Car wash won't pay for damaged Beetle engine splash guards!

Just chalk it up to a lesson learned and move on. If you are trying to get a payment for damages from the car wash company, that effort will cost you more in attorney fees than any award you might get. Next time, wash the car yourself. For a car the size of a Beetle, it should not take very long - and the car will look better than anything any car wash can do.

My point is, seeing if anyone else has had this problem and to alert Beetle owners of the so-called Beetle "issue" at car washes. If they know that VW Beetles cause a problem, then why even allow them in the car wash or at least inspect the car before running it through. I had know idea the car has that little ground clearance at the engine guard. It has about 6 1/2" at the front bumper. I checked the "International Car Wash Association" website and I can't find any vehical damage alert on Beetles like they said. The car wash should know what cars can and can't go through their wash safely. Our family has been going to this car wash for over 40 years. They do a great job of cleaning the outside and inside for only $5.99. They have a special solution that cleans the wheels better than I ever can. We have never had a problem with them. I have brought my Beetle there probably 50 times with no problem. I think this time, it was just them letting the car roll backwards because no one was their to drive it out. I have talked to several people, since this happened, that have had their cars damaged at this car wash and they were very good at getting the car fixed. What is perplexing is their blanket denile on my Beetle!

This is what the car wash owner said in his letter to me:

"We are a member of the International Car Wash association that has a liaison committee with the various auto manufacturers. The car wash industry has discussed this problem with Volkswagen with no immediate resolution. The issue is that the retainers can come loose, sometimes the result of maintenance, sometimes that of simple road hazard issues. In the cases I have dealt with the customer is unaware of this condition that makes the guard hang lower than designed causing it to catch on the conveyor that pulls your vehicle through the wash. The conveyors are built to accommodate all types of vehicles including Beetles."

Has anyone ever heard of this "issue" with Beetles and conveyor car washes? Does VW have any disclaimers concerning Beetles and car washes?

Well, all I can say is, most small cars (especially those with low ground clearances) and the pull-thru type of car washes are a bad combo - not just the Beetle.

Translation. Know your vehicle's condition before you enter it into a car wash.

You as the owner are fully responsible regarding driving conditions, maintenance, road hazard issues, all of it. You as the owner need to be aware not only what the car looks like on the outside, inside the hood, but also what is hanging from your car below. Go to a VW dealership and look at a new beetle with a tape measure and figure out what is spec and what is not spec before you attempt a drive through car wash. Folks who take hands on approaches do not have to rely on others for their incompetance. That noted, you won't see too many people on this news group using automatic car washes. They don't clean as well as done by hand. Beside they also hurt your paint in the long run.

EXACTLY! Besides, they do a terrible job IMHO. They are okay for the winter to get the salt off. However there is also a type of non-contact lasar wash car wash that uses high pressure and a robot arm system that works well if you need to take off the salt...

snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net wrote: ..

I don't know of any. I would guess the disclaimer should come from the car wash people.

Unfortunatly, washing my car at home is out of the question at this time. I live in the Colorado mountains. We are on a well and the water's high mineral content is bad on the finish. I also own a bar and have zero time! I wash my car most of the time at a self-serve car wash. This particular automatic car wash is completetly no touch and use Zymol cleaners so there is no paint damage. The system they use really cleans well but I agree, you still have to hand wash occationally, which I do at the self serve wash. I have washed my cars there for years and have never had a problem until now. I am not so mad at the damage, accidents happen! But I am mad about their position concerning Beetles given that they get great consumer reviews for their handling of compaints. Beetles must have given them a lot of trouble! So why even allow them to go thru if they are that bad?

Think seriously about how unrealistic an idea that would be. Can you imagine the hassles at the entry to the line if the staff they're paying started kicking people out of the line? First off there's the question of the personnel being smart enough to even do the job right. Then there's the issue of bias. Oh I can just imagine when someone that considers themselves part of an 'unfairly targeted group' gets kicked out of the line because their hoopty would be a problem.

Sounds more like it's a combination of poor design on VW's part and lack of owner attention to the vehicle's condition.

After e-mailing the owner of the car wash, they have agreed to pay the full amount to fix my car. Showing them my owners manual that states my car's ground clearance as 4 inches when they admitted their conveyor track is 5 inches did the trick. Also pointing out how the damage was probably caused was the other factor. I have always been aware of my low ground clearance and have driven accordingly. This car wash restricts plenty of cars. They don't allow any low riders or cars with after market ground effects or accessories that stick out too much. Signs saying saying a business dosen't have any repsponsiblity don't hold legal water. They are there to just scare some people away from pursuing damage claims. We had a car damaged by a shopping cart at a Safeway parking lot that had such signs and were able to get their insurance to pay for the damage.