I recently took my 2000 Beetle 1.8t to an automatic, conveyor type car
wash and it tore out my engine splash guard and damaged the side guards
as well. The car wash says that according to the "International Car Wash
Association" VW Beetle's are one of the cars on their damage alert list.
They said the splash guards are usually either damaged from road hazards
or are installed improperly after oil changes and are then damaged by
the car wash conveyor as a result. Because of this, they will not
reinburse customers if they are damaged not matter what. Now, I know my
splash guards were in good condition prior to going through the car
wash. I had just had my oil changed at the VW service 2 weeks earlier
and I have confirmation from them that my splash guards were in good
condition and they know how to reinstall them and I know I haven't hit
any road hazards. Has this happened to anyone else? Does VW have any
warnings about these car washes? If the car wash's know these cars are a
problem shouldn't they either ban the cars or inspect the cars or have
Beetle owners sign a waiver after informing them of the hazard? After
ths happened I observed how cars go through the car wsh and the conveyor
is about 5 inches high. The 2000 Beetle clearance at the belly pan
(engine splash guard) is about 3-4 inches. When cars come to the end
they roll backwards if there is no one there to jump in the car to drive
it out. I think this is what happened to my car and it caught the belly
pan from the back and ripped it off the sides.