My story on why I am here and why I am excited

**Disposablehero** · 06-17-2013, 01:14 PM

Before:
I bought my black Ford Super Duty Harley-Davidson pickup earlier this year and inherited a ton of clear coat scratches. I purchased it on day that had 100% overcast so naturally the black paint look great. I did what I could to clean things up but like with typical fillers wax/glazes where worked, the next hard rain or a few days on the road it was right back to pure ugliness. So I did what anybody would do with a brand new to them black truck, I called around to some of the local paint and body places. I got some quotes and visited several different shops and finally bit the bullet with a place not to far from me and which was came highly recommended by a very close friend.

When I drove the truck to them, they quoted 5 bills to do the correction after their inspection. During the inspection, they came to the conclusion that the original owner use a scratch-o-matic of sorts which induced all of my horizontal scratches. The spider webbing was typical dirty mitt syndrome. I had no reason to disagree. I asked if I could stand in to, you know, see a professional at work. They had no issues with this. The rep (my friends friend) seemed very knowledgeable and so did the correction tech who was going to do the work. I was also excited to see that they use nothing but 3M products. I am a fan of 3M. Needless to say, I was excited!

During:
I showed up to the shop at 0800 with my lunchbox in hand as I knew this was going to be an all day thing. They took my keys and moved my truck into one of the bays and I followed after. First thing I recognized was the amount of lighting that was not present. I was concerned but again, they are the professionals so I kept it to my self.

The tech brings his dewalt rotary, cutting pads, cream, wet-sanding bucket, sand paper and microfiber towel over to my area and begins looking for imperfections. As he finds them he goes to town wet sanding with 3k paper. He then begins to work one panel at a time with the buffer.

Mind you. My truck was dirty. Not caked on mud dirty but dirty none the less. Last wash I did was 2 weeks prior and my truck sits out side and is exposed to rain and every other element you can think of. They did NOT wash my truck. The did NOT clay bar my truck they just down right skipped those steps. This is when I got really concerned so I asked the rep on why my truck was NOT washed or clayed. His reason..."Because they were doing a deep multi-step paint correction and the tech was really good".

As I watch and watch and watch my stomach began to ache more and more. The tech was quick moving from panel to panel. He would buff, then wipe clean. Buff, then wipe clean. NEVER using a different towel. Never cleaned the pads. This kept going on and on as he switch to the different stage pads and cream next like the black pad doing the entire truck and finally finishing with a blue pad.

Once complete, they inspect and give the clear. I asked to have it moved out to the sun since my eyes were clearly not as good as theirs. It was apparent. The amount of hologramming was agitating. You could see were they didn't even hit the a-pillars, b-pillars and cab corners with the missed spider webbing.

So the tech walks back into the shop and brings out some glaze. Begins rubbing it in and wiping of with the same towel he has been using this whole time. WE move the truck round and round positioning it just right in the sun picking out the imperfections until business ours were over.

The rep said they would make it right and have it to me by late AM the next day. No worries for me I guess. They've seen what needs to be addressed. On a positive note, the horizontal scratch-o-matic scratches look to be all gone.

After:
I arrive the following morning and begin inspecting it. Everything looks good. I didn't do a down and dirty take my microscope look as I was sure I was clear the day before on my expectations. Well as it turns out, I wish I did. No more that two weeks later, it was obvious the hologramming is still there. Maybe not as apparent, however, still there. I checked to see if it was residual wax/glaze but it is not. For a truck that was just professionally detailed. Why so many scratches? Maybe because the tech used the same towel to wipe everything down and improper use of the rotary.

I'm disappointed but happy the scratch-o-matic crap was removed. The hologramming and spider webbing I am going to tackle my self. Watching these guys not care about my truck as much as I do put things in perspective. I will try to do this my self going forward.

FYI...I am the type of person that will not further pursue them to fix it just right. Putting both the rep and my friend at odds is not something I am willing to do. I have learned my lesson.

I know that black is an insane color to manage. But I am doing my best to combat this. For instance, I only wash in early AM hours when it is cool and when the sun just begins to light the sky. I start with wheels, tail pipes and side steps with its own bucket. Then I do top to bottom washing while using either vertical or horizontal strokes one panel at a time. I do not continuously wash the same panel. I 3 dedicated carpool mitts and two buckets w/grit guard system. I also only apply and remove wax in this fashion as well.

The attached was taken in early AM hours. Sorry for the crappy shot but I hope you get the idea.

Sorry for the book.

**Evan.J** · 06-17-2013, 01:28 PM

First off welcome to AGO. You have found the right place to fix all you issues and learn all the proper ins and outs.

You can find all the same things you dealt with here in the 3H thread:
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...ghlight=horror

**Pureshine** · 06-17-2013, 01:33 PM

Sorry this happen too you

. The one thing I Will say if I saw them go straight to polishing and not washing or claying I would've stop them right then.

**poweraid** · 06-17-2013, 01:44 PM

did u pay them in full ?

**BlackHawk** · 06-17-2013, 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by poweraid