# What damage have you caused/prepared to own up to?



## badman1972 (Jun 24, 2010)

During these times of many 'newbie's' apparently reading a few posts, buying some products and declaring themselves a 'Detailer' without insurance/experience etc. I thought it might be interesting to see if anyone (including the more experienced and Pro's) would be prepared to share any genuine disaster stories encountered over the years :thumb:

My only personal interest in this forum is what I can learn from the experts in how best to look after my own cars! Would be very interesting to hear of any problems others have had over the years, may even make a few newer ones think twice before laying their talents on someone else pride and joy


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## chrisc (Jun 15, 2008)

dragged hosepipe over brothers blue merc and it had dryed mud on.learnt me not to swing it and ripple it up and down.few slight scratches it caused


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## sim L (Jan 3, 2010)

As far as I know mate this has been asked several times before and non of the pros answered. Which is fair enough as I don't think they'd want to own up to any damage when potential customers could be scrolling through the forums.


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## lew007 (Jun 20, 2010)

too much pressure whilst cleaning a windscreen which had a nasty stone chip on it, which turned into a 4 inch crack . if your working on other peoples vehicles you always need insurance imo


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## Maggi200 (Aug 21, 2009)

Left a wire across the drive for the hoover. Tripped. Ended up buying a new wing for my old car


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## deanchilds (Dec 11, 2007)

I have allways had insurance not just public liability but sales and service too. 

I used tardis to remove some tar before on a rear bumper and it pulled the paint work off as it was a dodgy smart repair. Customer was fine once id explained what had happened they even used me again for their new car and gave a friend my number too.


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## badman1972 (Jun 24, 2010)

sim L said:


> As far as I know mate this has been asked several times before and non of the pros answered. Which is fair enough as I don't think they'd want to own up to any damage when potential customers could be scrolling through the forums.


Thats fair enough mate and would respect that, although everyone makes mistakes and it could be something they did while learning years ago or even that they inherited from someone else to correct afterwards................just thought it was appropriate with a number of the posts at the moment - especially as the Pro's are most affected and upset by inexperienced folks potentially stepping on their business toes without the relevant experience, know-how or insurance etc...........


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## quattrogmbh (May 15, 2007)

tried polishing a scratch out of a windscreen of the wife's car. Result... New windscreen..

oh.. and insurance will only pay if its cracked. so thats a nice little learning


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## BPH (Sep 3, 2009)

Forgot to turn the pressure washer down before blasting my splitter off


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## mk4gtiturbo (Jun 16, 2009)

Only do my own car but you learn from your mistakes, right? I ran out of clay lube and inflicted some decent marring, interesting paint effect if the sun . Had a mate machine it out for me. Won't be doing that again.


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## badman1972 (Jun 24, 2010)

LNValets said:


> too much pressure whilst cleaning a windscreen which had a nasty stone chip on it, which turned into a 4 inch crack . if your working on other peoples vehicles you always need insurance imo


Nightmare LOL Totally agree on insurance, I ran my own Sports car sales business for years and even working from home, I had Insurance to cover customer cars against damage etc as well as my own. I worry tackling my own vehicles, never mind some of these guys that tackle other peoples........scary thoughts!!


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## badman1972 (Jun 24, 2010)

maggi112 said:


> Left a wire across the drive for the hoover. Tripped. Ended up buying a new wing for my old car


Sorry mate thats funny, I realise not so at the time, but again I guess it shows how easy these things can happen, people may well have the ability with a polisher, but can they negotiate the draped wire? LOL

I actually did this myself tonight but only into the fence and a scraped arm was the result LOL:doublesho


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## PootleFlump (Jan 1, 2006)

Blimey, I take it there's no love lost with your former employer.


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## Guest (Jul 28, 2010)

Grizzle said:


> Happy Times then. :lol:


Yeh... and I didn't even get paid minimum wage :thumb:


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## squashy1990 (Apr 14, 2009)

picked up the wrong bottle and sprayed neat surfex hd on some paintwork under the boot lid to tackly some dirt that had obviously never been tackled for a number of year, much to my dismay it basically just stripped the paint off when i gave it a wipe with a mf cloth. Note to self, label bottles better...


