I told a few people that are getting some new cars that they should ask the dealer not to paint prep their cars but they ask why, what was do horrible about it. I tried explaining that when they wash the cars, they use inccorect methods, dirty wash and drying media and they probably do not the clay the vehicle Are these assumptions true, any other reasons?
thats pretty much spot-on. most dealers dont use dedicated detailers when a customer buys a car or is getting serviced and gets a complimentary wash. these "porters" are merely helpers that do janitorial duties, among other "general labor" duties. if it was my choice i wouldnt even buy a car unless it still had its protective film still intact on the interior and exterior
Not only do they use improper techniques and dirty wash media, they also "buff the car" with the same 4 year old pad on it's edges with a glazes and liquid wax. It looks good for enough time to deliver the car, after a few weeks...the crap starts to show. This is not always true. My dealership uses specific aesthetics personnel. That doesn't mean they are as qualified as us, but still not just regular old jockeys that help out. When I bought my Scion, I asked to have the car in the protective plastics when delivered, but it wasn't possible. The cars are often prepared even before the are sold. In my case, they didn't have my color in stock and had to go get it out of another dealers show room (meaning it was already prepped). However, you CAN ask them not to prep the paint. It was even written to not wash my car on the work order. When the guys asked their supervisor if it was a mistake, he answered them "no mistake, the guy owns a detailing shop and wants it done right, so don't touch it" (I was afraid they would scratch my paint lol)
I used to work at dealership a few years ago and everything above is true! I was about the only experienced person there and had to keep all my things completely seperate from the others. they used the same bucket of soapy water and dirty wash mitt on every car for the day.this drove me crazy and the "Paint Specialist" was a tired old body shop worker that honestly didnt give a crap about how visible his buffer tracks were, I gotta hand it to him they were uniformed though! his pads were 3M and rounded at the edges from hitting the edges or emblems, He had one process for every car and if they werent washed before he got to em he would use plain water and a shammy to wipe it down and just start polishing away!
Wow, this makes me want to contract myself out, its crazy how stupid people can be, im OCD about how clean my mitt and water are....i should detail for a dealership lol.
I was really OCD there, they let me do my own thing after fixxing the two owners Lexus and AMG after the "PRO" ruined the paint on em! the plus from working there is I can knock out an extremely terrible interior like no other in under two hours... when I started it took me four to five with the really nasty stained up ones. "The way people keep their cars just blows my mind"
I think another good point to bring up is that dealerships mark up interior and exterior protective coatings that you can perform with better products for a fraction of their price. It's been a while since I went car shopping for a new vehicle, but I remember seeing protection Ziebart protection packages for $1000-1500 that supposely need yearly maintenance packages. IMO, people tend to pay more attention when you tell them you can offer a better service at a more modest price than just bashing the dealership because they don't know what they are doing (even though we all know this is a "universal" truth in most cases).
All of our new cars over the years I have insisted the dealer not do any prep work at all. I get funny looks and questions asking why and if I don't trust their detailers. The dealer will be frowned upon by corporate if their customer satisfaction survey has any negative reviews, including the part asking if the new car was delivered clean. Usually if you tell them you will give a good review they will cooperate. A few years ago I was at the Acura dealer getting the oil changed in the wife's car. I always tape a piece of paper to the windshield saying "DO NOT WASH". The service manager was jokingly giving me crap about it as he was bragging about how they had the best detailers in the Orlando area working there. As we were talking there were two kids washing a black TL about 50 feet away, one had a towel slung over his shoulder and his buddy was trying to towel snap his butt. When he finally made contact the other kid jumped and the towel flew off his shoulder and onto the parking lot. He picked it up, never even shook it and started wiping the TL again with it. I told the manager that's exactly why I don't want you touching my car. I feel sorry for the poor bastard that owned that TL.
I just spent 14.5 hours fixing a BMW that was washed by the dealer ONCE as it was a factory order and was delivered right after being PDI'd. Last summer I got to bill a dealer 17.5 hours for my brothers new GTI. Thats why you don't let the dealer touch your car. My last two cars were delivered with the plastic wrap still intact.
Last year I was asked by a good friend to do some work for his dealership so the detailing can get caught up. The way they detail is more of the quantity over quality. But when I worked on a few cars for them at the dealership, the regular detailers were sitting in amazement on how good of a job I was doing. Grated, it took a bit longer for me to get some cars done, but the quality was there and everyone including my buddy were very impressed. Needless to say, I got paid very well for the few days that I worked for him. I will be be heading there again within the next few few weeks to do some more. Dream Workz Auto Detailing using Tapatalk
^^Does not surprise me in the least. OP, just get the car "as is" off the truck and handle yourself or have a qualified person do the clean/de-plastic/detail. Might cost a little more up front, but worth it in long run. I saw a 458 last week (wont mention dealership) come out of wash bay at a dealer. Looked like the guy washed and dried it with a large piece of tin foil.
I worked at a Porsche and Mercedes dealership for a summer in their detailing bay. I was fairly young and ignorant but even hundred thousand dollar cars were treated like crap. By crap I mean our rinse/soap buckets (2BM) got replaced maybe once per day. We are unusual as our bay was not automated at all, meaning we actually did wash the cars by hand. We began a wash by spraying the car down with a strong APC or bug remover. The wheels received a strong acid based cleaner followed with a brushing off. The car was then rinsed once. The average car was washed with a mitt they was dunked in soap once for the entire car. Trucks received an extended brush wash as the area is far larger than a sedan and it was far quicker to use than a mitt. We then did a final rinse and dried with cotton clothes (2-4 16x16 or smaller). The finishing touch was a crappy tire shine. The car generally still dripped water as it left the bay. As bad as it was, we were pressured by the service manager to work quickly and move cars fast. Plus, as any business tries to do, our products were cheap so we could keep our overhead down.
