Spec'c'57

iTrader: (1)

As LONG as they get a conviction. which when my classic was hit in 2002 they Never did.

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Big difference between a proper big mechanical car washing machine like you get at Tescos garages etc.... and a few shifty looking foreign blokes with some buckets and sponges who bung the garage owner £20 a day to be able to operate there.

If they are running a proper carwash then they 'should' have insurance that would cover any damage, but it doesnt seem likely from the sound of it.

Although I am gutted for you, I cant believe you actually left your car with them ! A bit like giving the pikeys doing your drive your house keys while you go to work and expecting your furniture and TV to still be there when you get home.

Red Rocket 11166

Although I am gutted for you, I cant believe you actually left your car with them ! A bit like giving the pikeys doing your drive your house keys while you go to work and expecting your furniture and TV to still be there when you get home.

Well said

Red.

S3TH

iTrader: (2)

I think some of the comments are a bit harsh on the OP.

This could have happened to a lot of us. Everyone leaves their keys with garages etc and although probably more reputable theres nothing to stop their mechanics taking your car out for a thrash and stuffing it. I also had to leave my keys with an airport carpark when I went on holiday.

I guess the OP jush has good faith in people and unfortunately he has been very unlucky. Insurance isnt a magic wand, and what ever way you look at it this poor guy has lost out.

Easy to sit there and say that you would never leave your keys with anyone etc etc. Thing is I bet a lot of you would do and probably have done in the past.

mit

iTrader: (10)

Nice post
I feel the same, i've left my keys with garages i've not used before, and been lucky.
Friend of mine left his Teg type R with Honda dealer for a service, couple hours later he saw his motor doing stupid speeds past his work, with some kid driving. He phoned the dealer, thinking it had been stolen, it was the car wash guy 'moving' it for the post service clean!

You just don't know!

zedy

i hate leaving the keys with anyone, apart from reputable tuners that work on these cars day in and day out, if you leave it with anyone normal then they will sure be tempted to take it for a drive and they in turn will thrash it to get that "feel",,,,, NOT WORTH IT

lesson learnt do everything on a while you wait unless its the likes of well known companies and those who know about these cars and work on them for a living! NOT CAR WASH people who wash em for £3

i really do hope you get the payout you deserve but just remember this for next time

fivetide

iTrader: (1)

Don't forget to do as much as you can to either get money from them or put these guys out of business.

I like the shotgun approach but no that legal. You could however call the local paper and get them to do a story on it. You could also say you'll be outside every weekend with a "These people stole my car" banner and explain to people going in what happened. Perfectly legal and should hit them where it hurts.

5t.

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

So whats the crack then? Will you get paid out off the culprits or off your own insurance. I did start to think this was a wind-up as you were far too calm about the whole thing.

Sorry for your loss though, keep us posted.

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

Only if it's specified on your policy, which most do not.

Outside that, it'd be trying to claim via the MIB, (Motor Insurers' Bureau), who, if they uphold your claim, will pay you back your excess and repay your insurers so that they can reinstate your ncd. Takes over 6 months though. My eldest was hit by an uninsured driver at the end of July and has heard nothing yet other than that the claim is "ongoing".

The kid that hit him is up on 18th Nov for DWDCA and DWI, so we hope he gets done for both as it will help his claim.

Yours is a bit more straightforward, I'd have thought.

S3TH

iTrader: (2)

Excellent suggestion on going to the local press with this story.

Hit them where it hurts, they deserve it and makes me wonder how many other "customer" cars they have taken out for test drives.

superstar1

What a strange post this is! Am i to understand that a performance car was left with complete strangers at a car wash?
Come on what sort of idiot would do that? This is just a wind-up, i don't believe any of this.

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

O.p. already said they are a trusting sort of person, so it is feesable. I was suspicious, but thinking about it, why would someone make it up. It's a lot of hassle for nothing to start a thread like this.


any news

mit

iTrader: (10)

Why's it so strange? My local Polish carwash in Dunstable is really busy, people with much more expensive cars than this trust them. They get the car cleaned while doing their shopping, and don't have to pay parking either!

Dave T-S

I do love the bar room lawyers on here!

You can't just go straight to the insurance ombudsman. You have to have a full dialogue with your insurer first and only when all avenues are exhausted, if you are not satisfied can you then take the case to the ombudsman.

Tony@Greenlight

Hi Lorraine,

Firstly, sorry to hear about your vehicle.

There is a government backed organisation that is set up to combat (using Motor Insurers Database) and compensate (via Motor Insurers Bureau) victims of uninsured incidents.

You do need to report the claim to them ASAP as from memory, they will not be involved if reported beyond 14 days of the incident. Their details are as follows: Welcome to the MIB website

The MIB central fund is designed to assist people that do not currently have any other policy in force that would indemnify, which if you have a Comprehensive cover policy would effectively mean that you would have to claim via your own Insurer rather than the MID.

Kind regards

Tony

WRX_Dazza

Supertw4t1, you might want to retract this statement quickly mate

As the owner is a cherished member of our local club i can assure you this is 100% true. The situation does not need to be made worse by your stupid comments.