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## Blazebro (May 18, 2007)

I wandered why the Glossmax pic had gone.


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## Guest (Jul 28, 2010)

Blazebro said:


> I wandered why the Glossmax pic had gone.


He tried to pay me £40 for 24 hours work... thats where it went :thumb:


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## Daniel C (Jul 17, 2010)

I once tripped over the hose pipe which flung the end of the hose into my car. Result = nice big scrape. I was gutted so take much more care now.


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## Brabus Doc (May 28, 2008)

I stupidly burnt through the paint on a side skirt of a Mitsubishi Evo X. I ran out of masking tape on the rest of the car and decided I would be fine machining the door without the tape over the skirt (it sticks out quite a bit) I might have been fine if I wasn't having a conversation with my boss at the same time 

I phoned the customer to let him know what I had done to his new car that he was picking up the next day. He was quite good about it and thanked me for telling him rather than just touching it in and saying it was like that (he hadn't actually seen the car in person)

I learnt my lesson, always make sure I've got lots of masking tape and I put on my Ipod and never talk to anyone while machining.


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## badman1972 (Jun 24, 2010)

Brabus Doc said:


> I stupidly burnt through the paint on a side skirt of a Mitsubishi Evo X. I ran out of masking tape on the rest of the car and decided I would be fine machining the door without the tape over the skirt (it sticks out quite a bit) I might have been fine if I wasn't having a conversation with my boss at the same time
> 
> I phoned the customer to let him know what I had done to his new car that he was picking up the next day. He was quite good about it and thanked me for telling him rather than just touching it in and saying it was like that (he hadn't actually seen the car in person)
> 
> I learnt my lesson, always make sure I've got lots of masking tape and I put on my Ipod and never talk to anyone while machining.


OUCH cheers mate, and respect for being honest too:thumb:

BTW Loving the Series 1 RST in the Avatar, brings back very happy memories :thumb:


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

only accidents I've had was on my own car! Same as above, caught the side skirt. Also, burned a tiny bit of paint on the plastic bumper, but looks like a chip, so not too bad


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## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

Ok one I will admit.

When I had my Range Rover I reversed into the back of a customers car, only then did the reversing sensor work. Sued the company that fitted them as they were defective. He is still a customer as we were rolling about laughing.

Detailing mistake, forgot to shut a sunroof once and snow foamed the car, spend 3 hours sucking water out of the car.


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

ouch! schoolboy error on the sunroof I guess


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## badman1972 (Jun 24, 2010)

Mirror Finish said:


> Ok one I will admit.
> 
> When I had my Range Rover I reversed into the back of a customers car, only then did the reversing sensor work. Sued the company that fitted them as they were defective. He is still a customer as we were rolling about laughing.
> 
> Detailing mistake, forgot to shut a sunroof once and snow foamed the car, spend 3 hours sucking water out of the car.


Quality mate and thanks so much for sharing :thumb:


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## Blazebro (May 18, 2007)

Bailes said:


> He tried to pay me £40 for 24 hours work... thats where it went :thumb:


Seems like someone other than you don't like Glossmax, I can't access his site as it's infected with a Trojan (or so Kaspersky tells mke)


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## VA03LET (Jul 4, 2010)

had loads over the last 13 odd years, lifting the edges of dodgy smart repairs with the pressure washer that hadnt seen due to amount of dirt, one winter a customer wouldnt re-book his car due to being bout -5 and sheet ice, i slipped over on his sloaped drive and stupidly grabbed the aerial, was still in my hand when i was picking myself up, and years ago was using a henry brush and sucked up the climate control buttons on a 5 series into a bagless empty hoover, broke every single one, never used a henry brush since

accidents happen, its how you solve the problem that what matters


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## gally (May 25, 2008)

I can imagine the iced slope one! Funny now you think about it, not funny at the time!


