I recently took my 2000 Beetle 1.8t to an automatic, conveyor type car wash and it tore out my engine splash guard and damaged the side guards as well. The car wash says that according to the "International Car Wash Association" VW Beetle's are one of the cars on their damage alert list. They said the splash guards are usually either damaged from road hazards or are installed improperly after oil changes and are then damaged by the car wash conveyor as a result. Because of this, they will not reinburse customers if they are damaged not matter what. Now, I know my splash guards were in good condition prior to going through the car wash. I had just had my oil changed at the VW service 2 weeks earlier and I have confirmation from them that my splash guards were in good condition and they know how to reinstall them and I know I haven't hit any road hazards. Has this happened to anyone else? Does VW have any warnings about these car washes? If the car wash's know these cars are a problem shouldn't they either ban the cars or inspect the cars or have Beetle owners sign a waiver after informing them of the hazard? After ths happened I observed how cars go through the car wsh and the conveyor is about 5 inches high. The 2000 Beetle clearance at the belly pan (engine splash guard) is about 3-4 inches. When cars come to the end they roll backwards if there is no one there to jump in the car to drive it out. I think this is what happened to my car and it caught the belly pan from the back and ripped it off the sides.
- posted
18 years ago