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[Solo.r32]

Hi,

I need some advice, I had my r32 gtr washed at a Drive in car wash place in Sydney on Sat morning on the way to drop off a radiator at a customers workshop down south. (I work for Fenix Radiators btw), anyway after driving around for a couple of hours and coming home i noticed a massive flake of paint missing off the roof of my car (see pictures attached).

I spoke with my mate who owns/runs MRK Detailing and he said they must have done something that has lifted the paint off the roof either;

buffing it too harshly, using a too ebrasive chemical or hitting it with the gurneys.

I am not sure if there was small crack/chip in the paint before where the flake of paint is missing, but either way what ever they have done while washing it, i believe has caused it to flake off while driving a couple hours after.

I have spoken to the company involved on the day it happened, then took it back to them on the sunday and then spoke to the "head office" today, and they all have tried to blame a few different things for it happening, saying it must be old shitty paint, or the was a rust bubble there ect. He was trying to say that they have no liability if that is the case. I thought they would have a duty of care to either notify me that there was a problem with the paint work or for them not to hit the area with the gurney or while polishing it. He also said that gurneys would not pull the paint off the car unless there was a problem with the paint in the first place. I have heard plenty of stories about gurneys getting to close and ripping up the paint.

So at the moment he said he will check with the manager that i spoke to and showed the car to on sunday tomorrow and would get back to me.

I know i might be a bit silly in going to one of these places in the first place. But i was desperate and needed to clean the car before going and dropping off a rad to a customer.

So in the mean time does any one have any advice on how to approach the situation or if i am likely to be compensated for what has happened???

I have kept a log with everything that had gone on and will keep one going for as long as i need to.

Cheers in advance guys for your thoughts!

[DC33VN]

most if not all car washes have a disclaimer that basically says they dont cover and damage, have you looked around at the car was for any signs or anything stating that?

[Solo.r32]

Too be honest i couldn't see much around, but i didn't really have a great look. But for that reason that i couldn't easily notice a t & c board and that i wasn't made aware of one that even if they did have one i could get around it? Sort of like those stupid national car parks thing. Because for awhile they weren't made properly visable and accesible to every one??

[DC33VN]

did you recieve a receipt with any t&c on it?

and i dont think there is much you can do if there is one but it wasn't brought to your attention.

also id go back to the car wash and just look around for a t&c sign or something allong those lines or get a mate to go there and get him to ask them what happens if any damage is done to there car

[Solo.r32]

Yea i deffinately will be going back there. I have been looking up on the fair trading website. I found some interesting stuff with on this page:

http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/Consumers/Consumer_guarantees_warranties_and_refunds/Guarantees_on_services.html

"Due care and skill Due care and skill means they must:

• use an acceptable level of skill or technical knowledge when providing the services, and
• take all necessary care to avoid loss or damage when providing the services.

For example, a consumer hires a painter to paint her house. Before starting the job, the painter does not remove all of the old, flaking paint. Six months later, the new paint starts to flake. The painter has not met the due care and skill guarantee, as he did not use a level of skill that would be expected of a reasonable painter.

While painting the consumer’s house, the painter knocks over a can of paint, which spills over her newly paved driveway. The painter has not met the guarantee, as he has not taken the care expected of a reasonable painter. "

So i guess i could fight that even if they did have t&c that if they have done something while "detailing" my car which has caused it to flake like that then really their t&c should be irrelevant! Or maybe i'm just talking outta ma asss... Plus i might go and do some filming one day, as when i was there on sunday i was watching a guy with the gurney standing with gun going full tilt onto a customers car while chatting to another employee. Too me that isn't fulfilling his responsibility to uphold the aspect of "due care"??

[Solo.r32]

O and all i received if i recall was just a Credit card receipt.

[Kujotk]

DFT will do nothing about it and car wash won't have any liability to it, especially as there is no other damage caused by them such as a dent or other sections of the paint flaking off due to misstreatment or harsh chemicals.

Looking around the pic with the 50cent coin in it, it is clear the paint is not in good condition, not to mention the car is over 20 years old now. Having only noticed the issue after leaving the premesis will only make your case even harder to prove.

Might as well send DFT a letter or call them up as it wont cost you anything other than your time. But don't be surprised if you get nothing out of it.

You mention buffing, harsh chemicals or gunnery. I would guess that it wasn't buffed as it is a run of the mill carwash place (unless you opted for it?), it definately isn't hard chemicals as it is only localised to a small section of the car and you would not be the only one with the issue being vocal about it. My money would be on a high pressure cleaner that unluckily got under some previous damage, most likely from a stone chip, as the paint is old and the bond between it and the metal has been damaged by Australias heat and sun rays, this is more than likely the case.

There is nothing wrong with high pressure cleaning, but it just shouldn't be done on older cars original paint with damage on it.

[Solo.r32]

DFT will do nothing about it and car wash won't have any liability to it, especially as there is no other damage caused by them such as a dent or other sections of the paint flaking off due to misstreatment or harsh chemicals.

Looking around the pic with the 50cent coin in it, it is clear the paint is not in good condition, not to mention the car is over 20 years old now. Having only noticed the issue after leaving the premesis will only make your case even harder to prove.

Might as well send DFT a letter or call them up as it wont cost you anything other than your time. But don't be surprised if you get nothing out of it.

You mention buffing, harsh chemicals or gunnery. I would guess that it wasn't buffed as it is a run of the mill carwash place (unless you opted for it?), it definately isn't hard chemicals as it is only localised to a small section of the car and you would not be the only one with the issue being vocal about it. My money would be on a high pressure cleaner that unluckily got under some previous damage, most likely from a stone chip, as the paint is old and the bond between it and the metal has been damaged by Australias heat and sun rays, this is more than likely the case.

There is nothing wrong with high pressure cleaning, but it just shouldn't be done on older cars original paint with damage on it.

Yea i get what you mean. But i might as well try. I mean essentially they should take me over the car or something and explain to me any issues that could arise. Would only take 30 seconds from when i get out of the car. But yea it won't hurt to give it a shot.

[AlexanderWilde]

seen the same thing before and sorry for ya champ but nothing u can do and is not realy the car wash's fault by the looks of it the top layer of paint was pealled off by what id say a high presure watter jet, this would have gotten under the paint work at that little rust spot you can see down the bottom end,

is actualy verry common to see a stone chip that cracks the paint and watter gets under the layer, even if u would have washed it yourself with the high presure hose the same thing would have happened and you wouldnt have seen it till it was to late.