Dealer ran my car through the car wash

[Lakeside]

Originally Posted by flsupraguy

You do realize there's a difference between damaging a cars paint and not? The OP hasnt provided any pics reflecting the "damage". OmG My PaInT is RuIned

The issue here is the threshold of damage is personal. If seeing swirl marks in your paint when you admire your car bothers you enough to spend thousands to correct and care for it, why should the dealer be able to mess it up when they were instructed not to?

Also, what's with the gatekeeping in this thread? If someone wants to keep their vehicle looking pristine all the time, it doesn't matter if it cost $25k or $500k.

[Rotherd31]

Never had this happen with my dealer. From day one back in 2012 when I bought my first BMW, I made a mirror hanger that says "do not wash". Much like Limegrntain's illustration. Probably not even necessary anymore, as I only schedule with my favorite tech and he knows that none of my cars ever go through a car wash.

[Purekoryo]

Give them an opportunity to do a full paint correction and ceramic coat again and ask for some credit towards the shop for all the trouble. If they refuse, bite a little harder. Take things progressively instead of shocking them into submission and completely deny you. And whatever you agree to, you gotta be 100% happy with it.

[Humdizzle]

dealers never remember anything. plenty of times i've told them when dropping off the car i didn't want it washed. but they still did it. they have a touchless wash, but they don't exactly hire a professional to dry off the car after.

only thing that works is putting a post it note on the dash / infotainment screen saying 'NO WASH'.

[Limegrntaln]

I did this to mine, with a detail spray and a brand new microfiber. Luckily the car is fully PPFd, so, I just left it parked in the sun and it went away.

[RDG80M3X]

Hopefully they make you whole OP. I have my break-in service scheduled this Wednesday and this is my greatest fear for any and all service visits at the dealer. The BMW dealer I go to for servicing has an atrocious car wash with cars coming back all swirled up. With my previous MBZs I told the service advisor multiple times to not wash the car, only to come back to a dripping car upon pickup that not only was swirled but marred as well which a one-step wouldn’t fix. This time around I plan on printing out a sign and leaving it on the center console. I have full frontal PPF/Ceramic/tint scheduled next week so hopefully they’ll be able to correct the paint in case it does get swirled up.

[FC4]

LOL

[ihines10]

Had a pretty good experience with the dealer this morning. Turns out I had actually met the service manager before which I think helped. He’s a super cool dude. Pretty much just told me to bring it back to my detail place and send him a quote and we’ll get everything figured out. Hopefully the rest will be pretty simple

[phefner]

Deleted…not worth the drama.

[02M3ForMe]

I go to pick up my car from service and spot my buddy’s car getting this treatment in the back. Don’t ever trust the dealer, doesn’t matter what they sell

[RACE M3]

Shouldn’t the ceramic protect from basic swirl marks? What the heck is the point if one wash beat the car up already?

[Forzanerazzurri]

Originally Posted by RACE M3

Shouldn’t the ceramic protect from basic swirl marks? What the heck is the point if one wash beat the car up already?

My experience is that ceramic does almost nothing. It certainly doesn't prevent swirl marks. "Ceramic" is a marketing term and the hardness ratings are based on pencil hardness. The stuff is useless. Just get PPF.

[Flying05]

Had this happen to my 911 back in the days at the Porsche dealership. I couldn’t believe how bad the car was marred, especially being silver. I got very heated and there was no calm for me. They offered a fix with “their” own detailer. And that was even more of a joke. Ended up selling it just shortly after so let it go. I have not been that livid in a long time but I lost my shit with this one.

Good luck in getting this resolved. Unfortunately, I think their fix will be to make it right, but no where near to the quality it was done before. Just no way will they pay to have it all redone at a 3rd party detailer. Hope I’m wrong for you though.

[ihines10]

Originally Posted by RACE M3

Shouldn’t the ceramic protect from basic swirl marks? What the heck is the point if one wash beat the car up already?

Never really thought ceramic was for protecting. I just got it for the ease of cleaning

[vbb]

Originally Posted by RACE M3

Shouldn’t the ceramic protect from basic swirl marks? What the heck is the point if one wash beat the car up already?

