A garage attendant in his infinite (he-he, a pun) stupidity curbed one of my wheels. I have noticed it immediately when I was picking up the car, pointed it out to the attendant, and called the management company upon getting to the office. I was just wondering as to what is the likelihood of them refusing to reimburse me for the damage, if the attendant denies the whole thing. Are they obligated to release their insurance policy details to me? Also, what recourse I have, if any, besides taking them to small claims court. Do I need to get my insurance involved? Would they be able to pressure the management company to pay? The cost of the wheel is obviously below the $1000 deductible on my policy.

Thanks for the advice.

 

Unfortunately you might have to bite the bullet. Typically if the situation is not delt with the same day/night , you may have no recourse. You would need to talk to the attendents manager/company to see what you might be able to do. Therese not a whole lot, and a curb wheel will happen eventually anyways. If its super big and its like he bent the rim, thats diff, if its some scuffs let it go. I would not get my insurance involved unless they're willing to fight the other company (garage) insurance. At that point, you woudln't be paying a deductible, because deductible is when an accident is your fault or, a vandalism claim etc.

 

you have a $1000 deductable? how much did that lower your insuarnace per month?

Oh, and as far as the wheel goes, if it was valet parking, look on the back of your clam ticket to read their disclaimer. You'll see that they could ram the thing into the wall and not be liable for it.

 

They can still be held liable for negligence. What madscientist said was not exactly true.

 

To be honest, I have no idea of the top of my head. I will need to check.

I remember by business law professor in college telling me that the disclaimer is bull**** and carries no legal weight whatsoever. They are liable for any and all damage they do to your car, but their liability might be capped at $25K.

 

speeddreamz:
I could not very well get a signed check out of them the same day, but I made damn sure the management company knew that the damage has been done within a couple of hours. A curbed wheel might eventually happen anyway, but I reserve the privilege to curb my own wheels and not to oursource it to a douchebag parking attendant. By the way, it was not a valet, it was a garage where I park it on a monthly basis.

The reason I mentioned the deductible is because I think it makes a difference in whether Geico will back me up on this one - since the deductible is well over twice the price of the wheel, no money would be coming out of Geico's pocket if the garage management refuses to compensate me.

SSR/TireRack just got back to me saying the wheel was not designed to be disassembled so the lip/rim portion could be replaced or repaired. So it looks like I have no choice but to ask them to replace the whole thing.

 

are you aware that the stock 19's are about $1k and not $500 like you think?

 

I am well aware. My summer wheels are SSR SP1s 18x8.5 which are $415 a pop + $20 shipping +$30 to mount and balance.

 

Sorry but that is funny.

 

You should be able to get the curb rash fixed for 50-120 dollars. They should pay.

A car wash at a gas station damaged my Mustang (I don't use aouto-washes anymore).....I went back to complain about 7 times and started to file a case...when their corporate office found out they payed.

A lot of hassle, but I got $450 eventually.

Speaking of $400, save that much on this exhuast: https://g35driver.com/forums/showthr...=98801&page=10

 

Wheel damage is quite common and can be repaired for about $100. Ask your Dealer who they use and contact the guy independently. Don't make the appointment through the Dealer to avoid paying a Dealer markup.

 

That's on a painted wheel, and that's exactly what I've done when I curbed my stock 18"s. With an anodized aluminum lip it does not appear to be possible as you cannot fill-in the gashes and paint over it because it is bare unpainted unclearcoated aluminum.

 

SL Metals can fix the wheel, HOWEVER, because the lips are annodized you will be able to notice where the polish ends and annodized begins. Kevin at SL says that most people probably wouldn't notice the change unless they are are a real car nut. Worth a shot and probably about 100-150 to fix. You can take the money for a new wheel n pay to fix it and just pocket the rest.

 

My dad owns a parking company that does alot of valet. The only disclaimer on the back of the ticket deals with theft of personal belonings that are left inside the car, not with driver damage. The good thing is that you reported it when it happened and hopefully it was recorded. If this is a reputable parking place then their insurance will cover the wheel replacement in full.