hi im after a bit of advice i recently used my local sainsburys car wash and managed to get stuck in it twice which caused quite a bit of bodywork damage so i reported it to sainsburys head office and they asked me to get 2 vat registered quotes which i done and they confirmed that the car wash was faulty and have decided to go along with the cheaper of the 2 quotes. the problem i am now having is the car has developed a fault which is far too costly and in my view not worth repairing and sainsburys want to pay the body repair shop directly to have the work done and i have benn offered a part exchange on a newer car and obviously i would have got a much better price for my car if the extra damage caused by the car wash wasnt there so shouldnt sainsburys pay me for the damage caused?? id be greatful for any help thanks in advance steve

Hi Guys, could do with some help... I took my car to a local car wash yesterday morning. Later on, after my car had dried, I noticed patches all over the car, where the lacquer had been power washed off. Some patches are quite large, so now my car looks an absolute mess. I returned to the car wash this morning to ask if there was anything they could do about it, and to be blunt, they dont. They weren't prepared to do anything. I asked for they're Public Liability Insurance details, only to be told they hadn't got any. I thought this was a legal requirement . So What can I do ? Regards...Dave G

Hi, I'm hoping someone might be able to help, my girlfriend's car has been sitting outside our house for a month or so, under a tree which has been dropping little buds and with it sap onto the roof of the car, so the car got pretty sticky, so after she had taken it back from the garage she took it to a hand wash to get rid of the sticky black sap as it looked bad, then took it back home, when I got home tonight I went and had a look at it, and you can imagine my horror when I saw that quite a lot of the lacquer on the top of the roof had been removed as well. big strips of lacquer have been removed and there are now big patches of damaged paint, including on the bonnet. When I complained to the carwash, he said it was our fault because the paintwork hadn't been looked after and maintained. The car has generally been looked after very well, it's an older car but only just done 50,000 miles and the only time there's ever been an issue was the sap from the tree. The guy is saying that it's our fault because the paintwork was in bad condition, something that I just don;t agree with, and anyway as far as I'm concerned they shouldn't have started it if they thought it was in such bad condition but they're saying that they couldn't see what bad condition it was because of the sap etc. Does anyone have any ideas about what to do next ? At the end of the day it happened on their property, and was done by them regardless of anything else, but they're saying it's our fault.

I took my car to the carwash and when it came out of the automatic car wash the rear driver side bumper panel was peeled off. The owner of the car wash was looking around the car and started taking pictures of where the bumper panel was removed. He pointed out that there was a scratch and a dent in the back area. He pointed out that the car had to have been in an accident which caused the panel to stick out. Since the panel was already sticking out one of the brushes must have snagged onto the panel and ripped it off. He confidently stated that he was not liable for the damage. Any advice? Are they or are they not liable for the damage to my car? Thanks!!

Hello to all, I am new to this site and would appreciate any advice that you may have regarding my legal rights. I put my car through a car wash which included the wheel scrub, I have used this auto wash a few times previously with no problems. On returning home my other half pointed out large circular scratches on the paintwork behind the wheel arch of the front tyres and before the wheel arch of the back tyres (on the sides of my car), 4 sets of scratches in all. This damage appeared to have been caused by the wheel scrub missing the wheels of my car as it went through the wash process. My other half took photos of the damage and we have kept the receipt from the car wash. I wrote to the garage (Murco) advising them of the problem and they wrote back asking me to get 2 repair quotes. Given their response at this point, I thought it was all going to be a straighforward process. I obtained 1 quote from my local garage which seemed reasonable and wrote back asking if they wished to pay this directly or if they wished me to pay and then would recompense me. I heard nothing back and on contacting them again, they just advised me that they were investigating the incident. After waiting a few more days, I wrote to Murco stating that I was unwilling to leave my car in this state and I was going ahead with the repair using the local garage. Once again I asked them how they wished to settle the bill. I did not hear back from the company and went ahead with the repair assuming that they would settle, given that they had asked me for repair quotes. A few days later, I then received a letter advising that they had found nothing wrong with the car wash, denying liability and pointing out their disclaimer notice which states owners take their cars to the car wash at their own risk. I can understand that the garage cannot expect to be held liable for damage that may be caused due to the actions of drivers, but in my case my car was damaged due to the machine not working properly. We have advised Murco that they have until 22nd June to settle my bill (£150 for repair to the paintwork) or I will take further action to recover my money. Can anyone advise me on the likelyhood of any legal claim succeeding? I have been on various sites where owners have suffered damage to spoilers etc and they have been advised that owners have no rights due to the disclaimer notices. However I saw an earlier post on this site in which the person posting suffered the same type of damage. The response given told the poster to keep photos and write to the garage. The poster did not respond to this response so I do not know the outcome, but this response gives me hope that Murco may have some liability in this case. I am not sure what defence Murco would offer apart from tryng to claim that I must have moved my car during the wash process. I turned the engine off when I used the car wash so I know this did not happen, also I would have had to have driven forward and then backwards to have caused the 4 circular scratches that appeared on my car both after and before the wheel arches on the sides of the car. I would be grateful for any advice. Many thanks Sue

Has anyone had a problem with damage to car in a car wash machine? I went into one of these car washs, never been before. The attendant directed me into position. the next day when I got into the car i found damage to the lower skirt. I investigated and sae my paint on on of the mechine blocks near the exit. They have said it is "impossible" unless you steer the car. I did not steer the car. I saw no visible signs although they claim there are but certainly not by the entrance before I paid and in any case they lathe the car including windows so you cant see the sign anyway. what is the law? do I have any rights to damage?

Washed a white with small red band Asda bedsheet with wife's white coat, wash finishes and both the bedsheet and coat are now pink, followed manufacturers washing instructions on bedsheet. Would complaining get me anywhere.