Dealership mess up again.

[slickooz]

When I'm in the same situation I offer my customers a free oil change / Oil filter usually that makes them happy .

I don't think a free oil change will help make things better, I spent 15+ hours detailing my car. Normal car owners would be thrilled but I put a lot of time and effort in keeping my car swirl free. And I tried to make sure they wouldn't wash it.

They did that to my car last summer. Now I hang a "DO NOT WASH // NO LAVAR EL CARRO" sign from my steering wheel. They haven't done it since - the representatives seem to get a kick out of it, too.

I guess I have to do that. I thought having it in their system and reminding them 5 times was enough.

I know what you mean. I took my car in to have its service done and I had just detailed it before I dropped it off. So there was only a light dusting on the car. I told them the same thing. Dont touch the car. Next thing I know the car is done and no where in sight. Come to find out the took it out back to have it washed and I run to the back to see my car enter the automatic car wash. There was nothing I could do at that point and I waited for the car to come out the other side. I was so pissed. So needless to say my detailing efforts where ruined and I had to start over. Although the fresh wax held up pretty good and wasnt nearly as bad as I thought when I did the redo.

When I use to work at Lexus, the car wash area was a NO-NO. The brushes that we used were all dirty and would scratch and swirl up all the new cars. I cringe when ever I hear a sale men tell their customer that if they purchase the vehicle here, they will receive free car wash when ever they want.

I have the service guy at my dealership trained to the point where he confirms that I do not want the car washed before I even say anything!

I would simply not return to the dealership and find an alternative. No reason to risk future problems after your hard work is destroyed.

Yeah I'm going call them back Monday to see if they can make this right. I'm going have to put posted inside the car now to avoid this from happening again. I do have a local mechanic that I will probably be going to now.

you need to make a sign and leave it in the car.

Put it on the dash when you bring your car in for service

Yeah I think I have to resort to that, but it should of been cleared that the car was not to be washed. Not going take that chance again.

Do Not Wash // No Lavar el Carro

Yeah going print them and tape them to the windows next time.

Make signs and it won't happen. The guy that washes the car doesn't read "the computer."

Yeah, I thought I made clear to the service writer that the car exterior not be touched. He didn't do his job right.

The thing that makes me laugh about dealer detailing is how when I worked for one we would run it through the auto wash and then detail it.... Can you say counter productive. And we weren't just filling in the swirls we would actually correct the paint. Just made me mad that we were creating half the stuff we corrected...

Yeah when I was working at Lexus, there would be customer bringing their car in for Full detail. Yet the guy who did customer detail would still bring it into the automatic car wash.

A great big post-it note right in the middle of the windshield saying "DO NOT WASH!!" has worked for me. Problem is the service writer does not talk to the lot boys who typically move the cars...and the lot boy doesn't need to look at the service order either.

FWIW....

Yeah I'm going have to make post-it notes and tell the valet to not have my car wash. I should of known to have let the valet know that the car was not to be washed.

Find out and get an estimate how much it would cost to fix it. Get it in writing from]a proffesional detailshop (that does it the right way)Then tell them you want the equilalent amount in service or parts.

Yopu may not get it but I think that is fair.rops:

Good idea, going try to get some estimate.

That's exactly what I will do also.

Sounds like a good plan.

I worked for a Honda dealership and I get so mad at how they detail cars, they do it fast because they get paid by the car and don't care about the paint cause they want to do it as fast as they can to make money, and most detail shops and dealerships don't know how to get out swirl marks, but thats good for us that know how to do it, so go on dealerships keep on sucking, keep making us money

Yeah I have some experience working in the dealership. Yes, all the manager were pushing for us to work faster. The dealership was a mess. There was 5-6 people micro-managing us, and would always complained about something. They use to give us 3 for full detail and now they gave us an extra hour to do a full detail. And sometimes the cars are trashed inside and outside. There was no way you can do a full detail that is presentable in 4 hours, when interior needs to be vacuumed, shampooed, wipe down everything. Exterior needed to be clayed, polished, and waxed, door jams, windows, wheels/tires. While your doing a full detail, spots are coming in and the manager don't get any of it. What pisses me off while working there was that the I got paid same as a valet and they got it soooo much easier. And half their day is down time, on their phones, sitting and eating. What a joke.....

It's not just Honda dealerships. It's ALL dealerships.
(I worked at a Honda dealership as well)

Yeah all dealership are the same.... There might be a couple good ones with the higher end cars.

As the detailer for my Chevrolet body shop team, I would say your problem is pretty common from a "service side" detail. I normally see about 2-3 cars a day. All depends on the shops managers promised delivery date. Since I know these dates I decided, (majority of the time) how long and when I get to detail my cars .

- To your point... If you told the service manager 3-5 times not to wash your car and they still did, take your business elsewhere - He wasn't listening to you and what you wanted and requested.

I don't believe you (or anyone) should have to make a sign for your dash/wheel/rearview mirror/ saying "DON'T WASH". If the service manager can't spend the 2-3mintues to write it on the service sheet or contact the porters directly I say, go somewhere else.

-What should you ask for? hmm, well you spent 15 hours on your ride and they messed it up in less than 1 hour. I would say a spolier lip is not out of the question - considering what a 15 hour detail would cost.


This type of story really kills me when I read them . I hope you get what you want from them. I won't go towards the oil changes (they cost them much less when they buy the oil by 55gal drums) and I change my own oil, but anyways. Just imagine how many oil changes would equal a 15 hour detail job :laughing:.

I agree, I should of known better also. I'm going see if they can give me a spoiler for the mess up. For most people they would never complain about getting a free car wash, but most DD don't know what a car should look like.

I think that is bad advice. If you live in a world of "should", you might want to consider joining the world of "is."

I agree, you shouldn't have to make signs, park your car miles away from the store, etc but the reality is, if you love your car, you'll spend the 3 minutes to make a sign and prevent a ton of damage. Sure its 15 hours to get it back to perfect, but don't forget how much clear you are sacrificing.

Yeah I should of realized this before leaving it to them. This was their 2nd time they did that. First time I was a little pissed that they have giving their car wash, but I needed to detail my car anyways. So I wasn't as pissed, but this time I spent 12+ hour on the paint. So you guys will understand how frustrated I am. I hope no one has to deal with this again.

find a forum member close to you that has a shop and get a estimate

Going see if there any here close to Central NJ.

 

[slickooz]

Thanks everyone for the comments! I'm going call them tomorrow and let them know I want it professional detailed else where or a free lip spoiler.

Anyone know a professional detailing shop close to Central NJ? I went to a few and none of them were really good...

 

[rider9195]

After getting my vehicle worked on by anyone other than myself, I always check the vehicle over that same day to be sure no scratches, dents, etc. "showed up".

Luckily when my dad took his car to the dealer for some work, he had the lady at the front desk write in big letters on the repair order, DO NOT WASH! With most dealers it is part of their service to wash the vehicle after everything is fixed.

I had to take my moms Acadia to get the oil changed last Wednesday. It is almost impossible to change it without using a lift. It was a rainy day and I had just winterized the vehicle, so when I got home in my garage I just simply gave it a ONR wash. Well while I was drying the hood I realized there were two straight line scratches I could catch with my finger nail and also some lighter scratches. But they were only in this one small area. I was furious. At Monro they don't use quarts of oil, so either the dumb mechanic placed the oil filter or some tool on the hood.

I know that was a bit long.
Good luck with getting that lip spoiler :xyxthumbs:

 

[yakky]

I agree with you Yakky, a sign would help remedy the problem. But seems like the OP has told his service manager not to wash his car before and the washes continue. To me that's someone not caring enough about the others investment.

Parking your car miles away out of anyone else reach is what we (me included) do. But once our keys are handed over to someone we all would like them to follow and oblige us with what may seem to be a silly request to others (such as having a service manager "no wash" our car).

Honestly, I'm just happy if they do the work I asked for and manage not to screw something else up. I usually do all the work on my cars but now there are two in the fleet that have (free) prepaid maintenance. I need a valium everytime I go to the dealership.

I've even considered skipping it but I don't feel like wasting $70 for an oil change when I already paid for it.

 

[timaishu]

Local nissan dealer did that to my car once.

I told them not to wash it and they did it anyways. I was a little peeved, but like you I was going to give it its first polish anyways.

Ever since, I make a DO NOT WASH sign and put it in the dash. I wait outside to get some fresh air and to make sure my car doesn't go through the swirl o matic.

 

[BillE]

Just to give SOME dealerships a break...

Couple of years back, truck was 'recalled' for a simple fix. Service writer went to get the VIN, came back in and said, "You don't want us to wash it do you?" He realized what the end process would do to the finish.

Probably one in a million, but he get a big thumbs up.

Bill

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I told them to note not to wash my car in their computer. And I also reminded him please don't wash my car, I just spent 15+ hours on it.

What pisses me off is that I mention to him 3-5 times don't wash my car that day and they couldn't even get that done right.

Create a sign in MS Word using Arial Font at 200 pt in bold and center the text.

To do this you need to go to "Page Setup" and set all 4 margins at .5"

Then on 3 lines type,

Don't
Wash
Car ​

Print out half a dozen and tape them on the inside of the windows, the rear view mirror AND stress to the manager and anyone that will listen to NOT WASH THE CAR!

If you're lucky... they won't wash the car...


Like this,

 

[SkateForGirl]

Ask for the free lip spoiler but I don't think they would give something like that to you. I would express to them on how hard it was to get your car back to where you had it because they ruined it. Did you take before and after pictures?

 

[slickooz]

Well I just came back from the dealership. When I got there the sun was out for a few minutes before clouds over took it. I asked for lip spoiler and explained to him that I take pride in my car appearance spent 15 hours detailing it. So I asked if they can give me a lip spoiler and they said they couldn't do that. I also asked if they can give me mud flaps, and they were fine with that. So I took the mud flaps, they have to order it and will be there on Wednesday. Getting mud flaps for free does make things little better, next time I go in for service going spam the inside of my car with DO NOT WASH signs.