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## twoscoops (Mar 26, 2010)

I was trying to de-tar my better halves Micra with AG Tar & Bug remover and was a little overly keen with the MF wipe of, stood back pleased with my work and noticed that I had left lovely little scratches at all the tar spots! Thanksfully I was machining it later that day which sorted out the problems but lesson learned!

Tim


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## badman1972 (Jun 24, 2010)

VA03LET said:


> had loads over the last 13 odd years, lifting the edges of dodgy smart repairs with the pressure washer that hadnt seen due to amount of dirt, one winter a customer wouldnt re-book his car due to being bout -5 and sheet ice, i slipped over on his sloaped drive and stupidly grabbed the aerial, was still in my hand when i was picking myself up, and years ago was using a henry brush and sucked up the climate control buttons on a 5 series into a bagless empty hoover, broke every single one, never used a henry brush since
> 
> accidents happen, its how you solve the problem that what matters


Loved the icy drive and the Henry brush PMSL great stuff and thanks!!:thumb:


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## zedzedeleven (Jan 16, 2009)

Scrubbed frantically at some pink paint that the guttersnipes had daubed onto my rear bumper. Breathed a sigh of relief when the turps and scotchbrite got it off. Had a critically high blood pressure surge ten minutes later as it had dried white. Still trying to detail it off, I bet I could have bought a new bumper for what it has cost me in bumper gel etc.


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## SamurI (Dec 29, 2006)

Only once and it was my own car. Was machining my old Evo 6 sideskirt with my PC and then without warning the backing plate decided to destroy itself....meant a nice scrape on the sideskirt that went through to the plastic. Theres pics on the write up i did on it....left it in as a warning to people to regularly check the condition of there equipment.

Wasnt as bad as it looked but was crying at the time.

With detailing there are so many variables that from time to time there are going to be mistake, something that experiance can help to reduce the chances of but never eradicate. Its how you handle the situation when it does happen that shows your true worth...as has been shown here by a couple of examples.


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## dcj (Apr 17, 2009)

Valeting a freelander and unlocked it using the remote, pressed the button three times to make sure all doors were unlocked. No one told me if you pressed it three times the rear electric window opens. I only found out this fact when I jetwashed the back seat headrests.
Theres also the horrifying moment when you are cleaning cream leather seats and find that they have been dyed (cheaply) and it runs. Luckily always have had understanding customers who realise it isnt my fault on this one. This has happened a couple of times.


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## apmaman (Jun 8, 2010)

Pressure washed some of the finish of my dads alloys on his jeep. and the Ford Logo on my grandads KA is now a big silver oval...

Good thing he doesn't care about its looks since someone dented the hell out of the rear and doors. It's like somones scrapped there car against his.


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

On my first go with a rotary i burnt about 2/3mm on a raised lip on my spoiler :lol:


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## Benniboy (May 14, 2009)

Got some snow foam on my mums red astra, didn't realise at the time and it dried on. Now it always looks like its got water marks on it. She hasn't actually noticed yet but I plan on machining it soon. Tried to remove the marks by hand but hasn't made any difference. 

I've damaged my car once by closing the bonnet. Stupidly I pushed it down with my hand to close it and with it being french, the bonnet dented in the middle. Pulled most of it out but there is still an annoying crease in it.


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## 03OKH (May 2, 2009)

Used my DA for the first time this week on my car, 20 hours approx it took me, and I left 1 set of buffer trails on the top of a rear door 

On one hand I was gutted, specially not to notice until I had packed away and ran out of time, but on the other hand it is all about living & learning and they will be easily removed.

Tony


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## badman1972 (Jun 24, 2010)

dcj said:


> Valeting a freelander and unlocked it using the remote, pressed the button three times to make sure all doors were unlocked. No one told me if you pressed it three times the rear electric window opens. I only found out this fact when I jetwashed the back seat headrests.
> Theres also the horrifying moment when you are cleaning cream leather seats and find that they have been dyed (cheaply) and it runs. Luckily always have had understanding customers who realise it isnt my fault on this one. This has happened a couple of times.


