Jacking Damage

[Johan007]

A stupid event-tryes fitter has damaged the body work by jacking up the car in the wrong place! I can not believe how stupid he is or how week the Toyota is if not jacked correctly. I only later discovered the damage now showing outside. Is there anything I can do? Can I claim it on my insurance as I have a baby on the way and money is really tight and I need a new bumper thanks to dog owner the other week!!!!

[T Sport 1978]

A stupid event-tryes fitter has damaged the body work by jacking up the car in the wrong place! I can not believe how stupid he is or how week the Toyota is if not jacked correctly. I only later discovered the damage now showing outside. Is there anything I can do? Can I claim it on my insurance as I have a baby on the way and money is really tight and I need a new bumper thanks to dog owner the other week!!!!

I feel for you mate, i have done something similar with mine but doesnt sound as serious.

You could persue them but i doubt they will admit any liability.

If you claim from insurance then it you would have to take the hit so to speak.

[Johan007]

I am just having one stressful day and I have never damaged a car in my life, I will feel better after a shower and some food.

Where the door meets the front wheel arch, the arch has come away leaving about 1 inch gap in the body work. Suppose I could hammer it back? I don't car about the bent metal under where the jack went as it can not be seen.

[GregP]

You can take it back to toyota but that is going to be pricey or you can ask for quote your local shop. I had similar issue with VW. Was jacked in the wrong place by garage or tyre fitter and I have noticed it later when the place started to rust (the metal changed the shape and the paintwork came off under the car). Body shop just cleared it, put the primer and painted to stop further rusting (was to difficult and expensive to re-shape the body).

[Rob2083]

a firm called F1 auto centres did the same to mine back in January when i had two new front tyres fitted. After a fight they agreed to repair the damage free of charge. got some photo's somewhere, i'll dig them out later. any chance of getting the tyre fitter who damaged yours to foot the bill?

sorry to hear about your bumper too.

[beowulf]

Dude... if someone does such a crappy job, they have to pay for it. I'd be shocked to be a customer of any service where they'd damage my property while doing something as simple. And keep in mind that I'm in Portugal so my standards are pretty low.

I'd say that legally you should be able to force the place to pay for the damage they caused. Good luck.

[Johan007]

Hi thanks for your replies. I have got Event-tyres.co.uk coming round to see the damage. We shall see how good they are soon.

Everyone knows to look for the jacking points and what they look like - just how stupid are people :(

[Ampex196]

Hi,

It seems that I'm a victiim of the same damage'

Body text of letter to main dealer follows here...:

The car was booked (via an online supplier of Vredestein tyres) to have Quatrac 3s' fitted to the front.

Basically, the tyre fitter has caused obvious damage (possibly very serious) by improper lifting using a trolley jack.

The (alleged) technician first lifted the OSF. A second or so after the wheel was clear the corner dropped around an inch. He did not notice what had happened, though I certainly did! I saw (and heard!) the event.

They now insist that they were jacking in the correct place (despite having verbally admitted liability earlier).

The garage refused me any further workshop access to make my own full inspection and (later) refused to provide any written admission of liability.
Just so you know where we are going .....!

.............

Addendum...... Oh Dear,

Just now.. I've managed to take a couple of pics (in near darkness) and it seems they have tampered with evidence in a crude attempt to hide the extent of the damage.

Please take a look at the attached .jpg files (quality is just about adequate).

I was standing close by when the trolley jack saddle was placed directly below where you see the two hexagonal bolt heads. Immediately after the event; (following an audible 'crunch' and movement of the car), the flange was folded over (almost 90deg. flattened) towards the camera position, NOT as you see it now! Damage to the wing is still self evident.

.......

The said pics are too big to attach here. I'll be in touch again re. the outcome.

[TomdeGuerre]

BTW has anyone had much success with the jacking point adapters that fit round the pinch weld seam when using a trolley jack?

[FROSTYBALLS]

The said pics are too big to attach here. I'll be in touch again re. the outcome.

You can edit and resize the pictures so that they can be posted

[Andy H777]

Mine was damaged last week when jacking, popped the body work out and bent the weld seam, took it to toyota for a service and they fixed for free although the seal underneath is still bent.

Lets hope for a better year! Brand new car just coming up to one year old, new back end, new windscreen and bent seal!!!

