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The wrong day to get the AV washed

S

screamindv

Full Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2002
Messages
54
Location
Union, New Jersey
I live in northern New Jersey. As those of you who live out here know, the weather has been pretty crappy. Today, February 7th was a pretty nice day so I decided to go to the car wash to get my Avalanche washed. My Av was looking great as I watched the car wash attendant get in my truck to pull it outside for a dry and some silicone for my tires. Suddenly he hits the gas and bolts out of the wash at 30 miles per hour, hits a slick spot of ice and silicone and ....SKIIIIDDDDDD!!!!!! BOOM!!!!! Plows into the car that was being dried in front of me sending driers diving out of the way in a panic. I stand behind the glass door in stunned belief as my truck totally destroys the rear of this nice shiny Mazda 626, bounces off and RIPS OFF the passenger side rear and front doors. My drivers side front lights, gone! The paint on the upper portion of my entire drivers side....gone! My left rear tail light.....only cracked (y) After the smoke cleared, the guys got off the ground, wet and covered in silicone. I looked at all the debris and calmy said," DONT FORGET TO DO MY TIRES!!!"
This is a true story. I will be driving my Avalanche to the collision shop. The Mazda owner was not so lucky. I think I was better off dirty. Come to think about it, I PAID FOR THE WASH! :E:
Screamin'
 
Dadgum it! That's one terrible car washing experience.

Let's see, Attendent lost his job; You're AV got jacked up; the guy in the 626 will have to get repairs done, and his insurance rates will go up as will the car wash's; the car wash gets a bum rap, because of one retard.

Hey look at me! I can go 0-30 out of the machine wash! :E: :8: :7:

Sorry to hear about your bad day Screamin! :6:
 
sorry to hear about your misfortune. the carwash here in town just started this thing where you drive up and pay. you stay in the vehicle while it goes through the wash. at the end they will dry you off. i just tell them to leave it wet. i go down the road to my buddies house and dry it myself. the last time i went they put a towel on the truck that had some protectant on it still. you could see the residue on the cladding. :E:
 
how dya ya bumper do.............maybe a new bright shiny SS stealth
bumper by welder would make ya feel better? >:D >:D >:D

BTW I would`ve been on 10 o`clock news being led outa there in handcuffs after giving that kid a free emena<sp>...with hot wax!!
 
av_2500: good idea about Full size rental. Leather: I will give them your suggestion. My bumper cracked in half at the fog light opening and has a small crease at the point of impact. Otherwise, it did pretty well. I'm suprised my air bags didn't blow. I hope the new cladding will match the old cladding. Maybe not! Then I can have them paint it. ;D
Screamin'
 
That is a bummer. I think I would have been taken away in cuffs also. I will give you your first Karma to help out.
 
Sue the car wash and get a new AV,

Everybody else does.
 
You had a bad day! Good karma all around!

Butch
 
Wow, that's a pretty horrible car wash experience. How has management being treating you? Have they been saying the right words?

One time I went through one of those automatic car washes where you stay in the car. The workers there put my car in a bit too quickly after the last guy. As we went through the car wash the belts would keep driving me into the guy in front of me! I think I hit him 5 times! Thankfully it was at a low speed. I could tell the guy in front of me was upset - I just put my hands up to say "it's not my fault - I'm in no control!" After we got out I talked to the guy and checked our cars. His had one small scratch that they were able to get out. He understood that there was nothing I could do.
 
Laser Wash 5000 Touch less ! You wipe off what the dryer doesn't get. I would have loss my mind if that happened to me. Good luck with repairs.
Havalanche
 
Management has been pretty cool. They were amazed that we weren't going crazy over it. Guess they caught us on a good day. I know the collision guy they are sending us to ( Union Collision in Union NJ ) The owner, Kenny and his crew do great work so I'm not worried too much.
 
Why does a car wash take on the liability of having a minimum wage, highschool dropout, maybe english speaking, walks to work flunky, drive a vehicle that could potentially equal the gnp of a small country???? DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you know that if YOU allow someone to drive your car YOU can be held liable? It could be YOUR insurance that pays... That would really be a bad day!

Before I get smited again ;D I should qualify.... A lot of good people work at car washes... the thing is that owner/ operators really need to consider the consequenses of having unexperienced folks driving other peoples cars. It is a HUGE Liability and can result in a court battle or an Insurance co. paying a claim rather than fighting a battle. IN the end... if your car does the hitting, YOU can be held liable and have a ding on your insurance policy. Fair???? NO ...but possible.

I too will continue to run through a touchless or pull out the bucket and hose....

No offense intended... Just MHO! ;D
 
Sorry about your troubles.

1st - Make sure thier insurance company pays you for diminishment of value. A vehicle that's been in an accident is worth less than one that hasn't.

2nd - I'd at least get free car washes for life out of it. :0:
 
Wow man, sorry to hear about your ride but at least no one was hurt. I would however like to warn my fellow AVers about the potential dangers of having thier vehicle washed by these car wash places.
One of my fellow co-workers had his Denali washed and detailed at one of these places. About two weeks after that he was outside triming his grass in front of his loft As he was working he saw two guys in a van pull in parking lot, pull up next to his Denali, one guy jumps out opens his door starts up his car and drives off!!!! The thief actually had keys to my co-workers vehicle.
This happended in the metro Atlanta area. As it turns out when you utilize a car washing service people that you don't know and don't trust have acess to your vin#, keys, address,etc. From that any one could easily steal your ride. Rest assured the vast majority of these places don't do back ground checks on thier employees. From what I have wittnessed in this area I seriously doubt that a lot of the workers are even U.S. citizens.
My co-worker learned all of this from the police officer that took the report.
AND AS FOR ONSTAR !!!!!!!
My co-worker had onstar and contacted them. The police arrived within 4 minutes of the theft. Of course onstar won't tell you where your vehicle is they will only relay that information to the police. Well they tracked his Denali allright... His old Denali that he had traded in for a new one. My co-worker even repeatedly told the onstar operator that the theft in question was on the new vehicle. So by the time Onstar relized they had F----- UP, the police had two innocent people in custody and my co-workers vehicle was long since chopped up for parts.
It kind of goes without stating the AV is worth a fortune in parts, the demand is out there, and so are the thieves !!!
 
zulustyle said:
Wow man, sorry to hear about your ride but at least no one was hurt. I would however like to warn my fellow AVers about the potential dangers of having thier vehicle washed by these car wash places.
One of my fellow co-workers had his Denali washed and detailed at one of these places. About two weeks after that he was outside triming his grass in front of his loft As he was working he saw two guys in a van pull in parking lot, pull up next to his Denali, one guy jumps out opens his door starts up his car and drives off!!!! The thief actually had keys to my co-workers vehicle.
This happended in the metro Atlanta area. As it turns out when you utilize a car washing service people that you don't know and don't trust have acess to your vin#, keys, address,etc. From that any one could easily steal your ride. Rest assured the vast majority of these places don't do back ground checks on thier employees. From what I have wittnessed in this area I seriously doubt that a lot of the workers are even U.S. citizens.
My co-worker learned all of this from the police officer that took the report.
AND AS FOR ONSTAR !!!!!!!
My co-worker had onstar and contacted them. The police arrived within 4 minutes of the theft. Of course onstar won't tell you where your vehicle is they will only relay that information to the police. Well they tracked his Denali allright... His old Denali that he had traded in for a new one. My co-worker even repeatedly told the onstar operator that the theft in question was on the new vehicle. So by the time Onstar relized they had F----- UP, the police had two innocent people in custody and my co-workers vehicle was long since chopped up for parts.
It kind of goes without stating the AV is worth a fortune in parts, the demand is out there, and so are the thieves !!!
Click to expand...

This combined with the wreck incident is the exact reason I wash my truck myself.
 
svreamindv, that is a total bummer. Hope all goes well with your repairs.

Victory Red said:
2nd - I'd at least get free car washes for life out of it. :0:
Click to expand...
Free washes would be a nice remedy, but I'd be very cautious over taking my vehicle back to that car wash :E:
 
I have not had any of my vehicles through an automated car wash in the past ten years or so. Based on the incident in this thread, I will not be returning to one anytime soon.....
 
I go through washes all the time... I guess the difference is that ONLY I drive them.... I don't allow ANYONE to get behind the wheel of my truck....

Am anxious to hear the rest of the story... hope things get fixed ok
 
Yeah I let some one drive my truck though a car wash once....never again when I saw them come out and fly around the corner screeching the tires I said never again
 
Sorry to here about your wash & crash. :E:I always go through a Hand wash up here in North Jersey. I bring them DD some times and they take good care of my ride and the 10th wash is free ;D. Hay are we going to meet you at some GTG here in Jersey Soon,


Glenn Enkei Hand wash Av (y)
 
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