Looking for a bit of advice. Today I took my 2017 couple to a car wash for detailing. Unfortunately, their attendant drove the vehicle (I was in the waiting area) through the car wash bay. Upon exiting the bay he scratched the front passenger side quarter panel and bumper. Evidently, he hit the side of the exit bay (don't know how that's possible). This location is in Round Rock, TX. I was told that I would have to get 3 claims and submit it through their claims process (corporate). I am not interested in wasting time jumping through corporate hoops. I have already started a claim through my insurance provider because I was given no documentation other than my receipt (for a refund) and the GM's card. I only want the official/authorized shop to perform the report (which is Sewell here). Question for other FTYPE owners - has anyone had luck going through the corporate route or should I just let insurance handle it? Not interested in the impact on my rates nor paying a deductible when I was not at fault.

 

Well, filing the claim against your own policy will surely be easier and faster.

Personally, I'd want to file a claim against the detail shop's policy as I feel that's where it properly belongs. But it might not be as fast or convenient.

Cheers
DD

 

The damage is minor so wait g a few weeks is not a big deal
I just went through the same type situation when my JLR dealer managed to scratch my door
They are responsible and they are doing the repaint job
No insurance claim means no carfax report

 

Dont file your own insurance claim as it will be on carfax. The damage is in the best possible place as far as repair is concerned. Any respray shop should be able to make look like new.

 

I would not file with your insurance company. I would make Mister Car Wash fix it no matter how long it took.

As for the incident itself, I'm not surprised. It takes some getting used to with the long nose judging where you are at. Someone not used to driving a car with a long nose through a tight space is asking for some trouble.

 

Hanging's too good for the attendant. Burning's too good for him! He should be torn into little bitsy pieces and buried alive!...... Yeah hold off on filing with your insurance. Contact the manager and/or wash owner. They have their own insurance that should handle the repair. I had a wheel damaged by a car wash on my prior vehicle and the company covered the full replacement.

 

I would never never never let anyone drive my F-Type through a car wash
Only hand wash to avoid swirls and
soft top damage

 

I'm a day late with advice, but here it is anyway. Get an estimate from the shop of your choice and provide that to the GM. As unfortunate as it is, the reasonable thing to do is give them the opportunity to make it right. If you get it repaired on your own insurance then they should have the other insurer's information so that they can recover all expenses.

 

Many (many) moon ago, I managed a car wash while I was in school. If ANY insurance is filed, you can expect to get a CARFAX entry and a hit on depreciation. Meanwhile, your insurance company probably won't raise your rates directly, since you weren't at fault, but you still get a black mark that could affect you in the future on rates/renewal if anything else happens. If it ends up on CARFAX, I'd get an official appraisal to document the lost value and insist on that as part of your claim. Unfortunately, the cost of getting the appraisal would be out of your pocket. Much easier if you follow Steve's suggestion to get an estimate from your preferred shop and hand it to the car wash. If necessary, suggest it's the only way you won't be filing for lost value (which could be several grand) would be to use a shop of your choice. (If you have a couple of good options, even better.)

 

Carfax is hit or miss as they don’t have every record even if it’s reported, just like the mileage and maintenance which can be erroneous. Also, if you have it documented with photos a prospective buyer can have some piece of mind that the entry isn’t really for a significant accident. That said, I have never purchased a pre-owned car with previous damage and would avoid it at any cost - having worked in auto body and in the car business, it’s just not worth it. To be clear, yes a carfax entry can and usually will impact value. As far as the insurance goes, I ran into this “black mark” issue. I had a car that had a small tap to the rear - basically scuffed the bumper behind the license plate and didn’t need to be repainted; however, I was told by my insurance company years later that I had an accident coming off my record - even though I was not at fault and had a police report etc. Each company has different policies but I think holding at not at fault accident against your policy holder is pretty ridiculous.

 

I reckon a bumper repair mob would be able to fix that, no drama. They work absolute magic on the plastic parts of the car and the repairs are generally undetectable.

I'd think the cost would be less than $500.

The problem with going through a traditional repairer is that they will want to start pulling parts of the car and to colour match it in the spray booth by feathering the whole side of the car, so it will be a $3000 plus job with your car off the road for a week, and the risk is that bits that they pull off wont go back on as well.

My mum had a black belt in knocking bumpers and sills on her cars, she was on a first name basis with the bumper repair guys, so I am very familiar with their work.

 

The damage is very minor, a sand and respray is all that will be needed. I would go get two estimates from shops YOU choose and take them back to the car wash and ask them to pay for the estimate to get it fixed. I would not file through insurance and honestly, would be surprised if they wanted to as well, seeing the cost to repair this should be minimal. I definitely would not file a claim for my insurance to make it quicker and I would never, ever take my car to an automated car wash again.

 

You're exactly right. I was mad and they knew it. No point in really letting things get out of hand. The GM was apologetic and they just rolled over when I submitted the single invoice from the dealership. Thanks for the advice.

 

Thanks for all of the great advice in the thread. The estimate from the dealership ended up being just under $1900.00. The carwash GM was very apologetic and they rolled over when I presented the single invoice and dealership's shop for the work to be done. I am going through their insurance claims and will be tackling the diminished value claim separately should it appear on the carfax (which I suspect it will either way). As long as corporate tackles this quickly and will document it in the future. Seeing how current events have affected the supply chain I'm just as happy keeping the car long-term.

 

I really doubt it'll end up on CarFax. It wasn't in a collision. My car had worse and was not reported to CarFax. Not saying it's impossible, but it's hardly automatic.

 

My experience is that it all depends on the shop you take it too. Many shops do not report anything to CarFax or other reporting agencies. It is definitely not automatic, however some shops systems are automated to report this. Too many shady backyard shops, doing restorations and other paint and body repairs that are never reported. Unfortunately, you can never trust CarFax completely. PPI are the only way to go IMO when buying a new car. Plus if you have it documented what happened, even if it is on the CarFax, future prospective buyers, with the right service history and documentations (with pictures) for anything that does show on CarFax, is the easiest way to overcome and additional depreciation that might occur. Although if the used car market stays as it is, who knows.... LOL.

 

I notified my own insurance company but all liability was accepted by the at-fault party's. Neither reported anything. The shop that repaired my car is top-notch and also reported nothing. They legitimately restored to as-new condition so that's appropriate. I can't tell their finish work from the factory's.

I hope it all works out. Mistakes happen but as long as there is no negligence there's no reason to get angry. Upset, sure, but not angry.

 

I would figure it would run around $2000-$2500. I had a boxspring tip over in my garage and graze the Jaguar. It was a smaller impact that yours. It was about $4000 total to fix; paint work $2500 and then re-ceramic coat, PPF and paint correction. Those little issues can get expensive quickly.

 

Just file with your insurance, they will then subrogate with the offender. Easy peasy. Lesson learned on car washes too. Right?

 

My suggestion is a tad more of a headache but at least you get it fixed where you want and well. Have the repairs done, pay.
Submit the invoice to the company (they will submit it to their own insurance).
Give them 30 days to pay... If they don't, take them to small claims court.

In my opinion, you want it done properly by whim you trust, without waiting forever. It is the business' responsibility to report, upon having a possible claim, to their insurance. Usually, their own adjuster will waste no time to contact you...