StickyMicky

the vast majority of them simply don't to be honest

joe public just wants everything for as cheap as possible and loads of these handwash places dont even make any money through the year until the gritters come out

its all done via cash in hand wages, lads claiming benifits, no insurance, anything to try and make them make some money during the slow periods etc etc


it boils my ****, it really does, because i have to compete with these idiots while at the same time have proper staff on the books, and paying my insurances and vat bills.


this is not the first time i have heard of a customers car getting took out for a thrash to be honest, another scooby was taken out in the north east a while back and was recovered because it had no clutch left due to the thrashing it had, apparently the "thief" said he had all intentions of bringing it back, but couldnt because the clutch was gone


FWIW i personally offer a live cctv service for any wary customers, so they can login over the web and view the car still parked in the valeting bay, but nobody ever uses it (assumed the fact that we offered the service meant nobody ever used it lol)

StickyMicky

if they had insurance maybe, i know my policy (just renewed it) only covers any member of staff (edit, real staff, as in on the books proper) while on site, road cover is not included.

to be honest, with the regular db9 we look after, the lads know to not even touch it and its only ever driven by me when it needs moved, anybody else touches the keys and i give them a slap and chuck em out the door! the more usuall types of cars they are fine with, probably more me being a bit **** about these things to be honest, but you have to try and protect yourself


the MIB will probably be the best port of call, i had to use them about 10 years back when an uninsured driver hit me and wrote off my car.

superstar1

Sorry about your loss, however there's a common sense code of practice that goes with owning these cars and if you don't follow that it will be painful as you can already testify.
Here's a quick list:
Don't just park them anywhere or it won't be there when you get back.
Don't just leave it at any old garage when it time for a service, vet even the Subaru dealer, if vehicle is under waranty and you feel you must take it there. Remember around every corner there lurks the dreaded work experience youth!!
Park it in a garage at night if you can, leaving it on the drive will attract attention of the unwanted type and they will knock on your door with a baseball bat at 03.00 hrs.
Be aware of letting your wife drive on her own the woman and Impreza combination will attract even the worse sort of attention.
This is just a small list, and remember although its a performance vehicle, its not like a Porche, BMW, Merc etc. The Impreza attracts a particular type of attention from a particular type of scum bag who probably wouldn't give the Porche, BMW, Merc a second look.
Be careful out there and mind how you go.

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

[QUOTE=lorrainecallison;8248244]Careful girl - you'll give Essex girls a bad reputation!

JohnD

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

Top advice from peeps who know

so if she is 3rd Party

A) go to MIB above before 14 days

if she is Fully Comp

A) you will need claim against their public libialty insurance
if not got any then
B) Against your own insurance

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

I aggree. I think Lorraine's been chastised enough over this.

JohnD

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

No disprespect Mr "1", but that list came across as ever so slightly patronising. Why say it all now when 1. whats happened has happened, and 2. I'ts basic common sense

JRFRACE

This is really harsh, but its true that carwashes, garages, you just don't honestly know what happens when your cars are there.

I had a mate when we were at school who worked at a scoob dealers garage operating the car wash, basically people would go into the dealer reception, buy a token thing from him and they'd then use the car wash.

Needless to say being yoofs left alone with a load of scoobs and literaly no supervision on a trading estate on a sunday, a deserted trading estate, the cars did move about a bit, and eventually he crashed one, fortunatly it was a courtesy car (or so he told me) but i remember a couple of us were up there sitting on a wall, heard in the distance a smash and sure enough there was a bent scooby.

Now that i actually own one its a terrible thought that was going on and probably still does, but what can you do? he got away with it anyway because he knew a few interesting things about the garages practices

Hope once all the papers been pushed about you get a decent result out of this!

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

Not my understanding of it at all.
My lad has fully comp. He has a claim in with MIB which they have accepted, and they themselves told him that if it is upheld he will get his excess back, and they will reimburse HIS insurers who have paid out so far, so that they, in turn, will reinstate his ncd.
MIB are also looking into his and his passenger's claims for injury compensation, loss of earnings etc.

Sorry to dispute an expert, but that's definitely what he has been told.

Underworld

'uninsured drivers' i understand means some1 uninsured who hit u.... not some1 who is uninsured and took ur car for a spin....

and if he got the license to operate or something, am sure it should bt 'within the premises'???? the license to operate the car wash (if there is any) cant cover road use, can it???

i think u might have to claim something like 'driving without ur prmission' or theft... ur insurance will cover this i suppose......
again this is an OPINION, not saying i am 100% right..

superstar1

That's my point, people think they can own Impreza's and completely ignore the common sense code of practice.
Even if you've owned other performance cars the Impreza is iconic, so it cannot be compared with prestiege vehicles costing three times the price.
You have probably heard all the old stories about Impreza's being parked up at motorsport events or track days with Porkers and other so called exotica but it's always the impreza that generates the most interest. And this same interest will also attract the scum variety. No patronising intended.

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

Fantom

Being in Essex myself it would be handy if you posted where abouts this car wash is.

Sorry to hear about your nightmare and I hope you get it all sorted and get a better car out of it.

555wrxra

its good advice, you do not need to wait until all avenues are exhausted!
if at any point you feel that your insurance company are not doing there job, you can contact the ombudsman, there are also independent specialist that can help.

do some research before you make a BAR ROOM comment