juruki

iTrader: (2)

I took my car to a new steam car wash near my work. I dropped my car off and was walking to my store when i remembered that i still had the car keys on me. I walk back and this guy is "cleaning" my car with a dirty piece of cloth and my car is not even WET!!! i couldnt believe it, the guy said he was just taking the dust off before using the steam.
I got my car back and there are swirl marks all over it. What should i do? He says he will take care of it, but im scared to leave my car with him again. How can he NOT know that my cars get scratched like that? He says he wont pay me to detail it somewhere else. please help, what can i do?

aSPECtL06

He won't pay you to detail it somewhere else? Do you mean that he won't make you pay if he details it himself?

THTL

iTrader: (2)

alway alway wash your car. I learned my lesson.

02type-s

What the fuck? I used to own a detailing business and he has no idea what hes talking about. What an idiot. I would be scared to leave your car with someone with that level of down syndrome too...

aSPECtL06

Washing your own car is by-far the best way to go!

McKulit

Never go to a car wash unless absolutely necessary. Make sure you only go to the ones that are fully automated. I won't take my car somewhere where actual people would put their hands on it.

I personally stay away from car wash that have people dry off the car at the end of the wash bay.

WantTwoRun?

Yea for the future.. WASH IT YOURSLEF.. i had that problem once before with my truck ...

juruki

iTrader: (2)

He says he will do it himself for free but im scared to leave it with him again..
Is there a legal action i could take? or something? anything

BLACKURA_NY

iTrader: (6)

eh. not much LEGAL action, but take everybodys advice

the only time i go to a car wash is when its below 32 degrees out, and the gas station turns off their self-wash sprayers.... and i goto a top notch one ($23 f'ing dollars a wash)

Kennedy

iTrader: (2)

I ride dirty before I let someone else mess up my Zaino.

I hate cars

I learned from the bodyshop that thoroughly screwed up my car that even though I had to take it back a bunch of times, there wasn't a lot I could do legally while they were offering to fix it. Don't know if this applies to your situation.

I would be afraid to leave it too. You have to wonder what's going through someone's head to "wash" a dry car. I had a co-worker leaning on my dirty car. I told him not to touch it so he goes "sorry" and starts wiping his marks away with his hand.

McKulit

Get a few estimates and file in small claims court. The problem is, he's willing to make it right by detailing your car. The judge might see that in good faith and turn down your claim. The best way really is to have the guy pay you to have the car detailed somewhere else.

Try to talk to him again in a non threatening and professional manner. You might get this solved amicably.

darksom1

The ONLY things that should prevent you from washing your car are it's raining/snowing, the hose is frozen, or you are broken up and CAN'T do it!

Run the warm water in the house so that it cools in the bucket as you work and you rinse that mofo off with the hose. Dress for the weather, but wash that mofo!!!

BLACKURA_NY

iTrader: (6)

my pipes freeze in the winter.... so i gotta turn off the hose @ home... i gotta gas station around the corner.. wash it there, come home and dry it carefully in the garage

also, every 2 months, i but all new car microfiber towels.. because little pieces of junk and dirt get stuck in towels, and the washing machine wont remove them

if i ever drop my microfiber towel on the ground, well drying the car.. it goes in the trash!!

Aman

those things are a bitch to use...when the defroster on our car f'ks up, we use that, and it ends up smearing, screwing everything up. washing them makes mine all fuzzy too

Bearcat94

Suck it up, learn and move on.


I wouldn't leave it with him either. So, either fix it yourself or find someone who knows what they're doing and pay 'em.

You could try Small Claims, but he's offering to fix it and that might make it hard for you (as mentioned before).

Maybe try a compromise: he pays 1/2 or even 1/3 of the cost of 3rd party detail to repair.

Aman

That's my line.

I doubt small claims will get you anywhere, since, as mentioned above, he is trying to fix it, and if he f'ks up on that, then you can sue, but you'll risk your TL.

HiHenry.com

I agree. I wash my car because I know I won't want to damage my car carelessly. If I am a billionaire, then yes I would go for a $500 detailing job, but I am not. Besides, I enjoy washing and observing the beauty of our TLs.

leedogg

Simple, watch him detail it. Make sure the products he uses, and the clothes he has on, meet your requirements.

evanj5

First off there are car washes that exist in which people have trained their workers correctly. There are car washes that are worth 15 or 20 bucks everytime you go because they know wtf they are doing and will save you at least an hour.


If the swirl marks are not that profound go buy yourself a cheap ass orbital buffer and some SCRATCH-X this stuff works wonders and the swirls marks will disapear. You have NBP like my RSX was and every fine little thing that causes swirls will show up.

Once you have done a full days detail on your car which would include after you have wash the car then

1. Clay, 2.Paint Cleaner, 3.SCRATCH-X swirls, 4. polish, 5.wax

THEN FIND A GOOD CAR WASH. Oh and I dont even take my car to automatic washes unless they are touchless. The machines that have cloth wipers leave swirl marks as well espeacially because they pick up dirt from the hundreds of car going in there daily. If the car wash does have machines that touch the car make sure its the foam applicators.

The car wash I go to is awesome. Its a hybrid hand / automatic. Once soaked they use sheaps clothes mits (THE ONLY THING THAT SHOULD BE USED) to hand wash the car. If they are not using sheap skins then dont go to that car wash. After that the polish/ sealant is applied and worked in with automatic brushes but that are not cloth brushes but rather foam brushes which wont cause swirls. After that the car is rinsed and blow dried first. Then the workers used air hoses to blow eccess water from cracks and do the final touches to dry the car. The owner knows his shit and I dont worry about handing over the keys.

