For starters, let's be hypothetical. Almost every automatic out there has been ran into at one time or another. I realize that on a written thread here, you can't sometimes describe exactly what' has happened. But for those of you that have been ran in to, what was the outcome? Did you just straighten it out and go on with business, or did you have the thing totaled? There have been a string of hit and runs with this where I live. Most of the time, the owners end up with a new automatic. I've read the so called engineering reports from the factory engineers who say if the frame is more than a couple of inches out of square, don't bother with fixing it. Now I know firsthand from installing these things over the years, that ALL of the frames from every manufacturer have a lot of slop/give in them. You can take most any automatic and pull it 5 to 6 inches off from one side to the other. Then just pull it back and it will be fine. Pick most up by a forklift and you will see the feet go in sometimes 6 inches. That all seems normal. Down here in south Florida we seem to have a target rich area of mysterious customers driving into the auto at night, blasting the gantry, and leaving a trail of destruction. Almost all cases have resulted in new machines. Now when the salesmen sell these things, most all state how rugged they are. Yet get hit, and it's over. I have personally gone out to automatics that were badly bent, put a come-a-long on them, pulled them back straight, and they were fine. What are your thoughts on this?
Whoa ! My automatic got hit, and the salesman says it'e toast
- Thread starter mac
- Start date
washnvac
Well-known member
Depends who is footing the bill. The driver's insurance--then new unit, of course; then old one for parts. Car wash owner's insurance--then maybe try to repair.
This is being replaced by the owner's insurance company. Even though he has a camera in the bay, all they saw was a mysterious figure ramming the top brush and wheel scrub, then a little later coming back to raise the top brush back up.
I.B. Washincars
Car Washer Emeritus
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2007
- Messages
- 4,284
- Reaction score
- 1,163
- Points
- 113
- Location
- SW Indiana melon fields.
I had a Mark VII RotoClean gantry and pumping plant totally destroyed by a runaway car. The driver had a siezure and nailed the gas. The carnage that ensued included the equipment being bulldozed into the Radio Shack next door, ripping off about 30' of siding, and damaging a sattelite dish that was about 10' from the rear of the building, where it finally stopped with the gantry wedged between the building and dish, the car underneath. Needless to say, the equipment was toast...but no injuries at all.
JustClean
Active member
Customer used my IBA at night with a bike rack attached. The top brush went underneath and go damaged when it tried to lift upwards.
This prick jumped out of the car, checked it out and did a runner. Thanks to my number plate camera I got him.
In another incident a beginner drove into the bay at 80mph hit the gantry that it jumped the rail and also did a runner. Same here: number plate camera was my best friend. In both (and other) instances I sent them a letter saying we have evidence they damaged our machine "AND LEFT THE SCENE OF AN ACCIDENT". This magical sentence works wonders! If they don't pay for the damage we have to refer the matter to the Police. Until now (thank God) there hasn't been an incident where I didn't get my money. I usually try to fix it myself and charge them a reduced hourly rate plus spare parts and freight.
This prick jumped out of the car, checked it out and did a runner. Thanks to my number plate camera I got him.
In another incident a beginner drove into the bay at 80mph hit the gantry that it jumped the rail and also did a runner. Same here: number plate camera was my best friend. In both (and other) instances I sent them a letter saying we have evidence they damaged our machine "AND LEFT THE SCENE OF AN ACCIDENT". This magical sentence works wonders! If they don't pay for the damage we have to refer the matter to the Police. Until now (thank God) there hasn't been an incident where I didn't get my money. I usually try to fix it myself and charge them a reduced hourly rate plus spare parts and freight.
JustClean
Active member
Thanks for the information. There seems to be a lot of misinformation on machines being bent. Actually most all machines flex. Next time you are flying just watch the wing tip on most airlines. You'll see it flex quite a bit on a bumpy day. There is a point where you can pull the wings off of an airplane, but before that point there is a lot of movement. Same with car wash machines.
