Unbelievable what dealerships tell customers!!!

Swiss_T

Swiss_T

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I just spent some time on a Mercedes form that I'm a part of, which I use mainly for technical questions and information.

As I was scrolling down the new threads, there was one in particular that caught my eye. It was a guy asking about detailing his car. (The forum mainly talks about error codes, fixes, and mods. Never really gets into detailing...)

I felt bad for him reading his thread. It said he spoke with whoever is helping him at the dealer and gave him "official Mercedes advice."

Here is what he reported back:
"Hi,

I have been advised by Mercedes to not use anything abrasive, car shampoo with wax included is good.

Mercedes do a Gloss Protector has anyone used this?

There is a Mercedes glass product that has cleaner written on the bottle but the guy at Mercedes said it also protects and will repel water. Anyone used this and does it repel water?

I have been told not to use Rain-X.

Any advice?"

If this is actual Mercedes advice, someone should stay away from cars... Like really far away...

I told him about autogeek and that this is the place to be when it comes to hearing from professionals with ACTUAL advice.

The other comments were comical too, from supposed "expert weekend washers." I was just shaking my head the whole time...

Sorry, I just had to get this off my chest. I like to think that I've saved one car's beautiful paint today, before it falls victim to horrible "expert advice."

If you want to, share the horror stories you guys have heard!
 
I don't have any detailing horror stories. I learned at an early age that the salesmen at the dealerships most often know very little, if anything, about the product they sell. I've even had issues with my local Mazda dealership parts counter when I had to educate them on which engine is in my car...despite there being only one choice.

When I need good advice, I'll turn to true pros (like those here) and won't even bother asking at the dealership.
 
I was at WalMart the other day getting terry towels. The employee at WalMart said he uses Turtlle Wax for everything. He also said their compound is amazing and the wax lasts forever.

I was behind the guy in the checkout lane and told him turtle wax isnt good and i'd only use the wax for my mudflaps. I recommended Megs as its a brand name he would remember. I feel like i saved him kinda.
 
I wonder if one of the reasons the dealerships' personnel tries to talk all of that crazy-talk to me is:

Because they think I was crazy enough to buy a vehicle
from them to begin with?


Bob
 
Swiss_T said:
I just spent some time on a Mercedes form that I'm a part of, which I use mainly for technical questions and information.



As I was scrolling down the new threads, there was one in particular that caught my eye. It was a guy asking about detailing his car. (The forum mainly talks about error codes, fixes, and mods. Never really gets into detailing...)



I felt bad for him reading his thread. It said he spoke with whoever is helping him at the dealer and gave him "official Mercedes advice."



Here is what he reported back:

"Hi,



I have been advised by Mercedes to not use anything abrasive, car shampoo with wax included is good.



Mercedes do a Gloss Protector has anyone used this?



There is a Mercedes glass product that has cleaner written on the bottle but the guy at Mercedes said it also protects and will repel water. Anyone used this and does it repel water?



I have been told not to use Rain-X.



Any advice?"



If this is actual Mercedes advice, someone should stay away from cars... Like really far away...



I told him about autogeek and that this is the place to be when it comes to hearing from professionals with ACTUAL advice.



The other comments were comical too, from supposed "expert weekend washers." I was just shaking my head the whole time...



Sorry, I just had to get this off my chest. I like to think that I've saved one car's beautiful paint today, before it falls victim to horrible "expert advice."



If you want to, share the horror stories you guys have heard!
Click to expand...


^ To me, that sounds like sound professional advice from Mercedes. The car in question like has Cerami Clear - where most of the UV protection lies in the uppermost microns of the clear coat - and the clear coat is quite hard.

IMHO, Joe Blow probably shouldn't be grinding away with his favorite Turtle Wax compound and his favorite Sears buffer. This paint is probably best handled by the skilled professional - or the educated enthusiast - neither being the average Mercedes driver.

As for RainX - my guess is they found it somehow interferes with rain sensing wipers. They don't make these recommendations for no reason - and whomever originated the recommendation may not be as clueless as you think they are.
 
swanicyouth said:
As for RainX - my guess is they found it somehow interferes with rain sensing wipers.
Click to expand...

This is a fair point and one I missed. The orange all season RainX solution has been proven to interfere with the washer fluid level sensor in MK6 VW Golfs.

From what I read, RainX changed the formula in the last two years and now something in the fluid gums up the sensor and make the car think the tank is empty when it's not. It takes flushing out the tank, cleaning the sensor or some times replacing the sensor to clear the fault. Oddly enough, the super cheap red and blue stuff you see from a variety of companies does not do this.

Maybe this effects Merc's too? I bet most German-built cars get parts like that from the same source.
 
Dealerships are generally clueless when it comes to detailing. But the majority of their clients who come in and buy cars are not detail oriented. The kind of people who have no problem taking their cars through an automatic tunnel wash and being perfectly satisfied with the results. So although the inventory has to be "cleaned", it only has to be cleaned to the level that satisfies the expectations of what the average consumer considers a clean car. And that level of service requires inexperienced car washers who are pushed more on speed and less on detail level results.

That being said, if I'm at the dealership and I'm pushing some sealant based LSP that is upcharged up the wazoo, then I'd probably tell the client as well not to use an abrasive product because this will remove the product we just made a lot of money on upselling. The same with Rain-x. There are longer lasting glass sealants that are offered and upsold by dealerships who make money on that kind of service. Or it might just be Rain-x in a generic bottle - I would not be surprised, but places like BMW and Mercedes have their own private label(rebranded) products that they sell if I'm not mistaken.

The best advice you can give, is to just tell people to stay away from dealership car appearance services - when you can just go to Autogeek or to a local store and get some products to do it yourself, coming to a forum like this to learn how to do it properly, without being upcharged on a service that is severely substandard.

As far as Turtle Wax goes, I have been pleasantly surprised at much of their current offering and I no longer assume inferior performance just because it bears the name. Some of it is outclassed, but many of their products are competitive over the counter.
 
As far as the Rain-X goes, I've been using it on my car for years now and never had any issues with it. Usually treat it once with the pure Rain-X and then just keep the windows clean with the 2-in-one cleaner. My Benz and the Benzes of my parents all are treated with Rain-X. It's just easy to use, even for them, who know little about detailing related things.

The all season washer fluid Rain-X makes has been in my windshield reservoir for about 6 years running. Never an issue up to this point.

A friend of mine works at the Benz dealer where I bought my car. He's actually a hobby mechanic and works there because it gets the bills paid, so he knows his stuff. He cues me in on their little secrets. Like for instance, the windshield wipers that get replaced during a service are Rain-X blades with a MB Star on them... Seriously. He lets me know where I can save money on the service. $24~ish at Walmart vs. $55 during a service. Look identical, only thing missing is the little logo, which is not worth $24...

But hey, that's just my experience with Rain-X. Everyone's entitled to their own thoughts. For me it works, so I stick to it.
 
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