Car wash scratch my rims!

[Jake07V6]

After I through the wash I noticed my rims were scratched....It's one of those washes where you pay then THEY drive your car into the rail which pushes the car through the was. I kept urguing to the manager that one of his drivers that drove it in scratch my rims n tires on the entry of the rail (second pic).They have a big sign on their building that states "Not responsible for damage after market rims"..i know mine are OEM. The manager keeps telling me to see the owner thats never around cuz he can't do nothing about...what kind of manager is he? I'm so pissed....I baby car and have taken good care of rims. It's one thing If i drove it in the rail then I would take full responsibility but the moron that drove it wont even admit he did it.

what can I do to get them to fix it? or compensate me with free washes...should I park my car and block their car wash entry until they reason with me? hehe

errrrr...

[Aviography]

Unfortunately I doubt you can prove the damage occured at the car wash, the damage in the first pic easily could have been curbing that occured somewhere else, now I know you will proclaim that is not the case, and I would even be inclined to believe you.

However the fact of the matter is there is no way you can conclusively prove the car wash jocky damaged your rim at the car wash, it woulb be different if the tire went flat on the rail as the car was driven on by the car wash jocky and bumped hard against the guide rail, then you would have a strong case.

Lesson learnt is do not take your car through a car wash like that, go to a coin wash where you drive the car in, you hose the car down with high pressure soap, you hose the car off with high pressure water, you be responsible for everything.

[honda761]

Wow, very scary thing to happen. I've gone though one of those type of car washes with my Accord and had fears about scratching my rims but luckily nothing happened. Now I know better!

New oem rim is about 260 bucks. I dont think our oem which are machined can be repaired back to 100%. I know this firsthand as I've scratched one of my rims a while ago and sucked it up and bought a new one.

[andysinnh]

Best of luck tracking this one down - rim rash are one of the things that will be next to impossible to convince the manager that it was their equipment that did it, considering that it could have been anything from the BK drivethru to someone with a snow shovel or snowblower nicking the rims. You might get a couple of goodwill washes out of it, but nothing more - and that's the best case. They'll tell you that they wash hundreds of cars each day and never have an issue - so that's the battle you'll need to fight.

I learned a long time ago that the only car washes I go to are the ones that you pull into the bay and the robotic arms go around you - typically they have no wheel guides and no brushes to get your wheels. The last automatic carwash I went to was the one off of Exit 1 in Nashua, and while they're a "brushless" wash, the cloth spinners they use at the wheel level will put abrasive marks on alloy wheels - so I avoid them at all costs.

Live and learn is my advice on this one...

andy

[npolite]

Sorry to hear that this happened…this is one of the many reasons why I will not bring my car to ANY car wash. I do it myself or the car stays dirty. It is very tough to prove that this happened going through their machine as everyone else has said. You have the option to take him to small claims to re-coupe the cost of the new rims and may settle prior to the hearing (maybe he’ll cover you for half the cost) but don’t expect to win.

[Jake07V6]

thanks for all the feedback. Like Andy said I think this pretty much a live and learn thing. But I will get my free washes in return regardless I will block their car wash all day If I hv to. hehe

[mwmcginn]

Don't be unreasonable and block the car wash. Ask that the rim be replaced. You can find out who owns it by going through your county's real estate assessment program. Write the company a letter, ask them for the payment. If you don't hear back in two weeks, do it again. If you don't hear back by week 4, take it to small claims court where you are likely to win.


Why do you want free washes from a place that damaged you car?

[andysinnh]

One thought - do you really want free car washes from the same place if the rim damage could happen again? You sort of have to decide what the end-result you desire should be.....

[Jake07V6]

good point andy and mwmcginn. I will try once more and if they give me the run around again then I will hv to write a letter.

[in4mation]

I never put my car through the car wash.

[2POINTautO]

Your driving hit the steel bar, the bar did not jump out and hit your rim, I do not think you will get any help whatsoever. I love it when folks want to blame others for their wrong doing, loan your car to a friend, it breaks all by itself and the friend gets blamed and is asked to pay for it and the car would have broken the very next time YOU drove it.

