Need legal help

[armymp1983]

Well i took my 99 Z28 to a self serve carwash here in Gloucester City. I used the brush of death to remove the bird **** from my car. Turns out when i go to spray it off i have silver paint on my car. My brother says it is a roofing sealer for tar roofs. I filed a police report. and had them try to contact the owner. A couple hours later i return to the car wash and take pictures of the bay, the brush and my vehicle. I spoke with a man who was patching the asphalt there. I explained what happened to my car and that i filed a police report. He told me he was just an attendant. Turns out later i find out from the Police department that he is the owner. I talked to him again and asked him why he lied to me. He said i don't want people knowing that i am the owner and told me he doesn't see how that is his problem that my car is damaged.

Should i take him to court?? Need help guys. I served 5 years as military police in germany. I'm not sure how the laws work here though. Shouldn't he have some sort of business insurance???

[Rob WS6]

Try some Goof Off, that might take it off and wont hurt the paint. That is some nasty **** though, when I did the back of my roof with it, it gets everywhere.

[Untamed]

Since you have already filed a police report, have pictures, and already talked to the owner about it, you should try to remove the stuff yourself first. If it doesn't come off, then you have already documented the problem, taken pictures, and talked to the owner about it. Since the owner is unwilling to do anything at this time, and assuming yoru own remedies don't work, then an arbitrator will see that reasonable non-legal methods at remediation were attempted before being called to arbitration.

That will go a long way towards solving the problem legally if it gets there.

But to be honest, how much does it cost for professional cleaning versus attorney / arbitration fees? A car wash owner isn't exactly loaded in money so even if you win, how much will you collect?

Tough call. Good luck!

[79CamaroDiva]

im not sure that he'll be obligated to do anything about it. our society is so paranoid about everything, im sure there's signs somewhere that say use everything at you're own risk, which, in effect means that you're responsible for checking the brush to make sure its clean before you use it. its unfortunate, but that's probably the way things will pan out.

[HardcoreZ28]

WD40 is much safer than Goof-Off on your paint....try that

[CamaroGirlie]

Most self serve car washes have a sign stating that they are not responsible for anything that happens to your car while washing it there......if you car wash says that then you can't do ANYTHING to get the owner to pay for it

[Untamed]

I'm not entirely sure that's correct. Neglegance is something that business owners are still liable for, regardless of the signs they post. Unfortunately, in order to bring a neglegance charge against him, you will have to deal with things in a criminal court, not a civil one.

All business owners, for insurance reasons, need to make a reasonable attempt at securing and making safe, their places of work. I think as has been said above, you are better off trying to remove the stuff yourself first. The cost of going the legal route will be too expensive for the damage that was done.

[armymp1983]

thanks guys for the advice.

[NJSPEEDER]

i would at least follow up on the plice report and see if there are any suggested legal avenues you can follow. at least to make the guy pay for professional repair/cleaning of the car elsewhere.