My first 911 seats had obviously been cheaply/poorly dyed and I did the same to them.................they looked fantastic to begin with in comparison to following my cleaning of them LOL


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## who45 (Feb 8, 2008)

letting someone help wipe the beaded rain off my car during a magazine photoshoot, which is when i then noticed a ,5mm deep 5 inch scratch where he had dragged something on the micro fibre cloth whilst drying................i let it go as he was only trying to help on the day


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## shaqs77 (Jun 10, 2008)

Not done anything major yet (touching wood(I know its in the early hours as I am writing this and no not that wood!!))) But once I couldn't finish maching my own car once properly due to the rain. It rained and then the sun came out where I noticed a nice set of buffer trails on the a pillar and around a door. Luckily I got straight back on it!!!


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## Frenchy0204 (Jul 22, 2009)

I was doing a full valet (No paint correction) on my old boss's car. He wanted it looking as nice as possible in the short time he gave me as he had a meeting.

I just finished the whole car, including the Waxing, and despite the swirls there from me not removing them (As per his request!), it did look very nice. Anyway, I'm inside the unit packing all my equipment away, and go back outside to finish up by packing away the Jetwash and ancillaries. I notice a fair bit of mud splatter on the front wing. So I think "Damn, that's a shame. Will give it a quick wash and dry again just on the wing." so I pickup the Jetwash, and press the trigger....

The Nozzle flys off with a burst of pressure, smacks the wing, richochets off and smacks the side mirror, shattering the casing. It turns out one of the new apprentices in the unit thought it would be funny to loosen the end of the nozzle off onto it's last thread and turn off the end, causing the pressure to build and the nozzle to fly off into the wing. He then splattered a little mud onto the wing, knowing I would notice it and clean it off using the same Jetwash that he just tampered with. New wing and mirror casing was needed.


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## badman1972 (Jun 24, 2010)

OUCH ^^^^^they don't make apprentices like they used to LOL


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## ScoobyDan (Aug 26, 2006)

A valeter friend of mine was once asked to steam clean the engine bay on an old Sierra to help locate an oil leak. He covered all the electrics with plastic bags to stop them getting damp. Unfortunately the car had no cover on the cambelt and the plastic bag covering the dissy got caught in the cambelt and bent all the valves !!! :wall:
So a £10 job ended up costing him about £300 to put right.


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## VA03LET (Jul 4, 2010)

ScoobyDan said:


> A valeter friend of mine was once asked to steam clean the engine bay on an old Sierra to help locate an oil leak. He covered all the electrics with plastic bags to stop them getting damp. Unfortunately the car had no cover on the cambelt and the plastic bag covering the dissy got caught in the cambelt and bent all the valves !!! :wall:
> So a £10 job ended up costing him about £300 to put right.


that would be some plastic bag to do that


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

Nothing at all because i'm a clever boy and obviously perfect 


:tumbleweed: Lol


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## jetset (Jul 15, 2010)

cleaned rear wheel on crv, leaned on car whilst doing so apparently-cos now I have an interesting artistic scratch around the back wing that the metal stud on m'jeans pocket has left. Silly **** -literally!!  cant polish it out how do I get rid of it spraycan?

thats interesting it wont let me write **** it censors it itself aint that clever!


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

VA03LET said:


> that would be some plastic bag to do that


i suppose if it was an actual tesco bag or something, it could possibly cause it to slip .even so i wouldnt want to try it myself  :lol:

ive taped up my friends evo6 door handle, and removing the tape took a bit of paint off :doublesho the only mistake ive had, and im now very cautious removing 3m tape :thumb:


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## Padtwo (Apr 11, 2007)

Used to work for a hire company in the early 90's. We used to deliver/pick up cars/vans and also clean them out. Blue stuff in a spray bottle for the windows, green stuff (APC??) in spray bottles for rubber mats and floors in vans, and other green stuff in a spray bottle which was a spray wax. Apparently needed to be left in the sun for an hour or so to cure. Anyway, MD has a nice new Scorpio (1 month old) asked us to clean it for him.....yep, APC all over the paint, then parked in the sun for an hour!!!!

