[ibimmer954]

I took my black Jetta into the VW dealer for its annual oil change. I forgot to think about how they might "help" and wash my car. Sure enough, when I returned to pick up the car I noticed someone with what looked like one of those faux-leather shammy things cleaning a car. My heart sunk. My car didn't look bad in the sun, but I was scared to survey the damage under the lights.

Seeing this makes me appreciate the tips everyone has given in these forums. This car has gone through one entire year of ONR washes, microfiber, and occasional Supernatural wax jobs. It wasn't in perfect shape, but the paint still looked pretty good. All it took was one dealer hack job to get 100 times worse. Looks like my Flex and I have a date in the near future.

[10secvette]

I never ever let any dealership hacks touch the paint on any car I own. The SA would have the dealership cut me a check to fix that.

[jeffvb9]

I have told my dealer here in Kansas City (Baron BMW) NOT to touch my jet black car after they washed it several times before. Horrible scratches, micro-marring. I went to the back of the dealer to see how they wash the car and low and behold I see a guy with a broom like device washing a black 7-series. OMG horrible. My flex and I have more work to do after my first session a few months back. Love it.

[DetailAddict]

when i first picked up my jet black e90, it looked PERFECT! I was like, man, not bad at all... Then 2 weeks went by, the horror started to show... holograming and swirl marks EVERYWHERE!

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

The one tinme I had to bring my car to the dealer, I told them "DONT WASH THE CAR"! I said do whatever you need to do to ensure the car was not washed.

He wrote it on the paperwork, he wrote it on the tags on the keys. And he told the tech.

I go to pick up the car. They tell me its "blocked in" we'll have a valet guy get it.

I'm like eh, ok.

10 min later... nothing
20 min later...nothing
30 min later... I see it pull up all wet.

Mind you my car had under 2000 miles on it so this was fresh paint, I didnt even have the dealer clean it when I got it with 1.3 miles on it.

I said when that car comes off the truck, just park it in a safe spot, dont touch the interior or exterior.

Anyway... sure enough, I went to the valet guy, and im like "bro, why did you wash the car" hes like "ohhh dur, I figured I took so long I would have it washed for you".

I'm just like "it says dont wash right on the keys"

Hes like "well whats the big deal, its clean now"

I'm just like" cause that car wash does a shitty job" LOL

I felt bad, at that point, so I was like "nevermind man, thanks anyway".

It wasnt in too bad of shape though. But I did so much to have the car avoid automatic car washes and the "dirty" hands of the dealer. It's like impossible.


****

Speaking of horror stories, I used to work for a dealership back in the day for about 4 years. Automatic car wash was used (with brushes) for all the cars.

These guys were so cheap, they would just wash the car with WAter and brushes. NO SOAP!

I talked to the manager about this, and hes like "ah these people dont know, the car looks cleaner all said and done"

I was like dude if you guys did that to my car I would flip a sh*t. Luckily it was a Honda dealer so most people actually were thankful their car was rinsed off with that dirty recycled water, no soap, and dirty automatic brushes. Small minds.... or different priorties I suppose.

[jopa489]

Originally Posted by DetailAddict

when i first picked up my jet black e90, it looked PERFECT! I was like, man, not bad at all... Then 2 weeks went by, the horror started to show... holograming and swirl marks EVERYWHERE!

Yep, that's a sure sign of filling glaze being used. Most dealers do it.

[Craig@SupremePower]

[ibimmer954]

I've started fixing the car today. So far I've washed the car using the CG Citrus Wash and clayed to start from a clean surface. Luckily, I can leave this car in the garage and do the polishing over a couple days starting tomorrow.

I was running out of my CG Synthetic Quick Detailer, so I tried using a solution of distilled water and ONR at Quick Detailer strength for the clay lube. Wow! That worked really well. It was more slick than CG Quick Detailer. The only bad thing about the ONR solution is that it doesn't clean up as well. The CG Quick Detailer left absolutely no streaks, but the ONR solution seems to leave a slight film behind. It isn't a big deal in this case because the polishing process will take care of that real fast.

I've now convinced, there's nothing ONR can't do! It's the best product in my arsenal.

[twinturboa51]

Originally Posted by JPSlick

I was like dude if you guys did that to my car I would flip a sh*t. Luckily it was a Honda dealer so most people actually were thankful their car was rinsed off with that dirty recycled water, no soap, and dirty automatic brushes. Small minds.... or different priorties I suppose.

WOW what a statement! Because only people with BMWs take care of their cars right?