The dealer prep can really go either way. I've seen too many horror stories of people refusing dealer prep, driving their car home still covered in plastic, and once they remove the plastic they have a huge scratch in the side of the car and they already signed the paperwork and agreed upon the car in its current state.

I purposely let them prep it so I could inspect it completely before signing the paperwork. I didn't have any problem with how their prep turned out, but maybe they took their time since I bought the car at 9:30am on a Tuesday...

Dealer won't wash my car, I added the GrimSpeed license plate holder. :P

and?

Yesterday, after telling them not to wash it, they decided to wash it BEFORE they did the servicing...came back to find oil spots and fingerprints/smudges everywhere...

a sign ? I generally just wear my tin foil hat into the dealership before service.

Every time I drop my car off for service at any shop I put a typed, printed note in the dash that says not to wash it, or open the door with a hand that has a ring or a watch.

I've heard too many stories of places doing these things anyway even if you mentioned it to them when you dropped the car off, or it is "noted" in their system. I just keep that piece of paper in the glove box, and it goes onto the dash when my car gets dropped off so everyone working on or around the car can see it - instead of hoping that person A gets the message to person B, who also tells person C that is also working on it, etc.

Honestly I like the dealership that I bought my car from, and I think they did a good job when they prepped my car before I took it home after buying it (which I knew I shouldn't have done, but at that point I was too paranoid about not knowing how to wash my car the right way after reading through so many obsessive detailer forums, etc), but now that I know better and don't NEED someone else to wash my car for me I don't let anywhere else do it.

On a related note...

A while back I had an issue with my 15K mile service (long story) that resulted in the service department offering me some free extras to keep me happy. One of the freebies was new wiper blades. They did all the extras and everything looked fine.

A few days later I was near the rural border of Mississippi and Alabama when it started to rain. The windshield immediately fogged up. I hit the defroster, but it didn't help. I grabbed a shop towel from the back and tried to wipe out a spot where I could see, but it wouldn't unfog. WTF?

I had to slow down to about 30 mph in a 65 zone because of how difficult it was to see where the hell I was going. People were flying up on my ass at speed and swerving around me, even after I turned my hazards on. Radar was telling me that it was best to drive on through it rather than stopping and waiting for it to pass over. So I persevered.

When the rain subsided to a drizzle and I was able to pull the wipers back to intermittent, I noticed that the windshield would fog every time the wipers ran across it, then would start clearing when the wipers were still. It looked like there was some sort of residue on the outside of the windshield that was fogging. I didn't think rain repellents did that kind of thing. Maybe they Armoralled my windshield? I can't think of what they put on it to cause that.

I stopped in Selma to pick up some Invisible Glass and cleaned the hell out of that windshield and the wipers. After that it was fine. What the hell did they put on my glass?

I thought about calling to complain about it, but at this point I think I just need to forego the temptation of "free" service and handle it myself from now on. Free is pretty expensive when it risks getting you killed.