Guy says 1000psi stripped his paint

[JustClean]

I had an experience where a guy was complaining his baked on bugs were not coming off his brand new plastic bumpered car. Being the extra helpful person that I am ... I showed him by holding the pressure closer ... the bugs will come off. BAD IDEA ... the coating -paint on the plastic or whatever also started to peel off! Luckily the contankerous older person chose to direct his anger at the car dealership who sold him the brand new vehicle. Even though I volunteered ... legalese wise ... I might have been in more jeopardy had the person sued me ... FWIW ... I believe I saw a People's Court Episode ... which had that kind of sickening automatic shift of legal responsibility ... once I was the one operating the wand & not the customer???

Same happened to me when I was trying to help someone getting the bugs off - poor paint preparation with a small stone chip. Going over with the HP gun blew up the paint the size of a football for a second. Taking the gun away the football bubble disappeared
The owner didn't see it happen. I was shocked. This can NEVER EVER happen with a proper paint repair. Dodgy workmanship.

 

[Mr. Clean]

Guy calls me tells me his paint was stripped by my cat 430.... max psi 1000.

says he’s gonna sue me if I don’t pay. 90% chance hes Full of shit but he sounded like he really believed it was My fault.

Anywho... should I pay for it? From my understanding no way paint bonded correctly would strip from a car at 1000psi.

thoughts?

Mazda or otherwise poor paint job?

Guy calls me tells me his paint was stripped by my cat 430.... max psi 1000.

says he’s gonna sue me if I don’t pay. 90% chance hes Full of shit but he sounded like he really believed it was My fault.

Anywho... should I pay for it? From my understanding no way paint bonded correctly would strip from a car at 1000psi.

thoughts?

Mazda or otherwise poor paint job! Wait a minute, this is a self-serve thread - who was holding the gun????

 

[fastlx]

never heard of pack sand but I've told many to Pound sand!

 

[Nuphoenix]

I had a guy call and say my auto (vintage Magic Spray) peeled the paint off the running boards of his three day old truck. My son answered the call and told him to take it back to the dealer because you have a defective paint job. He responded by saying "That's what I thought you would say". Never heard from him again. How can a 25 year old auto that has washed thousands of cars even decrepit ones strip paint off a brand new truck?

 

[MEP001]

How can a 25 year old auto that has washed thousands of cars even decrepit ones strip paint off a brand new truck?

Most likely because the running boards were painted and installed by the dealer and the paint wasn't cured, or the surface wasn't prepped correctly. I know some guys who buy new trucks every few years and go in demanding things like color-matched fender flares. Every time the paint starts to flake off after a pretty short time. I'm sure the dealers are like "Let's get these assholes taken care of and off the lot as quick as we can."

 

[Nuphoenix]

Most likely because the running boards were painted and installed by the dealer and the paint wasn't cured, or the surface wasn't prepped correctly. I know some guys who buy new trucks every few years and go in demanding things like color-matched fender flares. Every time the paint starts to flake off after a pretty short time. I'm sure the dealers are like "Let's get these assholes taken care of and off the lot as quick as we can."

And they think that a car wash will pay up quicker than trying to get the dealer to correct it

 

[mjwalsh]

We did pay $20 one time to a guy who noticed that our low pressure tire/motor slightly leaked from our center boom area directly on the top center of his vehicle. It was a long time ago ... I know that where it landed is was not painted ... it was possibly the type of material that is on a convertible ... it may have been a convertible. The vehicle was over 25 years old ... really pathetic.

The guy was someone who probably came in & only ever spent the absolute minimum. One of the reasons I paid is that I knew he was enough of a**hole to actually go to court & he was correct about the temporary low pressure leak barely dripping from the boom swivel. Based on my addictive watching of peoples court type of shows over the years since judge wapner ... I may have had to cough up his court costs & he may have upped the amount.

Possibly ... Earl's suggestion of "Car Fax and KBB. might have helped ... not sure.

IMHO ... what I caved into was not as bad as the following even thought it still does not make what i cowtow's to right or the best!

The 5 biggest ransomware pay-outs of all time - IT Governance UK Blog

 

[jasonHTCW]

I had a customer about a year ago complain about paint coming off in the wash passenger side. The omni high pressure sprayers and wheel blasters do run the length of the vehicle but it came down to the cheap $300 paint job that the customer had recently completed. She only had the passenger side painted. Driver side was fine. She pushed and pushed but I refused to pay and she eventually went to the auto shop and go no where with them. Not sure what she ended up doing.

