Car wash chaos: I-Team gets victim's car repaired

AURORA, Ill. (WLS) -- Most drivers are getting their car washed regularly this summer. But what if that wash damaged your vehicle and you couldn't get the business to fix it?

You expect your car to come out sparkling when you exit a car wash. But one woman says she left with thousands of dollar in damage. She couldn't get the gas station to cover the loss, so she called the I-Team.

Amy Skinger's Mitsubishi Eclipse has a cracked, dangling mirror and deep, thick scratches on its back. The damage totals an estimated $3,000 that Skinger says was caused by an automated car wash.

She says the damaged happened at a BP on Ogden Avenue, in Aurora. Skinger, who has multiple sclerosis, took pictures, as her car was stuck in the car wash, with parts falling off.

"I started tremoring," Skinger said. "That excelled with my MS, and I didn't know what else to do. When I was sitting there, I started honking my horn continuously."

After she was able to get out, she took more pictures of the damage and filed a police report. Skinger repeatedly asked for insurance information from the gas station and was repeatedly denied. A month after the incident she went back, taking video in the store, as she called the store's owner.

On the video, the store owner tells her "I have full intentions of taking care of you I need your insurance information so I can call my insurance company and give them your insurance." Skinger replies, "It doesn't work that way."

Store managers told the I-Team they wouldn't help because the store was recently sold. We reached out to the former owner who blamed Skinger, saying she broke the car wash.

Days after the I-Team contacted BP corporate headquarters, Skinger was pulling her Eclipse into the body shop.

The Insurance Information Institute says if you're ever in a similar situation, you should call your own insurance company and investigators will go after the other party.

"Your auto-insurer would be willing, at the very least, look into it for you," says Michael Barry of the Insurance Information Institute. "And if they were successful in tracking down the car wash's insurance company then they could probably resolve the situation quickly."

A BP spokesperson said the car wash's former owner, "mishandled the issue." Skinger's latest, smiling photo shows the repairs, all paid for by BP.

The insurance information institute also says you shouldn't be fearful of calling your insurance company for help in this situation.

Even if they can't get the other party's insurance information, your rates will not go up unless you officially file a claim.