June '17 is SO not my month. :|
June 15, 2017 9:20 AM   Subscribe

My 2013 car, which is in excellent mechanical condition and has had all the recommended routine maintenance, was driving perfectly. Then I had it professionally detailed...

... and as soon as I drove away from the detailing shop, the airbag light came on. I took it to the dealer who diagnosed a faulty control unit. Replacing the control unit cost $1k in parts and labor.

Some cursory internet searching shows me that this is A Thing (1, 2, 3). When I picked up my car on Tuesday I spoke to the mechanic who worked on it and he said that the original control unit didn't show obvious signs of damage, but that it seemed incredibly unlikely that this was a coincidence.

Detailer says this isn't their problem. I filed a claim with my insurance (I have Other Than Collision coverage in my policy, which allegedly "Covers damage caused by something other than another vehicle such as hail, theft, or collision with an animal.") My assigned insurance adjuster called me a few minutes ago and basically said that she doesn't believe my story. She said she would call the mechanic directly, but I assume she will find the fact that there were no obvious signs of damage to be "proof" that I'm lying about the timeline of events.

I don't know what to do. This was a huge expense and comes on the heels of two emergency surgeries for my dog (puppy tax) (he is fortunately just fine!). If I truly believed that this was just an unfortunate fluke, I would totally eat the cost without question. But I'm unconvinced.

Question #1: Have you experienced the detail + airbag light phenomenon personally? What happened?

Question #2: Assuming my insurance denies the claim, what recourse do I have? Would it be totally crazy to take this to small claims court?
posted by schroedingersgirl to Travel & Transportation around Cambridge, MA (7 answers total)
 
Whether it's A Thing or not depends on whether users of the same car as you are experiencing it. Your links were for a Smart, a Subaru, and a Ford. Find the forums for your make of car, search there, and that may clue you in to whether it's actually A Thing for your make. Talk to the service manager at your local dealer, maybe; not so much a mechanical second opinion as much as a sanity check on whether or not a wash or a detailing cleaner can screw up the unit.

Make a written claim with the detailer instead of anything verbal, if you haven't already. They'll forward it to their management and/or insurance company, and that'll give you someone to pick at until they either pay up or give you info about the detailing process that shows how they didn't go near the damaged unit nor had solvents/liquids anywhere near it.
posted by Sunburnt at 9:29 AM on June 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


Some cursory internet searching shows me that this is A Thing (1, 2, 3).

I think you are making several assumptions there - all three of those faults are different, all different models and all resolved themselves on their own or could have been unrelated to the detailing. I don't see how you can draw a parallel between those instances and yours - how long did the light stay on for before you took it to the dealer? A day? An hour? If it was moisture in a sensor (as per one of the examples) it may have resolved itself. Did the mechanic confirm the light was still on when he replaced the module? Did the code confirm the module was the problem, or did he just replace the module and the light went out? If it is the latter, it is possible the problem was moisture and it resolved itself while at the dealer. That sounds like a wild coincidence, but no more so than 'my detailer damaged the internals of an electrical box'.

If it truly was a diagnostic module, then I find it unlikely that the detailing damaged it. I'm not sure where the module is on your car, but it is likely up under the dash or under a seat and it's possible the wiring could be damaged by someone wildly careless but less likely the the module itself.
posted by Brockles at 9:41 AM on June 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Whether it's A Thing or not depends on whether users of the same car as you are experiencing it. Your links were for a Smart, a Subaru, and a Ford.

Sorry, I should have clarified. I have a Smart car. The mechanic told me that it's possible for Smart's control units to be damaged during the detailing process.

...how long did the light stay on for before you took it to the dealer?

It was on for days before I took it to the dealer, because I hoped that it would self-resolve. Unfortunately, it did not.

Did the mechanic confirm the light was still on when he replaced the module? Did the code confirm the module was the problem, or did he just replace the module and the light went out?

Yes, he confirmed the light was still on, and yes, the code confirmed that the control unit was the problem. I would certainly not have authorized a $1k repair without those things.
posted by schroedingersgirl at 9:54 AM on June 15, 2017


Response by poster: Also, I should add that I suspect (but have no way to prove) that the guys at the detailing shop moved my car by hand (i.e., carried it a few feet). They basically said that they moved it that way as a goof, and then when I was like "...what?" they backtracked. I don't want to get further into this here, but, well, let's just say that I don't totally trust this shop.
posted by schroedingersgirl at 9:58 AM on June 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


You don't seem to have a single piece of evidence that the detailing caused your airbag light to come on. You have one piece of circumstantial evidence, which isn't worth anything.

Unless either of those things changes, you should just pay for the repair and move on. The idea of getting the detailing shop to reimburse you for the work - let alone take them to court and win - is lauhable.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 11:36 AM on June 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Picking the car up and moving it is very unlikely to cause a problem like this. Soaking the wrong thing with water or cleaning solution might, and the odds of that happening might be higher with an unusual car that the detailers aren't familiar with, but your chances of proving it would've been small to begin with and by this point are basically nonexistent.

FWIW my (minimal) experience suggests that diagnosis of things like this is sometimes less than straightforward. I had an SRS light come on in a VW Jetta several years ago after a repair that necessitated removing one of the front seats. That garage insisted the two were unrelated and wanted to tear the dashboard apart looking for the cause, at a four-figure cost. I went elsewhere for a second opinion, and a mechanic there did something very simple like a reprogramming or some sort of reset -- details lost in the mists of time -- and fixed it for not much more than the price of an oil change. That experience makes me wonder whether replacing the unit was really necessary.

This is a lousy situation and totally not fair, but I think you're stuck.
posted by jon1270 at 8:35 AM on June 16, 2017 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: I wanted to give an update for anyone who might stumble upon this later after experiencing something similar.

Despite the gloomy call from my assigned insurance adjuster, the insurance company ultimately decided in my favor and issued me a check. They plan to pursue subrogation against the detailing shop.

To my insurer, at least, the idea that the detailer caused this problem is not so "laughable" after all.
posted by schroedingersgirl at 12:16 PM on June 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


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