Car damage in the car wash: Who must provide the evidence in a dispute.

(dpa) A vehicle comes off the guide rails during cleaning and collides with a post. A final and binding judgment shows which conditions must be met for damages to be payable.

In the event of damage during the car wash, it depends on whether a technical defect or another breach of duty on the part of the operator can be proven. | Photo: Till Simon Nagel/dpa-tmn
In the event of damage during the car wash, it depends on whether a technical defect or another breach of duty on the part of the operator can be proven. | Photo: Till Simon Nagel/dpa-tmn
Car wash operators do not automatically have to cover damages to their customers' vehicles. The Regional Court of Frankenthal rejected the motorist's damages claim because he could not prove any breach of duty by the operator. The plaintiff had demanded around €10,000. The legally binding judgment bears the case number 7 O 160/25.

Vehicle comes off the guide rails

In the case in question, the vehicle came out of the facility's guide rails during the washing process and subsequently collided with a bollard. The vehicle owner attributed this either to a technical defect of the car wash or to faulty instruction by staff of the car wash facility.

The operator denied both causes. According to the court, the civil chamber of the district court could not find either a technical defect in the facility or an error in the briefing.

Steering movement as cause

According to the court's findings, the vehicle apparently deviated from its lane as a result of a steering movement during the washing process. Consequently, a breach of duty by the car wash operator could not be proven.

For the damage claim, however, this proof was decisive. According to the ruling, the customer must prove that the car wash had a defect or that staff had given him faulty instructions, if he does not want to bear the costs of the damage himself.

Since the plaintiff failed to provide this proof in the concrete proceedings, the regional court dismissed his claim for around 10,000 euros in damages. The judgment is final. (Source: dpa/tmn)

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