Dealers “man with a towel” got me!

[JDGolden]

I got a nice rental car from enterprise on time in my town. It was a brand new audi. It was winter so it was covered in road salt. The lady said they didn't have time to wash it. I said it was fine I would do it. I asked how they wash it. She said they have a car wash in the building that washes with those spinning brushes. She said every car goes through every time it comes back. It was all swirled out. They had some nice cars to. All ruined.

Rental cars rarely sit. A lot of them have a 5-60 minute turnaround. They get hammered with push broom washes (nice Kranzle power washers though), or the tunnel wash like you saw. The customer only cares that it looks clean. I know, I worked for a car rental company years ago while in school.

[FUNX650]

I actually do know a high level executive
(corporate level) for them, they're the 2nd
or 3rd largest dealership holding company
in North America but I doubt I get them
involved but it is going to corporate.

Not quite the ‘corporate executive’
that I was referencing. [—> ]


Bob

[Jayfro]

Ok, all is well now. The car is back to pre-oil change/ "man with a towel" drama, just letting the third coat of Pinnacle Liquid Souveran haze. The car actually looks better since I had to correct the entire car, something I wasn't planning to do until March but life goes on! I'll post pics when the sun comes out, cloudy day in H-Town....but damn it looks good!!

That car wash from the dealer is supposed to be a "courtesy". They end up making a mess instead. The towels they use resemble used diapers.

I think that would be an insult to dirty diapers...maybe dollar store bath towels that they wiped the parking lot with may be better!

That sucks, free oil change would be the minimum, period

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That was one of the first things out of my service advisers mouth...I was hoping for that 400.00 transmission service!!

Thank God its soft black Honda paint

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Soft to correct and soft to screw up!! But yes, thank goodness it wasn't hard paint and the weather was perfect otherwise I would've parked the car in their service entrance and corrected it right there!

So Liquid Souveran topped over the Blackfire One Step....good combo?

10-4...outstanding combo. One corrects and one makes the "bling shine"!! I did try Pinnacle Finishing Polish first but it didn't cut enough with the white pad and I wasn't going to use the orange pad since I had BF One Step in my back pocket!

I would be so pissed.

What a joke, I wouldn’t have left the premises until it was addressed.

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Understatement...the emotions were incredible! When I was 15-20' away from it, with the sun at my back, I froze, jaw dropped, a couple of f-bombs...yea the emotions were running wild!!

I thought about that for about a millisecond then thought, no way would I have the "Man with a Towel" or sponge...ever touch my car!

Every Geek should take a look a their dealers wash bay. I was disgusted by my local Nissan dealers bay. They used old red shop rags to wash the cars. They threw the rags on the ground and used them without rinsing them off. It’s like they are trying to do a bad job. Got to remember these guys are minimum wage guys (or less) and only get what the dealership gives them to work with.

I used to have them only vacuum out my car but they stopped this due to the amount of theft complaints.

I don't fault the "Man with a Towel" as a person since his "tools" are probably the red shop towels and some kind of car soap, but I do fault him for not being able to read a work order. I had a similar issue with them a few months back when they changed my oil and left smudges on the front fenders and door handle, which I had a conversation with the service manager the following day....another free oil change!!

[Klasse Act]

It would be awesome to see you put on a clinic correcting the paint, also putting on a clinic on how to read too....DO NOT WASH

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[Bill D]

I would’ve declined any kind of free oil change or whatever out of fear of what more they would do to my car.

[mrmarkmac]

I can sympathize with you. I posted a couple weeks ago about my trip to a dealer in Houston also. They listened and didn’t wash my car, but instead gave me a complementary fresh coat of overspray, top to bottom. Took two weekends, of two rounds of clay to get it 95% cleaned up. I can still feel some overspray when running a baggy over it but it looks good again.

I notified them, both verbally, phone, and in emails. Zero response. They won’t even acknowledge the issue.

What the heck did the dealer spray on my car

[Bill D]

Might want to write a formal letter to corporate sent certified mail.

[MattPersman]

I had a similar issue with them a few months back when they changed my oil and left smudges on the front fenders and door handle, which I had a conversation with the service manager the following day....another free oil change!!

Just a curious question would you rather have them leave the smudges or use a non professional towel and product to try to clean it and make it worse?

These are fast production facilities. Time is money for an oil change. They are asked to turn them around as fast as possible... some slight oil finger smudges are gonna happen on your fender, door or hood. It’s just the environment. The express fast oil change area is not stocked with new quality MF and boutique detail sprays to clean your car after it’s worked on by a trained specialist

Definitely less than 1% of people do NOT want the free car wash. They feel they are doing you an additional service with it and most of their customers are going to be happy with it


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[Saibot]

Man, I feel for you. I’m going through the same thing right now. My 6 month old black Tesla was hit and the body shop monkeys must have washed my car with gravel. The swirls are massive. The OptCoat Pro Plus coating looks awful now. My wife’s black truck (5 years old and lives outside) looks better. I would have hung my No Wash sign had I known they were competing with the dealerships for the most damage done to customer’s paint.

I post this so you guys know to hang your No Wash signs at the body shops, too.

[Jayfro]

Time for another Oil Change and Tire Rotation. I am going back to the same dealer since my service will be free. I decided to make my own sign that will be on the dash and will try to make it for the mirror and or gear shifter!

Wish me luck!




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