Go to local car washes and look before you buy


OH LAST THING IMPORTANT, if you dont want to buy the buffer and do that part of the job yourself, no car wash is going to have anyone skilled enough to fix swirls, best they will do is cover them up with a synthetic wax. You would need to go to a professional detailer and will cost huge dollars.

JimmyDee

Step 1. Take some pictures of the swirls or scratches, so we can see how bad they really are.

Step 2. Locate Jesstzn (he's a member here) and send him a PM with the pictures.

Step 3. He's a detailing expert, so whatever he recommends... I would do that.



Jimmy

PPLAPW

Purchase a Porter Cable 7336 or a UDM (Ultimate Detailing Maching), then purchase some pads. Like a light polishing one, then a cutting one, and a finishing one. To keep it simple, use some Meguiars #80 or 83, then seal with some Meguiars #21.

Remember to start with the least abrasive pad and polish combo.... Also keep in mind that the way i talked about is ONE way of MANY ways to detail your car.

Also read in this subforum of Acurazine...

https://acurazine.com/forums/wash-wax-23/

JD TL-S

iTrader: (1)

The only way if you can't wash yourself in the winter is to find an indoor handwash

car wash. Where I live there is a 6 stall hand car wash, where they rinse down the car

with a normal hose, NO high pressure. Then wash with a bucket/mitt just as you do at

home. They then rinse the car very good. They dry the car with a CLEAN soft towel,

then take an air hose/compressor and blow the water out of the mirrors, trim, lights.

Then they dry all the door jams. All for $8.00 Tire dressing is $3.00 extra. You can stand

there and watch, or go sit in there waiting room that has Direct TV, car and home theater

books, soda machine, comfy couches, washroom, ashtrays. Awesome place.

xen-cuts

I'm a law student and i cannot see why you cannot sue the guy for the damage he caused to your car. You came in with a car that had normal paint and left with one that has less than normal paint. The dood has a duty to make you whole again. It's not like you signed annything, right? And regardless, waivers are worth next to nothing in court anyway. So go get some estimates and file a claim in small claims court, etc.

I really don't think those swirl "fixes" are real fixes, but if they are, then you are screwed on your claim because (as others pointed out) the guy is willing to make you whole again. This doesn't mean you cannot sue him, though. It's up to you. I would probably sue his ass if (1) the damage is bad, and (2) I had time.

godizus

I had a similar problem here...we have water restrictions because of the drought so I have to go somewhere for a wash and I picked the wrong place once...lucky for me I wax regularly, so they only really affected the wax...I still learned a lesson about that car wash/detailer

In my case, I just went home and waxed the car and all was well...they had basically used a "waterless" car wash spray and some dirty rags

DarkSithCL

iTrader: (1)

I have a good relationship with my car / houz insurnace lady, so I would ask her for some advise.
Thats where I would start... so that guy doesnt "burn" ur paint or something crazy trying to get the swirls out...

juruki

iTrader: (2)

Thats what im scared of... My paint was flawless and my car is only 1 year old.

Ilya

I do the same. In the summer I do ALL (interior, exterior, engine bay, underbody) detailing myself. I only wash the salt/dirt off at the carwash in the winter when it's above freezing. Only time I use the carwash in the summer is if I need a quick wash because a trip out of town came up last minute and I don't have time to wash the car. And even then, I only use the water...no broom, no people touching it, just me spraying soap and then rinsing. If it doesn't wash everything off....well...to bad.

Mug

I've fixed a lot of damaged paint with rubbing and polishing compounds and then wax. NAPA has a nice line of abrasive compounds for buffers. They work good. But like someone said above, you need to be careful not to burn the paint.

I wash my car at home all year 'round. I've cocked my garage floor and painted my walls with semi-gloss paint. I turn up the heat, attach a coil hose to my sink with an adapter and wash my car like it's summer. When I'm done, I dry the walls, pull the car out, hose down the floor and sweep the excess water to the drain. I've been doing it for five years now and it works great.

JROCKACURA

First off, I wouldn't have left the car wash until I was compensated or given something in writting saying it was going to be fixed. I'd get a few estimates and bring the estimates to this idiot and show him the cost of repair. Bitch and moan and make a scene at his business. Eventually he'll just pay you just to get out. It happened to me once when I had new tires put on. They scratched my rims up real bad so I bitched for about 2 hours at the GM and they gave me a $600 credit toward repair or replace.

Remember the customer is always right.

If you decide to bring it back I would schedule it for a weekend and stay with the car while they work. You have every right to stay with your car to make sure the job is done right. Dont' be afraid to tell them what they are doing.

never leave your car with someone ever again. if you do a car was only do a touchless high pressure wash and dry it yourself. better to wash it yourself so it gets done right and actually looks good.

TeknoKing

I take my car for washes only to places where actual dealership use, such as benz, bentley, bmw, etc... and only hand-washed car washes. It's same thing as you are washing your car, you are just no getting down and dirty

Also, avoid car washes that use "brooms" to clean your car, what idiots.

juruki

iTrader: (2)

I went back to the carwash and he only paid me 100 dollars... He was saying his wife is sick and he cant afford to pay me 200 for a full swirl removal detail. He was begging me so i couldnt say no. The owner is 70 years old and it just didnt feel right taking more money from him for some reason, even if it was his fault.
Im gonna try this mobile detail company called SurfSide Detailing thats really popular in the Audi forums. Wish me luck :P and thx for your help

McKulit

Ummmm you left that part out.

Now I feel bad that I suggested taking him to small claims court.

thevikas87

iTrader: (2)

LOL hahahahahaha