My car went in for 1st mot and sat Nav repair, they kindly washed it for me, only trouble is the washed it with what must have resembled a brillo pad!

There isn't a panel that doesn't have a swirl or scratch on it.

Bit of a strop on the phone then in person at the service desk, had a cheeky comment about it being 3 years old which didn't go down well.... Its done 24k and has been pampered since I got it with 13 miles on the clock. Thankfully the service manager did conceded that it had happened onsite and they would correct the damage foc.

Its going back in tomorrow to be sorted.

I won't name and shame just yet, will wait till its ready for collection first.

Needless to say, when it goes in for its two remaining services and final mot it will have a do not wash note in the car and attached to the job sheet.

Service manager was a bit put out at that, but its got to be better than this!

Black magic paint work is hard enough to care for without a muppet at the dealers doing their level best to ruin it!

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

I hope you dont expect it to be back to how it was when it comes back...unless they get a Pro Detailer to do it...which is unlikely

Sadly happened to a good friend of mine.

Luckily he is in the know and when they had "mopped" out the damage, he took it home and gave it a strong wash and IPA wipe which stripped all the fillers from the finish and revealed an absolute mare of holograms and buffer trails. A real hatchet job with a rotary.

The dealer did not know what had hit them

Best of luck getting sorted and settle for nothing less than the car returned as was before the damage was inflicted.

Going to stay positive at the mo, Thursday is their chance to make amends.

Always been a snow foam, two bucket and four odd hours a car person. My missus gets naffed off with the amount of time and products it takes to do the car. I did point out it was probably on a par with her and her beauty/war paint regime :-)

Their valeting team wouldn't have looked out of place at asda or tesco.

Lesson learned, sadly the hard way!

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

I don't have to ask my dealer not to wash my car anymore, it is always already on the job sheet when I drop the car off!

 

Pulman Skoda in Durham have a small scale roller-type automated car wash.

 

It wouldn't be so bad if it actually did a decent job but it doesn't. My car is often filthy (130 mile daily commute with plenty of time on rural roads) so the poor effort by the car wash is more than obvious. It completely misses 6 inches either side of the mud flaps, the rear number plate recess, front grills, all around the door mirrors and all of the wheel except the face of the spokes.

 

It actually looks worse half clean than dirty. I complained and they said they'd look at fixing things. They never did.

Seen examples of this first hand at the SEAT dealer when we had warranty issues.

 

Silverline rotary polisher and non-descript polish being randomly run over a car in the indoor preparation bay.

Watched the "technician" drop the buffing cloth 3 times and pick it up off the floor then buff again.

 

Shocking to watch especially on new cars due for the forecourt.

 

Certainly hope you get something sorted and your pride and joy is correctly restored.

I always asked them not to wash it or hoover it out as the first time they did an awful job.

 

It really is shocking that they have people doing this that have no idea how to even wash a car properly!

 

Phil

"Pay em peanuts and they employ monkeys" Phil

Always make sure that the job card says no wash on mine. I've swapped dealers and they may be better - but to be fair - the guys don't have the same amount of time as we all do when washing our cars. Plus you always take more care of your own property as it is your hard earnt that has paid for it.

Begs the question - What else are they up to with the stuff you cant see? Quite scary.

"Pay em peanuts and they employ monkeys" Phil

 

Yep!

 

That certainly seems the case looking at the type of people employed to wash the cars.

 

The look on the service managers face when I showed him the awful job they'd done. They had actually used micro fibre wash mits bit looked like they'd used a mucky drying towel.

 

The interior was actually dirtier than when it turned up with dried mud all over the back seats and floor even though they'd apparently cleaned it out.

When my car goes for a service they hoover it out and blast it with the pressure washer. I don't expect nor want it washing, just the worst of the dirt knocking off and that's what they do.

Edited 22 October, 201411 yr by Stoofa

DM Keith in York use these to dry their cars...

They scratched the front wing with one after servicing our Scout, I made the wife take it back for them to fix!

