Dealership Corvette with Holograms and Swirls

[Mike Phillips]

Dealership Corvette with Holograms and Swirls


This last weekend Autogeek had a booth at the 2nd Annual Cold Coast Corvette Show and right out in front of our booth was a 1988 Corvette on display. I used this Corvette all weekend to show people what they don't want when they let someone buff out their car.

The entire hood was hacked up so bad with swirls from the misuse of a rotary buffer it hurt your eyes to look at it.












The owner of the car, and I think the owner for the dealership asked me what was wrong with the paint and I pointed out all the horrendous swirls going in all directions and he said it's an old car and it needs a new paint job.

I replied back that just because it's an old Corvette that doesn't mean the paint has be be all swirled out, it has to do with the pads, products and tools the guy doing the detailing is using.

Then I said, even if you have the car repainted, if you have the same guy buff it out, it's going to look like this paint job. It's never about the painter, it's about the guy that does the wetsanding, cutting and buffing after a new paint job that makes or breaks the results.

I could tell he didn't care to hear what I was saying so I left him with his swirled out car.

I don't know that this is an example of the kind of work his "New Car Get Ready" department turns out but the above pictures are historically correct for the kind of work commonly referred to as "Professional Detailing" by the body shops, dealerships and detail shops around this country.

Here's the deal, if you're going to let someone else buff out your car, first find out what they know. Ask them to show you the pads, products and tools they're going to use when they "touch" your car's paint.

Then post what you find out here. We'll tell you if you're going to get a professional job or not.


Keep in mind, factory paint is thin and there's not a lot of room or film-build for mistakes. Every time someone buffs your car's paint out the wrong way, undoing the damage will require removing more paint in order to level the surface and thus remove the holograms and swirls.

So choose wisely who you let "touch" your car.


IF you're looking for someone that is truly qualified, find a detailer that hangs out on a forum and has a posting history showing their work and sharing what they use and then you'll know you're getting someone that's actually qualified to do the job.

[Sunshyne]

Mike, your being the nice guy you are but ill say it out loud.

Dealers, most their clients and the 'detailers' the dealers use are all idiots. Grade A top of the line morons, from the top down.

I visited a friend who works at a dealership and he showed me their new car prep and I laughed out loud in front of the salesman and manager. The steel wool on the bumper to get stain out was cute on a 2012 car.

You cant fix stupid as they say..

[Perfections]

Mike, like you I find that most dealerships are unreceptive when you try and explain these things to them. Even when you try and point out they are ruining brand new cars and hundreds of them unfortunately it doesn't seem to sink in or possibly they just don't care. I was going to buy a Toyota tundra at one dealer, and as I walked the lot I wasn't able to find ONE that didn't have holograms in the paint. I attempted to point this out to my salesman but it's like it went in one ear and out the other. Needless to say I didn't purchase

[Rhudeboye]

Not all dealerships. I purchased a 1994 Porsche from the dealer in 2002. The car looked clean when I purchased it but the dealer told me he would have the car fully detailed before delivery. When the car was delivered it looked stunning- paint corrected, sealed and waxed. Engine cleaned and the tires dressed. That mirror finish was the impetus for me joining this site and buying better products. The interior however looked the same. Leaving me something to do :-)

[Mike Phillips]

Now days, when I get an e-mail from someone asking me for help because the brand new car they just bought, or the car they just had painted or detailed is filled with swirls, I tell the person,

• Start a thread on our forum documenting the damage (don't send me an e-mail, you need more eyeballs reading about your experience, not just mine)

• Take pictures showing the swirls and learn how to insert them into your thread

• Print out the thread or send the link to the head guy at the company that caused the problem

• Suggest the company send their "Manager" to my Detailing Boot Camp Class. (Don't send the employee, the turnover rate is too high, usually Managers are their to retire, they can learn how to do things right and teach each new person they hire)

• Get a copy of my how-to book and read it.

Knowledge is power and their's only three reason why people swirl-out cars,

A. They don't know any better - That's lack of knowledge.

B. They know better but their boss doesn't provide the right pads, products, tools or training to do the job right.

C. They do know how to do things right but they don't care.


Not sure what else to say....

[Mike Phillips]

Not all dealerships. I purchased a 1994 Porsche from the dealer in 2002. The car looked clean when I purchased it but the dealer told me he would have the car fully detailed before delivery. When the car was delivered it looked stunning- paint corrected, sealed and waxed.

Of course there are always exceptions to the rule but the norm is fairly well established.

I never paint with a broad brush as I know there are GREAT detailers and high quality body shops that have people that can sand, buff and polish out swirl free and there's even dealerships that have people with proper training and the proper pads, products and tools to do the job right.

My posting history on any forum shows I never paint with a broad brush...

[Mike Phillips]

Keep in mind, people that do hack work create work for people that do professional work.

Silver lining to ever cloud...

[Flash Gordon]

Incredible!

It's a crying shame the owner of this car refuses to take his head out of the sand

[Rhudeboye]

I never paint with a broad brush as I know there are GREAT detailers and high quality body shops that have people that can... do the job right.

I know you know. i just wanted to highlight my rare experience as it's so different from most car buying experiences.

BTW great tips in post #5

[Mike Phillips]

Mike, like you I find that most dealerships are unreceptive when you try and explain these things to them. Even when you try and point out they are ruining brand new cars and hundreds of them unfortunately it doesn't seem to sink in or possibly they just don't care.

They don't care but part of the reason is it's not profitable to care. Doing a job right takes the right products, pads, tools and technique, that means somewhere along the line the guy doing the work either needs some training or he needs to be reading a forum like this and watching videos.

I was going to buy a Toyota tundra at one dealer, and as I walked the lot I wasn't able to find ONE that didn't have holograms in the paint.

I attempted to point this out to my salesman but it's like it went in one ear and out the other. Needless to say I didn't purchase

Yep... that's the norm for most dealerships, swirled-out cars and people that don't know the difference between a squirrel or a swirl...


The difference between a swirl and squirrel



For clarification...

This is a Squirrel



These are Swirls