evoman

The moral of the story here is to never let the dealer wash your car. They left a whole bunch of super huge swirl marks and scratches all over my new 200 miles NBP 2007 TLS. Seems like they are way to cheap to buy new mitts and train laborers to wash cars with care and common sense....like, do not use scotch brite to clean off bug splatter !?!?

I was so pissed....to make it worst, when they aligned my door which was a factory defect (another long argument for that), they scratched the door big time and tried to blame it on me! Luckily i took pictures and after arguing with them, they finally agreed to fix the scratch on the door but not the car wash damage. This is so pathetic, my car is so new and it has not even been out in a public parking lot yet, been garaged at home ever since i bought it...and how ironic that it is the dealer that screws it up. They didnt even werent even sorry about the whole ordeal and made me look like I was a picky ass customer....well, i think if you just bought a 56,000 CDN acura vehicle with no swirl marks or scratches and it comes back all scratched up. I am so dissapointed with acura.

Acura should take away dealer franchises if they are not providing customers with proper treatment of their vehicles during service, this is unacceptable.

Sorry for the rant

csmeance

agreed, never let the dealer wash the car, alot of dealers just pay local kids minimum wage to take a dirty wet rag and to wash the car. But I would call acura client care services and tell them this experience you had. They will document it and you might have the swirls removed if the dealer has had other complaints on this subject.

datmrman

I always opt out of the complimentary car wash when I get mine serviced. You'll never know how dirty/old the rags they're using.

ChicagoBurbs

AMEN, Brother!
Further, I never let them wipe down or vacuum my interior either. They ALWAYS manage to add a footprint on the seatbacks or a new swirlie on my dashboard or a new gouge out of the plastic trim somewhere.

IMO, they hire freakin gorillas to do the most detailed of work at dealerships. The job gets done, but without any sense of care or concern. Almost like they hate you for owning a nicer car than them and they want to fuck it up on purpose.

monacm2

Just wondering which wonderful dealership you visited, I am taking my car in for it's first service tomorrow.

Macruz19

Having the dealer wash your car is a very big NO NO!!

Everytime I have service done, I tell my service advisor to write in big bold letters to tell them no wash or vacuum. I hate swirl marks, and I'm glad I polished at least 90% off at home.

lusid

I got a few scratches after the wash, I never let them touch it after that.

Macruz19

Try to polish them out

Steve0

The carwash people are the dealerships version of McDonald's order takers.

Macruz19

My dealership does excellent service, but when it comes to washing, I don't let them wash it.

I think my dealership uses a drive thru to wash cars, and then the workers dry them off.

Bearcat94

You want Swirl Marks with that?

type-s09

i used to work at the detail department at an acura dealership...they used brushes to clean all cars except black and lambs wool mits to wash black cars....they used a $25 shammy to dry..but yes customers did complain..there is nothing really they couldve done differently, i mean its a free car wash and the stealership isnt willing to deck out the money for a very nice car wash...but i worked in the full detail department so i was removing scratches and swirls not putting them in...

fant0m_TL

idk ... ive had nothing but good experiences... but then again every single member of my family owns/ed an Acura, so we are very well known... even relatives that work there... i got mine waxed and clayed when I brought it in to check out some rattles lol... but year, a lot of the "techs" they have there are my age, and don't care about the cars other than the $9/hour... (i applied when I was 16 LOL)

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

same here- service rep is used to me so he writes in big red letters on my work order- NO WASH w/out me asking.

lusid

It's on a window.......

sho_nuff1997

iTrader: (2)

fantom,
maybe you can get me hooked up with a clay n wax.....my cars in there now

Macruz19

I wonder what the dealership do to scratch your window? Well, it's very difficult to polish a scratch out of glass.

evoman

Shouldn't they ask you before hand if you want the complementary car wash?!??
I didnt even know about this, and i complained that they should not have washed it without asking me first...then they tell me that they wash all the cars that come in for service and i should be grateful for this free service....

I just want you guys to know that if you ever have any work that involves the body, dont let the dealer touch it...you need a body guy, these mechanics dont have a clue. When they tried to align my door, the fool actually thought he could align it by opening it and lifting it up?!?!? If the door could move like that i think Acura would have even bigger problems!?!? I gave the tech a copy of the service manual procedure for aligning the door and he gives me a puzzled look....gawd...where do they find these people.

Just go to the acura dealer for oil and fluid changes or when absolutely necessary for warranty work....even my honda dealer has a more professional garage!!

The worst thing is, if I call acura canada and bitch I know nothing will come of it. I will try however....the acura dealership raped my virgin baby....
I should have just came down to the states and bought my TLS there, screw Acura Canada and the useless warranty....wahhhhhh....i'm on my own anyhow.

If only that TL factory worker who aligns doors in ohio knew how much trouble he caused by mis-aligning the doors on my TLS....

fant0m_TL

lol... i wish, its not an everytime occurance... i wish tho - thatd be sweet!

are you familiar with Johnny2--k? him and i are both from the Sha/Brookfield area... we should do a shoot sometime.

evoman

Hey Macruz19, how should i polish out the swirls, would you mind helping me out here....im losing so much sleep over this that i almost got run over by a bus the other day...

It seems that the dealer car wash kid saw that there was some left over glue from the new car hood stickers and tape (So much for my $1775 dollars of dealer prep/freight) and tried to wash it off...when that didnt work, he seems to have resorted to a scotch brite pad...this left a very large scratch pad mark that looks matte compared to the rest of the car. Is there anything I could do to can fix this?

