Co-op's NOT so touchless car wash

[artieg30]

hey guys, just wondering if any of you here have ever experienced scratches on your car after putting it through a touchless car wash??

Obviously there should be nothing touching the car but when i drove my car through the touchless wash at co-op, I found dozens of scratches on the driver-side of my rear quarter panel!

most of those scratches i believe can be buffed out, however there were 2-3 deep scratches (at least it felt like it when i ran my nail through it), i'll snap pics later on but i'm talking to Co-op right now for some form of reimbursement...

I know for a fact that the scratches weren't there a day before as i had washed it previously, but i'm wondering how strong my case is with this? Another interesting thing too is the spray jets were right beside my quarter panel (from default position) so i'm wondering if the jets were powerful enough to cause that kind of damage... what do you guys think?

[Jeeper1986]

Isnt there a sign that states they are not responsible for any damage to a car due to the car wash?

[schocker]

It doesn't touch your car at all and the water jet couldn't really cause damage like you have described

[zieg]

Cant see how spray jets would cause the damage you described. Only time I've ever damaged paint with a sprayer was when I put the wand WAY too close at a DIY wash and it just flaked some of the paint off my shitty old pontiac.

Why did you wash your car two days in a row?

[Seth1968]

Even if a nozzle hit your car, it wouldn't make "dozens" of scratches.

Sounds more like grit in the sponge/rag when you hand washed it.

[artieg30]

Originally posted by ZiG-87
Cant see how spray jets would cause the damage you described. Only time I've ever damaged paint with a sprayer was when I put the wand WAY too close at a DIY wash and it just flaked some of the paint off my shitty old pontiac.

Why did you wash your car two days in a row?

I had a client to meet with and it was snowing/slushy that day so my car was dirty again so i wanted to give it a good rinse before meeting up with them.

I'm thinking it's crazy too that a touchless car wash could remotely even do that but i just can't think of any thing else that would've done this to the car

[schocker]

Originally posted by artieg30
I'm thinking it's crazy too that a touchless car wash could remotely even do that but i just can't think of any thing else that would've done this to the car

It couldn't, it was likely something else

[cherpintow]

Shortly after I bought my car (used) I noticed a bunch of scratches on the back right door as I was coming back from the mall. I was dumbfounded. No one was parked next to me, and the pattern of the scratches was as if I drove through a tree branch which of course didn't happen.

The only thing I could pin anything back to was a car wash the day before (actually it was at CO-OP). However, I think maybe the previous owner may have somehow buffed in the scratches (if that's even possible) with some sort of temporary measure and the car wash removed the substance.

Anyways, sounds a little similar to your story, but who knows.

[Tik-Tok]

The only way it could have happened was if there was something in the water itself. Not that it matters because every drive-through carwash has a liability disclaimer. Use at your own risk.

You might get a free wash out of it, if you're lucky.

[tobypaddock]

there is pretty much no chance that the car wash could have done this, and an even smaller chance that you can prove it. Any number of things could have happened over a 24hour period. Like Tik-Tok said, at best i would think you will get a free car wash to show you that its not possible...

[NickGT]

Same thing happened to my dad's truck using the co-op touchless. Very fine scratches perfectly horizontal all over the truck front/rear/sides. The damage was so precise it could only have been done by repeated use of the machine. They agreed and offered to have it detailed. Those car washes are shit. The jets are way to strong. Avoid at all cost.

[tom_9109]

A lot of people don't realize how scratched their 'perfect' paint job is until they have a reason to start looking closely or notice something in passing.

[rage2]

I've used the co-op touchless washes since they introduced it pretty much everytime I fill up. Never had an issue. It's not even strong enough to rip the 3m, so I can't see it scratching paint.

[flipstah]

It probably scratched the side if you were too close to the mechanism.

[98type_r]

Originally posted by rage2
I've used the co-op touchless washes since they introduced it pretty much everytime I fill up. Never had an issue. It's not even strong enough to rip the 3m, so I can't see it scratching paint.

We have two cars with a co-op around the corner that we use quite frequently and have never had any issues.

I have heard of some carwashes in the past that recycle the water and basically end up sandblasting your car. That wouldn't be restricted to just one panel though, it would be everywhere.

[cloud7]

Was the car really dirty to begin with? Did the touchless wash have a pre-soak cycle? If not, perhaps the strong pressure water forced some of the dirt to scratch the car (just for a split second) before it was washed off the vehicle. That's why I always use the pre-soak function at coin wash to loosen stuff before I use the high presure wash/rinse to prevent that from happening.

[FullFledgedYYC]

I wouldn't mind seeing pictures as I am almost certain the wash couldn't have done this.

[mrsingh]

Tell me it ain't so, I use their car washes at least every two weeks if not more and I've never seen anything like what's being described.

[rage2]

Originally posted by mrsingh
Tell me it ain't so, I use their car washes at least every two weeks if not more and I've never seen anything like what's being described.

There's 1 guy, the OP, that suspects the wash scratched his car. There's another member with a better theory for his case:

Originally posted by cherpintow
Shortly after I bought my car (used) I noticed a bunch of scratches on the back right door as I was coming back from the mall. I was dumbfounded. No one was parked next to me, and the pattern of the scratches was as if I drove through a tree branch which of course didn't happen.

The only thing I could pin anything back to was a car wash the day before (actually it was at CO-OP). However, I think maybe the previous owner may have somehow buffed in the scratches (if that's even possible) with some sort of temporary measure and the car wash removed the substance.

Anyways, sounds a little similar to your story, but who knows.

I wouldn't worry too much. I still use it on all my cars regularly when I'm lazy and have never had a problem.

[FullFledgedYYC]

That's what I am thinking as well. There are several detailing products that "fill in" scratches rather than actually removing them. These are often the kind of scratch fixing polishes you see at Canadian Tire that are applied by hand. Car washes like the one at coop tend to have pretty strong chemicals in the products they use that can strip away waxes, sealants and fillers much quicker than a normal hand wash with car wash soap. I am betting the car wash stripped a filler and then revealed what was truly underneath.

Back when I was young and stupid I did much more damaging things to my car than running them through an autowash and it never left marks like the OP is describing.