Has anyone prepped cars at a dealership?

[JD09civic]

Re: Has anyone prepped cars at a dealership?

Somehow my car escaped the lot without swirls as well. They know not to wash it when I bring it in for oil changes. Then again, I take it in there spotless that way they do NOT wash it.

That's a good idea. My service isn't due for a few months still but i was thinking of doing the same thing. Wash it right before i take it in and also tell them i do not want the free car wash. Also if i have to, I will put a note in the windshield saying "PLEASE DO NOT WASH" or something like that. I don't care what i have to do, i want to minimize my chance of swirls as much as possible! Hopefully that will work and they will get into the routine of knowing not to wash my car.

[Bunky]

Re: Has anyone prepped cars at a dealership?

Our two last cars were prepped by the dealer prior to delivery. I met the guy who did them when we picked up the last car. I had to get it washed prior to pickup to insure we caught any issues we wanted to be fixed prior to delivery. BTW, I had looked over the lot and the new cars seemed to be in good shape so I took the chance.

The next day I washed it using ONR (it was pouring rain outside), clayed the vertical surfaces (it was in great shape anyway), pre-wax cleaner, and then the LSP. When I went back a few days later to get the battery shield installed (they had to swap batteries on the lot since it was dead), the salesman did complement me on how it looked waxed. The metallic flake was almost blinding. He asked what kind of wax did I use.

[MrWaxer]

Re: Has anyone prepped cars at a dealership?

I saw a commercial for a dealership here in NY where they showed the guy washing what looked like a Jaguar or maybe it was a Hyundai Sonata in the sun with a brush and 1 bucket. I know it was for the commercial but I still cringed!!!

[Details]

Re: Has anyone prepped cars at a dealership?

I do alot of work here in Tampa with the ferrari dealership, and if you guys saw what I see on these cars you would probably cry! I mean some of these cars cost more then my house, and there are swirls, sanding marks, holograms, buffer trails, wax deposits on the plastic trim, and some of these cars only have delivery miles on them (10-50 miles)!!!!! Its awful, honestly I think dealerships realy dont care they just want to sell the cars...

[TRIPOWER1]

Re: Has anyone prepped cars at a dealership?

its not that they dont care about their cars paint ( dealer/new owner) is that they dont know any better. I have a neighbor that was telling me how "his guy" does the best detailing been going there for years, paint is always so smooth and so on.. so i asked to see his black 02' caddy there were so many swirls in the paint i asked him if he noticed them and tells me thats the way it came from the dealer and his detail guy said cant do anything about thats just the way it is.....so i showed him my 95 z28 with a swirl free paint, needless to say i have a new customer!

[Golden]

Re: Has anyone prepped cars at a dealership?

I honestly don't think the average person can see swirl marks. All they see is a shiny clean car. That's it.

[CieraSL]

Re: Has anyone prepped cars at a dealership?

I honestly don't think the average person can see swirl marks. All they see is a shiny clean car. That's it.

I'd agree to that. To tell you the truth I really didn't know about swirl marks until I joined MOL. Now I look for them!

[Eddie6th]

Re: Has anyone prepped cars at a dealership?

I would have to many arguements if I worked for a dealership.For one,I'm very particular,whether it be product lines or preparation methods.Possibly I would take too long per car.I like to see a job well done and not skip any corners.I like to do the best I can for others and not just myself.

I wouldn't mind a detailing job,if the dealership owner allowed me to express my opinion,and allow me to demonstrate at least once. I would even bring along some of my own Meg's stock to achieve this! And I have difficulty trying to obtain a lot of Meg's goods here.

If my car ever goes near a garage or I am buying a car,I always tell them,not to bother cleaning it."Please,just leave it alone!"

[MrCLRider]

Re: Has anyone prepped cars at a dealership?

I'd agree to that. To tell you the truth I really didn't know about swirl marks until I joined MOL. Now I look for them!

I didn't really know swirl marks till I purchased my Acura CL-S NBP in 05, then it was all downhill, black cars show all the swirls!

[Bert31]

Re: Has anyone prepped cars at a dealership?

Hey if you've worked at a dealership before i was wondering how they prep the cars. They just always seem to have an awesome wet look to them and i have been wondering how or what products they use to get that wet look. My civic looked awesome the day i received it (no D.I.S.O. actually) but it rained 2 days later an i just haven't had that same look ever since. T.I.A.

The two areas I bolded make me wonder if they used a glaze loaded with fillers. The fillers literally fill the swirls, holograms and other paint marring making the paint temporarily smooth and like very wet, shiney, deep, etc.. I said temporarily because after the first rain or two or a wash, those fillers are removed and the swirls or holograms reappear and the wetness disappears.

[JD09civic]

Re: Has anyone prepped cars at a dealership?

The two areas I bolded make me wonder if they used a glaze loaded with fillers. The fillers literally fill the swirls, holograms and other paint marring making the paint temporarily smooth and like very wet, shiney, deep, etc.. I said temporarily because after the first rain or two or a wash, those fillers are removed and the swirls or holograms reappear and the wetness disappears.

Thats a good observation Bert maybe that is what they used to give it that look. Its rained several times now since i had my car and there still are no swirls or marks of any kind. I just think i got really lucky like how clearlycoated stated earlier about my vehicle just being received on the lot. I initially asked this question because I know to get cars to have a wet and deep look its mostly about the preparation and all that stuff but being that everyone on here says that a dealership does like an hours worth of work in 15 min or so, they don't really have the time to correctly take the time and process to do it right. Even though they are only spending a short 15 min or so on the car it still comes out with a great wet look. Thats why i was wondering what they use like if its a quick spray or something because the car looked soak and wet. How do they achieve those results that "look" great in such a short amount of time?