Interplexor

Hey all. I took my car to the car wash this morning - this is a fairly full service place where you hand over your keys, they do the interior, drive it through the wash, and do a full service hand dry.

I give them the car, and I walk off to chat up another Mercedes enthusiast who brought his silver W211 E63 in around the same time I did - and so I'm not really paying any attention to what is happening with my car. I notice that the line stopped moving in the wash, and when my car came out, it was somewhat mangled.

I quickly recovered from a near aneurysm when I saw it emerging from the wash and snapped some photos of the damage. I asked what had happened - they claimed the trim fell off when exposed to the high pressure nozzle... which is nonsense. I quickly ran into another gentleman who explained to me that he'd seen the whole thing happen - essentially when driving my car into the wash, they rear ended a black Silverado with my car. I tracked down the owner of the Silverado and had him check his car for damage and he mentioned that a part of the bumper looked a little slightly pushed in.

The car wash denied fault, but produced a reimbursement form for me. If the damage to the car is over $1,000, I will need to produce two written estimates for them... so here's the $1,000 dollar question - is it over $1,000 worth of damage?

NORCAL///AMG

Probably should take it to a body shop to get an estimate...make sure there is no hidden damage....FYI -- Silverado bumpers usually don't dent easily

GL

MBFLO

^^^^^^

thats what i would do .. doesnt seem too bad though ..unless the bumper cracked . Youd figure full serv place like that would be more cautious .. Sucks that that happened .. Hope they take care of you though.!

kevc43

thats suck, thats why i hate car washes, always do it myself. i say **** them and get has much has u can from the ****ers. Milk it dude get ur whole bumper painted

armaniE55

+1

Oh man, your not going to believe this. THE SAME THING happen to me a few months back. What happens is if the plastic molder piece that came off ever had any previous damage (taking off at any time) the clips become extermly loose and with high water pressure/dryer it will come off. I was going to take it to the next step but when I picked up the piece I noticed that there was double side tape on it so I told them not to worry about it.

Now as far as fixing it goes- you can purchase the mold + trim piece from a member who sells AMG parts. PM if you want his contact info. I haven't ordered mine yet but I will this week.

As far as the ripped side maker light............ I hope you know how to use a soldering gun. It's an easy DIY, but you have to make sure that you take your time. Where is the back piece? the other half? If you still have it your in luck. Pull out the green plugs and simply solder the wires to the metal piece, each one has it's on line. Don't ask which one is + - you won't know, I had to guess and try it before proceeding with the soldering. Let me if this helps or if you need more info.

Oh and eh.... ya way less then 1k to repair unless you have the HOOk UP

Armani

Bellefonte

Sorry this happened.

Dam, silver is so sexy when clean!

Interplexor

Well, here's the skinny on the damage. I had two body shops take a look at it - my low estimate was $1200, the high estimate was $1450.

Both estimates included taking off, stripping, and repainting the bumper cover - as I have some paint cracks which have developed on the rubber/plastic surface above the license plate area as a result of the accident. Also includes a new trim piece, rewiring the lighting connectors...

So... let's see if the car wash guys pay up.

fosmith

Since you have photos and witnesses, you probably could win a judgement against them in small claims court if they don't agree to pay.

Fred

JamE55

Good luck with that. Those guys won't admit to squat. I mean the fact that they told you "...the trim fell off when exposed to the high pressure nozzle..." is a complete and utter BS!. You really think with a build like this would just simply fell off? GTFO!

See if you can take the owner to small claims court since you have evidence and witness. GL.

MBFLO

GL with whatever the outcome is ..
12-14 hundred does seem a little high just to paint a front bumper .. Just make sure who ever doing the work is a top notch collision ..When i got a quote for a paint job was told they are gonna use oem paint code specs/ when i got the quote printed up seen that the paint was actually a diff maker and just was going to be color matched .. Im **** about that **** dunno about you but a benz is a benz and paint better be also .. Chances are they gonna use whomever their paint supplier is and match it ..Just make sure they do a good job and right the first time !!! anyhow Goodluck

Interplexor

Well, some good news: The car is back and repaired. German Auto Body in Santa Clara, CA (on Martin) is a top notch shop and was recommended to me by another member here - they did a great job.

Sorry for the low quality photos, but the repair job is below:





So I'm mostly fixed. Now if only the Car Wash will pay up, it'd be a great day!

Interplexor

It's a happy ending!



Kudos to Lozano's Car Wash of Palo Alto for taking responsibility and paying for the damage. I will continue to remain their patron, as I've been for the last several years.

JamE55

You actually got them to pay for it? wow! Unprecedented indeed! So what did you do to make them pay? Threat? Firearms? Or what?

Interplexor

I asked nicely. I stated my case. I explained the evidence to them. I followed their process, gave them a claim form, and they paid! Whuda thunk it? A company that actually did the right thing when they screwed up!

Of course I had to sign a disclaimer stating that I can't sue them in the future because of this issue, but that's fine by me...

greghaz

Well done!

Fabio D

Goooodddd maaannn!!

But i catch u ussing MANN FILTERS!! use OEM

hahhahahahhahaha it's a joke mann is the OEM manufacturers for the factory don't worry about

Fabio Danie

SleepersRock

nice that you got it taken care of. Since your in the South Bay, give AJs on Coleman and Taylor in San Jose a try. I only take my baby there and they do a great job. You see a ton of AMGs plus Bentleys. Lambos, Ferraris etc there all time.