Camden

Check this out. I live in a high-rise building and park my 2005 TSX in the underground garage. For the last two weeks, there have been signs posted in the garage stating: "We are power-washing the garage from 7:00 p.m., June 19th to 7:00 a.m., June 20th. Please move your cars...."

Great -- except that apparently they got impatient and washed the garage on June 16th, while my car was still there. It looks like it was sandblasted down one side.

I am going to have words with the garage manager when he returns from the weekend. Does anyone have any suggestions about what I can do about this? Basically, my brand new car needs a paint job. I'm so pissed.... I plan on saying something like "you can either pay for this or get sued by my insurance company -- your choice."

BlackAc036

I live in the Chicago Suburbs, but both of my brother live in Apartments in the City. I would just make sure you didn't sign anything, like a waiver saying "the garage is not responsible for any harm to the vehicle" or anything like that. If you didn't sign something like that I would get really pissed, if you did then I would be really nice to the garage manager. Either way: Sorry about what happened!

SicK TypeS

that sucks. was your car the only one that was damaged?

curls

Get a photo of that sign ASAP if it's still up. And then get a few estimate from reputable body shops AND from the Acura dealer, to get it fully repaired back to condition pre-sandblasting.

Bring it to your landlord and give them no wiggle room. Fight it.

CCColtsicehockey

Alin10123

Even if he signed something... that can't be possible the garage isn't liable for ANYTHING. So you're saying if he signed that waiver that if a garage employee intentionally takes a bat and whacks his TSX's windshield that they aren't liable?

But seriously... have them pay for every penny. Get evidence of the side of the car, get evidence of the sign, then report this to the insurance company ASAP!

Camden

Sorry, I'm too busy and demoralized to take pictures of my scratched car. I will post some pictures of it after it's been fixed and looking good.

Camden

You're quite right -- it's actually very difficult (almost impossible, really) to waive liability for negligence through a waiver form. I don't think I signed anything like that, anyway.

As for evidence, I took one of the signs off the wall and have it in my apartment. I will hold off on calling my insurance company until later today, after I've confronted the garage company (maybe I'll be lucky and they’ll cave right away).

Roogs

What a bunch of idiots. Did they not see the car or did they do it out of spite?

At least in my condo, when they powerwash the garage, they ticket and tow the cars that have not moved. I would rather that than have my car sandblasted!

Yours cannot be the only car. This smells like complete incompetence OR malicious intent to damage. Either way, somebody is responsible.

joerockt

x2

jlukja

That just sucks. The garage needs to make good on your car. Hold them to it and don't budge. Good Luck.

CJams

Someone needs to have thier A$$ kicked!

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

I don't think it's malicious intent, but it certainly is complete incompetence and negligence on the park of the garage management company. If they are smart, they'll confess to screwing up big time and eat the cost to have all the damaged vehicles repaired.

Camden

I'm not sure. There were a few other cars in the area that I saw -- I don't know if they were also damaged. Most of the parkers who use the non-reserved spaces are commuters (I can't afford a reserved space), so the garage pretty much clears out Friday evening.

Camden

Ok, so after confronting the garage manager, he called the independent contractor who had power-washed the garage. The contractor agreed to pay to have my car buffed and detailed to see if that would get the scratches out. This was done yesterday.

To my surprise, buffing the car actually got rid of most of the scratches. The car looked terrible because there were so many scratches, but I guess none of them were very deep. You can still see some of the worst scratches, but only if you look very close in direct light, so I don't think I'll make a big stink about it -- I don't feel that the remaining scratches are worth having the car tied up at the paint shop.

The contractor's excuse was something like: "There weren't many cars in the garage, so we thought we'd just get the job done with early. We had no idea the process could damage a car." What a fucking jackass.

jlukja

Glad they took responsibility for what they did. I don't know if I would have let them off the hook like you did but as long as it was resolved to your satisfaction then all is good.


BTW, where does one find contractors that actually do the job EARLY?

Camden

I'm a little torn about this. I probably could force them to have a couple of the panels sprayed (the contractor was clearly afraid of me filing an insurance claim), but it just doesn't seem worth the trouble.

TSXKid

When it comes to the TSX, it IS worth the trouble. If I were you, I would have any and ALL remaining scratches taken care of. You'll regret it if you don't. Why should your car suffer for someone else's neglect. Just my 2 cents worth. Think about it!!

TSXKid

ric

I can understand your ambivalence, and I am sure you're right, the contractor is undoubtedly concerned that you will file a true claim. He may be working uncovered, meaning that he is uninsured, or he may already have a bad rep with his insurer.

