Car damaged from esso 16th ave

[j0nblayz]

Guys need your opinion. My father brought his brand new lincoln mkx to the esso on 16th ave touchless car wash, the dryer at the end slammed down on his hood and caused a pretty nasty dent. At first when it dropped on his car he really didnt think anything had happened to his car, by the time he got home he checked out thr hood and noticed that it caused a pretty big dent. Next morning my dad stopped by esso to talk to the manager however the employee told him to come back next day since the manager was not in. He came in next day to complain and manager tells him that they dont have insurance and hes SOL. That day my dad called the head office to put a formal complaint in, which they said they pay for the repair. My dad got the required 2 estimates and sent it over. Everything looked like it was going fine, but now the adjuster is sayig they wont fix the car cause the manager from the store called saying they wont cover it because my dad didnt report it that day or next. He alsi mentioned that its a touchless car wash and theres no chance it will damage the car, but you can there and clearly see that the dryer arm drops down on the car. That is not touchless to me. Also my dad has been waiting three months to get this resolved, and they call after all that time to now say they wont cover cause my dad didnt report it net day. Manager also told the head office that he had called my dad multiple times with no success, he has never called my dad once and infact he has been avoiding my dad everytime he tried to call. My dad doesnt know what to do next, my dad is not type of person to lie or scam trying to get a dent fixed. What do you guys think he should do next? The manager is now being pretty rude to him and its getting no where

sorry about spelling mistakes, im on my iphone

[signature7]

Which Esso is this? I'd be pissed too, but it's hard to believe that they don't have any sort of insurance.

[j0nblayz]

its the esso on 16thave ne and centre st. My dad's been going there for like 2 years, however never used their car wash. I used their car wash once too in my old car, and luckly my car was too low for the dryer to drop on the hood, it just missed it when it fell, i shouldeve told him to avoid their car wash.

I have a feeling that the manager first approved the repair thinking it will be couple hundred bucks, but after seeing the estimate for couple grand he declined it and made up some lies to avoid repairing my dad's car. My dad really doesn't know the full details since he's been getting the run around by their insurance company/head office.

hows it even possible for a business such as a gas station to not have insurance? i dont know how these companies work, but im assuming stores have an option to get their own insurance, if not they get covered by head office's insurance? who knows...

i was hoping that the manager does the right thing, but from what i can see and what ive heard from my dad, he's pretty much a liar and theres no way he's gonna allow this to be covered by them.

My dad was about to just give up, but i dont want him to yet, i really wanna get a lawyer involved. Im gonna call my dad's lawyer and get his opinion.

[Sentry]

Lesson learned, automatic and touchless washes are shit.

Find a nice wand wash.

[j0nblayz]

yeah its easy for the younger guys to do wand washes, but harder for the older guys..

[2EFNFAST]

Originally posted by j0nblayz
yeah its easy for the younger guys to do wand washes, but harder for the older guys..

Be a good son and wash his car for him :D

[signature7]

Yeah sometimes people are busy too, to take time and do wand washes. I think wand washes will give you 100 percent satisfaction, but there are some touchless washes that at very good, and they don't have the drop down air blower just the high powered jet dryers that are a few feet away from the car.

Op, don't give up. I thought all businesses have insurance, I mean what if you slipped and fell there, wouldn't they need some sort of measure for instances like that to cover, right?

Keep us updated.

[frozenrice]

Don't most drive through car washes have signs bascially saying "enter at own risk - not responsible for any damages caused"? Do you have video of how the dryer works? In most touchlesses that I have ever gone through, I don't ever recall the dryer having moving parts.

[2EFNFAST]

Originally posted by signature7
Yeah sometimes people are busy too, to take time and do wand washes. I think wand washes will give you 100 percent satisfaction, .

Just as an informative FYI, wand washes, automatic washes, etc... will never do a great job, just adequate at best - there will be residual 'filth' (using the word generally) on the paint, that will cause marring if you tried to dry it after wand washing (for example).

You always need aggitation when washing, be it with your traditional car soap, or newer technology like the encapsulation/emulsification ONR offers.

[rumeo]

They do have insurance, the manager is just being a douche. Call your own insurance company and explain what happened.

[Sentry]

Originally posted by 2EFNFAST


Just as an informative FYI, wand washes, automatic washes, etc... will never do a great job, just adequate at best - there will be residual 'filth' (using the word generally) on the paint, that will cause marring if you tried to dry it after wand washing (for example).

You always need aggitation when washing, be it with your traditional car soap, or newer technology like the encapsulation/emulsification ONR offers.
I use the foam brush at wand washes. Just gotta power wash the hell out of the head first to make sure there's nothing in there that'll damage your paint.

[black300]

If the manager is being rude, SLAAPP HIM!!:whipped:

[2EFNFAST]

Originally posted by Sentry

I use the foam brush at wand washes. Just gotta power wash the hell out of the head first to make sure there's nothing in there that'll damage your paint.

FYI, you're marring the heck out of your clearcoat. The only type of brush I'd ever consider using on paint would be expensive board's hair.

It's not just an issue of having rocks and crap in the brush - even a brand new, perfectly clean brush will marr your paint because it's abradding against the clearcoa.t

[Kennyredline]

Fuck, there's nothing worse than committing to read a thread like this that rapes the English language so much....but it sounds like not communicating properly runs in your family, 'cause your dad should have taken a better look at the car when he came out of the car wash, and found the issue THEN, and said something... not a day and a half later.

[Billy2K]

This may sound like stupid idea, but if they haven't fixed the dryer arm yet then use it again with the Lincoln. But this time get it on video as the arm comes down on the hood.

[dirtsniffer]

what can we do to the car wash to make it non-functional? maybe get a jeep club to all go there on the same day.. putting like a ton of rocks and mud into the system? or put dish soap everywhere so it gets really foamy? :devil:

[bjstare]

Originally posted by Billy2K
This may sound like stupid idea, but if they haven't fixed the dryer arm yet then use it again with the Lincoln. But this time get it on video as the arm comes down on the hood.

I like this idea actually. Plus, the hoods already dented, what do you have to lose?? 7 bucks for another car wash I guess.

[hippak]

Originally posted by Sentry

I use the foam brush at wand washes. Just gotta power wash the hell out of the head first to make sure there's nothing in there that'll damage your paint.

This post is too funny. You realise that what you're doing is probably the worst possible type of wash? Much MUCH MUCH worst then going to any type of automatic car wash...

You are wreaking havoc on your paint. When you go to a self wash and use the foam brush you have absolutely no idea what the last person did with that foam brush. Have you ever noticed that people with pickup trucks clean their flat beds using those foam brushes? All the little rocks, dust and pebbles get trapped in the foam brush and you'll be creating tons of scratches on your paint.

You've probably got a ton of marring, micro scratches and swirls all over your car.

[Sentry]

Originally posted by hippak


This post is too funny. You realise that what you're doing is probably the worst possible type of wash? Much MUCH MUCH worst then going to any type of automatic car wash...

You are wreaking havoc on your paint. When you go to a self wash and use the foam brush you have absolutely no idea what the last person did with that foam brush. Have you ever noticed that people with pickup trucks clean their flat beds using those foam brushes? All the little rocks, dust and pebbles get trapped in the foam brush and you'll be creating tons of scratches on your paint.

You've probably got a ton of marring, micro scratches and swirls all over your car.
That's why I blow the shit out of it with the wand first. Like I said in the post you quoted. You're welcome to inspect my paint any day.

[Tomaz]

Originally posted by Sentry

That's why I blow the shit out of it with the wand first. Like I said in the post you quoted. You're welcome to inspect my paint any day.

hippak is right actually. Even new microfiber cloths will slowly swirl the clear coat. Depending on the colour of your car, you probably don't notice the damage to your paint.

[2EFNFAST]

Originally posted by Sentry

That's why I blow the shit out of it with the wand first. Like I said in the post you quoted. You're welcome to inspect my paint any day.

We're not talking about scratches from rocks and crap in the brush. We're talking about micro-abbrassions against the clearcoat.


Whenever you touch your paint, be it with a coton cloth, microfiber, brush, etc...., it abrades against it. The question is, does it mar it - generally, if you can take said item and rub it on the back of a cd and no new scratches are produced, it will not abrade the clear (unless your clear is supppper soft, like a Bentley one)

A brush's bristles, UNLESS THEY"RE BOAR"S HAIR, will abbrade against the clear and marr it. Even a brand new one that's never been used before.

[bignerd]

I agree they have insurance. We use to have a client that owned a Shell station. Their carwash was one where you drive onto the track with one wheel and it kind of pulls you forward-don't ask but I didn't get the car lined up right and it crushed my hubcap pulling the car forward while being too close to the metal bar that you pull in the middle of.

Anyhow, I mentioned it to him in passing-totally not expecting him to pay for it as it was mostly my fault and he told me to get a quote and send it in-he didn't care, the insurance paid for it.

[mr2mike]

Know a guy who took his brand new Bentley into one of those. IDIOT MOVE. The shear pin fell out on one of the washing arms and slammed into his car denting the fender. He made the employee call the manager who then called the owner to come down there as the car is worth quite a bit. Took a long time but he wasn't going to leave because then you have a tough time proving it was the car wash. I think he got it paid for by them but regardless, dented a new Bentley.
I always use self-car wash places, end of story.

[chkolny541]

Originally posted by j0nblayz
the dryer at the end slammed down on his hood and caused a pretty nasty dent. At first when it dropped on his car he really didnt think anything had happened to his car, by the time he got home he checked out thr hood and noticed that it caused a pretty big dent.


seriously...he allegedly had a dryer "slam" into his hood an he didnt think about getting out to check if there was damage....??...really....?


Originally posted by frozenrice
Don't most drive through car washes have signs bascially saying "enter at own risk - not responsible for any damages caused"? Do you have video of how the dryer works?

i was thinking both these point exactly

[CTSV]

Many years ago, I would have been the person the station manager would have called about a malfunctioning carwash.
Contact the Esso marketing dept in Edmonton and explain the problem. They will probably refer you to the marketing rep. The car wash is owned by Esso. The manager is just a lessee. He might or might not have his own insurance but Esso will certainly take responsibility for this. (Provided you get to the correct person)