CiViCKiDD

I had my car in for warranty service last week and they offered to wash my car. I said sure, and when it got it back it was COVERED in swirls! They called me today to find out how my experience was, I couldn't pick up since I was in a meeting at the time.

WTF. This is a really good dealership on the whole, so I'm going to talk to them about this to see if they'll polish/wax it out (I don't want to pay for their mistakes). Anyone else have problems with dealer washes?

aaronng

Yes, happens very very often.

nj2pa2nc

I am happy to say the dealer I take my car to does an excellent job with washing my 06 tsx.

racecarbox616

Dealer car wash = swirl marks guaranteed. At least at the dealership I go to here in PA. Every time I make a service appointment online I request the car is not washed. Then again when I drop it off I make sure I tell the service people not to wash the car. This is the best chance of avoiding a careless car wash from the dealer IMO.

xjohnkdoex

iTrader: (2)

the average dealership isn't nearly as anal retentive about your car paint compared with the average car enthusiast. i learned this the hard way as well (didn't expect a car wash and got one along with swirls and extra dirt during my first servicing). next time just tell them not to give you the courtesy wash.

LuvMyTSX

My dealership does a great job with my car's maintenance, but I tell them every time NOT to wash my car. As said before, the dealerships don't take the care needed to wash a car correctly. Just tell them no and do it yourself.

CiViCKiDD

I went there today and they said they'll detail it (polish/wax), but this would be a one time courtesy. If I took them up on the offer I would not be allowed to request a free dealer wash ever again.

That works for me, and I won't be getting the dealer wash in the future anyway, but they're making it seem like it's my fault they didn't wash my car properly. Ah well, overall I still think they're a good dealership and will keep going there.

dmassott

glad to hear that they are fixing it, i work at a dealer(detail) and also wash cars and i can tell you that it hurts to watch some people wash the cars, they just dont take the time and care that should be given to these awesome cars...Especially the poor owners of black cars, never get your car washed at the dealer!

CGTSX07

usually you can't see the swirls on PWP. they must've really done a hack job. I probably wouldn't trust them to polish and wax the car either

davidspalding

I imagine this will vary from dealer to dealer ... I believe my local (Chapel Hill) dealer has a brushless wash, so when they repaired a windshield defect when I bought the car, the sales guy punched the code in to activate the car wash for me. After another warranty repair, they'd washed it. I was pleased, and noted no defects or damage.

It probably pays to ASK your dealer what kind of automated (or hand?) wash they do before outright telling them "please don't wash my car."

HondaAcura83

That's weird. I took my car to the same place and had a nice swirl mark on my hood.

LuvMyTSX

Which dealer?

davidspalding

I'm likely mistaken ... I haven't been in their car wash for over a year.

CiViCKiDD

I'd rather not say which dealership this is until they fix my problem..

My appointment is in less than two weeks, I'll update my post then. For now I still think they're a good dealership, though I wouldn't recommend getting the free wash. I'm bummed out though, my car hardly has 5k miles on it and looks like crap with these swirls. They said the swirls are minor and they're going to use the least abrasive compound on it, and they'll "throw in" a coat of wax.

I still don't know what this entails, are they literally taking the top layer of paint off and applying clearcoat/wax? That would suck, considering Acura's paint is already so thin.

CGTSX07

swirls are actually scratches in the clear coat. they are taking off a fractional layer of the clear coat with whatever polish/compound they use and they are waxing it afterwards to protect the paint from the elements.

it sounds like they know what they are doing since they are using their least abrasive polish (but who really knows how abrasive that is). just check the job afterwards...the paint should look like the car was just taken off the showroom floor. make sure there are no holograms or streaks bc that is a common sign that they rushed the job or had no clue what they were doing.

MattJP

I always refuse the courtesy wash. Especially since I saw them using a soft brush on a stick on a TL getting a free wash....