I also regularly chase hazing/smearing of wax around and only after quite a while when there can't possibly be anything left behind do I check my glasses and clean them instead!!!!


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## d.g (Jul 13, 2010)

Mistake for me was trying to be clever, slipped and burnt my smooth plastic bumper while machining the edge of a front wing with a rotary.

Left the mark in as a constant reminder to be cautious and never assume you have learnt everything!


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## beany_bot (Oct 6, 2008)

Broken many a horn with the pressure washer / excessive use of water


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## Phil1971 (Sep 3, 2007)

Not damaged anything yet in my short time as an amateur detailer (touch wood), but whilst getting to grips with my new Megs G220, I accidently switched it on rather than adjusting the speed controller.

It spun up to speed 5 with a fully loaded pad of Sonus SFX2 on it. Ended up with a nice white stripe down my face and T-shirt 

Oh the laughter. Been very careful since


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## Th3Doctor (Feb 2, 2010)

Phil1971 said:


> Not damaged anything yet in my short time as an amateur detailer (touch wood), but whilst getting to grips with my new Megs G220, I accidently switched it on rather than adjusting the speed controller.
> 
> It spun up to speed 5 with a fully loaded pad of Sonus SFX2 on it. Ended up with a nice white stripe down my face and T-shirt
> 
> Oh the laughter. Been very careful since


Yep done that too but with swirl x all over me the owner and the car! Laugh never thought I'd stop


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## tamandlee (Mar 14, 2010)

many moons ago I cleaned the rust stains off my good ladys old golf with the rough green side of the kitchen sponge - came up a treat while it was wet but boy was it a mess when it dried!! The worst thing is it had rust spots on most of the panels......


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## beany_bot (Oct 6, 2008)

tamandlee said:


> many moons ago I cleaned the rust stains off my good ladys old golf with the rough green side of the kitchen sponge - came up a treat while it was wet but boy was it a mess when it dried!! The worst thing is it had rust spots on most of the panels......


classic, I did this to remove brake dust on my dads alloys when i was a boy:thumb:


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## Strothow (Oct 29, 2009)

Grandad asked me to clean his wheels with glitto and some abrasive pad to get brake dust off! (was younger) :lol:


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## tamandlee (Mar 14, 2010)

beany_bot said:


> classic, I did this to remove brake dust on my dads alloys when i was a boy:thumb:


lol, when I was a boy I thought I would treat my dad one fathers day and washed his car and then while it was still wet smeared a lovely thick coating of wax all over it and then went to play with some friends. When I got back for tea some 5/6hrs later he was still trying to get it off :thumb: Happy Fathers day dad!! :doublesho


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## DEEJAY (Sep 6, 2008)

done an interior on a lexus gs, it had a grubby white leather, so tried leather cleaner and it was hard work so i thought id try some g101, done a bit under the seat and it cleaned fine, so attacked it with a scrubbing brush and g101, i turned the full leather interior yellow, i then spent 3 hours scrubbing like mad with leather cleaner to try and kill the yellow, and return the colour back to white, never used g101 on leather since


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

I scratched the fantastically brittle japanese plastic in my dads Mazda mpv whilst hoovering it once,but dont tell him.
I think he blamed my mum.