[Aviography]

Your driving hit the steel bar, the bar did not jump out and hit your rim, I do not think you will get any help whatsoever. I love it when folks want to blame others for their wrong doing, loan your car to a friend, it breaks all by itself and the friend gets blamed and is asked to pay for it and the car would have broken the very next time YOU drove it.

Uh, OP stated the car wash jockey drove the car into the car wash......

[2POINTautO]

OK, sorry if I missed that part, lets go get my man some money then, it really is the other guys fault, sorry for not seeing that, actually I just forgot it in like 10 seconds because that is how long my memory is, no bull. What was I just talking about now?????

[Inspector1]

I dont think our oem which are machined can be repaired back to 100%. I know this firsthand as I've scratched one of my rims a while ago and sucked it up and bought a new one.

Unless you have chrome plated rims they can be repaired as I post this. I have seen Jags, Benz's and all types of highline cars getting alloy's repaired all the time. Someone fed you some bad info. Repair cost should not exceed 100 bucks on car. A new(refurbed)wheel shound be less than 200.


I1:)

Here's a pick of one Volvo wheel before repair. (All 4 looked like this)

[Aviography]

Since your rim is fully painted and has no clear coat directly over machined surface, i.e. the whole thing is painted with silver paint under the clear coat, you CAN fix this yourself for the most part, it will look a lot better, almost un-noticeable.

There is a DIY on one of the BMW forums, don't remember the link now, but it basically goes like this:

- mask off the tire behind the damaged area
- use automotive spot putty to fill the damaged area
- once the spot putty has fully dried, carefully sand the area to match the profile of the rim
- touch up the repaired area with silver touch up paint
- mask the rim around the repaired area
- lightly spray clear coat with aerosol, or just use the clear touch-up paint if you don't want to make a major production out of this
- wet sand and polish the area

You should be able to do this without even taking the wheel off the car.

[BenjiBoy650]

That looks like a polished rim to me

[Aviography]

Does Honda sell OEM polished rims? I didn't think so.

Jake07V6, what say you? Polished or fully painted?

[BenjiBoy650]

Honda is famous for polished rims. From the 90-93 Accord EX, the 93 Accord 10th Anniv edition, 93 SE, 94-95 EX, 96-97 SE, 98-02 EX, 98-02 EX V6, 99-04 Odyssey EX, 03+ Pilot, MDX's TL's RL's CL's...I could go on but you get the point. I'm not saying those rims are polished, they could be half/half, or they could be fully painted. But I've always thought they're polished, because they looked more polished than painted to me.

[Jake07V6]

their polished rims

[thesteve151]

Does Honda sell OEM polished rims? I didn't think so.

Jake07V6, what say you? Polished or fully painted?


do i even have to say anything?


http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t309/thesteve151/100_0284.jpg

[thesteve151]

maybe you can prove to the car wash owner that the rail you think he hit is the perfect height to make the scratch.:yes:

[Aviography]

their polished rims

I'll be damned :notworthy

Guess pictures can be deceiving, the wheel still looks painted to me....., but I cannot argue with the fact from the owner!

[Inspector1]

Polished OE wheels still have clear coat as do the painted.

See image below of a mil thickness reading on my 6th gen wheel.

I1:)

[Jake07V6]

maybe you can prove to the car wash owner that the rail you think he hit is the perfect height to make the scratch.:yes:

I did tell him it's the perfect height for scratch area n the rail height but im urguing with a moron. I also mentioned to him that coming off the wash the scratch was fresh and pieces falling off it and he reply's "our cloth wash can make old scratches look fresh after rubbing against it" :lmao:. I told him my car would be filled with scratches if that was case. I'm writing the owner a letter and it's the first step taking them to small claims if they don't respond.

Can anyone help me with a letter? hehe

[honda761]

I had the same amount of damage to my rim before and the estimate to repair was 110-120 bucks but not perfect. So if you can live with that and not look for it every time you walk to your car it reasonable.

[bmcdaniels]

Write a letter the the owner detailing the events, and include the pictures showing how the height of the carwash bar is identical to the damage. Ask politely to have the repairs paid by the carwash. Make sure you give him a reasonable date to respond, and send the letter certified, return receipt requested.

If you get no response, take them to small claims. As long as you have a reasonably strong argument, you will prevail. It's actually a very simple and inexpensive process.