Buying a new FRS / BRZ-skip the dealer wash!

[911fanatic]

Lately I have been fortunate to detail a bunch of these cars thanks to the guys on this forum. Thanks to everyone for the business. The one thing that has been consistent with these new cars is the amount of wash damage done by the dealership prior to delivery. If you are thinking of purchasing a new car, insist that the dealership delivers the car WITH all the plastic still on the car. The dealer does not have to remove it to PDI the car. I had one client who did such and was rewarded with an absolutely flawless finish. A few of the other cars I have done have needed upwards of 4-5 hours of polishing to fix the dealer installed damage. That results in extra $$$$ in polishing time before Opti Coat can be applied to the car. At the end of the day, its your money. I just hate seeing people having to pay for others carelessness.

[OTD]

well said Ken!

[jadewbj]

I fully plan on telling the dealer not to detail my car.

[RRnold]

Amen to that! I'm not a detailer but I've mentioned to friends who bought new cars to not get the bumper drilled, the car washed and the gas filled by the dealership.

Screw the dealerships, they always seem to do more harm than good! My .02

[picus]

Agree, of course. The dealers really seem to be messing these cars up. That said, I just did one that was still fully taped and we found a couple paint issues right from the factory. :x Nothing too major, though.

[Miniata]

I made sure to tell my dealer no detailing and no bumper drilling. They complied with both. I helped them take the plastic off before I drove it home.

[pinoyplaya]

From now on, I plan on washing the car myself. The dealer had washed the car when I picked it up

Then they washed it again when I got the auto dimming mirror installed

GG.

Gonna go get myself some buckets, maybe a pressure washer, some tools and start washing it every weekend.

[911fanatic]

This would be my point. This brand new Audi A4 came in for possibly a light polish and Opti Coat. After washing and stripping the dealer applied fillers, the amount of dealer installed damage was apparent. After trying a few different combinations of pads and polishes, it became apparent the car would need at least a two stage polish at a cost of around $600.

This pic shows how bad the scratching was.


THis 50/50 shows the results after using Megs D300 / 101 on a Megs MF cutting disc via my Griots DA and followed up with Menz RE5 on a finishing pad.

[Derrickchai39]

I was a victim, my hood was so scratched up, and some places the rubber was scratched from the dealership supposedly helping to "clean my car".

Brought my car to ken, for opticoat, and he helped polish/clean my car. Such a huge relief and so thankful there are people like ken. Excellent service and very friendly.

Too bad I didn't take any pictures or 50/50s but it was very visible in the sun and under the lights. Now it looks brand new again.

[Mr.Jay]

Ken! I'm going to have to make an appointment soon

Dealership said they would detail my car for free so I didn't think I would need to worry but now after seeing how they detailed the car its worse than when it went in...

Going to need my paint fixed and now I got a couple noticebale scratches too

Do you do mobile or am I going to a drive?

[DaJo]

I can vouch for Ken as I was the one who got it all wrapped up still in its wrappers and delivered it directly to Ken. I simply drove it off the lot with all the wrappers still on. I insisted that nothing was to be done (ex. wrappers, drill license hole, interior plastic, wash, tire shine, etc...) to the vehicle except for the mandatory physical PDI...and they listened, in fact my sales rep made sure everyone was on the same page! Props to Don Docksteader and my sales rep for a pleasant buying experience.

Ken is the go-to guy for the Opti-coating/detailing. He did a great job on my BRZ and I would definitely go back to him when the time comes.

And remember, TELL those dealerships to keep those wrappers on and DO NOT WASH your vehicle! It will save you the money and time having to repair the damage they would actually cause...

[911fanatic]

Originally Posted by Mr.Jay

Ken! I'm going to have to make an appointment soon

Dealership said they would detail my car for free so I didn't think I would need to worry but now after seeing how they detailed the car its worse than when it went in...

Going to need my paint fixed and now I got a couple noticebale scratches too

Do you do mobile or am I going to a drive?

Anytime polishing is involved, I'd prefer to do it at my shop as I can control the conditions better unless the client has a suitable venue meaning I have at least 5-6 feet around the car and decent lighting. A single car garage full of crap is not a suitable venue. Any wash n wax packages etc I can do mobile without issue.

[Mr.Jay]

Originally Posted by 911fanatic

Anytime polishing is involved, I'd prefer to do it at my shop as I can control the conditions better unless the client has a suitable venue meaning I have at least 5-6 feet around the car and decent lighting. A single car garage full of crap is not a suitable venue. Any wash n wax packages etc I can do mobile without issue.

would you be free sometime this weekend to take a look at my car. see how bad it is and give me a estimate on fixing the paint plus a opti-coat?

[truenosan]

Give Ken a shout on a Saturday, he is usually there.

+1 for telling the dealership to not detail the car in anyway. I helped my friend clean up his FRS after he received it, and after removing all the wrappers, the car was near mint. Just needed a little bit of love instead of spending hours polishing.