Damaged car in supermarket car park... should I complain?

shanitee

Apologies if an enquiry similar to this has been posted before.

Essentially, I was driving my car through the underground car park of my local supermarket. This particular car park has very narrow concrete pillars and is a nightmare to navigate through. My car is relatively wide at just over 6 feet and about 15 feet long. It's always a pretty hair-raising experience getting through this car park, but I've just about managed to do it OK in the past.

A couple of weeks ago, I was driving through the car park and unfortunately clipped the near-side back end of the vehicle on one of the conrete pillars. The crunching sound when this happened was a definite heart in my mouth moment (espcially as this was a new car and I've had it for less than a month!).

Despite some (very thin) padding on the pillar, the damage was quite significant - the rear door was dented and scratched and the quarter panel (running over the rear wheel arch) was pretty badly damaged. I can't have been doing much over 5mph at the time, so the amount of damage relative to speed was quite surprising..

The repair work to fix this (essentially replacing the door shell and the quarter panel) is likely to cost somewhere in the range of £3000, so I've had to claim on my insurance. The car is currently with a body shop who have started the repairs, which will take about 2 weeks.

My question is, will making a complaint to the supermarket be worth it? I don't expect them to reimburse me for the damage (which I fully admit is my fault), but I thought at the least they could do something more to make this car park easier to get around. I was going to wait until the car had been returned so I know what the final bill is before making any complaint, as I'd like to be able to quote the exact value of damage that this minor incident caused.

When I took the car to my local garage, the body repair guy immediately named the supermarket and it's car park as soon as he saw the damage... it's pretty notorious for this kind of damage, so I think there may be steps the supermarket could take to help reduce these kinds of incidents.

Any thoughts / advice welcome!

Stooby2

Sorry no - down to you. I don't wish to be rude but if you can't manage a large car, then perhaps you ought to consider a smaller one or even one of those courses that give training on reversing, manouevering in tight places? Or perhaps park nearby and walk to the store? Find another supermarket with an easier car park?

And what steps could the supermarket take? The pillar supports the building above it so they can hardly move it. Padding won't prevent dents and will make it narrower. Short of employing someone to drive cars out of the car park for people who can't cope, there's nothing they can do.

neilmcl

Out of interest what car do you drive?

shanitee

It's an Audi A5 SportBack.

I completely acknowledge that the fault is with me, and as I mentioned, I've been through the car park without issue before (though it's always been pretty scary). I'm just wondering if anything can be done by to assist getting around the car park, for example beveling the edges of the pillars to provide a bit more clearance.

Ultimately, I should just be more careful in these tight spots. Just thought a letter to the store might help raise their awareness (though I'm sure they know about the issues) and help other drivers to avoid a similar outcome.

colino

It's clearly a Panamera if it's taking so much to re skin a door and sort out the rest of the paintwork.

Portly_Pig

shanitee wrote: »

It's an Audi A5 SportBack.

I completely acknowledge that the fault is with me, and as I mentioned, I've been through the car park without issue before (though it's always been pretty scary). I'm just wondering if anything can be done by to assist getting around the car park, for example beveling the edges of the pillars to provide a bit more clearance.

Ultimately, I should just be more careful in these tight spots. Just thought a letter to the store might help raise their awareness (though I'm sure they know about the issues) and help other drivers to avoid a similar outcome.

If you caught the door too, there was no way you were going to get round. Its quite a serious misjudgment. These things happen, learn form the mistake or use another supermarket. Alerting them to the fact may leave you open to a claim.

gardner1

Sorry its your own fault
If I had a brand new Audi a5 there is no way it would be parked or driven in an underground carpark

Richard53

As you have accepted, in law this is completely your fault, although I think a lot of people will sympathise. However, there is no harm in telling the supermarket that you have suffered significant damage to your car while using their facilities, and that you will be using a different retailer in future. Some car parks are 'known' to be difficult (we have a notorious one in Haverfordwest) and if enough people take their business elsewhere maybe the owners will do something about it.

gardner1

Portly_Pig wrote: »

If you caught the door too, there was no way you were going to get round. Its quite a serious misjudgment. These things happen, learn form the mistake or use another supermarket. Alerting them to the fact may leave you open to a claim.

Last you want is a bill for £000s for repairs to concrete supports

fivetide

Not much the supermarket can do. Cars are getting bigger so space can be tricky, especially in an underground place where it isn't just a case of repainting the lines for bloated motors.

As you say, your own fault. If you are fully comp you might think about claiming but of course your premiums will take a fair hike as a result.

diesel_dog

Ouch, that's an expensive mistake but you already know that now. I can't see any harm in making contact and letting them know what happened.