Car Washing Horror Stories

not really a horror story, but the aftermath of one



i would guess the typical scotch-bright pad story, but i and my friend saw the result of years of it...



the car was a black BMW 7-series...at least it USED to be...it was nothing darker than satin, and i would be willing to bet that there wasn't a hint of clearcoat to be found on the car...



my neighbor across the street uses a pressure-washer, but not on too high...



our brand-new Infiniti G35 sedan is BRILLIANT...ly swirly from a wash mitt that has been in use since 1996 w/o a single wash and w/o 2 buckets...(stepfather's doing, now he is asking me to detail the car)
 
usdm said:
This is an expensive hobby for me right now, but i am always trying to get a job when I can. Thought I had a job in hand a while ago, but I turned out to be wrong. This is a basic idea of how the days went...



So I'm doing my car and a guy in the neighborhood strolls up to see what I'm doing.



Guy: car looks nice



Me: thanks, I'm trying



Guy: what did you do?



I proceed to show him all the stuff i had that I used at the time: FCRC, SSR2.5, FP, VM, and #16



Guy: how long it took to do all that?



Now, I think I see an oppurtunity to get a new client...



Me: took about 3-4 hrs, but on customer cars, I'm a bit more anal about making the car look good



Guy starts to shake his head in amazement



Guy: about how long on a customer car?



Me: depends on the severity of the work. It could range anywhere from just 20.00 to 180.00. Interested in getting something done?



I guess the "price quote" was too much cause he backed up in disbelief



Guy: Naw, I do my own stuff, thanks.



Guy walks away, but gives me another compliment on the work. Later on that week, I happened to see him working on his car. I figured I would return the favor of a visit and check out his work. As if to imply that I worked too hard, he smiles at me, and heads towards the trunk, and pulls out a can of Pledge, and some paper towels..



Guy: check this out...



He sprays the Pledge on a panel, lets it sit for a bit, and then washes it off with a sponge (the kind with the scuff pad on the backside). He then takes the paper towel and wipes off the water.



Guy: when you do it like this, it cleans off the car, and leaves behind a nice shine cause of the wax.



Me: really, I always though Pledge had no wax in it?



Guy: Trust me, it has wax in it, otherwise it would not give off the nice shine. Been doing this for years on all the cars I work on.



Me: You detail for a living?



Guy: it's a sided gig, but my "peeps" always come back. Takes about an hour, I'm done, "peeps are happy, I get paid, and keep it movin' , know what I'm saying?



I just nodded my head and continued to watch him work. At some level, I REALLY wanted to stop him, but in all reality, I don't think he would've paid me any mind.



Me: so how much you charge, if you don't mind me asking



Guy: 50.00 wash n wax, and 50,00 for the inside.



He had this look on his face as if he realized he should not have told me what he charges, but i guess then he realized that I would never be able to match his work. I just nodded my head again, and told him I had to go.



Guy: next time you're free, I'll show you some other tricks.



Last time I saw him, he was doing a late model lexus, and he had the owner watching him work. Guy gave me a whats-up look, and kept on working. I REALLY wanted to put an end to it once and for all, but I couldn't do it. iI knew if i did, he would accuse me trying to steal his customers.
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i have to tell you the darnedest thing...my friend's family has a "electric blue" camry and a silver Mercedes E350, and i noticed, seeing the camry for the first time in a long time, and having just discovered the wonderful world of detailing here on autopia, that there were NO swirls whatsoever on the most prominent places...and i was like what the...



now the cars ARE garaged, but i was shocked to find out that all they have ever done on any of the cars was wash w/ Meg's Gold and then Pledge!!!



??????
 
its probably because the camrys paint has a ton of flake in it, not to mention its an extremely bright color. which would be hard to see the defects in direct sunlight.
 
Just this morning I saw a guy "detailing" his pickup in the Gas Station parking lot. He had some Mother's Spray Waxh, a rag and a washing mitt. He'd spray a panel, pick the mitt up off the PAVEMENT, wipe the panel a bit, and then "polish" it with the old rag.

It was a pretty new truck.

But it wasn't shiny.
 
Not really a car wash story...



A guy I worked with used a razor blade to remove a painted pinstripe......... Made sure he dug in real deep to be sure to remove it all. Stoping him was out of the question because I have stoped him before and I am wrong..."Ive been doing this for 10years" I then realized I should learn nothing from this "detailer" Then watched them sell the car that day. Unreal
 
This is a great thread. A guy in my neighborhood (16 yrs. old - my age) just got a '99 black silverado from his dad (dad just got a ram mega cab), sure its work truck, but I bet that silverado has never been washed by hand, but in its 9 year, 190,000 mile life it might have been put through some swirl-o-matics a few times. I'm willing to bet serious money it has never been waxed. It is scratched up from God knows what, has the word "trash" scratched into the side deep (down to the base metal - at least the scratcher was honest lol). Let's not even comment on the interior.