[mrpj]

BTW has anyone had much success with the jacking point adapters that fit round the pinch weld seam when using a trolley jack?

I use an ice hockey puck with a slot cut right across it's centre about the same depth as the vertical seam.

I also have a piece of 1/8" rubber insertion stored with the emergency jack under the front passenger seat to use in conjunction with that if required!

[TomdeGuerre]

BTW has anyone had much success with the jacking point adapters that fit round the pinch weld seam when using a trolley jack?

I use an ice hockey puck with a slot cut right across it's centre about the same depth as the vertical seam.

I also have a piece of 1/8" rubber insertion stored with the emergency jack under the front passenger seat to use in conjunction with that if required!

I was going to order a couple of those when I bought some Christmas stuff from Amazon but had closed the order befor I remembered. I also saw some of the poly adapters on eBay with two slots moulded in to them, presumably at different depths.

I’ll probly get a couple of the pucks, I’d think there’s more give in the rubber units. Thought I’d drill a 1/4 or 5/16 hole about the appropriate depth then make parallel saw cuts down to intersect with the hole radius each side. Might have to put them in the freezer overnight to facilitate drilling through. I like the idea of (high density?) rubber strips for a bit of extra compression and stability.

​

[mrpj]

Good idea re the drilling! I didn't think of doing that. I just made two parallel cuts to the correct depth and removed the excess from between.

I find, in my situation, that care is needed to centralise the puck properly because it's a slightly larger diameter than the jack "platform" and place a suitably sized/shaped/thickness piece of hardwood under the puck as support.

[TomdeGuerre]

Yup, it's more complicated than it first appears. If you look at the fitting on the car scissor jack, it's designed to go around the pinch weld seam and lift the car by the reinforced floor sections. One trouble is the jack lifts straight up in a vertical line (although the fitting is riveted to the scissor arms, not welded) while the car body moves in an arc so there's an inherent instability in the geometry of the lifting apparatus. If you use a trolley jack from the side at least it can move outwards or inwards to better correspond with the car body position. Trouble with mine is the jack head doesn't come off otherwise I'd use one of those steel adapters you see advertised.

I made an adapter out of a block of white wood i had, faced off with two hardwood pads. I measured it carefully against the front jacking point, got it to fit OK and lifted the car a few times OK. Then when i used it in the rear jacking point same side, either the floor sections were higher up or the seam was deeper because the wooden adapter split in two.

[ziauris]

Same thing happended to my NSF when went to get tyre changed. I only noticed it when I got home, but I am certain that the tyre changer knew what he had done. He thought I had seen it and I saw the terrified look in his eyes. Lucky for him I missed it on the day, only noticing it a few days later. Didn't bother going back as he would obviously deny it. Saw neighbours Auris and the same has been done to hers!

[Andy H777]

I get a good friendly discount for tyres but after the damage I am seriously thinking about getting toyota to do the tyres next time even if £30 more each.........

Is this incompetence or is the car too flimsy? Book shows jacking point for scissor jack and diagram for trolley jack shows it going in from front or back, not the sides of the car???

[Auris 1.6 vvt-i]

My previous 1.6 vvt-i Auris got the same jack damage at a local tyre shop. That's why I never trust anyone else but me with this job. I've got two sets of tyres, got myself a 2-tone jack like this one

and do the job myself.

[TomdeGuerre]

My previous 1.6 vvt-i Auris got the same jack damage at a local tyre shop. That's why I never trust anyone else but me with this job. I've got two sets of tyres, got myself a 2-tone jack like this one

and do the job myself.

Yes, but do you use a jacking point adaptor? Your trolley jack looks like mine ie the head of the jack is not removable. If you put it up against the pinch weld seam you will distort it, if you place it elsewhere around that area you risk causing the type of damage that tyre fitters cause. Or do you jack it up in the middle, putting the jack in from the front or the rear as Andrew says?

[Auris 1.6 vvt-i]

Nope, no adapter. I jack it on the beam or whatever it is called...

[TomdeGuerre]

Here's what I would call them.

[Andy H777]

Thanks for that, can I steal your picture?

[Auris 1.6 vvt-i]

It isn't mine - found it with Google and downloaded it myself. :)