Thanks

lembowski

iTrader: (1)

Just have them add "No Carwash" to your personal file. Everytime I go to the dealer my service papers come up with no carwash on them and they don't wash it.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

the one time my dealership washed my car, they didn't think that it shouldn't be washed considering i have a roof rack on my car. my fault for not thinking to tell them not to wash it, but they damn near tore the rack off the roof (the driver side of the rack shifted 6 inches back because of the drive through car wash they use) and scuffed the roof line where the clips moved!!! never again have they washed my car. i take it to them clean already and i emphasize "NO WASH!!!" please.

Porkipine

iTrader: (1)

Did the dealer clean up the mess for you?

Just curious, anyone try asking if they can wash the car at the dealer themselves?

avs007

I coudl've told you to not let the dealer wash your car... Last time I went to the dealer, I explicitly told them not too. They put it on the work order to not wash the car....

They washed it anyways... When I inspected my car, it had swirl marks and scratches on every g'dam panel. Some scratches were so deep and jaggged, it looked like the person washing the car was wearing a big bracelet from the 1980's.

That's why I went to fry's and bought some magnetic ink-jet sheets..... I printed out a bunch of neon-pink signs that says, "DO NOT WASH THIS CAR!", which I now affix to my car if I ever need service at the dealer.

Porkipine

iTrader: (1)

PICS PLZ!

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

when the dealer customer care people asked how my experience was when i had the car serviced i told them about the car wash incident. it was noted in my file and i can get the damage taken care of when and if i wanted to take care of it. putting my roof rack back where it was before the wash was a pain in the ASS!!! there are still some scuff marks to the clear coat but none that are so noticeable that i put the effort into getting the dealer to fix it.

Hawhyen51

Pics would be nice to assess the damage. You can do it by hand but it's a tiresome and time consuming effort. The best way and probably the easiest way is machine polishing (via PC) to get a consistent finish. Use a polish with diminishing abrasives and a polishing pad. You can get more info on polishing from Paint Care & Detailing and Autopia's DIY article called "How to Polish A Car to Perfection". The Wash & Wax Forum has a wealth of info. Some of the members there are pro detailers and others are enthusiasts who are very experienced and knowledgeable in detailing.

evoman

Yes, i certainly will get some pictures once i find my memory card for my camera.

I also want to tell everyone here on the forum how much i appreciate your help and opinions! Even though my problems are minor compared to what some others on the forum are experiencing, you all voice in and help each other out.
It is you guys that get me through the night...the car just wouldn't be the same without this forum and the great moderators!

So before i continue my bitching to acura, A BIG THANKS OUT to ya all!

jupitersolo

They did this to my 05 NBP, then when I went to pick it up after they buffed everything out, they had put the right front of my bumper into another car. Bumper was going to have to be replaced.



Now I have....

sunnyflava99

Might as welll share my horror story. They washed my car luckily no visible scratches, however they used something on my wheels (some sort of wheel dressing) and they failed to wipe down my rims.
By the way I have 20" iforged monacos with a polished lip.
To make a long story short the polished lip ended up getting stained... i spent the next 6 hours cleaning the lip.
Never again!

conan777

EVOMAN, do not fret man, take your car to a good detailer and tell them you need scratches removed. They have the experience and knowledge and tools to do the job right. As long as the swirls are only in your clear coat and not deep into the paint you will be fine. After a detailing it will look better than when you picked it up brand new. They can either wet sand it or just buff it out depending on how bad it is. Good luck!

FiveLiterCheater

you think thats bad....

i told my dealer not to wash my car before.....came back to pick my car up, only to see the guy outside drying parts of my car with his t-shirt....went outside to look at it...mud/dirt was dripping down....parts of the car were dirty...parts of it looked smudged..I inspected my wheels, and one of them was curbed!!!! (my 19" Rays, not stock) You have no idea how heated I was. Went home to clean my car after that excuse of a car wash and discovered so many scratches all over the place. Haven't been back ever since.

ViperTruck2933

Our dealer gives complimentary (unlimited-free) car washes with every Acura purchase. Some people go EVERY DAY, lol.

Haven't heard anyone complain about it and the line is always LONG to get in.

evoman

Thanks for your advice, i'll certainly look into that!! I should make the dealer pay for this too!

I've been upset for the whole week and depress because of this, I guess it is not that bad but on a new car with 200 miles on it, kinda sucks....

JetJock

I will not let anyone wash my car except the guy (friend) who details it for me. Hardly anyone knows how to properly wash a car...especially black.

The kids you see doing car washes on the weekends for their school etc., are even worse...they don't even wash the towels used for drying...they just hang them on a tree until they dry....the thought of some teenager washing my car sends chills down my spine.

Good luck getting the swirls out. Any good detail guy will make it look better than new. I recommend using Zaino. That stuff is incredible. Definately take the bill to the dealer and scream until they agree to pay. If you make a scene, especially with other customers standing around....they'll probably pay just to shut you up.

psheu

wow.... sorry to hear so many horror stories.... my dealership treated me right.... I had my car wash there practically every week or every other week for free.... sometime they even use the special vinyl wax to protect the leather and vinyl trims.... granted these are all free service from the dealer... than again, it won't hurt to "grease" the service people to give your car some extra TLCs....

JetJock

I always tip the mechanic who works on my car. It almost guarantees you will get better service in the future, that is if they have a good mechanic in the first place. It's well worth $10-$20 to get the best mechanic each time without asking.

Pika817

Where is this dealership?

psheu

Fort Lauderdale, FL

JAB00

I've gotten my car washed every time I take it in for service and I've never had a problem.