get the rest. Taking dirt  off with a towel is never a good plan mainly because it can cause hairline scratches and such. In the same vein if  you have a dark car like the Z06 and Mustang I mentioned above the brushes alone can cause a massive amount of 
swirling and clear coat scratching, if you have a dark car just bite the bullet and hand wash your vehicle.

2. Road Salt- Another big reason people use car washes is to get the winter road salt off their car or truck. While the theory is good the execution may not be. Yes the high pressure hoses do a great job of loosening up the salt  especially in terms of the under carriage, it most likely doesn’t get the entire residue off which can cause spots in  the clear coat. To get salt off I would recommend braving the elements and using one of the power washing stalls  most car washes have. Make sure you bring your own mitt or sponges, DO NOT use the brush in the stall. In fact a  better rule is never use a brush on your vehicles paint, dark or not.

3. Saving Your Paint- If those reasons above aren’t enough to get you off the automated wash maybe this is. Think  off all the dirt particles and rocks trapped within the brushes used hundreds of times a day. I don’t care if you have a white car or one so black it looks like a stealth bomber consistently making your vehicle susceptible to the brushes used in a car wash will slowly but surely scratch the clear coat and strip away any wax you have applied.

I know its only three reasons but a car is a reflection of you as a person, this is  especially true for the sports car  buyer. It’s hard to show off your black on black Lamborghini if the paint looks like that of a ’92 Prism. Take the time,  spend a little extra and get the results you want for your car. I suggest getting a micro fiber mitt because they are  very gentle (and they come in sweet colors), a shammy (like the ShamWow), a soft towel (old beach towels are  great), and finally a good soap (Turtle Wax ICE is easy to find and works great). From there you’re all ready to have  your car looking clean and swirl free. Hopefully I see someone spray waxing their car soon so we can talk about that
next. Get out and wash!

Yes they can damage your wheels. Ask them to hand wash it on the side. Many will agree with me though that  washing it yourself will be much better ^_^… BUt to each his own… if you don’t have the time then yes do not let it go  through the track.
AN M3 THROUGH A CAR WASH !!! Generally speaking, one would think people who drive cars of this calibre would  have some level of at least a brain stem, let alone a brain…..However, not this one. Speaking of vehicles of this  calibre, I have actually noted expensive cars stopping at your local service station and filling up with standard  unleaded, meanwhile the guy with the Hyundai is putting premium.

Getting car wash damage paid by the owner of the wash can be difficult, especially if you leave the car wash’s  property before noticing damage. Whether you visit an automatic or full service car wash, there is always an off- chance your vehicle will be damaged. The brushes in an automatic car wash may hold dirt, debris and rocks from  vehicles that have run through the wash earlier in the day. These rotating brushes can then scratch your vehicle  with the debris. Additionally, other moving parts in the car wash can damage or break the antenna on your vehicle  and possibly cause your wheel covers to fall off. In any case, car wash damage is often preventable and aused only  by the neglect of car wash management. This guide will help you take the right steps in the unfortunate case your  vehicle is damaged in a car wash.

Step One: Ask About the Damage Policy

When you arrive at a car dealership, see if there is a sign that outlines the damage policy at the car wash. Many will  have a sign saying they are not responsible for damage, but if negligence can be proven you may still be able to get
damage paid. Of course, if the damage policy says the car wash is not responsible or if there is not one posted, it is  best to ask an employee or leave the car wash for another one.

Step Two: Inspect Your Vehicle Immediately

As soon as you are done having your car washed, inspect it for damage. This should be completed outside of the  wash bay, where the sunlight can show imperfections and damage. The car wash owner should not object to this 
step, as it ultimately provides a safeguard for both business owner and customer. You should find that there is no  damage on your vehicle or, if there is, it was damage that occurred earlier. However, in the unfortunate event that  your vehicle is damaged at the car wash, it is important to park your vehicle and speak to an employee. Depending  on the car wash’s policy, you may have little or no recourse if you leave the car wash and discover damage later on. At this point, you cannot prove that the car wash caused the damage.

Step Three: Make Your Complaint

If possible, speak to the owner or a manager who acts as the owner’s agent. You may be asked to fill out an incident/damage report form that is kept on file by the car wash, or you may be required to write a complaint on your own. In any case, make sure that you make plenty of copies and you keep one for your records.

Step Four: Await a Decision

After you file your complaint with the car wash, you may have to wait some time to get a decision. Depending on the car wash’s insurance policy, they may require you to get estimates to repair the damage before any benefit is paid. 
After it is determined your complaint will be paid, the car wash may simply write you a check for the lowest estimate, or you may be required to get the damage repaired. If your claim is denied, see if you can contact the insurance  company. If necessary, you may also contact an attorney…………………” In other words, just wash the car yourself,  and you don’t have to put up with the above “. Really, are car washes worth this risk and hassle ??