 

[SkateForGirl]

Well I just came back from the dealership. When I got there the sun was out for a few minutes before clouds over took it. I asked for lip spoiler and explained to him that I take pride in my car appearance spent 15 hours detailing it. So I asked if they can give me a lip spoiler and they said they couldn't do that. I also asked if they can give me mud flaps, and they were fine with that. So I took the mud flaps, they have to order it and will be there on Wednesday. Getting mud flaps for free does make things little better, next time I go in for service going spam the inside of my car with DO NOT WASH signs.

Well that's good to hear they actually did something for you besides provide an oil change. Good for you man :xyxthumbs:

 

[bobble]

They do funny things at some dealerships. I always put a sign up but my car just went out of warranty so need anymore.
My son is a tech at a Hyundai dealer and he told me last Friday, the porters were washing a car( driving it thru) and walked over to his stall(it's the last one before the exit) and grabbed a shop towel to dry the car down out of his stall. He was appalled as it was full of crap and said to me "I would not even wipe my tool box off with it let alone a car's finish", he proceeded to tell me I would have had a heart attack if I saw the marks they left on a brand new car's front bumper. All my old MF towels go to him as shop rags when they get too dirty, he said they looked new compared to the one they used.

 

[SkateForGirl]

They do funny things at some dealerships. I always put a sign up but my car just went out of warranty so need anymore.
My son is a tech at a Hyundai dealer and he told me last Friday, the porters were washing a car( driving it thru) and walked over to his stall(it's the last one before the exit) and grabbed a shop towel to dry the car down out of his stall. He was appalled as it was full of crap and said to me "I would not even wipe my tool box off with it let alone a car's finish", he proceeded to tell me I would have had a heart attack if I saw the marks they left on a brand new car's front bumper. All my old MF towels go to him as shop rags when they get too dirty, he said they looked new compared to the one they used.

Thats discusting. Why would someone do something like that :dunno:?

 

[slickooz]

Well that's good to hear they actually did something for you besides provide an oil change. Good for you man :xyxthumbs:

Acura doesn't use synthetic and I wanted to switch. Yeah I didn't really want the free oil change because I was going go else where for it.

They do funny things at some dealerships. I always put a sign up but my car just went out of warranty so need anymore.
My son is a tech at a Hyundai dealer and he told me last Friday, the porters were washing a car( driving it thru) and walked over to his stall(it's the last one before the exit) and grabbed a shop towel to dry the car down out of his stall. He was appalled as it was full of crap and said to me "I would not even wipe my tool box off with it let alone a car's finish", he proceeded to tell me I would have had a heart attack if I saw the marks they left on a brand new car's front bumper. All my old MF towels go to him as shop rags when they get too dirty, he said they looked new compared to the one they used.

I used to work at a dealership before and we would run all cars into car wash. Dirty brushes and rags/mf were used to dry and wipe off wax. There was a car there with less then 200 miles that looked like it had 30k on it. That car was ran into the car wash so many times, it crazy how these expensive cars were taken cared.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Anyone know a professional detailing shop close to Central NJ? I went to a few and none of them were really good...

Clean Dean in Monmouth...what's his real business name...oh yeah: Auto Detailing and Car Consignment | Dean Laumbach | Howell, New Jersey" . You might be able to talk Phil at DD or Dave at Street Dreams into doing you a solid and just emailing you a quote--Dean might do that too if you talk nice to him, maybe give him a little PR here...I mean, you're not actually going to have them do the work so there's no point in them wasting time looking at the car--you can just tell them what it is and what it needs.

EDIT: Oops, I just read further and see you've already been to the dealer.

 

[slickooz]

Yeah there was no way they were going pay for a professional to fix it. They asked if I wanted their in house detailer to fix it. I checked a few detail shops close to my house and none of them I would trust them with my car.

I knew I wasn't going get a free lip spoiler, so I'm happy with the mud flaps.

 

[buddhadog]

Well I just came back from the dealership. When I got there the sun was out for a few minutes before clouds over took it. I asked for lip spoiler and explained to him that I take pride in my car appearance spent 15 hours detailing it. So I asked if they can give me a lip spoiler and they said they couldn't do that. I also asked if they can give me mud flaps, and they were fine with that. So I took the mud flaps, they have to order it and will be there on Wednesday. Getting mud flaps for free does make things little better, next time I go in for service going spam the inside of my car with DO NOT WASH signs.

Im curious how much the mudflaps would normally cost?

At least you got something I guess!

 

[slickooz]

I found them cheapest on ebay for 90 dollars. I think they sell them at dealership for 145.

 

[bgdave88]

Its funny a dealer usually doesn't want to pay a good detailer what they deserve and yet just keep hiring idiots off the street who they can pay cheap, yet when you have comebacks and have to pay off people to right wrongs doesn't it cost more in long haul.