Others have already answered, but you are hitting on my issue exactly. There are generally 3 main things that are done with the high end detailing jobs 1.) paint correction, 2.) paint protection film, and 3.) ceramic coating. The paint correction can be labor intensive, depending on how many swirls and marks your already have in your paint. The film is the actual protective layer that helps guard against rock chips and scratches to your paint, and the ceramic coating is like a long lasting wax. If someone does all three to the tune of $5K and up, it really sucks that ONE wash with less than perfect methods could cause so much damage. It's a lot of work and very expensive to get undone just because your car accidentally went through an automatic wash. That's where the OCD nature sets in, because naturally anyone is going to be a little vigilant with their car when they've spent that kind of money on detailing.

Your car won't look perfect, and a trained eye will see the imperfections and some swirl marks, but if you correct your paint (either at home or let a professional do it) and then wash your car correctly, you can keep it looking very good without spending the money on PPF.

[Icealicy]

Originally Posted by Limegrntaln

I did this to mine, with a detail spray and a brand new microfiber. Luckily the car is fully PPFd, so, I just left it parked in the sun and it went away.

Wait a new towel and spray did swirls to your car?

How to prevent this lol? What exactly caused it? The wiping technique/motion?

[Limegrntaln]

Originally Posted by Icealicy

Wait a new towe and spray did swirls to your car?

How to prevent this lol? What exactly caused it? The wiping motion?

I was wiping a little 1 inch bird bunk, or what looked like bird bunk, anyway. I sprayed it and let it sit a few seconds to soften it. Then wiped. Either the towel or bird bunk.

Gone

[Forzanerazzurri]

I find the PPF to be very soft. It scratches from a microfiber pretty easily if you look close enough. It'll self heal.

[GoneIn4Secs]

Ppf is a must on a new car, at least the front end, hood and rear fenders

Then you ceramic coat the whole car after that, for car in black or darker colour it will really keep your car looking new after several years

Ppf on my front bumper has saved me countless times, from rock chips on the hwy to stupid mistakes like me taking off the my front towhook mounted license plate and not holding it up as I'm unscrewing, duh, it fell down into the bottom of my front bumper and got wedged into the ppf, its sliced the ppf, but luckily it didn't go deeper into the paint, next day the ppf had healed and you couldn't see anything, so ppf is a must imo especially when you are paying so much for your car

The dealer carwash thing is something you have to take precaution for, you gotta tell the service person who took in your car, and what they do is stick a piece of paper on your dash saying NO WASH, but that's if they are proactive, you can do the same thing yourself before you take it in, and then you are sure.

By the time your car is ready to be picked up, the person who took your car in is gone for the day and some teenager is bringing it out, so dont rely on just word of mouth, take these extra precautions, it's your property and You gotta protect it.
Like, I always take a picture of my dash with the date and time and mileage showing, so you have proof if they put on any unnecessary miles, not that this ever happened to me, the dealer I went to is pricier but also by the book, no shenanigans,

However since Im out of warranty its always good to keep a record in case anything happens. And youd be surprised how much you can prepare for thing like this and then forget to do it on the day of the dropoff! But that's life hahaha

[BEAR-AvHistory]

I drive my cars regularly & wash them when they get dirty. Have never done anything special with the finish of a car since new.

This is my 1998 pickup at about 20 years of age. Original paint has lived out doors since new. Just don't think worth getting all wound-up over the paint. Be interesting to see a car that has been covered with plastic, ceramics etc that can't take a car wash at 20 years of age.

[omaralt]

Originally Posted by BEAR-AvHistory

I drive my cars regularly & wash them when they get dirty. Have never done anything special with the finish of a car since new.

This is my 1998 pickup at about 20 years of age. Original paint has lived out doors since new. Just don't think worth getting all wound-up over the paint. Be interesting to see a car that has been covered with plastic, ceramics etc that can't take a car wash at 20 years of age.

100%.. i can kinda understand the obessesion if this isn't your daily driver; but i'm assuming the m3/m4 is the perfect daily driver

to spend hours and tens of thousands of dollars on paint protection and then to drive it outside at 70+ MPH in the elements seems crazy to me. I wash my cars regularly and just drive and enjoy. Those that go crazy over every little paint imperfection are setting themselves up for high blood pressure and disappointment. Its a f*cking car.. not a super car or anything.. drive it, enjoy it, and move on. And i'm sure those who are spending big money on PPF realize you'll get 0$ on trade in?

[edofloat]

Originally Posted by ihines10

Never really thought ceramic was for protecting. I just got it for the ease of cleaning

This. I have ceramic on top of my PPF for hydrophobic reasons and easier cleaning.

Ceramic coatings will NOT protect your paint. You can still swirl the paint if you are not careful even with two bucket wash and good drying towels and drying aid for lubrication.