Hinsdale Car Wash Faces Bankruptcy After High-Value Bonuses, Luxury Car Purchases
HINSDALE, IL – Fuller’s Car Wash and Service Center in Hinsdale, the site of a fatal pedestrian incident in 2023, filed for bankruptcy in January, according to court documents. The business’s recent financial disclosures shed light on the company’s spending habits leading up to the filing.
Fuller’s Car Wash and Service Center has 18 cars to its name, many of them luxury models, according to court records. Weeks before the business filed for bankruptcy, two co-owners each received $51,402, which appeared to be holiday bonuses. (David Giuliani/Patch)
The bankruptcy filing revealed that Fuller’s owned 18 vehicles, including several luxury models like a Mercedes and a Cadillac Escalade. The business owes a total of $452,000 for 14 of the cars, according to the filing. These vehicles are claimed for business use, as required for tax and bankruptcy purposes.
The car wash and service center are located across from each other on Chicago Avenue in downtown Hinsdale. In July 2023, a 14-year-old pedestrian, Sean Patrick Richards, was struck and killed by an employee driving a car. The employee drove off the road and subsequently crashed into a nearby restaurant, injuring several customers.
Prior to the bankruptcy filing, the five co-owners – Doug Fuller, Susan Groenwold, Ethan Fuller, Colin Fuller, and Paula Fuller – received nearly $1.2 million in compensation and dividends in the 13 months before the filing. Notably, just weeks before the bankruptcy, co-owners Doug Fuller and Susan Groenwold each received $51,402 on December 24th, which was outside their usual payment cycle. Their compensation had also increased in the twice-a-month payment cycles before the filing, rising to $8,950 from $5,293.
The bankruptcy filing has impacted the lawsuit filed by the parents of Sean Patrick Richards. Brian Richards, the boy’s father, stated in January that the filing delayed the legal proceedings, including depositions of the involved parties.
Richards expressed his frustration with the situation, “Last month, we both sat and answered all of the Fullers’ lawyer’s questions under oath, but they are not willing to do the same. Why are they so afraid to tell the truth?”
Here is a list of the vehicles and the debt associated with each as of the bankruptcy filing:
- 2020 Cadillac Escalade: $65,973 ($107,939 book cost)
- 2024 Audi Q5: $64,800 (uncertain book cost)
- 2023 Chevrolet Silverado: $52,964 ($84,640)
- 2022 Chevrolet Silverado: $48,905 ($85,550)
- 2024 Audi Q5: $46,520 ($64,189)
- 2022 Ford F150 pickup: $44,810 ($83,227)
- 2022 Chevrolet Colorado pickup: $26,556 ($51,391)
- 2022 Chevrolet Colorado pickup: $26,325 ($50,391)
- 2021 Dodge Ram pickup: $19,970 ($56,100)
- 2020 Chevrolet Colorado pickup: $12,610 ($39,293)
- 2020 Chevrolet Colorado pickup: $12,592 ($40,850)
- 2020 Chevrolet Colorado pickup: $12,112 ($40,909)
- 2021 Lexus RX 350: $9,913 ($54,074)
- 2020 Audi Q5: $7,949 ($65,173)
TOTAL DEBT: $451,999
