# Don't wash car !!!!!!!!!!!



## Mike Phillips

*DON'T WASH CAR !!!!!!!!!!! *

*Subtitle:* How to prevent your car dealership from putting swirls and scratches into your car's paint!

Horror Story
There's a fairly common experience many people suffer through, and "yes" suffer is the correct word because of the agonizing frustration it causes to a "Car Guy" or "Car Gal" plus all the EXTRA work and hassle it causes for the victim of DISO.

In the car detailing discussion forum world I always call it a HORROR STORY, you can call it what you want but it is a horror story because of the damage it causes to your car's precious thin paint.

Here's the problem

You, the nice customer that pays the dealership's overhead, take the car you purchased from them back to them for service, maybe an oil change, maybe some other maintenance procedure.

As a courtesy to you, they have their lot boy or detail shop *WASH YOUR CAR!*

What they don't have is a clue about is you've already polished your car to perfection and you don't want them to wash your car because when they wash your car they will damage the paint by inflicting swirls and scratches into the clear coat finish.

In most cases, none of the people involved have enough _*common sense*_ to actually *LOOK* at the car and notice there's something about this car that's different than most of the cars bought there, and then brought back there for service.

What they don't see is a finish on the car that in most cases is *BETTER* condition than when they sold you the car and that's because you hang out on a forum like AGO and you've learned the art and craft of polishing paint and have painstakingly polished the paint on your new car to perfection.

Then in a *single car wash*, they destroy the finish by using tatty wash mitts that have probably been dropped a thousand times onto the ground and the picked right back up an put back into service.

They use towels we wouldn't use to wipe the bottom of our shoes with to dry your car.

*The result... a swirled-out, scratched-up mess.*

Then when you confront them with the damage they've done it gets worse! Next they offer to detail your car and by this I mean they offer to have their in-house detailer buff your car's paint out.

The problem with this of course is most dealerships have,

Untrained employees or employees that don't have the "correct" training.
Tatty wool and foam pads not worthy of being used on the paint of a garbage dumpster.
Archaic, Caveman Quality compounds and polishes that are more akin to liquid sandpaper.
And alas... only a well-worn, rotary buffer. Nothing wrong with a rotary buffer but the fact is in the wrong hands with the wrong pads and the wrong products it's going to be used to inflict holograms into your car's paint at the same time the "technician" is removing the swirls and scratches that were instilled when the car was washed and dried.

*Now here's the really bad news....*

When swirls, scratches and holograms are instilled into your car's precious thin paint job, these are VOIDS in the paint where the depth of these swirls and scratches is below the surface.

Putting swirls, scratches and holograms into paint is *REMOVING* paint.

To fix the problem the right way will mean removing a little more paint.

*See the problem?*

The paint was thin to start with from the factory and now due to no fault of your own the paint is now filled with swirls and scratches and fixing the problem will leave your paint thinner that it already was. For what you pay for a new car... you don't deserve this atrocity.

If you let the dealership fix it and they simply replace one type of scratch pattern with a new type of scratch pattern, then "you" fixing their botched buff job will mean removing paint again.

Starting to see why these types of incidents are Horror Stories?

Here's a solution to the problem...

Here's a simple way to avoid this whole mess, here's a way to _*avoid *_being just another horror story posted to a forum somewhere...

*Print out a few signs that say,*

DON'T WASH CAR

Tape these signs to the inside windows of your car. The more you distrust the people at your dealership the more signs you put inside the car.

I recommend choosing the option of creating a document in "Landscape" mode versus the normal "Portrait" mode and then bump the font size up to about 140 and use Arial Font and then make the font BOLD. In other words, just like you see I've done below.














































But don't stop here... no no no...

In a polite but stern manner, point the signs out to the Service Manager. Tell them you now a little bit about car detailing and you don't want them to wash your car, truck or suv.

Take a moment to point out how nice your car's finish looks. IF you have a Swirl Finder Light, whip it out and shine it on the paint. Educate the Service Manager on how to inspect paint for swirls and then point out that your car *DOESN'T HAVE ANY!*

Maybe ask them,

_Hey, doesn't it look like I just waxed this car?_
(Especially if you have just waxed it)

Then say, that's because I did just wax it and it doesn not need to be washed. Then in a very polite and professional manner, just tell the Service Manager that you really don't want them to wash, or wax or do anything to the exterior of your car that it doesn't need it and when it does you'll take care of it.

Be professional. Be courteous. But above all, _*be pro-active*_.

Don't assume anyone at the dealership has enough common sense to look at "your" car and see that it's meticulously detailed and doesn't need to be washed. These people are use to routines. It's there knee-jerk habit to do a courtesy wash for all their customers and for 99.9% of their customers this is perfectly okay.

But for you, the person that is educated on the topic of car paint and car paint polishing, it's not okay.

Hope this helps, please feel encouraged to share the link to this article with all your friends that go out and buy a brand new car.


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## Soul boy 68

Fantastic story Mike,

I will take this on board when my car goes in for a service and I will beware.


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## ianrobbo1

Thanks for that, there's been more than a few had the problem,and posted about it, so it's been done to death in that respect, but one more time for any new comers cant hurt!!:thumb:


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## bigmac3161

The signs are a good idea, i told the receptionist i didn't want mine washed at its 1 year service and she put it on the work sheet. So guess wot it came back washed . And on a baking hot day by the time i got home it was plastered in water marks luckily that was all.


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## GSD

The sign is a good idea but a "please" at the end of it may help.


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## Illya

Maybe even take pics of your car with the signs and the paintwork of it going into the service, and then if they ignored it and washed it, take pics of the damaged paint work and you have a stronger case.


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## S63

Dealerships have different methods of blocking ( identifying your car and key when brought in) some use no more than a cardboard and string tag with your name and reg on it, the valeter would mark that tag with something like a "w" to say he's cleaned it.

As yet another precaution it's worth putting on your own tag stating do not wash.


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## quattrogmbh

Perhaps a nicely designed Detailingworld Keyfob with "Please do not wash"


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## carl robson

sign should read if you wash this car I will wash your face with a cheese grater.


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## Danny B

I work for a BMW/MINI dealer at the front of house & i must be the only person there who talks to customers about Detailing if they ask for the car not to be washed or if its clean when it comes in. 
Its all down to people caring at the end of the day!


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## S63

Danny B said:


> I work for a BMW/MINI dealer at the front of house & i must be the only person there who talks to customers about Detailing if they ask for the car not to be washed or if its clean when it comes in.
> Its all down to people caring at the end of the day!


Good to hear. I had a 7 series out of Tunbridge Wells many moons ago, excellent dealership then.:thumb:


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## Danny B

S63 said:


> Good to hear. I had a 7 series out of Tunbridge Wells many moons ago, excellent dealership then.:thumb:


Cool, I live in T.Wells but i do not work at that Cooper Dealer, I am up the road in Sevenoaks


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## 204driver

Danny B said:


> I work for a BMW/MINI dealer at the front of house & i must be the only person there who talks to customers about Detailing if they ask for the car not to be washed or if its clean when it comes in.
> Its all down to people caring at the end of the day!


Did you used to work at with motorcycles?! If so I think I dealt with you a couple of years ago with my 123d!


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## Matty77

bigmac3161 said:


> The signs are a good idea, i told the receptionist i didn't want mine washed at its 1 year service and she put it on the work sheet. So guess wot it came back washed . And on a baking hot day by the time i got home it was plastered in water marks luckily that was all.


I would have gone ferkin mad!!!! :devil:


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## DLGWRX02

I've just emailed the dw don't wash poster


to my mum she has her merc detailed by a professional on a monthly basis and is in better condition now than when she bought it bran new from Mercedes, its going in for a service this week and last year she suffered the same horror stories as a lot of you guys, the detailer went nuts hen he saw what they had done.

quick pic of the merc


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## nick3814

Crikey! That's lovely in red, not a colour that usually suits a Merc IMO!

Since buying my Renaultsport Megane new in 2011 I've posted the DW don't wash sign in the windscreen on the 3 times it's been to the dealer, also made a point of having her in freshly washed and detailed condition each time so its obvious she doesn't need a wash. Spoke to the service staff face to face too and they write all over the work sheet "do not wash" I think they thought I was funny the first time I told them but they're use to me now :lol:

Will be doing exactly the same next year when the liquid yellow Renaultsport Twingo goes in 

I wouldn't care I still sit and watch the whole service carried out through their viewing booth whilst drinking their coffee :lol:

Love my motors so much.......


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