Hand car wash damage to car

sturll

Chris_4536 wrote: »

Thankyou mate,

I'm all for people trying different options. I just don't want to see them flop.

BTW, I'm still wondering what wax was used, and who applied it for you?

Thanks,

Chris

Not a clue. I took it in paid about £45 and they dropped it off a few hours later.

Chris_4536

Where there white-ish spots on the windows when you jet-washed it?

sturll

Chris_4536 wrote: »

Where there white-ish spots on the windows when you jet-washed it?

No, they werent water marks because they wouldnt wipe off. If you used your finger nail you could make the marks bigger.

maniac886

Chris_4536 wrote: »

Please come and join us, we have a great community and we love to have a good laugh. (you may even learn a little about what CC is and how to care for it!)

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/register.php

Regards,

Chris

That website has bled me dry!:rotfl: :rotfl:

After some BH snow foam,Megs gold class shampoo,SRP and collinite 476 my motor looks mint so its worth it!:T

dipsy

Chris_4536 wrote: »

Good afternoon all,

So now moving onto the matter in hand.

The condition which has occured on the OP's vehicle is known as Clearcoat Failiure (in the US style) or as is more commonly know in the UK; Lacquer peel.

If we fire up our good friend and trusty search engine www.Google.co.uk

The first link we stumble upon is this one below;

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art32896.asp

And to take an extract of text to examine further;



This image shows clearly a classic example of clearcoat failiure;



If your paint looks like this, sorry- it's damaged beyond a simple coat of wax.

It kind of looks like this, but no where near as bad.....

Now the above text may refer to clearcoat failiure through neglect and poor routine maintainance. However, it does reinforce the bare basic facts;

car is washed/polished and maintained to an above standard, or so I would like to think.

- Metallic, pearl-based and most soild paint finishes are all applied to the vehicle with a clear protective layer over the top. This is seal in the paint finish and provide a uniform, optically perfect glossy layer.

It is metallic :-(

- If a vehicle is sprayed with a metallic base coat and not laqcuered, it will appear dull or flat.

the area that has been damaged looks dull and the surrounding area looks like skin on a human would look like when it peels.

- If part of a vehicle suffers from loss of clearcoat, it will leave the underlying base colour coat exposed and there will be a noticable difference in appearance.

sounds about right

And finally, to the OP, I'm very sorry to hear about the damage caused to your vehicle.

thank you..Me too ...... just one of those things I guess, been there 3 times before with no problem.... could it be that they had it turned up to high???

Generally speaking, pressure washers are safe to use on a vehicles paint. They are infact one of the safest methods of removing dirt and grit particles from a vehicle. This is down to the fact that no physical contact is made with the vehicle during the initial stage of the wash process.
This will minimise the risk of inflicting 'swirl marks' into the paint during washing. I mean, imagine taking a cloth, rubbing it in some gritty dirt on a path and then rubbing it all over your shiny paint!
This is what happens when the correct pre-wash stages are overlooked.

But anyway, If the car wash caused damage to your vehicle, photograph and log affected areas and make contact with the company and make it clear that they caused the damage and you are seeking reimbursement to repair the damage.

as I said previously, the car is going into them on Saturday, but having read all the comments, I doubt if they can do much, the garage from which they rent the land is not interested and I guess rightly so. The guys that washed the car or should I say their boss seemed civil enough and apologetic, stated they wash 500 cars a day with no problems.

They don't need a license to trade from the council, no "at your own risk" signs, and as they are not from this country I am guessing they will have no insurance???

Funny thing is though the other garages that they work from are all owned by the same local business man..... not that it is relevant to the damage/rectification of the damage to my car

Chris_4536

GLad you are atleast starting to make some progress, I do wish you the very best also.

The only way I can see really that clearcoat could 'flake off' is if it is not properly bonded to the base coat below.

Lets say for example, a car goes into a bodyshop to have a bumper 'blown in' because of damage. If the surface is not properly cleaned with a spirit based degreaser (commonly know as panel-wipe) the paint could still be contaminated with silicones, residues or even oils from a human hand.

This will lead to parts of the clear coat which are not fully bonded to the base coat. If a stone chip hits this 'weak spot' shall we say, it will chip through the paint and clearcoat and could cause it to flake off.

Do you know if the vehicle has had any re-finishing work done?
It can often be difficult to determine to the less initiated.

What year and colour is the Volvo if I may ask?

Thanks,

Chris

pianeet

Hang on minute the op said the manager said they clean 500 cars a day,this must be a mistake,as that Is £2500 a day @£5 a time,even if its 500 a week thats £125,000 a year, if they are turning over that sort of money just for cleaning cars they can afford to respray it,without arguing

sturll

Dipsy have you tried waxing a small part of it yet?

jackieb

sturll wrote: »

No, they werent water marks because they wouldnt wipe off. If you used your finger nail you could make the marks bigger.

Your car wouldn't have had a treatment put on it so it doesn't need polished or waxed, and this is what came off? My Audi was treated with pureguard and I have to wash it with a shampoo with no wax in it, as I think that would have stripped the pureguard stuff off.

dipsy

Do you know if the vehicle has had any re-finishing work done?
It can often be difficult to determine to the less initiated.

Not in the last 2 1/2 years

What year and colour is the Volvo if I may ask?

colour is like a gold colour/ desert wind apparently ... funny name if you ask me lol

and year is 2001 on a 51 plate

Thanks,

Chris[/quote]