Anyway, this guy is a bit dim, can't tell him anything, just won't listen and just argues with about every Autopian tip I gave him in good spirit. He thinks it would be cool to paint it urban camo of all colors, lift it five inches etc., and argues with me every time I tell him he would have to shell out 10 - 15k to make his wishes come true. He likes to use household products to wash the truck with. Process:

Dish washer detergent - yes the granules mixed in water no joke

Jet Dry dish drying aid mixed in - "helps it dry" - 1/4 bottle in his 1 bucket

California Car Duster to scrub with - seen him drop it in the gravel by the driveway

t-shirt with left over Armor-all on parts of it to dry

Armor-all on the drying towel for plastic trim



It's quite entertaining to see him wonder why there are so many scratches, but it would be painful if it were his dad's new Dodge Ram Mega Cab or a nice car.
 
saw a guy at work removing tree sap and bird crap with steel wool from his prius....yes steel wool....got in my car and laughed till i cried.
 
When I was a teenager in the high school band, we ran these car wash fund raisers at a local gas station. The teacher told us all to bring rags and stuff from home to use. So I and everyone else brought all kinds of old cut up shirts, terry cloths, old bath towels, etc. At least we were hanging them on pipes at the gas station so they would not touch the ground.



We got everything from ancient Pontiacs to an occasional Audi(!!) I look back at it and laugh, but damn, from reading this forum I know better than to take my car to such a car wash!
 
This happened this afternoon.

They are doing road construction around my way. So when I got home, I decided to use some of my quicker detailer on it, to remove some dust from driving through the area. My car had just been washed the other day and it was not dirty enough to warrant a full was, just needed some touch up.

SO I get home and grab the bottle and notice the top sprayer is broken off along with the top part of the bottle. One of my many animals (probably the cat) must have knocked it down. There was still a good amount left as it is the big spray bottle. I have some extra clean spray bottle around I use for spraying the cats with water. SO I scrubbed one and dried it to make sure it was clean. I then poured the remaining quick detailer into this spray bottle. I took a sharpie to it and wrote QD on the side so I would remember what it was. Then off I go outside to clean the dust off.

Here is where it gets fun. AS I am cleaning my Element, my neighbors wife sees me and asks what I am doing. I told her what I was doing. She decides to clean her husbands new car, as he is out of town on business and left his car home. She starts spraying his car and wiping it with bath towels. Something seemed wrong with this picture. I noticed a unmarked spray bottle bottle but could not see what it was. After I was done, I went over to see how she was doing. She was done and the car was wrecked.

Come to find the bottle was filled with concrete cleaner. She felt that since her husband uses it to clean th garage floor it would work for the car. She also used industrial strength Goo-Off (not safe for paint) to get anything the cleaner had left behind.



My neighbor is in for a real treat when he gets home and sees the paint is completely destroyed on his Brand New 2009 Hemi Orange Pearl Dodge Challenger SRT-8. I will be sitting on my front porch awaiting his arrival. Should be quite a show.
 
critical_level2 said:
AS I am cleaning my Element, my neighbors wife sees me and asks what I am doing. I told her what I was doing. She decides to clean her husbands new car, as he is out of town on business and left his car home. She starts spraying his car and wiping it with bath towels. Something seemed wrong with this picture. I noticed a unmarked spray bottle bottle but could not see what it was. After I was done, I went over to see how she was doing. She was done and the car was wrecked.



My neighbor is in for a real treat when he gets home and sees the paint is completely destroyed on his Brand New 2009 Hemi Orange Pearl Dodge Challenger SRT-8. I will be sitting on my front porch awaiting his arrival. Should be quite a show.
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Knowing the thought process of this country I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to hold you liable somehow. :rolleyes:
 
critical_level2 said:
My neighbor is in for a real treat when he gets home and sees the paint is completely destroyed on his Brand New 2009 Hemi Orange Pearl Dodge Challenger SRT-8. I will be sitting on my front porch awaiting his arrival. Should be quite a show.
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.........you may be able to save that marriage :grinno:
 
My mom lives in Alabama, not the worst environ for paint, but not the best either. Lots of tree sap, lots of bugs, hard sun in the summer, etc. Anyway, I came back from college for a visit a few years ago and noticed that her Miata looked TERRIBLE! She has to 2000 LM with the Magenta paint and polished wheels, which is normally a pretty slick looking little car, but the wheels were cloudy and the paint looked like the clear coat had been completely removed. When I asked her what happened, she said that she had been taking good care of it, washing it every couple weeks, so I asked her what she used to wash it (figure probably 15-20 washes in the year since I'd seen the car). With a straight face, she said "Dawn and a rag"







:bawling:





I got it back to decent looking, but that paint will never ever be the same.
 
critical_level2 said:
My neighbor is in for a real treat when he gets home and sees the paint is completely destroyed on his Brand New 2009 Hemi Orange Pearl Dodge Challenger SRT-8. I will be sitting on my front porch awaiting his arrival. Should be quite a show.
Click to expand...



HOLY CRAP! I literally jumped back and my mouth dropped when I read that. :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::furious::furious::nomore:
 
paint is completely destroyed on his Brand New 2009 Hemi Orange Pearl Dodge Challenger SRT-8.



:idea Won't the warranty cover that??
 
I started reading this thread at 10 AM this morning, most times I didn"t know whether to laugh or cry but that last one is really sad :bawling:



It was a good time killer while I was giving my Silverado a nice detail , and no I didn't use any Windex, WD-40 or Pledge :cool:
 
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