My name for 'supermarket car washers' is 'We scratch any car'! Half a bucket of dirty water will NEVER properly wash any car.

BUT, my supplying and servicing dealer does an excellent job, inside and out!

To Phil-e , if my pride-and-joy came back with mud on seats and dirtier than before, I'd be straight back to Service Reception.

I have nothing but praise for my dealer, competence AND service level. The aftersales manager walked us to the door out of the showroom and held it open as we left.

DM Keith in York use these to dry their cars...

They scratched the front wing with one after servicing our Scout, I made the wife take it back for them to fix!

Argh! Those blades are the devils work!

Got a citigo at the mo, good job I haven't got to go anywhere with wife, sprog and dog!

Will report back tomorrow.

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

During the winter, a couple of years ago, my outside tap was frozen up and the pressure washer wrapped up against the cold in the garage

Driving past the local 'Gritty sponge Romanian' Car wash, I was suprised to see it open

My car was white with salt

I drove in

They immediately got the TFR out..I stopped them

They looked bemused and pressure washed the car

I then refused the hand wash and they got very confused

I waited and they then wanted to dry it with a plastic blade and chammy leathers, I refused that too

I paid them and they took it with more puzzled looks

My car was pressure washed, which removed most of the salt

They hadnt touched it....Job done

Incedently, while I was there they dropped the sponge twice doing the car in front of me

During the winter, a couple of years ago, my outside tap was frozen up and the pressure washer wrapped up against the cold in the garage

Driving past the local 'Gritty sponge Romanian' Car wash, I was suprised to see it open

My car was white with salt

I drove in

They immediately got the TFR out..I stopped them

They looked bemused and pressure washed the car

I then refused the hand wash and they got very confused

I waited and they then wanted to dry it with a plastic blade and chammy leathers, I refused that too

I paid them and they took it with more puzzled looks

My car was pressure washed, which removed most of the salt

They hadnt touched it....Job done

Incedently, while I was there they dropped the sponge twice doing the car in front of me

Nice!

A tesco near me still has a self service pressure washer that does no touch winter muck blasting duties when I can't do it at home.

Dealer came up trumps. All sorted, immaculate inside and out.

I Had to grab a couple of bottles of screenwash while I was there, service manager chucked them in foc which was a small bonus :-)

Very pleased with the outcome, I will spare their blushes as they have put my car back to it's original condition.

Lesson learned, but its nice to see that main dealers can go the extra mile to keep their customers happy.

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

Glad to read that you've got a result from this dealer

They got a mobile detailer/valeter in to put it right.

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

Good stuff

Glad it wasn't their own again!!

Been doing this for a while now. Happened to me on several occasions where very obvious damage has been done to the paintwork. The most unbelievable time was when one of my cars was having some tints done at a bodyshop of all places. They cleaned it afterwards and covered the boot and spoiler in scratches.

 

When I ordered my new vRS back in 2009, I made sure the dealer didnt do any of the initial prep work (funny looks that for sure), and I picked it up covered in bird muck and dock dirt. 5 years later and the paintwork is still fresh and as good as new. Its not got a working engine at the moment, but thats a different story!!

 

For those non-believers in the the two bucket wash method, I'll show you this and say no more:

 

 

Only last week, I took a car to my local Renault/Hyundai dealer for a quick warranty job. Asked them not to wash it, which they didn't, however, gave me back the car with the brand new spotless mats like this:

 

 

I certainly chewed the ear of the service manager after seeing that. Luckily, I was able to sort it out relatively easy. The thing is, I shouldn't have to. Rant over.

There really isnt any excuse for this

They have seat covers and footwell papers to put down

Its plain slack

I use snow foam prewash and change the rinse water a couple of times during the wash.

Constant rinse of cleaned panels as I go round, then dry and wax/polish as required.

Got to get some new brushes for my Mrs Alfa, the wheels are a ball ache compared to my Octavia and the puma it replaced.

Dyed in the wool polishing sado :-)

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk