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Never trust a car dealerships car wash!

rickzilla09

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rickzilla09

rickzilla09

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So about 3 weeks ago I had to take my car in for it's schedule 10K maintenance check-up. Before I start let me say Lexus has amazing customer service and even provides you with a loaner vehicle while your car is being worked on. But as part of the package they always offer to wash my car. Being the detail freak that I am I specifically told them DO NOT WASH MY CAR!! I could not have been more clear...The service tech assured me they would not wash it. After about 4 hours I return to pick up my car. This is where the nightmare began. I begin to do a quick walk-through of my vehicle and I found scracthes along with swirls in the paint. What made me even more upset I noticed they coated the car in wax to cover up the imperfections. After talking to the service tech they agreed to pay to have my vehicle detailed. I told them I detail my own vehicle but they can certainly write me a check for the few hundred bucks it would cost. Ofcourse they weren't willing to just give me money. Well after about 30 minutes of back and forth I got them to provide me $250 worth of gift certificates to use for services/accessories for my car.

 

Anyhow, I happen to stumble on this DO NOT WASH THIS CAR PSA online. I ended up printing a few up and laminating them at the office. I now have a few in my glove box so going foward I should not have this problem every again.

Anyone else have a car wash nightmare at the dealership?

 

 

post-12665-0-03656600-1425514251_thumb.jpg

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Ricky Bobby

Ricky Bobby

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I stopped going to the dealership years ago with my cars. It's more about sales than service anyways.

 

I either diy my own work or take to a high end European indy shop by me if necessary. They are authorized to perform all European makes factory services so warranty stays in tact.

 

Only reason Id go to a dealership now is if the work was totally free, IE warranty work only

 

Also make the service writer write DO NOT WASH on your service order before you sign and authorize work to be done

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rickzilla09

rickzilla09

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I typically do all my own maintenance but I also wanted them to inspect a strange rattling I kept hearing inside the cabin. Lesson learned here. I'll finally have some time this weekend for a decontamination/paint correction. I'll post my results.

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Team Adam's

Team Adam's

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Their heart is in the right place most of the time, thinking they did something nice for you, but they do a poor job.

 

I use the hanger too, plus insist the top and bottom line items on any service request say:

 

********DO NOT WASH*********

 

Even with all that there have been times I get the "complimentary wash with bonus swirls"

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thatryan

thatryan

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Anyhow, I happen to stumble on this DO NOT WASH THIS CAR PSA online. I ended up printing a few up and laminating them at the office. I now have a few in my glove box so going foward I should not have this problem every again.

Anyone else have a car wash nightmare at the dealership?

 

Where can I find one of these hangers to print and make?

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CTFocusST

CTFocusST

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Where can I find one of these hangers to print and make?

 

Not sure if this post is the same as the one pictured or if the links still work (can't view them on this computer), but here is a thread to check out

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/16156-do-not-wash-printable-dealership-warning-hangers/?hl=%2Bwash+%2Bhanger

Edited by CTFocusST
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kitt1987

kitt1987

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I'm definitely going to have to try one of these hangers.  At my dealership I've gotten them to not wash the outside, however they still love to wipe their dirty rags throughout my interior and inside windshield.  Punks.

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SSilver07

SSilver07

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I work at a dealer and usually every customer car gets a car wash. They have these big wooden brushes that suck, a 5 gallon bucket with poorly mixed soap that smells like grape and dirty old chamois. The lot techs get to wash the cars and  some of them, sometimes, don't even rinse the car down before using the brush. So they smear all that dirty and rocks all over the car. Can't beat a free car wash but still.... I use to wash my car before work in their wash bays and took all my stuff. Of course everyone was like, "what's all that stuff for? why two buckets? why this? why don't use like our brushes and soap?" :lol:

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SYMAWD

SYMAWD

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I work at a dealer and usually every customer car gets a car wash. They have these big wooden brushes that suck, a 5 gallon bucket with poorly mixed soap that smells like grape and dirty old chamois. The lot techs get to wash the cars and  some of them, sometimes, don't even rinse the car down before using the brush. So they smear all that dirty and rocks all over the car. Can't beat a free car wash but still.... I use to wash my car before work in their wash bays and took all my stuff. Of course everyone was like, "what's all that stuff for? why two buckets? why this? why don't use like our brushes and soap?" :lol:

One of the dealers I work at has a tunnel car wash and it is free to anyone that has bought within our 17 dealership network (not really, but we don't turn people away if they show up).  Since it opened, nearly 400,000 washes have been given.  On Saturdays it is so busy the police usually show up as the line is so long it blocks traffic on the highway.  People sure love their free washes.

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Z06Seal

Z06Seal

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One of the dealers I work at has a tunnel car wash and it is free to anyone that has bought within our 17 dealership network (not really, but we don't turn people away if they show up).  Since it opened, nearly 400,000 washes have been given.  On Saturdays it is so busy the police usually show up as the line is so long it blocks traffic on the highway.  People sure love their free washes.

 

omg that's hilarious LOL

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Ricky Bobby

Ricky Bobby

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One of the dealers I work at has a tunnel car wash and it is free to anyone that has bought within our 17 dealership network (not really, but we don't turn people away if they show up).  Since it opened, nearly 400,000 washes have been given.  On Saturdays it is so busy the police usually show up as the line is so long it blocks traffic on the highway.  People sure love their free washes.

 

As Matt and I could tell you all, welcome to Jersey.  Saturday morning all the tunnel washes have lines out to the road, people will literally sit in line for a half hour or more just to have someone run their car for an auto wash and give it the "works" for $25-30 including a quick vaccuum and window cleaning.  It makes me laugh when I pass by my local washes.

Edited by Ricky Bobby
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BigBlue2007

BigBlue2007

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Most of the people at the dealership think we're nuts. Plus the people that like the "free" car washes don't care about the damage that is caused. They think the car looks clean. Even if we just ignored swirl marks and judged the car on being clean, the car still isn't clean. Those car washed do not clean the car as well as a two bucket wash at home. There are water spots everywhere and most of the dirt is still on the car. You see how bad these car washed are on black paint.

Edited by BigBlue2007
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