If you do get it painted, you need to lock into a complete paint job unless what is needed is just a bit of touchup. If you have one or two panels painted, it will, in some light, stand out, I suspect.

joerockt

^^^^Woah, I didnt know you became a mod ric. Congrats!

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Where have you been for the last few months, joe...

joerockt

I havent seen ric post here in a while and I rarely visit off topic. Different world over there

Type X

Ummm so your happen with SOME scratches?

your either a push over or just don't like your car

My car would be back to the EXACT way it was
down time or no and i would be in a rental car for the body shop time

Scrib

I would get the car fixed to your satisfaction. If you can still see imperfections in the paint, you are entitled to get those fixed.

Don't settle for something because it's the easy way out for you or the contractor. If it doesn't look right, find a good body shop, get the car painted, and have yourself reimbursed for a rental car.

Inconvinience, yes. Worth it, yes.

Good luck.

curls

iamhomin

Waxing and buffing conceals the imperfections, it doesn't get rid of them. With that said, I say spray your car.

jpooncanada

You are a really nice and kind person.

hm... I guess if it happens to me, I will actually try to make my car perfect no matter how much they will be billed on that. I think maybe it's a lesson that they have to learn so that they won't do this to other people again.

But again, you are a nice person.

Camden

I would prefer not to stress myself out about this. I'm learning that you just can't keep a new car pristine living downtown in a big city (in my case, Chicago). I already have two door-ding scratches from idiot parkers that are a lot worse than what's left from the power-washing. I can't even wax the car myself because I don't have driveway. Fuck it -- I would rather just enjoy driving the car and try to keep it looking decent (it actually looks pretty damn good after the detailing).

ndx2

Wow, you're one of a kind, Camden. I would've made them repaint the damaged parts & have them pay for my rental for the time being.

But I guess living in downtown Chicago means your life's as busy as it is to go through the trouble. At least have them pay you some $$ for future detailing and whatnot - I'm certain they'll take that option over paying for the repainting & the rental.

joerockt

While I agree that he should get his car repainted (if its still that bad), with the right polish and buffer you can remove, not just conceal swirls and what not

I really wish we could get some pics of the before. If its a bad as I think it is, then you really should get it repainted. They could have stripped the clear coat right of and just exposed the paint...not a good thing.

curls

(Joerockt: I'm agreeing with you on this one!).

Yeah, if the clearcoat was thinned out considerably by the buffing (which it more than likely was, depending on the depth of the scratches and the experience of the person wielding the buffer), you'd likely want to get it repainted, or at LEAST re-cleared if the paint itself wasn't harmed (ie: just the clearcoat harmed).

But if you're happy with how it looks now, and it really isn't noticeable to the average person, then I say take the work they've done and live with that. Although, I'd probably at least get another free full detailing (interior/exterior/shampoo/polish/wax) for later use, just for your troubles. They shouldn't have a problem giving you that -- it only costs them about $50 in materials + some labour costs.

~Eric

joerockt

jlukja

:gheyhug:

Just one big happy family.

slo007

Always!

Camden

I'm satisfied with how the car looks now. The average person would never notice what's left. Also, unlike some people on this message board, I would never spend six hours claying, polishing, waxing, etc. -- so maybe I have different standards as to car appearance. The issue was that there were many small scratches, not that any single scratch was very deep. What are the consequences of a thinned layer of clear-coat paint, though? I'm actually more worried about this. Hopefully, the people at the detailing shop knew what they were doing.

SPARKIE

sniff; sniff; sniff; I'm smellin a little bit of

slo007

Less paint = more prone to damage, esp from acid rain in your area due to pollution, fade from the sun, etc. Also, little rocks will chip the paint easier. Little holes could rust easily, and make your car look like you drive behind semi's every day.

arch

Camden I think you're a good person to be content, honestly I couldnt accept that myself.

Over the long term the side that was scratched will require constant maintainance and upkeep on the buffing and polishing to hide the scratches as the polishes wear off. Those repeated treatments will continue to wear down the existing clearcoat. What looks nice now will not last more than a couple of months, it will eventually fade off and require another detailing.

I would request the car get repainted. You could settle for just the side that was damaged and the paint would be blended into the rest of the body's existing paint. I wouldnt settle for anything less than a complete paint job. Im an asshole when it comes to someone else negligence damaging my beloved cars. I kinda have a trained eye for such things, so it matters to me personally and may not matter as much to anyone else.