Delta Sonic scratched my wheel.... how would you handle this?

[syP]

2 weeks ago I brought my Audi to delta sonic to get the car washed.. The person who guides you on the rollers misaligned me (slightly) and the car hit the side railing (LEFT FRONT) .. I mean REALLY HIT it. the whole car tilted side to side, like a boat about to capsize, and it didnt sound like rubber hitting the rail... it was clear as day.. the rim hit the railing.


Went through the wash, drove one parking lot over, got out and sure as shit.. clean crisp scrape on my wheel. I immediately drove back and talked to the manager on duty. He looked at the wheel and made me fill out a damage claim form.. they dont handle it in house it has to be sent to corporate.

Now, keep in mind, I was a service advisor for 7 years.... you can tell when damage is fresh and when it isnt.... ESPECIALLY on wheels.

The scrape was BRIGHT shiny silver... for anyone that knows, when its new it looks like that... when its old, the shiny part turns dull/brown/black depending on the situation.



Fast forward to today. I get a notice in the mail from Delta Sonic basically stating that the only way a wheel can get scratched is if the railing is bent. They said the manager assured that it was not bent so it is physically impossible for a wheel to be damaged. They sent me two coupons for interior detailing....

What would you do? I know for a fact 100% that my wheel was damaged there... THEY HAVE THE BURDEN OF PROOF to show me it was damaged prior... that is why they have cameras everywhere.

Click to read more...

 

[Mook]

Convince them to give you a new car

 

[Illegal Regal]

Call them n explain what happened and you knew it at the moment and the manager acknowledged it happened then and there

 

[MrMezger996]

Stop going to tunnel washes, no good comes from them

 

[1quick]

Tell them the dude misaligned your car causing the wheel to be scrapped show pictures, if all else fails burn down the car wash

 

[syP]

Call them n explain what happened and you knew it at the moment and the manager acknowledged it happened then and there

The car wash manager didn't agree it happened there. He just has to take pics and submit them to corporate and they do the rest from there. He only admitted it looked fresh.


I just stopped by their store. The general manager isn't there but all video recordings are saved. So we can go back to that date and time and see if it was damaged prior to going through.

They have the cameras for a reason ?

 

[jason05gt]

Kind of your own fault as you drive your own car into the tunnel and should know where your wheels are.

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

Madd driving skillz yo

 

[syP]

No

I stopped when he was guiding me on. I made a gesture through the windshield as if I was pointing left then right. He shook his head and kept telling me to go straight.

They are there to 100% guide you on the track. If they wanted you to do it yourself there would be a mirror above the carwash aiming down so you can see your wheels


The person is specifically standing there to guide the car. That's his job .

 

[PANDA]

I had a issue with Delta Sonic back when I was like 18. The wash scratched my car. I filed a complaint and a few weeks later I got a letter from corp saying the washes are designed to not scratch cars bla bla bla. They gave me some coupons and that was it. You could make a insurance claim and have your company go after them. But im sure your deductible is more then wheel refinishing. Your not going to see a scratch on a security camera I wouldn't even waste your time.

 

[jason05gt]

No

I stopped when he was guiding me on. I made a gesture through the windshield as if I was pointing left then right. He shook his head and kept telling me to go straight.

They are there to 100% guide you on the track. If they wanted you to do it yourself there would be a mirror above the carwash aiming down so you can see your wheels


The person is specifically standing there to guide the car. That's his job .

You should also know where your wheels are relative to the track. If you curbed your wheel pulling into a parking spot, you'd chalk it up as a $100 lesson. Just take your car to Crown Customs and have them repair your wheel and save yourself the aggravation.

 

[Thirdgen89GTA]

No

I stopped when he was guiding me on. I made a gesture through the windshield as if I was pointing left then right. He shook his head and kept telling me to go straight.

They are there to 100% guide you on the track. If they wanted you to do it yourself there would be a mirror above the carwash aiming down so you can see your wheels


The person is specifically standing there to guide the car. That's his job .

I have never taken the RS through an automated car wash, and never will. I will let it sit dirty and filthy before I trust an automatic. Closest I'll ever get is a DIY with a power washer. I'll spray it down to remove loose dirt and such.

Does something like this fall under Comprehensive or Collision with your policy? If Comp, I would claim it, and let your insurance go after Delta Sonic. They'll get further than you will because insurance has a ton more leverage.

Comprehensive is usually really cheap with $0 deductibles. Probably less than $15 over 6 months.

 

[Rent Free]

Stop going to tunnel washes, no good comes from them

X2 AKA Automotive gateway to hell!

 

[VenomousDSG]

NEVER take any car of value through an automated car wash...... I wouldn't let some places run one of my Maisto 1:18 cars through their shit washes.

You're pretty much pissing into the wind with trying to get anywhere with the claim too. You won't get anything.

 

[DanJ]

I rashed one of my stock wheels on one of those washes as well. Will never go through one of those again.

 

[LoveSpank]

Wash yourself problem avoided.

 

[FESTER665]

Convince them to give you a new car

This literally should have been /thread.

 

[willizm]

I had a similar thing happen to me where I drove the TA through one with my antenna up and it broke. Now they say you should retract them and I didn't know that at the time. Granted there was no employee guiding me in to cause the problem, but I just ultimately fixed it and moved on. It was more my fault I felt and I know that car washes try to take minimal liability with automated tunnel systems so I didn't think it was worth the fight.

 

[Blood on Blood]

Bang the car wash manager's wife in the ass, give him the video recording of the cream pie and call it even.

 

[DEEZUZ]

Solid advice

 

[95SC]

I tried that before and my GTR didn't fit on the rails . i think it was a good thing that it didn't fit

 

[Flyn]

If you really need to take your car to crappy car washes, take it to one of the college fund raiser car washes. Similar chance of damage but, at least, you get to see boobs.

 

[Yaj Yak]

that was such a [MENTION=4746]Flyn[/MENTION] thing to say

 

[The Bluegrass Nomad]

Stopped going thru auto washes when one ripped a louver off my Iroc hood on my Camaro. They stated there was nothing that could be done because it was not a stock part. B.S. the hood was the only non rusted or dented part of that dammed car. Ill either hand wash at home or let mother nature wash my cars now.

 

[OffshoreDrilling]

I'd chalk it up to an oops and go on with life.