Car washer scratched my door

[Scruffie]

Just went had my Superb Greenline washed at a professional wash and valet place nearby. As i was closing the door and about to head in home after i noticed a massive circular scrath in the driver door that wasnt there before. :'( Went back but they were closed so will have to go back in the morning to have it out with them, left a note in the door to say what they'd done.

Any idea how much it will cost to get the door re-sprayed if it needs it?

[gadgetman]

Good luck getting anywhere with them as you didn't raise it at the time the cleaned it, so they will argue could have happened anywhere

[devonutopia]

This is the hazard of such places. I am guessing they probably don't use grit guards / fresh water for each car with thoroughly cleaned tools.... Could get all kinds of bits in there.

[RS3100]

Can you post a picture see how deep the scratch is?

The colour of the car can make a scratch look worse than it actually is,

Friend brought his wifes car to me at work because of a deep scratch on the bumper where it had brushed against thorns on a hedge, he'd been told it would need a respray, but with some patience and the right polish, the scratch was completly gone within 30 minutes and i don't use T-cut because it's too harsh. On my Capri scartches are an occupational hazard on a concours winning car, wher most of the competitors paint their car year on year, I just make do with a bit of polish and still get a mirror finsih.

I've had car doors resprayed in the past and at a reputable sprayer rather than a body shop that mainly do accident repairs in my area, a proper paint job cost at least £300.

Only had two cars that have been painted at accident repair places under insurance and I rejected the car both times, insurance ended up sending the car to a place of my choice for the respray to be done.

[Scruffie]

Here it is

[skodanut]

Looks like a body shop visit.....i dont think any amount of polishing wud get that out.....unless the garage with the washer agree to shell out.......see them 1st then get an estimate......afterwards.....wash it by hand

[Drummond28]

I am gutted for you :'( . What were they using to wash the car? Let us know how you get on

[Lew_VRS]

definitely a respray job if it's as deep as it looks! General rule is if you can feel the 'lip' of the scratch with your nail it'll need spraying.

no idea how you'd go about claiming before/after proof etc

[mannyo]

That does not look like the job of a pro wash/valet place, that looks like the result of leaving your car to be cleaned in Tesco/Asda etc. where its washed typically by east europeans, most of which would not put the care and attention in that a proper wash place would. Most of the supermarket outlets use the same cloths and water to wash multiple cars. My car will never be cleaned in a supermarket car park or simillar for the reason that the OP posted.

[rjc]

Feel for you, | had a similar scratch last week. See my post in octavia II ( look what the kids have done!!!! help). My one is going in to a coach works this week to see what they can do with it.

Will let you know how I get on.

i

[RS3100]

In the first instance I'd go back to the car wash place and if they won't play ball so to speak, the polishing route would be my fist option.

If you put a finger nail in the scratch and hear it 'click' as you move the inger nail, then as spray might be in order, but to save your no-claims, I'd have a go at polishing most of it out. My wife scratched her dark blue Laguna on a metal gate and that scratch polished out. On a dark coloured car a scratch in the laquer always looks worse than it is as if it is down to primer.

When I treat scratches like this, I wash the car again and give a light polish with Autoglym Silicone Resin polish before going over the scratch with Autoglym paint restorer and follow the instructions to the letter on the bottle. Never let the restorer dry as you can easily cause a load of fine scratches. A better quality polish but you pay for it is http://www.meguiars.co.uk/home/

If this doesn't get all the scratch out it might make it cheaper to repair through soemone like http://www.chipsaway.co.uk/ who specialise in surface defetcs, I've used them on my Capri where after 36 years of polishing had left the paint a bit thin on the bonnet edge and their prices were very reasonable.

Like others say, I'd do the car myself next time with a grit guard in the bucket, this is fine for course grit that comes off the car but does nothing for the finer grit. I use a deep lambs wool wash mitt for putting on the soap as it catches the fine grit that gets embedded deep in the mit so holdng it away from the paint surface.

Shame you're not in the Midlands otherwise 'd see what I could do for you with my polishes.

Hope this is of use.

[Departed]

Ouch! That's what happens when you drop the mitt on the deck then pick it up and carry right on. "Professional" they ain't!

Ray

[seboni121]

Bloody Hell I would have gone Ape!!,that will not polish out they have to do the whole panel,best of luck matching the paint,make sure they pay get yourself to a top notch sprayer,proffessional my big fat wide bottom they were real plonkers,make sure you post the culprits name and shame,save somebody else the grief.

[Supurbia]

Sadly that won't cut out by normal methods, there is a utbe guy in the USA who seems to be able to make them go, his process is to flat it down and then buff with cut compounds with a PC, whether anyone in the UK can do it I just don't know, it's never a good idea to have the car cleaned at Pavel Brothers extreme car valet services, infact the only person I trust is me.

