I read the post about whether a car wash had removed/damaged a front air deflector and was reminded of a really funny thing that happened to my Dad a LONG time ago.
I was always on his case about using automatic car washes and then one day he learned why the hard way.
Long before there were touchfree or softouch car washes there were only the kind with the spinning blue bristles. At a small corner gas station my Dad paid the $1.50 or whatever it was back then and pulled his 1987 Toyota Supra into the wash. Back then you just pulled forward and a roller gripped the tire and rolled you through the wash.
Well about 3/4 of the way through the wash my Dad heard "RIIIIIPP" as the spinning bristles snagged his rear wiper arm and ripped the ENTIRE assembly off the hatch. Wiper, wiper arm, the top part of the motor...all of it. Problem was the blue bristled roller was moving toward the rear of the car and would soon start to come back forward.
He immediately stuck it in first, let out the clutch, and hammered the throttle. Well, his Yokohama A008's weren't exactly made for wet traction and the rollers were designed to keep the car in place. He didn't move an inch.
As the blue roller made it's way back to the front of the car it hit the back glass with the very same wiper that it ripped from the car...again and again...until the rear hatch glass shattered and fell into the car. He didn't even have time to think about his Alpine speakers or anything else in the hatch that was getting doused by the car wash...he was now more concerned with the beating that the roof was taking...still with HIS wiper arm.
At this point my Dad stuck it back in gear, let out the clutch, upshifted into second and finally the tires got hot enough to burn off the water, grab the roller and literally launch him out of the car wash at full boost.
End result...broken wiper assembly, smashed rear window, several large dents in the roof, and a really upset Dad. The car wash owner paid for the repairs to the car and my Dad has NEVER used a touch style car wash again.
Being a good son
I randomly remind him of the event.
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