Ugh - Correcting Paint after "Dealer Prep"

[USMCStang]

Yeah, there's no telling if the dealer instilled the swirls themselves, at least that day. The previous owner religiously took the truck to the same dealer for oil changes and scheduled maintenance...it all shows up on the CarFax. I have to imagine they may have had it dealer washed at least 6 or 7 times. Scheduled maintenance being followed to the T is a good thing, but I have yet to find anything in the owner's manual saying to have a dealer wash the vehicle every 5,000 miles.

I can fix it by first stopping the ridiculousness of letting anyone but me, or any machine besides the one I am operating touch the paint. My larger concern was whatever they used as a coating...probably like psnt1ol said...nufinish or simoniz...affecting the decontamination/ claying/ polishing steps. They might as well have used canola oil as a vinyl and rubber protectant.

4+ inches of snow this morning in Ohio, but the process will start as soon as it's warm enough to use the hose, lol. I'll try to remember to get some before and after pics up here

[Lance Mark]

he reacted like I'd just kicked his dog. Complete shock and a little hurt.

sometimes when you tell the truth, other people's feelings get hurt....not saying it's ok to be a jerkstore, but quite frankly his hurt feelings are his problem, not yours

it doesn't take too many fingers of forehead to figure out how what they offer is actually less than worthless....as I'm learning about detailing, I'm seeing that the vast majority of folks really know nothing about detailing...that includes service people at dealerships

[Larry A]

i useto work for a car dealer. all our cars new and used were hand washed , and then sprayed with technition choice aqua glow spray wax and then wiped down with a water sprite chamois .used cars were pre detailed by a outside company . i never seen our cars with swirls or scratches when they were delivered. the detail manager was 48 years old, not a kid, who was . a manager for 25 years . the youngest guy working was 35 years old. i also worked somethimes in the detail dept and im 78 years old. i got my experence working in 1963-1965 buffing out lacquer paint after they came out of the body shop . some dealers care on how there cars look.

[Prange]

I've yet to find a dealer that wants to spend the money,(time, materials, labor) on detailing a new car properly.

[Desertnate]

I've yet to find a dealer that wants to spend the money,(time, materials, labor) on detailing a new car properly.

Its just not in their interests. To do it properly takes too much labor time and having a properly trained person/people all costs them money they don't want to spend and cuts into profit margins. It's much cheaper to run it through an automated car wash or have one of the porters hit the vehicles with a power washer and a dirty brush.

After a couple of decades of visiting dealerships on two continents, I've only seen a detailer at one place. Even then that person did not work on the "general population" of cars. They were part of the service department and only worked on cars customers brought to the dealership for that purpose.

[Todd404]

Thanks for sharing! I had no idea this existed. One will be included with my next order!

[Lance Mark]

Its just not in their interests.

If every customer were a detailer, I bet they'd be interested.

[BurnsDetailing]

It comes down to explaining how they can transform their current expense of out sourcing another company to a gross profit production center by hiring, training and promoting. Especially after you show them they won't spend anywhere near their currently monthly spend to buy their own equipment and consumables to at least get started.

That's how we flipped it here. Completely wiped away the expense and flipped it into net profit first month. I do enjoy the shock and disbelief when some of these coating companies say, "Wait.. you are a dealership? And you're an IDA member too?".

[USMCStang]

Well, figured I'd post back up here after spending a weekend detailing the truck! I didn't really take many pictures, since I was way too busy (and excited) to worry about it, but I did get a basic before and after at least!

Products/ process used

1. Wash (foam cannon/ 2 bucket mehod) w/Meguiar's Deep Crystal wash
2. Iron-X spray on paint, Iron-X gel on wheels, Meguiar's All-wheel cleaner on wheels.
3. Pressure washer rinsedown
4. Tar-X in wheel wells, front bumper, any other tar/ bugs I found on the paint.
5. Another wash w/deep crystal
6. "Polished" glass w/Meg's ultimate compund, Old 6" yellow pad, and Griot's 6" DA (except mirrors)
7. Began polishing process using Meg's Ultimate Polish/ lake country white pad. Ultimate Compund as-needed in the worst swirl areas.
8. Polished bumpers, running boards, and exhaust tip with Nevr-Dull
9. Full IPA wipedown
10. Final glass clean with Meguiars Perfect Clarity
11. Rain-X on all exterior glass
12. All black plastic trim coated with Meguiars Ultimate Black Plastic Trim Restorer
13. 303 protectant on tonneau cover
14. Turtle Wax Graphene Flex Wax (spray) on all exterior surfaces except glass, wheel wells, and tires
15. Endurance Tire Shine on tires

As you can see, I like my Meguiar's products, lol. They've always served me well, and I almost unequivocally use OTC products that I've grown to trust over the years. The only product that was new to me was the Turtle Wax Graphene...it was an experiment, and I have to say, I love the stuff already. I haven't done a maintenance wash yet, but compared to the Meguiar's Ceramic Spray, I have to say it's definitely glossier, seems to darken the color more, and slicker. As Mr. Phillips says, "find products you love, and stick with them".

Happy to say the swirls are gone, the wheels are gleaming, and, at least until it rains, I like just pulling the truck into the sun and staring at it from my deck while having a beer! Thanks everyone for all of the advice, insight, and help!

I haven't done the interior yet, but it really doesn't need anything other than a vacuum and 303 application.

Before ever touching the paint myself (including washing, obviously, lol):


Nearing end of process. Polishing and waxing wheels:




End result! (minus some endurance tire gel)

[USMCStang]

Well, figured I'd post back up here after spending a weekend detailing the truck! I didn't really take many pictures, since I was way too busy (and excited) to worry about it, but I did get a basic before and after at least!

Products/ process used

1. Wash (foam cannon/ 2 bucket mehod) w/Meguiar's Deep Crystal wash
2. Iron-X spray on paint, Iron-X gel on wheels, Meguiar's All-wheel cleaner on wheels.
3. Pressure washer rinsedown
4. Tar-X in wheel wells, front bumper, any other tar/ bugs I found on the paint.
5. Another wash w/deep crystal
6. "Polished" glass w/Meg's ultimate compund, Old 6" yellow pad, and Griot's 6" DA (except mirrors)
7. Began polishing process using Meg's Ultimate Polish/ lake country white pad. Ultimate Compund as-needed in the worst swirl areas.
8. Polished bumpers, running boards, and exhaust tip with Nevr-Dull
9. Full IPA wipedown
10. Final glass clean with Meguiars Perfect Clarity
11. Rain-X on all exterior glass
12. All black plastic trim coated with Meguiars Ultimate Black Plastic Trim Restorer
13. 303 protectant on tonneau cover
14. Turtle Wax Graphene Flex Wax (spray) on all exterior surfaces except glass, wheel wells, and tires
15. Endurance Tire Shine on tires

As you can see, I like my Meguiar's products, lol. They've always served me well, and I almost unequivocally use OTC products that I've grown to trust over the years. The only product that was new to me was the Turtle Wax Graphene...it was an experiment, and I have to say, I love the stuff already. I haven't done a maintenance wash yet, but compared to the Meguiar's Ceramic Spray, I have to say it's definitely glossier, seems to darken the color more, and slicker. As Mr. Phillips says, "find products you love, and stick with them".

Happy to say the swirls are gone, the wheels are gleaming, and, at least until it rains, I like just pulling the truck into the sun and staring at it from my deck while having a beer! Thanks everyone for all of the advice, insight, and help!

I haven't done the interior yet, but it really doesn't need anything other than a vacuum and 303 application.

Before ever touching the paint myself (including washing, obviously, lol):


Nearing end of process. Polishing and waxing wheels:




End result! (minus some endurance tire gel)