Damage to paintwork by Garage
Discussion
I currently use an Indy Audi Garage for servicing and any repairs needed.
I am very particular about my paint work and car had recently had 4 coats of FK1000p. It has previously had a detail from a friend so only need wax topping up.
Their work is very good and they are very clued up on the cars which they work on. The work is always to a high standard and of a fair price.
Part of the service they offer is cleaning the car, on the last service when I received my car back it was covered in what looked like dried in wax. I returned the car and they had this removed for me without any questions asked. I put this down to an apprentice not paying too much attention when cleaning the car and thought nothing of it.
Unfortunately I had a coil pack go on me on Friday, good on them they took the car in on Friday morning and it was ready for Friday afternoon. I think coil packs are the bread an butter of these places. At this point I did not think to ask them not to wash the car....
I noticed at the garage that again wax was still on the car, but I planned a waxing session on Sunday anyway as he would have blasted it all off with his pressure washer.... Having a close look on Sunday he has blasted off the clear coat from the corner of one of my arches. There was a small patch of rust on there which I was aware of, however no damage to the clear coat.
Please see below for the damage.
What I am interested in is some feedback on what you think the outcome of this may be?
I have discussed with a mechanic today on the phone, however he seemed dismissive that they had caused the damage. However suggested that I speak with the owner when I visit this afternoon.
Anyone had this issue before, or have any information that might be of use to me?
Thanks in advance!
I am very particular about my paint work and car had recently had 4 coats of FK1000p. It has previously had a detail from a friend so only need wax topping up.
Their work is very good and they are very clued up on the cars which they work on. The work is always to a high standard and of a fair price.
Part of the service they offer is cleaning the car, on the last service when I received my car back it was covered in what looked like dried in wax. I returned the car and they had this removed for me without any questions asked. I put this down to an apprentice not paying too much attention when cleaning the car and thought nothing of it.
Unfortunately I had a coil pack go on me on Friday, good on them they took the car in on Friday morning and it was ready for Friday afternoon. I think coil packs are the bread an butter of these places. At this point I did not think to ask them not to wash the car....
I noticed at the garage that again wax was still on the car, but I planned a waxing session on Sunday anyway as he would have blasted it all off with his pressure washer.... Having a close look on Sunday he has blasted off the clear coat from the corner of one of my arches. There was a small patch of rust on there which I was aware of, however no damage to the clear coat.
Please see below for the damage.
What I am interested in is some feedback on what you think the outcome of this may be?
I have discussed with a mechanic today on the phone, however he seemed dismissive that they had caused the damage. However suggested that I speak with the owner when I visit this afternoon.
Anyone had this issue before, or have any information that might be of use to me?
Thanks in advance!
If I read this correctly, you knew the car probably shouldn't be jetwashed but they probably jetwashed it. You didn't ask them to do it and you didn't tell them not to?
Tricky one really - I mean if you knew something was dodgy and asked someone not to use it and they did and it broke, would that be entirely their fault?
Whatever - there are only 2 possible outcomes really
1 - you contact them and they decide to placate you with some recompense - perhaps a discounted repair or similar
2 - they suggest that the car wasn't exactly mint and that blaming them for the result of years of wear and year is a bit unfair
Option 2 means legal action is your only option, that will cost you far more than a repair would and your odds of success aren't amazing, frankly.
Tricky one really - I mean if you knew something was dodgy and asked someone not to use it and they did and it broke, would that be entirely their fault?
Whatever - there are only 2 possible outcomes really
1 - you contact them and they decide to placate you with some recompense - perhaps a discounted repair or similar
2 - they suggest that the car wasn't exactly mint and that blaming them for the result of years of wear and year is a bit unfair
Option 2 means legal action is your only option, that will cost you far more than a repair would and your odds of success aren't amazing, frankly.
There is signs of rust and lifting on the clear coat all along that wheel arch. It all needs sorting in my opinion and why you would pay to detail and polish a car with paint in that condition seems crazy. I appreciate it now looks slightly worse. It must have been lifting for the jetwash to do it.
I hate jetwashing with a passion and would never do it on my paint. Not sure it really is fair to blame the garage though.
I hate jetwashing with a passion and would never do it on my paint. Not sure it really is fair to blame the garage though.
I'd just got mine machine polished and looking lovely before it decided not to start.
Being my second car I put it into the garage round the corner from me with the instruction not to rush it and fit it in between jobs to keep it cheap. Two months later they got it sorted but it had been sitting in a dusty yard the whole time. They cleaned it using a brush that got put on the ground between washes. They dropped it at my flat so I stopped in on the way home to pay, they told me it had been washed and I had that horrible feeling it would be a mess and I was right. Took it back in and got an apology but no fix - tbh I wasn't wanting it back in so had to polish it up to try and hide the swirls again.
Years ago I had another car in to fix a bit of accident damage, always washed that one carefully and polished it about once a month. Got it back from the repair covered in swirls from a machine buffer but they completely denied it. Could see the difference from panels they'd been working on and ones they hadn't but neither the garage or the insurance company that sent me to them were interested.
It's a really difficult one to a) prove (I had photos of the car before which showed lovely paintwork but they argued it was taken in a different light) and b) get them to do anything.
