Hello List,
I've been following this saga of paint being blown off a '55 Imperial by
a commercial car wash.
I'm not going to comment on the insurance claim, just do the best you
can and get the car repaired properly.
I had a similar problem with a Lincoln I once owned. The paint in one
particular area would be routinely blown off the car exposing perfect
looking bare metal. This car was my daily driver so it went through the
car wash allot. I live in the midwest and every spring I would have the
area where the paint blew off repaired by professionals. This went on
annually until I finally got rid of the car.
Now, what about this '55 Imperial, the commercial car wash and what
really is the problem. Consider the possibility that there is something
wrong with or that something happened to the coatings on the car, which
is nearly 50 years old. No one would warranty a paint job for that long
for ANY reason. If this carwash is blowing the paint off other cars.
their insurance company would know by the number of claims. If there are
too many claims for the same reason, guess what, fix it or you don't
have insurance. If your car is the only car they're blowing paint off
of, that should tell you something. Do you know the 48 year history of
the car and are you certain the paint that blew off was from the
factor?. If it was, I would keep an eye on the rest of the car. You may
see this happen again. If I owned the car wash, I would very politely
ask you not to bring that car back or at least make it clear to you that
based on this event the wash is not responsible for the paint. Where I
live there are plenty of mechanized car washes, some pretty good and
some very very bad. There are both kinds I assure you. There are also
about 3 handwash places in my regular travels- that's where I go. And
they cost the same or less.
The car can be repaired with modern coatings. You must be reasonable on
the color match if you don't paint the whole car. Areas re-painted
should be taken down to bare metal. The problem may be in the bond of
the first coat of primer and the metal. Covering those old coatings with
new won't solve the problem if there is one, and I suspect there is.
The insurance company and the car wash may be the true victums here. The
paint job is 48 years old. #%*% does happen. It's nobodies "fault'.
Adam
'64 Crown 4dr
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