 

[Zal]

This equipment, when used properly will not damage Quality paint.
If in question do not use the equipment - Your choice of course​

 

[AZcarwashman]

Guy is full of s**t. I run and have always run all my pumps (cat310) at 1200 PSI with 2505 wand tips. Never had a complaint of paint damage. It’s not your pressure, it’s his paint.

 

[mikempls]

Today I washed my 2020 Chev truck with about 1100 psi and removed some paint from the hood (about the size of a nickel) It has 20000 miles and lots of rock chips. I think it is bad paint as the truck I replaced had way more miles and way less rock chips and never removed any paint while washing it. Not sure how I'm going to approach the dealer about it, but I'm really disappointed.

I would have never believed a customer if they told me this, but I guess now I would listen. Still wouldn't accept responsibility for the damage.

 

[OurTown]

Today I washed my 2020 Chev truck with about 1100 psi and removed some paint from the hood (about the size of a nickel) It has 20000 miles and lots of rock chips. I think it is bad paint as the truck I replaced had way more miles and way less rock chips and never removed any paint while washing it. Not sure how I'm going to approach the dealer about it, but I'm really disappointed.

I would have never believed a customer if they told me this, but I guess now I would listen. Still wouldn't accept responsibility for the damage.

Have you owned since new? If not maybe the hood was repainted before you bought it.

 

[mikempls]

Yes, purchased new in October 2020.
I thought the same thing. I suppose it could have been damaged on the lot or during shipping? Still feel like I’m in for a battle. I’m going to bring it to the dealer Monday.

 

[AZcarwashman]

Today I washed my 2020 Chev truck with about 1100 psi and removed some paint from the hood (about the size of a nickel) It has 20000 miles and lots of rock chips. I think it is bad paint as the truck I replaced had way more miles and way less rock chips and never removed any paint while washing it. Not sure how I'm going to approach the dealer about it, but I'm really disappointed.

I would have never believed a customer if they told me this, but I guess now I would listen. Still wouldn't accept responsibility for the damage.

What degree nozzles do you use? I’d imaging a 15 degree would concentrate the water much more than a 25 or 32 degree nozzle. Maybe less wide spray degree the higher chance of damage at higher PSI.?

 

[mjwalsh]

What degree nozzles do you use? I’d imaging a 15 degree would concentrate the water much more than a 25 or 32 degree nozzle. Maybe less wide spray degree the higher chance of damage at higher PSI.?

Based on when we join more than 1 pump with a wider angled nozzle to achieve more water volume for tough mudder bay wash down ... I am thinking that more water volume ... even with less pressure is the most effective cleaning.

From a utility cost perspective ... higher pressure & less water volume helped by a smaller angle of nozzle allows us to charge a bit less ... with a trade off that some customers might be slightly more at risk for paint or plastic encasing to blow off. Some type of happy medium to reach I suppose.

 

[mikempls]

Based on when we join more than 1 pump with a wider angled nozzle to achieve more water volume for tough mudder bay wash down ... I am thinking that more water volume ... even with less pressure is the most effective cleaning.

From a utility cost perspective ... higher pressure & less water volume helped by a smaller angle of nozzle allows us to charge a bit less ... with a trade off that some customers might be slightly more at risk for paint or plastic encasing to blow off. Some type of happy medium to reach I suppose.

We’ve used 2505 nozzles since 2005 and never had any issues. I really believe the issue is with the paint and not the wash equipment.
I can’t see how anyone could prove the car wash owner is responsible for this?

 

[Waxman]

If the equipment functions normally, there should be no liability for damages.

 

[mjwalsh]

The following blog-article explains the various nozzle degrees. It sounds like zero degree nozzle could save even more water $$$ than a 15 degree nozzle. It comes down to the customer being the one responsible for how close the nozzle is held etc IMHO. Unnecessary wasting of water is frowned on by environmentalists ... don't you forget it!

Pressure Washer Nozzles: Use the Right Tip for the Job | Norwall PowerSystems Blog

 

[MEP001]

It sounds like zero degree nozzle could save even more water $$$ than a 15 degree nozzle.

True in the right application, idiotic when suggested for self-serve car washes. GPM is what matters for water use. Putting the wrong nozzle in the hands of a customer is just looking for problems. Stick to the topic for once.

 

[jprb]

800psi from a Touchless automatic did this. The big black spot under the mirror was there prior to the wash. I asked him why it didn’t take the paint off of the entire car. He said, “that door has been repainted.” I told him that was the problem (bad paint), not the wash.