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## big ben (Aug 25, 2009)

about 9 years ago, told my mate to use wire wool to clean his wheels as i was sure my old man had done it, well not with this wool he hadnt, scratched the sh!t out of his new wheels :lol:

good job it was a clio and it soon broke down and got sold on cheap :lol:


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## juicy 666 (Jul 20, 2010)

by the sounds of it doesnt sound like he cares if they do! im not a professional detailer just a very very beginner but if i found out something like that had happened to my car let alone a few other peoples i would make sure no one used them again! i thought perfection was the aim of the game not masking up your own mistakes and trying to pass them on to your staff! shocking!:doublesho


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## Magic Detail (Jul 25, 2010)

Was asked to wash and wax a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II a few months ago. Was in a rush to do it as it was a "can you just job" my dad had on.. I obliged, so out came all the gear. Snow foamed the car, and rinsed it off, then noticed a lot of what appeared to be stains from chemicals etc.. first thought was the snow foam had somehow burnt into the paint. So after much panicking, I got out some polish and frantically started attacking these marks by hand - the paint was literally coming off on the microfiber pad (as you'd expect with polish working on a car with cellulose paint). Anyway, it got rid of the stains, I then waxed it up, looked great afterwards - no marks or anything. 

I let my dad deal with the owner, he explained what had happened. He and the customer inspected the car and agreed it looked great - the owner then thanked us for getting rid of the stains, which had been inflicted when the car was last put into storage! Nothing to do with us!!!! Gave us a £40 tip! lol. 

So, not neccessarily a mistake, but certainly made me cautious enough to fully check over paintwork before I even get the gear out in future.


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## *Das* (Aug 9, 2010)

sim L said:


> As far as I know mate this has been asked several times before and non of the pros answered. Which is fair enough as I don't think they'd want to own up to any damage when potential customers could be scrolling through the forums.





badman1972 said:


> Thats fair enough mate and would respect that, although everyone makes mistakes and it could be something they did while learning years ago or even that they inherited from someone else to correct afterwards................


Its not really fair enough though is it? Ive seen a few pros jump on the "_when newbies screw up we get the work_" bandwagon. 
Quite a lot of judgemental people forget they were not born with a machine polisher in one hand and a tub of Zymol in the other, nor did they just decide to start up a "detailing" business on Monday morning. Most, like the rest of us, start off valeting their own cars, then friends and family's, then maybe working for someone while still doing work at nights and weekend then eventually taking the big step of going it alone. They were all newbies once too.


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## ViewWise (May 31, 2008)

DEEJAY said:


> done an interior on a lexus gs, it had a grubby white leather, so tried leather cleaner and it was hard work so i thought id try some g101, done a bit under the seat and it cleaned fine, so attacked it with a scrubbing brush and g101, i turned the full leather interior yellow, i then spent 3 hours scrubbing like mad with leather cleaner to try and kill the yellow, and return the colour back to white, never used g101 on leather since


:doublesho What dilution was the g101?


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## DEEJAY (Sep 6, 2008)

ViewWise said:


> :doublesho What dilution was the g101?


cant remember as it was a good 8 years ago, but no more than 10/1, i have seen and read people who have used g101 to good effect on leather with no damage caused, but its one of them things now i just wont use it near leather,


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## F1 CJE UK (Jul 25, 2010)

In my 1st ever car I picked a very safe car parking bay pulled in and opened the door onto a pillar, i was crazy mad with myself


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## NoSaint (Feb 26, 2012)

I put the wrong end on the pressure washer and instead of blasting off the dirt I blasted off the paint on the wheel trim.


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## id_doug (Apr 6, 2011)

I've done the old window not fully closed and power washer trick before and years ago hit some rust blisters with a power washer on my old Mini, needless to say it completely took the paint off.

I have also partially snow foamed my neighbour on a windy day when they walked past with there dog. Pleased they seen the funny side.

P.S. both my cars and never done it again. Live and learn


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## dann2707 (Mar 25, 2011)

Must have kept the rotary on one spot for too long on the rear bumper and its taken off a bit of paint, gutted!


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## Big Buffer (Jan 1, 2011)

Just goes to show that people are only human and everyone makes a mistake.
If we didnt we would never learn anything

:thumb:


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## Sirmally2 (Feb 28, 2011)

I've chuckled at a few here...

Admittedly we are not all perfect, and we all make mistakes. Fortunatly most of mine have been rectified with other products.

I did buy a synthetic wash mitt and started cleaning my car with it. After only 1 wash did i notice that swirls were appearing on the plastics, so back to MF and Lambswool ones for me. I think the issue was it wasn't holding the water like the others do, so down to user error. Altho i will never use a synthetic mitt again!

