Audi R8 & A6 funny story...

Apollo_Auto

New member
So this actually happened back in the fall but I'm just getting around to posting it :). I've got about 25+ more cars to post that I just haven't got around to yet (get around to that soon), but this was a funny story so I thought I'd share.



I got a call from a client (very good client at that) and he asked me if I could go to the Audi dealership to clean his R8 (aka "The Storm Trooper") and he also told me to "take a look at the paint" after it was cleaned. I didn't know exactly what that meant, but I said, "OK." When I arrived at the dealership I was greeted by 2 managers and they asked me, "Where will it be best for you to clean the car?" "Anywhere inside is fine by me," I replied. After some minutes of scrambling around to make room for me in one of the bays, I noticed that there was quite a number of onlookers starting to gather around me. Anyway, by the time I snow foamed the car, there were roughly 15 people watching me and more joined shortly and I was thinking, "OK, why are there 20 something people watching me wash a car?"



Anyway, as soon as I finished washing I got a call from my client asking me about the paint and then he let me know that the car had been in an accident and the entire front end had been replaced and repainted. I told him that I'd call him back after the inspection and then broke out the lamp... I didn't have my camera with me that day, but good God did it look horrible!! Pigtails, fish eyes, swirls, you name it. Before I called my client back, I told the managers, "You guys have got a big problem on your hands, because there's not a snowball's chance in hell he's going to accept this..." My customer is VERY meticulous... IOW he's pretty much a Nazi when checking my work :). They started wet sanding immediately and my customer told me he would be there shortly.



While the guy was wet sanding the car, the crowd started to dissipate and then 2 of the guys there approached me and asked, "Did you really come all the way from America to wash this car?" :rofl My client told them I was from America and they thought that I had come all the way to Hungary just to wash his car :)!! Of course I set the record straight and told them that I live in HU, but I think they were still a bit in awe that this guy had his "own detailer" (it's not common here in HU).



My client finally showed up and to sum it up, we discovered that the paint was a different color... completely. He was livid to say the least, especially after dropping more than $15,000 cash to have the R8 and his A6 repaired. I wound up going back 3 times to wash and "disinfect" the cars during this whole ordeal. Here's the pics >> I didn't get any befores of the R8, but here's one of the still-swirly bumper even after they had "fixed it".



r8_fix_1.jpg




The second time I went I was greeted by the same managers, but with a little more a$$-kissing this time... BIG smiles, "want a coffee?", etc. and when I got to the car, the same entourage was there like when I had arrived the first time and I was like, "OK, who wants to touch me? Or who wants to give me their sister?" :D Kinda felt like a celebrity :). Then I saw why they were all there staring at me...



r8_fix_2.jpg




The "heat fluctuation" had cracked the window and they were all there waiting to see my reaction. I didn't want to get my client upset any more than he already was so I didn't call him and I told the managers that it's not a wise move to say that "the heat and cold" cracked it... just replace the damn thing. It was replaced in a one day.



r8_fix_3.jpg




Sooo here's the after shots with a perfectly polished hood and almost perfect bumper... Everything also "disinfected" as ordered.



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After I called him and said that The Storm Trooper was up to my standards he told me about the A6... it had also been in an accident! I don't know how he pulled off 2 simultaneously, but... Here's me foaming the car and the reporter/photographer from Porsche Magazine wanting to snap a picture of me while doing it. I was wearing my Ferrari manager's costume that day (I wear it when I work at Ferrari because it helps me gain the customers' trust) and they said not to put me in the picture because of the branding conflict... so they got a monkey to squirt some foam on the car while they took a picture.



r8_fix_9.jpg




So now the Storm Trooper was ready for delivery and the A6 was all cleaned...



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...but when my customer arrived, for some reason he didn't take the A6 with him... I wonder why???





































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Thanks for reading and to all the Playboy subscribers, thanks for "reading"!



- Jesse O'Connor
 
I'm no professional detailer - but with the porsche guy there and wanting pictures and such - I would have told them to either take a picture of me working, or go away. A job is a job, and if a client was paying me to wash his car, not get my picture taken.



I wouldn't have my time wasted by the guy from Porsche Magazine.
 
toxin440 said:
I'm no professional detailer - but with the porsche guy there and wanting pictures and such - I would have told them to either take a picture of me working, or go away. A job is a job, and if a client was paying me to wash his car, not get my picture taken.



I wouldn't have my time wasted by the guy from Porsche Magazine.



are you kidding me? the publicity would be amazing..



Great work on the audi.. looks like you have some work to do on the A6..
 
[Insert usual :bow regarding Apollo_Auto's work...]



Apollo_Auto- Heh heh, I enjoyed this one! Maybe all the hassles will prompt that customer to get in fewer accidents ;)
 
lol.

Great story Jesse and thanks for the entertainment bro! Hope all is well your way. I need to stop being lazy and post up a few of the cars I have put on the back-burner as well (of course the cars I haven't posted are NOT R8's :) )
 
grungy said:
Damn Jesse.. you have all the luck! Should have just played along that you were from America:cool:



But grungy, I am from America ;)! Thanks buddy!



toxin440 said:
I'm no professional detailer - but with the porsche guy there and wanting pictures and such - I would have told them to either take a picture of me working, or go away. A job is a job, and if a client was paying me to wash his car, not get my picture taken.



