Used car dealer detailing

[Calendyr]

Today I traded in my Kia Rio LX+ 2016 for a Dodge Grand Caravan 2012 that I will be using for my business.

it's the first time in my life I purchase from a use car dealership. The experience was good, was able to find a deal I was happy with.

On the other hand the detailing they do on the vehicle before handing it to the client is very funny. I am sure they must have spent at the very least 15 minutes on the inside and at the very least 15 minutes on the outside.

The windows are very dirty, all the nooks and crannies that years of grime stuck in them, they did wipe a lot of the plastic down with Armor All. So there is that

On the outside, the vehicle must have been pressure washes with no actual hand wash. The wheels have been dressed with what looks like engine grease

Let's just say I have my work cut out for me to do a full detail, polishing and coating of the vehicle. I had also did not notice a big scratch on the passenger side when I first looked at the vehicule. Not sure if it was done afterwards or I just did not notice it. I did not mind the condition so much since I knew I would do a full correction on it anyway.

So now I understand why when I worked in a used car dealership last year that the service director thought my invoices were crazy high. I was spending 4+ hours on the interior and 3+ hours on the exterior and thought that was barelly acceptable conditions to sell the vehicle. If what they expect is the trash work that was done on my van, I was doing overkill by several orders of magnitude

[DMiglio]

It’s the same in the US, I’m pretty sure they’re not even going the the hassle of buffing them out anymore. Based on the condition my wife and I got our slightly used Mazda3 last week I’d be surprised if they gave 15 minutes to the outside.

Pretty sure they run it through a swirl-o-matic, maybe hit it with some spray wax, wipe down the wheels and throw slime on the tires and that’s the outside done! Also key to wipe the paint, glass and wheels with one shammy as you deliver to the customer.

As far as interior, basically the same. My wife was pretty emotional about trading her Miata in for the 3, so I didn’t get a feel for the overall interior cleanliness until we got the car come. Dust in cracks, crevices and in gauge area. What looks to be a little bit of coffee spill on the leather e-brake boot. Still oils and body residue on the shifter, wheel and some of the door paneling.

I’m willing to bet not one of us on this forum would even be comfortable doing work this badly even if it was for free. That’s what separates us (pros, hobbyists, weekend warriors) from the average “detailing” worker. We demand more of ourselves and a higher cost associated with that, these detailers are cranking cars out at like 10-12 bucks an hour I bet. They clean and shine by any means necessary they aren’t detailing.

[PaulMys]

Yeah, dealers are certainly not Auto Geeks.

[Larry A]

We send our used cars out to get detailed. They charge 100.00 for a car and 120.00 for a suv or a mini-van. At them prices you dont get to much.

[mk9750]

In February, we traded my wife's 2011 Ford Edge in for a 2017 Chevy Equinox that had been leased for two years, and only had 5,888 miles on it (yep, that's right - less than 3,000 miles per year).

I spent 4 1/2 hours detailing the Edge, a car that was meticulously maintained, before we turned it in. I can ASSURE you it looked 10 times better, in and out, than the car we took home (until I spiffed it up the next day (6 hours of work, and will be doing a full paint correction and coating sometime in May).

It could be that all dealers aren't this bad. Put you couldn't prove it by me.

[DETAILROOKIE]

These issues dont only affect used cars. When I bought my last 2 new cars, the leather had dirt on them and the interior looked like it was wiped down with hair grease. I'm sure dealers dont care as long as they make a deal, but I'm sure their customers, autogeeks or not, would appreciate bringing their new car home clean.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Autogeekonline mobile app

[Belo]

I imagine that some detailers pick and choose what to detail, as time is money and money is money haha. A 16 mustang probably gets a good shine where as a 7 year old minivan marketed to a business might not.

Still looking forward to the pics

[Calendyr]

Will try to find time to convert the pictures to a format the forum will accept.

[SWETM]

I use an app called Resize Me which is easy to work with.

I think that generally speaking used car dealership does a good work with detailing there cars before delivering them or show them on the lot. New cars is mostly ordered and what I have seen they look as a new car should be looking. Then of cause there is dealership that does shortcuts and some that leaves holograms. But those are actually rare here in Sweden.

[Belo]

Will try to find time to convert the pictures to a format the forum will accept.

easily the most annoying thing about this site. hey we are all passionate about detailing, so naturally picture taking is important. Want to share pics? Sorry, resize them all. ugh.