And the swirls will polish out if i can be bothered to machine correct it this summer


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## Stewerty (Jan 11, 2010)

Was once polishing a Mazda MX5 for a colleague. Started off with a soft pad and megs 83 on the rear wing and it came up pretty well with most swirling removed. Then started doing the bootlid and after 1 pass I saw my lovely new white pad turn British Racing Green. I nearly died because I thought I had burnt through the clear coat and explained to the owner. Thankfully he explained that the rear wing was repainted a year ago and was the only panel on the car with clear coat. Was enough to make me look out for repainted panels before polishing.


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## Stomper (Jun 8, 2011)

Heres a pic from when i first started using the rotary . Kicked out when running it along the flat lip on door window . Caught the paint with the edge of the backing plate . Before i understood about pad sizes etc .


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## stolt (Aug 29, 2011)

right this thread is scaring me... just purchased my first DA today and plan on trying it on a panel or two at the weekend. buffer marks are probably my worst nightmare..


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## Stomper (Jun 8, 2011)

You wont go worong with a DA , mzybe if id started with a DA i mightt not have trashed the panel on the capri . Keep the faith


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## chrisc (Jun 15, 2008)

Washing rear wheel on a triumph sprint st.Wanted to get to last bit so pulled bike back stand came up while i was other side of bike then a phone call to sprayer busters and plastic welder was due


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## georgey2011 (Oct 24, 2011)

Ive jetwashed paint off when i worked for Peugeot from under boot window and lacquer off alloys due to dodgy repairs, when i got fired for another matter they actually brought up the damaged i caused to the cars as another reason for finishing me when they were dodgy smart repairs !

I took a DA to a black car, a nice one at that, for the first time with no issues ! Just got to be careful, panel at a time, buff it off, check your work, check again.


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## stolt (Aug 29, 2011)

cheers guys, keep those stories coming. interesting thread. Trying to keep a mental note of everything, probably have a few of my own after this weekend.


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## Ninja59 (Feb 17, 2009)

nearly rotary'ed my hand last time (a few weeks ago)...i still do not know how i managed it!

oh and fell over my rotary

fell over my pressure washer lead more times than i care to remember 

nearly drove off without disconnecting the hoover leaving it in the boot...woops...all sorts honestly  i have a tendency with my hoover and rotary and my hands though...


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

Gave myself a nose bleed unraveling a heavy duty jet wash hose. You live and learn


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## dcj (Apr 17, 2009)

Machine polishing an old transit years ago and was getting impatient so turned up the speed a bit (too much) caught the protruding hinge on the back door and the machine bounced back at me and the pad grazed across my eye. Luckily it wasnt one of the stick on pads on a backing plate or it wouldve been a lot worse.


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## Matt197 (Dec 27, 2006)

I read lots of posts on how to repair stone chips and everyone made it look so easy. So I got my Paints4u paint ordered and a mix of sand papers and set about filling in a big chip on the front bumper.

Was going fine until I started to sand back the repair, wiped the area down and my jaw dropped. I somehow managed to strike through the paint with 3000 grit sand paper, a combination of very thin paint and not having a PTG did not help.

Needless to say I have never going near my car with sand paper again.


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## mickpsu (Jan 2, 2012)

Wiped down rear bumper on 6 month old Jauar purple XKR with IPA and watched the paint turn white. Luckily the bumper had been previously 'SMART' repaired and didnt have any protection on it so it was repainted under warranty. 

My face was a picture when the paint turned white in front of my eyes as I was wiping it down...


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## insanejim69 (Nov 13, 2011)

Think my worst one was when I worked at Jaguar ....... brand new XKR-S came up from some dealer downsouth unregistered, so was just giving it a spruce up for the showroom. Just basically flashed the power washer over the passenger door and it took a massive layer of lacquer clean off !! Ended up there was bad scracth caused by the transport company who then decided it would be good to get a smart repair done very very badly !!

