You heard it right. I'm probably the only one that's had to deal with this sort of negligence so far. Took CHOMPER through my local friendly car war (of the tunnel variety) for a scrub down, dropped the car off with the vacuuming cronies outside while I went inside to pay. Long story short they ran it through with the passenger-side window down and absolutely soaked the interior. As it came out of the tunnel I noticed that they drove it off rather hurriedly to a detailing booth. I walked over and asked after a few minutes why my car was soaking wet on the inside. I came to find out that my stereo (HIFI) wasnt working and neither was my air conditioning. The speedo and tach were VERY intermittently working as well as every other electronic in the car. They tried to hide it from me! The manager wrote out a letter of fault and got sort of rowdy with me but I put him in his place with a few short words. As luck would have it, my S.O. happens to be an attorney so this company is going to be about as screwed as we can make them.

CLIFFS:

Took CHOMPER for a wash.
Idiots left window open in car wash.
Interior electronics seemingly fried.
S.O. is a lawyer.
Suing for damages.

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Sorry to hear about such a bad luck!! Hope you get this resolved with the car wash as quickly as possible

 

wow.. MINI took a convertible through a car wash and claimed it all worked ok after. Maybe they were hiding something.

 

Not on point, but similiar. Talked yesterday with another MINI owner with a broken antenna housing. He had taken his MINI through a carwash without removing the "stick" and the carwash caught ahold of it and broke the mount. Said he was quoted $400 to replace it.

 

I'd get a NEW MINI To replace the flooded one. If you have ever looked behind the interior parts of a MINI and looked at ALL the wires, boxes, computers and so on and so on, I bet this MINI is nothing but trouble for the rest of it's running or not running days.

 

X2. Being in the bodyshop business, IMO the worst damage to occur to a car that is hard to repair the first time is flood damage.

Granted, your car wasn't in a flood but enough water could/would still do a LOT of damage.

Good luck.


Mark

 

Keep us up to date on the results of this interesting situation.

 

id sue for a new mini!!!

 

I dont think the carwash could be in business without insurance, just make a claim against their insurance, should have actually got that info while you were there. Also get a few different independent quotes for repair or replacement before his insurance company points you to one their own friendly places.

 

Sorry to hear about the idiots at the carwash.

Similarly, my wife took her Eclipse in to a carwash this past Saturday. It came out with two very long gouges in the paint on the passenger side.

There's a lesson here, somewhere...

 

I am beginning to think that is is much better to either wash your own car or let it get covered under a thick coat of dust before letting any of these car wash fools get near it.

A flooded car is a big can of worms and you'll forever be chasing unsolvable electrical gremlins. File a claim with your insurance company and take it from there.

 

So here's the update so far. Car is still at the dealership,carpets and everything removed and dried, radio is fried and is on order now, will be here on monday, charges right now are $1,300 just for the radio as I understand it; not including the labor to add and remove it or to dry the car out completely. Luckily MINI has been kind enough to furnish me with a loaner car so I'm chugging around in it, but I miss my S! This just-a-cooper clubman is a bit sluggish for my taste. I've already talked to my MA, if I get out of the suit well enough I'll be paying him a visit to pick up a JCW this time.
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Who put down the pax window in the first place? Hope you can prove it was them.

 

I take a lesson here, i should stop being lazy and wash my baby myself every time. This way, not bad luck, no rough brushes and killer soap, no spot forgotten and a perfect job each time!

 

Yeah, I have a handwritten damage report of them claiming fault for the incident.

Unfortunately, I can't hand wash my car :( I live in a high-rise downtown and not in a single-family or townhouse, now I have to search for another place to wash my car.
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Me too. My high rise condo association doesn't allow car washing in the building (Most of these people they could care less about their own cars), so luckily my in-laws live around the corner and I can wash the cars in their driveway.

This is one of the many downsides of condo/high rise living.

 

I take your dealer is Lauderdale MINI? Last week they gave me a '09 Clubman S manual loaner and it was a blast!

 

Actually its vista in coconut creek, I have to say I have a great deal of love for this dealership, they've always done me right I thought Lauderdale didn't give loaners because I bought my 335 coupe from there and they won't give me a loaner for it! just a crappy rental!
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Interesting. They have always given me new MINI loaners and they even hand them out regardless of where you bought your MINI from.

The few times I have gotten Enterprise rentals is when they are out of MINI loaners.

Hope it all gets sorted out. This has to be the costliest car wash experience of your entire life.

 

Its probably just the BMW side then, I'm guessing. Strangely what I've noticed almost universally is that MINI service is better at every dealership versus BMW. Its really ridiculous that I'm treated better when I bring in my $30k car vs my $50k car, I guess it just has to do with volume though.
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You dont have one of those wash it yourself car wash bay in the area? I found those to be very practical when i didnt have a garage

 

If you must use auto car washes, use the touch free...

It is quite enjoyable in nice weather to wash it yourself.

 

Good reccomendations! Unfortunately my schedule doesn't allow me any spare time to really devote to hand washing, I consider it a treat to myself just to be able to take it to the autowash. Additionally the nearest handwash bay area is ~8 miles west of me each way with downtown-grade traffic on half of that drive. Medschool, friends and a relationship are very time consuming!
_d

 

Those are very rare if non-existent down here in South Florida. Since we don't get snow, then no "need" for them.

And you would think someone down here would exploit that kind of business opportunity given the fair amount of condo dwellers...

 

That and there are no 24-hr gyms down here! The nearest one in is hollywood.
/rant
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