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CordyG

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As a disclaimer I always strictly wash my 2014 Accord by hand, however being that this has been a tough winter and my area received some pretty bad winter storms I wanted to ensure that I started spring by getting a good chassis bath. I went to a nearby reputable automatic car wash that I've used in the past that's very high quality and frequently washes very high end vehicles.

Checked my car in like normal with a nice attendant and walked into the hall where you can watch your car as it goes through the wash. I see my Accord being pulled in to the wash line and notice the attendant seemed very novice, for whatever reason had the 'hazards' blinking (odd, but shrugged and didnt think much of it).

Next thing I know, my Accord is rolling pretty quickly right through the wash track as if she just stopped the car and left it in Drive (maybe she did, who knows). I then see the attendant running after my car trying to stop it, but too late, BOOM. My nearly 1 y.o Accord crashes right into the back of a bright red Ford Ranger pickup truck as I watched in horror and other employees of the car wash scram to shut off the machines. I left the hall and went back outside to lane where I dropped the car off where I was assured by a couple employees that there was 'no damage' to the vehicle and no contact was made between my car and the truck. After I inspected the car once getting home, sure enough there was damage. I have now have a car with a scrapped up front bumper front hitting the back of the truck and also discovered a long deep scratch and crease damaged to my drivers side door where the attended opened the door to get into the rolling vehicle, scratching it against track.

Spoke with the owner of the car wash, and they will be paying for the damages to the car and are currently arranging all the repairs with a reputable shop they use for damaged cars. I am really heart broken about this whole ordeal and fear the vehicle won't ever be the same once repairs are made. I'm also quite angry at the carelessness of the employee who destroyed (to me at least) my vehicle and didn't even bother to apologize to me. By the time I walked around the building to check on the car once it was rolled out, she had disappeared. Will try and post some pics later.
 
Never rely upon the word of a biased person as to whether your car is damaged or not.


BTW, management most likely removed the employee from your sight specifically to prevent a hostile confrontation or the employee accepting responsibility to replace your Honda with a Rolls Royce.


PS: Nobody is reputable. Some people and business just have a less negative reputation than others. Once you accept that little "fact" you don't get shocked when somebody screws-up and you are victimized.
 
that sucks. I'll just say what everyone else will say...I'd never have left the place without fully inspecting my car. at least the place is paying for the damage. I'm sure that attendant isn't working there any more and they already sent the attendant home or else they wanted to get the heck outta there. hopefully the shop does a good job with the paint. I'd cry if that happened to me.
 
It's hardly "destruction" as you describe. Drop the emotions and look at the car in a practical manner, it's not alive like a pet. Sounds like minor scrapes and little damage from your description so let them handle it. DO tell them they need for pay for your rental as long as your car is in the shop.
 
A good shop can fix it and you'll never know the difference. Do pick a good one though. Don't know that I'd agree to use THEIR shop. I'd probably want to find my own shop, providing the car wash owner with a couple estimates.
 
Dang, sorry to hear about this. It sounds like they left the car in Drive instead of Neutral. At least it was just damage to the car and not a person. If it makes you feel any better, when my car was just four months old I had a huge rubber/plastic tarp fly off the top of a truck and land right across my hood at 55 MPH. I had to get the hood replaced and both front quarter panels "blended" so the paint matched the hood. I was bummed out for a few days but when I thought about it a little longer I realized I was very lucky it didn't land across the windshield or moonroof.

Anyway, if I were you I would let your own insurance company know about this. In fact, I believe you're required to inform them of any damage to the car even if you didn't cause the damage. If the car wash's insurance carrier is going to cover all the damages that's great but let your insurance company know about the incident in case you have any problems getting everything fixed properly (that way your carrier can go to bat for you if there's any problems rather than you having to fight with the other carrier).
 
Car wash, parking lot or on any road you're on the car can be damaged. That's why you have insurance. Luckily you nor anyone else was not hurt or killed. I just saw on the news that a drunk is in jail after hitting a pedestrian, leaving the scene of the accident and killing a woman in a crash when he ran the light at an intersection. After that story your's doesn't seem too bad. They're insurance company should provide you with a rental car.
 
Sorry, that really sucks. I would contact your insurance company and let them advise you what to do. It's obvious that the car wash place hasn't been totally truthful with you so there's no way I would let them take care of the damage. Hopefully your insurance can bill them for it.

I have heard of horror stories with those parking garage places in the NYC when something goes wrong like hitting a roof rack or something like that.

Some of us love our cars more than others but they are disposable products that depreciate quickly.
 
Dang, sorry to hear about this. It sounds like they left the car in Drive instead of Neutral. At least it was just damage to the car and not a person. If it makes you feel any better, when my car was just four months old I had a huge rubber/plastic tarp fly off the top of a truck and land right across my hood at 55 MPH. I had to get the hood replaced and both front quarter panels "blended" so the paint matched the hood. I was bummed out for a few days but when I thought about it a little longer I realized I was very lucky it didn't land across the windshield or moonroof.

Anyway, if I were you I would let your own insurance company know about this. In fact, I believe you're required to inform them of any damage to the car even if you didn't cause the damage. If the car wash's insurance carrier is going to cover all the damages that's great but let your insurance company know about the incident in case you have any problems getting everything fixed properly (that way your carrier can go to bat for you if there's any problems rather than you having to fight with the other carrier).
This man is right, when my baby was 6 months old she was hit by debris on the freeway. No one knows of the damage but myself.

*cries at night* but you realize it's just a car and not a person.
 
That's not great, but this car wash attendant is worse (jump to about 2:40):
 
Same type of thing happened to my son's Audi A4 at the car wash. They ended up using the body shop of OUR choice and covered the rental car for the close to a week repair. The car looked perfect afterward (make sure it's done to your specifications). The worst thing is that it may end up on the CarFax report and devalue the car's resale value.

Even with the above negative factors, keep in mind that this was the result of human error, and that's something we all could do.....human beings "eff-up" sometimes.
 
It's bad enough I might have to give a dealership service department the keys but I NEVER have to give a car wash monkey my keys nor a valet service.

Never. Never. Never. End of story.
 
Bad but what can you do? Take pictures and keep paperwork to mitigate the carfax impact. Gluck
 
Sorry about that. Like most said, take pics! Get your shop to do the work and make sure they pay for rental fees as well. At the end of the day, we are all humans and make mistakes. Happens to the best of us lol. Good luck.
 
so.. the bumper will be sanded and painted - only to peel and crack 4 years down the line from hot/cold/hot/cold weather.

the door will be repaired - either new door skin or pounded flat from the inside. now you'll have a wind noise and maybe a door that doesn't sit flush. that's ok though. however, they will likely use PDR and not touch up the holes they cut, causing rust 3 years down the line.

trade in.
 
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