[Scruffie]

I brought the car to my local skoda garage to see how much a re-spray would cost but the mechanic there said it doesnt need one after he had a look at it. He said a polish should do the job as its not as bad as it looks. So thankfully RS3100 it looks like you are right (will also use your advice to try and sort out 1 or 2 other small nicks that werent as a result of the wash but of doing a lot of driving on 1 lane country roads)

The owner of the valeting place is on holidays so left him a voice mail when i went back the next morning to tell him what his employee had done.He got back to me. Wont be meeting up until today week but the fact that he's agreed to meet is good start. One sign i didn notice the next morning at the business was that they also do scratch repairs. Wonder if i can trust them to fix the damage they caused...

Will update after the meeting.

[RS3100]

No worries Scruffie, we're all here to share experiences both good and bad to help others.

Hope the door comes up as good as it was pre-scratch.

Edited 23 August, 2010 by RS3100

[Supurbia]

I brought the car to my local skoda garage to see how much a re-spray would cost but the mechanic there said it doesnt need one after he had a look at it. He said a polish should do the job as its not as bad as it looks. So thankfully RS3100 it looks like you are right (will also use your advice to try and sort out 1 or 2 other small nicks that werent as a result of the wash but of doing a lot of driving on 1 lane country roads)

The owner of the valeting place is on holidays so left him a voice mail when i went back the next morning to tell him what his employee had done.He got back to me. Wont be meeting up until today week but the fact that he's agreed to meet is good start. One sign i didn notice the next morning at the business was that they also do scratch repairs. Wonder if i can trust them to fix the damage they caused...

Will update after the meeting.

Oh man get real, are you really going to let them anywhere near it again?

Take the hit on the chin and get the Skoda guy to sort it out, learn from the experience, I know you shouldn't have to, but at best let the wash bloke see it and get a Skoda quote, ask him if he would be good enough to pay Skoda to buff it out, otherwise your door will end up looking like a chipped bonnet that someone has had a go at with a touch up pen.

[Scruffie]

Oh man get real, are you really going to let them anywhere near it again?

Take the hit on the chin and get the Skoda guy to sort it out, learn from the experience, I know you shouldn't have to, but at best let the wash bloke see it and get a Skoda quote, ask him if he would be good enough to pay Skoda to buff it out, otherwise your door will end up looking like a chipped bonnet that someone has had a go at with a touch up pen.

The skoda dealer said they charge €100 for a quote and then take it out of the price of the work. That sounded a bit odd to me especially seeing as it wasnt an insurance claim. He said it was a minor job so there was no point giving a quote and just gave me the advice on the polish instead.

[k.young]

I've just noticed that your from Dublin, when its sorted out please name and shame the cowboys.

[sdenny]

This is the hazard of such places. I am guessing they probably don't use grit guards / fresh water for each car with thoroughly cleaned tools.... Could get all kinds of bits in there.

I've been past a "hand car wash" in Acton a few times recently.

Their method of rinsing the sponge is to hold it on the floor with their foot whilst pressure washing it :(

I was glad my car was 150 miles away.....

[Herschel]

that's no scratch, it's a friggin signature!!!

i'd have gone mental.........except I wash my own car for this very reason. :yes:

[halflife1973]

OMG this sucks.

Easy for people to say after the fact i know but i would never trust the washing of my car to anyone, automatic car wash or hand wash. Just not worth the risk. Takes me 20 mins to wash her at the weekend and it is worth if for the piece of mind.

[Jono76]

The skoda dealer said they charge €100 for a quote and then take it out of the price of the work. That sounded a bit odd to me especially seeing as it wasnt an insurance claim. He said it was a minor job so there was no point giving a quote and just gave me the advice on the polish instead.

To be fair charging for a private quote is pretty much the industry standard, although 100 Euros sounds a bit excessive.

The idea behind this is to stop you visiting 6 different bodyshops and then choosing the cheapest!! A decent bodyshop estimator is paid around £25 - £40k per year and is normally working to tight time schedules so they don't want to waste time with private estimates for jobs that are unlikely to be carried out.

Bodyshops are paid to carry out estimates for insurance work, if you have been directed there by the insurance company, so won't be worried about charging you. If you have not been directed to them by your insurer they would probably charge you for the estimate for the same reasons as above.

[Chocaholic]

The skoda dealer said they charge €100 for a quote and then take it out of the price of the work. That sounded a bit odd to me especially seeing as it wasnt an insurance claim. He said it was a minor job so there was no point giving a quote and just gave me the advice on the polish instead.

I have some small scratches on my Satin grey Superb and would love to know what your dealer (or anyone else here ??) recommend from experience as a good polish to take minor scratches out

[G.K.]

The problem with some of these scratches are that if you try to polish them out with some form of abrasive compound is that you will reduce the thickness of the lacquer on the panel. This could end in disaster if you polish through to the base coat.

Sadly most owners have no idea about the paintwork on their car and how to maintain it and paintshops make a killing because of this.

:wonder: