No winner in car v. car wash

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This article was published 01/09/2022 (1365 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The owner of a soon-to-be-opened car wash is cleaning up the wreckage left behind by his “first customer.”

Early Thursday, the driver of a brown Hyundai Tucson travelling southbound on St. Anne’s Avenue apparently lost control of the vehicle. The SUV jumped the curb, travelled across a neighbouring parking lot, smashed through an electrical pedestal and collided with the side of Wash Method.

“It kind of ramped up and hit our building up in the air, like, it kind of flew into our building,” said Justin Sabourin, co-owner of the new car wash. “It’s significant damage.”

The business is under construction at 690 St. Anne’s Rd. but was slated to open in a few weeks. Now, Sabourin expects it could be delayed for at least a month.

Photos from the scene show the vehicle reduced to a twisted wreck and surrounded by shattered glass. Multiple airbags deployed, and the front end was destroyed.

The building was also worse for wear, with numerous plate glass windows exploded or cracked and the metal frames piecing them together bent.

“Someone was eager to try the car wash,” read a post on Wash Method’s Facebook page following the incident. Sabourin later posted on a River Park South community webpage asking for people to check security cameras in the area for footage of the crash.

Builders called to deliver the news around 7 a.m.

“I was completely blown away. He sent me a picture, and I couldn’t believe it was real,” Sabourin said. “To keep getting blows like this, it’s frustrating, that’s for sure.”

It was too early for a damage cost estimate, he said.

When Sabourin and his brother purchased the property nearly five years ago, it was zoned as residential lots. The City of Winnipeg business approval process took three years to navigate, he said.

Worse yet, when the brothers were finally able to begin construction, it was in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which further slowed things.

The fact they were so close to opening day makes the collision that much more frustrating, he added.

When the business is finally up and running, it will use an assembly line approach to carry vehicles through a six-stage cleaning process, delivering a modern, fast, efficient and tech-driven experience, Sabourin said.

He believes it will be the “crown jewel” of North American car washes and rival competitors throughout the world.

Members of the Winnipeg Police Service and the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responded to reports of the collision at 2:23 a.m. A single male occupant was transported to hospital, but police could not provide information on his status.

The investigation is ongoing, police said.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca