# Not letting dealer prep my new car.



## Graham225 (Jul 18, 2011)

Hi everyone

I'm new to this site, and just want to say it's a brilliant source of info, anyway my query is this.

I am going to order a new car at the end of the month, and have decided that i'm not having the guys (with their sponges) at the dealership anywhere near my new car.

All i am going to ask the dealer to do is de-wax it, which i believe is a chemical that is sprayed on, so no physical contact with paint.

I then plan to drive my new car home and carry out the following detailing.

Rinse - snow foam- rinse - shampoo - dry - polish - wax and buff, do you guys think this routine will be ok ?

Thanks

Graham


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## uruk hai (Apr 5, 2009)

I would leave out the first rinse and go straight in with the Snow foam, perhaps you could clay it aswell ?


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## Adrian Convery (May 27, 2010)

Clay it just incase it picks up any contaminants on the way


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## hutchingsp (Apr 15, 2006)

I shall offer a slightly different take on it. 

Have a look around the dealership and see what state their other cars are in and take it from there.

People give dealerships a hard time on vehicle prep, sometimes fairly, but my last two cars, both new, have bee done by the dealership and didn't have a mark on them.

Everything else to one side, if you take the car home unprepped and you get home and there are any marks on the car you're leaving yourself open to "It was fine when it left here".


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## Mad Ad (Feb 7, 2011)

clay it, without a doubt, contamination is picked up when in transport probably also worth ironX it before claying to make sure you get it completely clean contamination free before waxing.


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## Laurie.J.M (Jun 23, 2011)

Asking the dealer not to clean the car before collection is the best thing to do (if I buy a brand new car i'll do the same) as they don't always take that much care and can make your new car look not quite so new. I would definitely add in a clay and decontamination stage, new cars quite often pick up contaminants when being stored and transported.


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## Graham225 (Jul 18, 2011)

hutchingsp said:


> Everything else to one side, if you take the car home unprepped and you get home and there are any marks on the car you're leaving yourself open to "It was fine when it left here".


I had thought of this senario, but i would give it a thorough inspection myself, because i'm assuming once it was de-waxed the bodywork and paint will be clearly visible to show up any problems.

Any other suggestions are very welcome, have any of you guys taken home an unprepped car and detailed it yourself, or do you just take your chances that dealer will be careful and do a good job.


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## Kane. (Feb 5, 2011)

My Mum recently got a brand new Mini and the car had a few swirls on when we picked it up, they also missed a load of that brown stuff on it (some sort of protectant I assume ?)

Don't let them touch it imo, they will never treat it like their own even if it does get a 2BM etc.

Edit; 1 alloy was also slighlty kerbed by them, only noticed when it was home too.


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## Mad Ad (Feb 7, 2011)

Graham225 said:


> I had thought of this senario, but i would give it a thorough inspection myself, because i'm assuming once it was de-waxed the bodywork and paint will be clearly visible to show up any problems.
> 
> Any other suggestions are very welcome, have any of you guys taken home an unprepped car and detailed it yourself, or do you just take your chances that dealer will be careful and do a good job.


Never let them do it, I do new car preps at the dealer before customers pick up the car, most the time they are on site so if I find a problem I can let the customer know before they do the hand over.

If taking it unprepped just take your time with it, have a good look round until you are happy.


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## GolfFanBoy (May 23, 2010)

hutchingsp said:


> I shall offer a slightly different take on it.
> 
> Have a look around the dealership and see what state their other cars are in and take it from there.
> 
> ...


^ Exactly the reason I let the dealer prep the last 4 VW's I've bought. There will of course be the odd horror story of a dealer prep gone wrong but I don't think it's fair to say they are all bad. If you take a bit of time to go round a dealership you'll be able to examine plenty of new cars awaiting collection.

Once I got my Golf home I gave it a full detail including a clay which revealed virtually no contamination at all. It was also scratch free so I didn't need to polish and went straight to wax/sealant application.


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

hutchingsp said:


> People give dealerships a hard time on vehicle prep, sometimes fairly, but my last two cars, both new, have bee done by the dealership and didn't have a mark on them.
> 
> Everything else to one side, if you take the car home unprepped and you get home and there are any marks on the car you're leaving yourself open to "It was fine when it left here".


I have to agree 100% with this comment.

Both my Megane and Twingo were prepped by the dealership for the reasons above. You get the car home and there's a scratch on it, you'll have a job proving it was on the car before you drove it home.

If your car is being delivered to the dealership to order, it won't have sat around gathering dirt so a quick wash from the dealership shouldn't inflict masses of damage.

This was the state of my paint on my Twingo when I picked it up from the dealership.










Just a bit of food for thought. :thumb:


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

hutchingsp said:


> I shall offer a slightly different take on it.
> 
> Have a look around the dealership and see what state their other cars are in and take it from there.
> 
> ...


+1

I was the house detailer and valeter at Audi for 6 months and I did all new and used sales cars and i had 2 requests in my time not to prep the vehicle until the customer found out that a detailer was the valeter.
All new and used cars went out clayed and swirl free with 2bm and Zaino being used ( unless the dealer sold Life shine :wall: )

So it is worth checking as all books should not have their covers judged


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## m0bov (May 2, 2007)

I let the dealer prep my Skoda, if I got it home and then found a scratch or something, I would'nt have a leg to stand on. Even if they don't touch it, you will still want to polish/detail it anyway,

I would suggest, IMHO, let them do their thing, ask them when its done and perhaps try to be there. Otherwise give it a good look over on collection, if you find anything other than light swirls or a few light RDS, DA it yourself when you get home.


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## m0bov (May 2, 2007)

P.S Also the fact VentureShield was fitted before collection had a bearing on it!


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

Showshine said:


> +1
> 
> I was the house detailer and valeter at Audi for 6 months and I did all new and used sales cars and i had 2 requests in my time not to prep the vehicle until the customer found out that a detailer was the valeter.
> All new and used cars went out clayed and swirl free with 2bm and Zaino being used ( unless the dealer sold Life shine :wall: )
> ...


you not doing that anymore then?

the dealer prepped my RS, even after me asking them not too. and they did an alright job tbh.


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## pogo6636 (Jan 18, 2009)

picked up the in laws new Yaris from Aberdeen last year, and the sales exec said 
"you will need to give the sticky bits a good _scrub_ to get them off. " 
They had said they would not release the car until they had remover the plastic protection and window stickers for safety reasons, but that is fair enough. apart from that, speak to them and gauge if you think they have a clue about what they say. if in any doubt, take it away and do it to the standard you desire.
remember it is _Your_ car to take not theirs to give.


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

ianFRST said:


> you not doing that anymore then?
> 
> the dealer prepped my RS, even after me asking them not too. and they did an alright job tbh.


Nah mate.

30-35 service "washes" per day and I just couldn't cope with the way they wanted them washing. ie a manky chamois and brush wash "To get them out quicker"

Plus they expected us to clean snow and ice from the car park. Not the cars but the actual site twice per day when we had the 3 weeks of bad weather before xmas. I decided to call it a day mate.


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## dooka (Aug 1, 2006)

It is nice to here some good comments on dealers to be honest.. Around here wish I could say the same..

Like others say, give the car a good inspection. A mild claying is wise, as vehicles will pick up bits in transport, or it may of been sitting on the docks, in a field or car park for a while. A paint cleaner/polish is also advisable,..

I understand being a new car, you want to do it yourself, and fair play to you. I would in your shoes. But by the time you have brought all you need, for similar money you could get it done for you..


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

Lol Dooka

Just noticed your location :lol:


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## Bel (Mar 1, 2011)

Graham225 said:


> have any of you guys taken home an unprepped car and detailed it yourself, or do you just take your chances that dealer will be careful and do a good job.


I've bought both used and new, and always let the dealer do their own prep. It's always been pretty good actually, but there are plenty of nightmare stories out there where that's not been the case!

However...

As others have said, letting them prep it and then giving it a good inspection when you collect it doesn't give them any weasel room if there's something actually wrong with it.

And if they really do balls it up so badly that you need to do some correction (rather than just finishing off with your own choice of LSP), you still haven't actually lost much.


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## james_19742000 (May 8, 2008)

I picked my new car up on MOnday this week, I asked them not to prep it just take the stickers etc off to check for damage etc when I collected it on Monday they hadnt done anything to it, just put the carpet mats etc in as I had requested, other than that nothing.

To be fair the beading on it from the transport wax is mental! I checked the car over at the dealer and its really in good consition and like one of the other posters said as it was a special order car it has spent minimal time in docks, storage compinds etc 

There are absolutely no swirls on it at all, no marks, no contaminants etc have run the back of my hand over it etc and its as smooth as a babies bum!

I havent had time yet to give it the works, that will probably be one day next week all being well, but I did give it a wash etc the other day and it was a joy to clean as it was all just perfect, no polish on any black trims, no window polish residue, no heavy silicone dash dressing etc etc all I done was snow foam, 2BM wash and a C2 diluted wipe down afterwards on the paint, windows and wheels, tyre dressing and it still looks fantastic.

Next week it will get the full works, but to be honest it doesnt need polishing, it will just need a pre-wax cleaner, plus teh usual clay, ironx etc just in case of any other bits and bobs on the paint.

My dealer thought I was crackers but they understood, even admitted that there bloke doesnt do the best job in the world and said to me would you for £15 a car?

However, a car I had of them 6 months ago another new one they did prep as it was deep winter etc and they did an OK job on it, but they did swirl it.

So it really is a personal choice I suppose, whichever way you go you will still want to do it yourself when you get it home anyway.


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