No detailing error, but this is my worst ---- taking a left hand throttle pedalled (disabled drivers car) 6 month old Jaguar S-Type R into the workshop and instead of pressing the brake I hit the accelerator full whack (with it being on the wrong side), and it smashed into the workshop wall. Wasn't a write off but was £13K of damage.  ......... that was many many years ago when I first started with Jaguar when I was 19. :lol:

Went onto be a Car Driver for Jaguars Cars LTD and never had a single bump after that, even driving 20-30 cars a day. :lol: 

James


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## svended (Oct 7, 2011)

I climbed into the back of a friends car with the vacuum hose in hand to try and get a stubborn mark out, as I climbed out I twisted to turn the vacuum off and the zipper on the rear pocket of my combats took a chunk of paint out of the door shut. I now never wear anything with metal or hard plastic (like uncovered buttons) when doing a car.


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## cotter (Aug 31, 2008)

stangalang said:


> Gave myself a nose bleed unraveling a heavy duty jet wash hose. You live and learn


I did that the other day, didn't get a nose bleed tho. Ruddy hurt tho, and managed to scratch my glasses at the same time. Doh! :lol:


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## jimmy669966 (Sep 25, 2011)

Loving the fact, that with the exception of reversing a car and leaving the sunroof open, not a single "Pro" has admitted to burning through with a machine or similar.

Insurance premiums for detailers must be dirt cheap if as a profession you never make mistakes and never claim!!

Now don't get me wrong, if a supporter came in this thread and produced a list as long as my arm i'm sure it would cost them business. However i think it's amusing that no one will admit to the rare mistake that we all know happen. No trade from milkman to surgeon can do a job full time and never make a mistake.


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## svended (Oct 7, 2011)

Okay. I'll come clean (excuse the pun). When I left school I had a job valeting and had to move an escort that had just been taken out of the wash bay and left, as I was manouvering around one car, I didn't see the one next to it and took out the rear drivers side door on the escort. It needed a new skin and as it was a black metallic had to be blended in. The worst part is I was supposed to move the escort out of the way of other cars so this wouldn't happen when the saleman came round to take the car to it's new owner (who was sat about 30 feet away on the other side of the building waiting for it).


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## DetailMyCar (Apr 19, 2010)

Very early one Saturday having had a nice Disco3 Dropped off I was out there ready to go, (it was January so very Cold)... Started snow foaming, got around to the drivers side and suddenly noticed the drivers window was wide open!!!!!!

Had to spend an hour cleaning out the interior and getting it all back as it should be when we had agreed I wouldn't be touching the interior due to lack of time.

It was a good lesson though, always make sure any windows and doors are properly shut before starting 

I have also had a bit of damage with paintwork, on a C-Class Mercedes in Silver, just doing the front bumper with a soft spot pad and some 85RD and the paint on the corner just literally fell off, folding over on itself - Properly shocked me as I'd never seen anything like that, this was the last part of the car too as I was just finishing off so this had worked fine on the rest of the bumpers. 

We came to the conclusion the corner had obviously been "Smart-repaired" although not so smartly as the way the paint fell off was embarrassing, it would have done it by hand in fairness.

The customer was a bit upset when he saw the car as he had no idea of the previous repair so I basically just paid for the repair by taking the money off the bill, put him in touch with the bodyshop I use locally and trust, arranged a time for him to drop the car off and then got him to come back and I cleaned, clayed and re-waxed the whole front end for him to make sure all was as good as it could be and the car was properly protected. 

Customer was happy, got a decent repair done on an area he didn't realise needed doing and I just took it on board as a learning curve, sometimes there's not a lot you can do if a car has been badly repaired - it's just about careful inspection before starting anything. For a small £70 repair it wouldn't be worth claiming for - Up to £200-£300 bills I would always rather pay out for it myself.


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## AndyC (Oct 25, 2005)

Went through on the door handle surround of a Merc CLK a few years back; entirely my fault and coughed to the owner immediately.


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