cars news 10: Drive-Through Car Wash Causes $6,000 in Damage on New Ford F-150

By now, we’ve all seen the Chevy-versus-Ford, steel-versus-aluminum ads where paving bricks and tool boxes are dumped into the bed, with the Chevy Silverado coming out relatively unscathed, whereas the Ford F-150 had some deep gouges in the bed floor. Whether you’re a Ford or Chevy partisan, we can all admit that made-for-TV spots can be staged and produced to create just about any desired outcome. However, when a real-world incident happens, it gets our attention a little more closely. On the Ford F-150 Forum, user dtibbals shared his story about taking his new F-150 through what he thought would be a cheap $5 drive-through car wash to “knock some dust off,” as he says.

Although it’s fairly standard practice for carwashes to post “Not responsible for damage” disclaimers on site, few customers pay much attention to them. Unfortunately for this owner, leaving the non-retractable antenna mast on the truck cost him a $500 insurance deductible and a repair bill totaling $6,000. The carwash’s rotating brushes grabbed the antenna mast, ripped it right out of the fender, and proceeded to whack the side of his truck repeatedly while going through the wash. Would this same thing have happened to a truck with steel fenders? Who knows. But let this be a lesson: pay attention to the car wash warning about removing your antenna!