A day at the Audi Service Department...

Car was due for its 15,000 mile service, fluids top off and a few things I wanted checked out.

Began yesterday with a thorough wash, wheel cleaning, QD wipedown and tire dressing. I feel that if your car looks spotless than nobody feels they would be doing you a favor by wiping it down or putting on some greasy tire shine.

Than this morning I printed out several of these signs....



Then upon entering the service department I taped 4 signs to the 4 windows of my car. I got some very odd glances from the people who worked there, my service manager and some people in the showroom looking out through the glass... One employee said "did you just get the car painted, is that why we cant touch it?" :giggle:



Why go through this trouble? Well 2 weeks ago I finished my winter prep, and after nearly 15hours polishing my paint to my liking I wasnt about to let anyone wipedown or wash the car and ruin my hard work. It may seem extreme but my I spend too much time keeping my car clean and to have it get ruined in any degree by anything short of an unpreventable cause or accident.

The finish under metal halide lights



R8 = emasculation :spank:



I stayed for 2.5hrs waiting for the car to be finished, when it came back I inspected it, saw everything was in order and drove home. This is how I will do every service from now on.

 

great idea. every time i take my 350z in to get a oil change and service i make sure to tell each service advisor to make sure my car dont get washed or any thing. one time the service advisor said we have the most high tech carwash in town. so i said le me take a look at it and sure enough it was one with the brushes and spinning cleaners on it. he than said that a detail guy would thow a qucik wax on when it got out of the tunnel wash. at this point i could only say no thanks. and part of buying a car from this delearship is you can bring your can in any time for a free wash.

 

I specifically tell the service dept to remark not to wash my car either even for my Mazda 5. The service dept manager is a fairly nice guy and understands why. I'll have to see for Benz when it comes to the first service, they have a brushless auto car wash from peaking in.

 

Smart idea I am going to make sure I do that when ours needs servicing its a 2010 Black ML 350. I corrected it in the summer and just added a new coat of BFWD, its in the Show and Shine section I just posted it this past week.

 

That's a great idea - I had a sign on the steering wheel and they still managed to wash my car. I'll have to post them all over like you did from now own. The other favor dealers like to do is place a cover over the fender to "protect" them from scratching the car.

 

I was thinking, maybe i should ask for a loaner and offer them to detail their loaner LOL

 

Glad you had a good experience at your Audi dealer. I would of done the same if I didn't service my car.....

 

that's great!

 

Wow! Ha, I've put a single post it type note in the interior before but have not raised the bar to this level. I like it! Sadly this is truly what it takes at dealerships these days if you don't want your car to be abused while it is in for service.

 

well played dave. i know a guy with a black S4 who literally WRAPS his car with plastic wrap, and then cuts the plastic at the panel gaps for his two front doors and the hood. no BS.

 

We have an 8.5x11" sign laminated and zap strapped to the steering wheel. Works every time.

 

Very nice!

I service my own stuff... but I'm a poor boy, my Fords don't need the dealer treatment

 

I have to bring my car in tomorrow cause the door is acting up when it opens and closes. I'll do this and see how many looks I get, I had being a "kid," though. They tend to belittle but I won't let it happen.

 

My audi dealership fully understood when i told them. Dont wash my car.

But after my service was done, and i was ready to go home. I got into the wrong S4. Mine was parked right next to the one i got in.
i noticed it was automatic and freaked out haha.

What a great day that was.

 

That is fantastic. I drive a Dodge so don't need to worry about the dealership washing it, but I always tell the service manager for the techs to watch my paint and NOT put any "customer waiting" magnets on my finish. What I also have is a plastic "baggie" that you can wrap around your steering wheel. It fits nice and snug and protects the steering wheel from greasy hands.

 

I DREAD taking my car into the shop, to the point if the warrantied item is less than <$100 for the part, I'll eat the cost and replace it myself to avoid the hassle. I like the plastic wrap idea!

 

Nice move Dave. I'm getting a new car in February and I'm gong to be pretty blunt about not wanting the dealership to touch the car in anyway, no special wipedown, shiny tire crap or anything. I'll just buy the car and tell them I want it as is and then do my thing to it to make it right.

After that, I'll be making similar signs for when I take it in for service. Well played.

-Kody-

 

I took my new 2010 GTI in for the initial 90 day check-up, told the service guy I want nothing touching my car, no wash, no anything (I'd just put a couple layers of pl on). So I get the car back, the whole front end from the doors up is covered in grease hand prints and scratches from the "tech" sliding his filthy hands all over the hood. Long story short they ended up paying me to polish out my own car because I told them to get f'd when they offered to buff them out for me. Moral of the story: don't go to Waldorf vw!

 

Good idea...

I avoid this completely by doing my own maintenance. My A4 has 74k on the clock now, but during the early years I still did my own oil changes, fuel filter, cabin filter, pcv updates, dv updates, coil packs, spark plugs etc. All out of my own pocket, and I also get satisfaction out of doing things myself. And i know what work has gone into it. The first gen FSI motors have issues that regular dealer maintenance will not help. In fact the dealer recomended oil change intervals are trash. These FSI motors take some of the top synth oils and rip it to shreds, leaving vital engine components open to premature wear, cam follower specifically.

I have a timing belt change coming up, and i need to change out the cam folllower and thrust sensor, which would mean $$$ and techs leaning on my paint, due to the location of the components.

 

They know me well enough at the dealerships I go to now to realize that I'm serious when I say don't touch the paint. When I bought my Nissan I politely told the salesman that I didn't not want them to wash or touch the car in any way while they were prepping it. I told them only to do what was needed for the PDI (take plastic off interior, fill with gas, install fuses etc.) Well I come back a few hours later to pick up the car (black Nissan) and it is literally COVERED in swirls, that were not there when I left earlier that day. Then the salesman is standing there with a smile on his face and says, don't worry we washed the car for you for free, we don't charge for that. Then I kindly explained to him that I wasn't worried about paying for a carwash I was worried about them f-cking up the paint. Either way I didn't yell and scream or anything but I did end up getting a few little add ons for the car for free.