I wouldn't have my time wasted by the guy from Porsche Magazine.



Yeah, I swiped one of the jackets from one of the eherm "painters" and told him to take a picture like that, but the manager still said no, so oh well.



dmw2692004 said:
are you kidding me? the publicity would be amazing..



Great work on the audi.. looks like you have some work to do on the A6..



Thanks mate!



LS1-MEX said:
great story......the storm trooper lol is a gorgeous car......



Yes he is... thanks buddy :).



Accumulator said:
[Insert usual :bow regarding Apollo_Auto's work...]



Apollo_Auto- Heh heh, I enjoyed this one! Maybe all the hassles will prompt that customer to get in fewer accidents ;)



Thanks buddy! Well, he drives that car the way it's intended to be driven and I commend him for that :). I think it's got over 35k on the clock now? I don't know what happened with the A6, but the problem with the R8 is the AWD... once you feel that you're losing control, it's already too late so it's easy to lose this car... He's told me some butt-puckering stories about this car :).
 
Great one jesse! Yea I would have said I was from america. I know how much you love this country. lol I'm surprised you didn't. Nothing like a few repaints to make your day easier. lol then a crack window. I would be pissed great work man!
 
Apollo_Auto said:
... the problem with the R8 is the AWD... once you feel that you're losing control, it's already too late so it's easy to lose this car....



Yeah, I can see that...[S8 owner nods his head ;) ]...
 
Man The R8's are sure sexy! t's to damn bad they are fortune. So your client managed to score two vehicles that were both in accidents. Hopefully he got a good deal.



Nice work!
 
Jesse...you need to consider stand up comedy as a source of income as well. You're always good for a laugh!



Rollin' like a rock star! Did you make ridiculous demands while you were there, perhaps trash your hotel room too?



Great work as always my friend! :)
 
Barry Theal said:
Great one jesse! Yea I would have said I was from america. I know how much you love this country. lol I'm surprised you didn't. Nothing like a few repaints to make your day easier. lol then a crack window. I would be pissed great work man!



Thanks homie! These guys were pretty stupid to think they could pass this off as force majeure, especially when I could clearly see that there was a chip of glass missing from the center of the cracks.



Accumulator said:
Yeah, I can see that...[S8 owner nods his head ;) ]...



Jesse {drooling and saying nasty things} :D Piccies?



Pats300zx said:
I love the story Jesse. Beautiful work...:bow



Thanks Pat :)!



TimG said:
Indeed, great work Jesse. Enjoyed reading the writeup. LOL



Keep em coming man!



Thanks Tim, more to come soon!



vtec92civic said:
Man The R8's are sure sexy! t's to damn bad they are fortune. So your client managed to score two vehicles that were both in accidents. Hopefully he got a good deal.



Nice work!



Thanks! No, no HE caused the accidents :) they're his!



evolutionwc3 said:
Awesome work Jesse...thanks for the writeup.

-Brent



Cheers Brent!



TSC17 said:
Jesse...you need to consider stand up comedy as a source of income as well. You're always good for a laugh!



Rollin' like a rock star! Did you make ridiculous demands while you were there, perhaps trash your hotel room too?



Great work as always my friend! :)



Thanks buddy! Always nice to make people smile :D! I think I'll get really cheeky with them and request 3 sugars in my coffee next time... that'll really show them who's the boss!! :LOLOL Actually they were there for an extra 12-15 hours total over 3 days because I kept rejecting things... Well, if they can't get it right what do they expect? They were also trying to butter me up a bit by telling me that they would use me in the future for those "special" customers like mine and I told them "Sure thing, that would be great! When's that windscreen going to be replaced?" :) They were expecting that I "let some things slide" or something and I told them, "Look guys, as you've already seen my customer is extremely anal when it comes to his cars, so I'm not going to say it's 'OK' when I know he's going to reject it. What kind of a detailer would that make me?" I think they understood.
 
"Who wants to touch me"?



LMAO! I loved that. When I did my first 2009 ZR1, I had about 40-50 people come watch me throughout the day lol.



Great read Jesse. So did you get a chance to fix the A6 too?
 
That is a great story Jesse. You have to love customers like that. They use their own brand of terminology, they have their own standards of perfection, and you seem to be th only guy that can understand them. You feel a little nervous during the first seconds or minutes upon delivery and then they either smile big or shake your hand and you're their best friend...the son they wish they had...etc. Love your work man.
 
D Tailor said:
That is a great story Jesse. You have to love customers like that. They use their own brand of terminology, they have their own standards of perfection, and you seem to be th only guy that can understand them. You feel a little nervous during the first seconds or minutes upon delivery and then they either smile big or shake your hand and you're their best friend...the son they wish they had...etc. Love your work man.



^ Very well put. I always like seeing that changeover happen in their eyes.
 
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