Dealer detail jobs?

[MattB]

Are dealer detail jobs normally any good or are they just a $150 wax job that you can do yourself?

[imported_COBRyan]

I wouldnt let a dealer touch my car. The products they use are full of silicones and will maybe make your car look good for a week. Remember the same products they use on the used cars they sell will be the same products they use on YOUR car. They only want to make the car look good until it sells. I used to work at Carmax and employees would get $60 details. The details were worth the $60 for sure, but the products we used were very crappy (Ardex). The polish was horrible and the compound was very harsh. Plus most dealership detailers are young and have never had any prior experience. They often use rotary buffers as well which put you at the risk for swirls and burns if the user is inexperienced. I say take it to a reputable shop or save some cash and do it yourself. There is nothing more satisfying than detailing your own car and knowing it was done right.

[MattB]

Yeah, I do like detailing the car myself. Looks great especially after hours of hard work. And nothing really looks better than a freshly detailed black car.

[bigguy]

I would always find a private detailer who would detail my car using a DA polisher if a polisher had to be used. I would perfer the detailer using hand only. This would ensure and create less chance of producing swirls.

[sheep208]

its funny i was just at a acura dealer with my friend today. there was black 04` TL(very nice car!!) in the show room, that`s already spyder-webbed by dealer detailer. and i was like daym......... guess what autopia said about the dealer detailers are true, you just got to see it to believe it. i felt sorry for that TL.

[Chris Y.]

At my BMW dealership...Their "so called" auto spa is a car wash machine...haha



That`s what my 745Li and M5 go though evertime it goes for service...even though I request no wash. :(

[AndyC]

As a rule in the UK car dealers know very little about detailing, certainly to anywhere near an autopian level.



From my admittedly brief experience with high end dealers (BMW, Mercedes etc.) they are marginally better but again not autopian.



The mainstream are a joke. I know that the Vauxhall (GM) dealer where my brother & dad bought their cars pay a cleaner to wash cars on the forecourt and the products they use for PDI are, as mentioned here, either very harsh (like acid based wheel cleaners) or are designed to last until the point of sale only.



I deal with independent specialist dealers regularly (I sell them insurance) and since joining autopia I have started to take maybe a bit more notice of how they prep cars. Some have purpose built detailing bays and some use mobile detailers but generally all I see product-wise is either Autoglym pro range or Autosmart.



The latter are made purely for the detailing industry where speed and low cost are I believe primary considerations. I`ve never seen a DA buffer anywhere at any client, just rotary types.



Through my own poor experience of dealers being let loose on my car, I would NEVER let a dealer prep my car again - I`d rather have it delivered dirty than spend the first few months of having a new car trying to rectify bad prep!



From a cost standpoint, $150 (about £85) would be considered expensive over here by most. I`ve been asked by my GF`s boss to detail his Merc ML and I`ve agreed but he previously paid a mobile guy £25 (about $45) once a month I think to wash, vacuum, wax etc. He stopped using him when he damaged the car and then revealed he had no insurance!



Car is in reasonable shape generally but it`s probably 4-5 hours of work so I`ve told him that I`d be looking for at least double what he paid before (remember, I don`t detail for a living but think I ought to do some jobs to pay for my autopian habit!)



We have a guy who does car cleaning here at the office. He charges £10 a car (about $18) for this



Pre-wash with dishwashing liquid (found this out as he sprayed the front end of my car by mistake - no mistaking that smell!)

Wash and rinse (shampoo make unknown)

Dry using synthetic shammy leather and spray wax (aerosol)

Tyres/trim dressed

Glass polished

Interior vacuumed



He manages to usually do 6-8 cars in a day. This is all most people will pay BUT they`re doing it 3 or 4 times a month - personally if I let anyone else near my car I`d rather pay £40 for a good detail than £10 for a basic wash as above.



Sorry to ramble here!

[Spook]

Good post AndyC

I agree with you 100%.Having got my car within the last few months I have had the dealership prep package-buffed trim,smeared windows etc.

Dealerships main purpose is to sell cars so to sell them they have to look good quickly, which is why the products they use are good at giving a good shine with the minimum of effort.

I have a mate who has a small garage and uses the auto smart range of products on bumpers,trim wheels which at the time bring everything up looking good but after about a week needs to be re-applied.So to answer the original post MattB I think you would be better doing it yourself so you know that it is done properly.

Another thing about doing it youself is that you can find any small blemishes or chips that you can repair.

[imported_mirrorfinishman]

Speaking as a professional detailer, many of my customers would never consider having their new car cleaned and preped by the dealer. When they take delivery of their new car they call and make an appointment to have it detailed professionally.

[imported_kgb]

go to www.danase.com and look at the pictures of the black 2003 Sunfire. That was a dealer "prep job"

[AndyC]

Looks like my 4 year old`s been let loose on that!



Mine was worse though - half the shine and twice the swirls. I`ll never forget the dealer showing me a brand new Range Rover Vogue in dark met. blue with swirls and saying "there`s nothing that can be done with these - it`s normal"



......or watching the cleaning ladies at the showroom "dusting" brand new cars with cheap yellow dusters and chemical furniture polish....brought tears to my eyes!

[togwt]

Quote: Dealer detail jobs?



~One man’s opinion / observations~



A college asked me to look at the new MB (a car he’d brought for his wife) she’d taken delivery of. He told her to take it to be detailed, her reply, “The dealership said that we were such good customers that they’d be glad to ‘detail it to death’ for no charge (this dealer had done just that) with a new detailing product for use on black MBs, Brillo pads)



Don’t let a dealership prep/detail (whatever they choose to call it) any new car!



~Hope this helps~





Experience unshared; is knowledge wasted…/



justadumbarchitect * so i question everything*

[AndyC]

Update (sort of)



Here`s a thread I posted last week



http://www.autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31627



Anyways, lease co called me to say my car`s going back to Renault but not sure if it`ll be returned to me. They`re giving me another Renault, same diesel spec but higher trim level so leather seats, satnav and a few other goodies.



They asked me if I wanted it cleaned and waxed because "our team are fantastic and can make it look like new again in a couple of hours".



Hmmmmm....car`s a 2 year-old and likely to have been looked after in a typical UK company car way - i.e. not looked after at all so should be a challenge. Needless to say I declined their kind invitation to rejuvenate my car in such a quick time....



PC will be getting broken in this weekend I think!

[MattB]

Okay, after hearing that there`s no way I`m having my dealer detail my car. I`ll find a professional in the Yellow Pages or do it myself.

[tnoy66]

MattB, if you need/want a pro to do it why not just ask on here for one.



Who would you trust the most, someone you picked blindly from a phone book or someone who was reccomended on here??



I know what my choice would be.......