Sounds like discount off the repair would be the best you could hope for :-(
Being my second car I put it into the garage round the corner from me with the instruction not to rush it and fit it in between jobs to keep it cheap. Two months later they got it sorted but it had been sitting in a dusty yard the whole time. They cleaned it using a brush that got put on the ground between washes. They dropped it at my flat so I stopped in on the way home to pay, they told me it had been washed and I had that horrible feeling it would be a mess and I was right. Took it back in and got an apology but no fix - tbh I wasn't wanting it back in so had to polish it up to try and hide the swirls again.
Years ago I had another car in to fix a bit of accident damage, always washed that one carefully and polished it about once a month. Got it back from the repair covered in swirls from a machine buffer but they completely denied it. Could see the difference from panels they'd been working on and ones they hadn't but neither the garage or the insurance company that sent me to them were interested.
It's a really difficult one to a) prove (I had photos of the car before which showed lovely paintwork but they argued it was taken in a different light) and b) get them to do anything.
Sounds like discount off the repair would be the best you could hope for :-(
405dogvan said:
If I read this correctly, you knew the car probably shouldn't be jetwashed but they probably jetwashed it. You didn't ask them to do it and you didn't tell them not to?
Tricky one really - I mean if you knew something was dodgy and asked someone not to use it and they did and it broke, would that be entirely their fault?
Whatever - there are only 2 possible outcomes really
1 - you contact them and they decide to placate you with some recompense - perhaps a discounted repair or similar
2 - they suggest that the car wasn't exactly mint and that blaming them for the result of years of wear and year is a bit unfair
Option 2 means legal action is your only option, that will cost you far more than a repair would and your odds of success aren't amazing, frankly.
I didn't really worry about it being jet washed, it gets a going over fairly regularly by myself or my friend and we haven't managed to make this mess.Tricky one really - I mean if you knew something was dodgy and asked someone not to use it and they did and it broke, would that be entirely their fault?
Whatever - there are only 2 possible outcomes really
1 - you contact them and they decide to placate you with some recompense - perhaps a discounted repair or similar
2 - they suggest that the car wasn't exactly mint and that blaming them for the result of years of wear and year is a bit unfair
Option 2 means legal action is your only option, that will cost you far more than a repair would and your odds of success aren't amazing, frankly.
However I see exactly where you are coming from, I am not going to make a big deal about it. However they will lose a customer over a badly washed car. Seems silly to me. Got a big service due shortly and the car is at the age that it will need up keep done, which I would have directed through them.
Cheers
Thanks for the info.
Deva Link said:
To be honest, it strikes me as a bit odd that'd get all that done but not sort out the rust.
This also makes sense, my friend does my detailing as a favour for no cost. Sometimes a few beers.The FK was bought to coat my Mrs Mini wheels after they were refurbed, just a bonus that I can use it. Plus it was £18 which will last yonks.
The rust at the moment is a very small % of the cars bodywork and had significant protection to the elements to not really get much worse. The rest of the car is in good condition.
However with the clear coat stripping it may now get worse.
Anyway thanks for your views.
Perhaps the photo is misleading, but it looks like a badly painted panel to me...dullness around the light and lots of pinprick imperfections elsewhere. I suspect that if the lacquer is lifting in the way it has, it's not just due to a little bit of rust at the lip, but actually down to the quality of the bodywork. I don't think you can really expect the garage to cough up anything.
Not a nice situation but if the garage had damaged the car by being negligent (scratches etc) you'd have a very strong argument. To me it just looks like they jet washed it and the lacquer flaked. If you jet wash the car too its a case of pass the parcel. Unfortunately for the garage the lacquer peeled whilst under their care.
StottyZr said:
Not a nice situation but if the garage had damaged the car by being negligent (scratches etc) you'd have a very strong argument. To me it just looks like they jet washed it and the lacquer flaked. If you jet wash the car too its a case of pass the parcel. Unfortunately for the garage the lacquer peeled whilst under their care.
The last sentence here kind of sums up how I feel, under their care. If I took their loan car and jet washed the lacquer off of it, I would be charged....
Any way seems like I expect too much, so will highlight to the garage in a friendly way. No point getting ars*y about it.
Thanks again.
Kris84 said:
StottyZr said:
Not a nice situation but if the garage had damaged the car by being negligent (scratches etc) you'd have a very strong argument. To me it just looks like they jet washed it and the lacquer flaked. If you jet wash the car too its a case of pass the parcel. Unfortunately for the garage the lacquer peeled whilst under their care.
The last sentence here kind of sums up how I feel, under their care. If I took their loan car and jet washed the lacquer off of it, I would be charged....
Any way seems like I expect too much, so will highlight to the garage in a friendly way. No point getting ars*y about it.
Thanks again.
Rust doesn't happen with that severity over night, so it looks like the garage have just highlighted an issue which needed sorting anyway?
I would ask to see what kind of pressure washer they are using (it could be industrial I suppose) but if it's nothing more than a pressure washer designed for cleaning cars I can't see any comeback. If your paintwork can't survive a blast with a pressure washer it was bound to get screwed by a rotary polishing session?!
I would ask to see what kind of pressure washer they are using (it could be industrial I suppose) but if it's nothing more than a pressure washer designed for cleaning cars I can't see any comeback. If your paintwork can't survive a blast with a pressure washer it was bound to get screwed by a rotary polishing session?!
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