majormojo

Posting here because I thought this doesn't quite belong in the "Car Wash" area...

This morning on my way into work, I decided to run the car through for a quick wash. The place I took it is a kinda half hand-wash, half machine-wash place that usually does a good in/out cleaning. Anyway, after it's done, the car has four scratches/gashes in the hood and two smaller ones in the front bumper cover. I have 3M protector on the hood and it's cut right through, each cut about 3-4 inches long. I don't think the paint is damaged beneath, at least not more than some buffing could clean up. But according to the body shop, the bumper cover will have to be removed and repainted. Yech. Total damage CAD$530.

At least the car wash is not (yet?) trying to wriggle out of taking responsibility for it. The manager acknowledeged the damage and wrote up a damage report. It's not known how it happened, my theory is that one of the workers slipped or tripped and hit the car with a vacuum or pressure wash wand or something. That 3M stuff is pretty tough, it would take something sharp to cut it. The hood isn't dented though, I guess that's a plus.

I'm worried about having to do a bumper repaint for something so small. The cuts are about 1.5 cm max length and about 3mm wide, but down into to the black plastic. I'd almost prefer to live with a touch-up job than risk a mis-match. Body shop manager assures me that matching Honda/Acura paints is never a problem, but then what else would he say?

Am I justified in worrying about a paint mis-match? Advice appreciated, TIA.

Bass Mechanic

this exactly why i wash my car with the sprayer myself. i never have liked the idea of some motorised thingy moving around my car on its own.

vwong

Same here. I wash the cars by myself. I don't take them to any car wash place anymore. Recently, I started asking the dealer not to wash my car when it was in for service.

dnb

What color is your car? And the car wash place will pay for all the repairs, right?

LeMasseHammer

Yup, me too. I had my first couple of washes done at one of those hand wash places and they scratched my interior (cupholder cover) with the vacuum. That was it for me -- now I spend about 30 minutes every Saturday morning cleaning my TSX on the driveway. Saves $10 and no more disrespect for my beloved car

gilboman

its really hard to do that here in toronto/canada right now..it was -40 celcius with windchill last nite.. and around -20 during the day.

majormojo

I'm not in TO, but yeah, the winter is harsh here and you just have to do the best you can. I do my own washes in the summer, but that's just not practical in the winter. It was about -15C here this morning.

Bass Mechanic, I hear ya, but in this particular case I don't think it was the motorized thingy that did the damage, I'm pretty sure there's a human at fault. And he/she is no doubt too scared of losing their job to own up to the mistake.

dnb, the colour is the Indigo Blue Pearl. In a way, I think I'd prefer to just live with some touched up scratches (it's the bumper, sh*t happens...) than to have the whole bumper cover end up a mis-matched colour.

Yep, the car wash is going to pay. I suspect the manager had no idea he was looking at a $500 hit though. Well, too bad for him.

dnb

Hmmm. I haven't seen that Canada-specific color. I'd speculate that it's closer to the hard-to-match colors (red, silver) than the easy ones (black, white).

I agree.

You could buy a vial of touch-up paint at the dealer, paint one scratch by yourself and see if the results are any good.

Soze75

Sad news major, very sad.

The workers probably smoked a J before you arrived. I'd never trust my paint to a bunch of bored, underpaid, careless sud jockeys.
I love washing my car, myself only. I don't even want someone else hosing it down. The focus I achieve as I squeeze the trigger on my Simoniz Power Washer is priceless. The hum of the motor calming me, the fine mist from the overspray cooling my face. My back stops hurting for a few seconds, and I'm at peace with the world.

Kidd

good that they are helping out to clean up a mess that they made. Even tho I can't really grasp how cold it is up there. I can say that my crazy self always wash cars after it gets dark. I have been washing my car starting at 7 at night and its cold here in california too believe me. YOu will never see a china boy work so hard on a car in 9pm at night in 49-53 degree weather. But i do it, simply cause I am the only on that touches the car. No one should touch your car but you. Washing is a delicate thing. Never let anyone touch your car. I hate with when I bring my car to Acura, I tell them DON'T WASH MY CAR. and they end up doing it. I end up with some scratch marks from a bad mit. Next time I tell them that, nad they wash my car, if anythin ghappens, they will buff that car for free. Remember they wash cars for a living just to get by, they don't care how much you love your car. But hell, I know you do.

fedlawman

When I took delivery of my TSX last June, I noticed some orange peel on the rear bumper cover that didn't look quite right.

The regional service guy told me that the bumper covers are not painted along with the rest of the car as they are sourced from a sub-contractor, and that sometimes they get a less than perfect match.

He told me their body shop would repaint it for me and it would be a perfect match...and he was correct.

Don't waste your time with touch up paint - it will look like crap. Have your Acura dealer take care of it for you at the car washes expense.

Brad

It's the lesser of two evils: touch-up vs. repaint.

Neither are as good as the original.

I would opt for the bumper repaint. The touch-up "scars" won't be there to remind you of the mishap.

I don't know where in Canada you are, but if you're in an area where the weather is rough, freezing, slushy, etc., I would wait 'til fairer weather before getting the bumper repainted. Car paint needs to cure for 3-4 weeks after the paint job.

majormojo

Just an update with some good news. The car wash has agreed to pay for cost of the repair. I decided to have the repaint done. The body shop will guarantee that the repaint will never be visible, so I'd like to get it back to new condition. The car is going into the body shop next week. I asked about the paint curing and the outside temp and I was told it's not a problem because the bumper is removed and the paint is cured in an oven before it is replaced on the car. Sounds plausible enough.

LeMasseHammer

Congrats Major.

I've only had one experience with a body shop repaint, and it was a perfect match