So the dealer gave me a complimentary car wash without telling me..
 

and f*cked up my car. There are swirl marks everywhere now... Does this count as damage / can I complain or go through insurance to fix this? Anyone have any experience on this matter? Pretty sad right now..

edit: Can a hand polish remove swirl marks? Or do I need to machine it out / bring it in for a detail?

depends on how deep the swirls are. you can hand polish most of it out, even the harsh stuff because subaru paint is so soft.

you can't go through insurance, they will just laugh, many people think that there cars are clean, when in fact yeah there is no dirt but the paint is shot to shit...

Complain to the GM of the dealership and make them pay to detail it.

I've been lucky, three dealership washes, 5 drive thru washes and me washing it a lot with a sponge.. And I can't pick out a swirl at all.. The only thing I notice is where my clear bra is, you can pick out some lines where I wipe the dirt and I guess made those small scratches.. I use a microfiber cloth and Honda spray polish to wash my car, when its dusty, living in the desert, and if its bad then a hand wash..

Get a quote from a local detailer to fix it. If they can't wash your car without f***ing it up, do you really think they can polish it? Since the summer, I have back charged local dealers almost $6000 to polish out messes they made. Most of that was on new cars. I just took some pics, did a 50/50 on one panel to show what it should look like and sent along a short email explaining what was wrong, what I'd have to do to fix it and how much it would cost. Every dealer so far has paid up and the bills have ranged from $400 - $800. Good luck.

How did you prove that the swirls were not there before though? Or did they just say accept it? Also did you specifically tell them not to wash your car and they did?

In nearly every case, the car was brand new so it was obvious who did it. One client told them not to wash it and they did. He then presented them with an invoice from me for work done not even two months prior and kindly explained they would be paying to fix the damage. They did.