car wash scratched my car!

paddyirishman7

hi guys,

i need some help last week i was in topaz garage and got the 10euro top wash for my car ''1999 vw polo'' its blue and the paintwork is pretty much perfect well at least was...

the car wash left a lot of white scrathes and swirl marks some down to the base metal it appears..hard to tell from a difference but up close its pretty bad..

anyways the manager was convinced it wasnt the car wash and was very rude and condesending towards me...i had a friend with me to witness this and also to see how there were no scratches beforehand.:mad:

i rang head office to complain and they said they would get back to me?

no word after a week.

help! whatam i entitled to do? what should i do...ideally a respray would be perfect but is that fesible?

im 18 and its my first car and want to keep it perfect thanks!

tony1kenobi

Most car washes have a disclaimer.

paddyirishman7

but even if there is a disclaimer..

doesnt it come under not been fit for purpose or something..?

like the machine shouldnt scratch cars? surely its there fault if it does?

tony1kenobi

Wouldn't fit for purpose fall with the car manufacturer rather than the car wash manufacturer?...I have been through a Topaz car wash without complaint......actually I haven't...my car has....

paddyirishman7

obviously im phrasin it wrong...basically what im asking is do i not have any legal grund to stand on?

axel rose

That they can scratch your car?????? I think scratches down to the metal goes beyond slight swirlmarks. I remember the love I had for my first car I was devastated when it was knicked :mad:(91 LH 1863 I still keep an eye out for you ).

At least chat to these guys http://www.consumerassociation.ie/. Could well be a case that they took you as some kind of young eejit that can be fobbed off. Good luck OP.

paddyirishman7

alri cheers...il talk to them guys...

most of it is swirl marks but one or two marks go to metal it seems to be...

they ****ed it up they should fix it like...

its nt fair:(

foggy_lad

the disclaimer is not worth much just like the disclaimers in car parks, they had a duty of care to your vehicle as you were paying for a car wash. the wash is not described as a car scratch and it is unreasonable to think that it might leave your car scratched so you do have grounds.

the first thing to do is write to the garage/carwash explaining what happened and when and get a quote for the repair and include this in the letter. if they fail to respond in a reasonable time, usually 2 weeks you can take the matter to the small claims court if less than €2000 for the repair or the district court if more than €2000.

jor el

There's no way a car wash should be able to scratch down to the metal, I'd suggest there is a problem with the paint job. Was it re-sprayed at some point? How recently if it was?

You can make a small claims court claim for minor damage to your property, but the garage would contest this. You would need to prove it was damaged in the car wash, which will be almost impossible.

Raiser

You are quite right to expect your car to come out the far side of a car wash without having been scratched - Car washes are not cheap, are a huge money spinner and the Garage should step up and compensate when they go wrong.

- Don't listen to some of the above advice which is plain nonsense - Its possible some debris was caught up in the brushes which did a job on your car. I'd also suggest researching the small claims court as its simple, cheap and effective.

Cabaal

Thing is those automatic car washes are known to slightly scratch paintwork, if you really cared for your car you'll never ever ever use an automatic carwash.

Raiser, I get where your coming from but the OP cannot prove that the carwash did the damage