Car Washing Horror Stories

Heres a few good ones.



I was about 10 back in 2000, and we were the first ones around to have the new bodystyle Suburban. In black of course. About 3 months int oowning it, I washed it ll the time. I had some blue coral soap, a red sponge, a blue "wash" brush, and a bucket. But about 20oz of soap in the bucket, and started to wash away. I was doing pretty good, one panel at a time, rinse the sponge alot, but i did use the brush on poth the paint and the wheels. So after shes all washed up, (keep in mind that i HATED drying the car, once let my dads saab bake in the sun with water on it eek) I got a great idea. My new shopvack had come with a squigee atachment which i found later was for wet floors. Dragged that puppy all over the truck, hooked up to vacuum and all. About 5 miniutes into it, my mom was yelling no no no!. Marks were still there when we traded it in 06.



Oh yeah. One time we were at BJ's and my mom picked up the new at the time Turtlewax 2001 silicone goop. I was anxious to try it, and put it all over the side of the car. Didnt look to good.



Haha I also left some Mothers Pure California Carnauba on there fo about 2 weeks to "cure". Not all of it EVER came off.
 
Here's a few from the dealership I work at...

A couple weeks ago, I saw the parts driver using a rotary and wool pad to remove the glaze residue from his truck...and continued to buff the bare paint. Good thing it was just the beaten up piece they use to get parts. But it's upsetting to know that the only pad they have for that buffer is a twisted wool.



During the winter I was looking for the snow brooms (those foam thingies) and the one salesperson commented that she just uses a regular broom. I commented that it's a good thing her car's not black (under my breath, of course).



And this one I thought was cute. I didn't see it happen, but I saw a black pick-up we got on trade covered in swirls and holograms. The salesperson thought how good condition it was in, and I mentioned that owner has a buffer (referring to the holograms), to which the sales guy says "yeah he really did take care of it." He actually thought it looked good! I guess the marble finish is snazzy.
 
Here are some from work...these are bad, considering that these people are 'professionals.'



I work at a local detailing place (as well as doing mobile on my own) and the owner didn't feel like washing a car, so he just took out his rotary, put on a wool pad, and started to wax it. THE OWNER. Of all people in the shop, he should know how to do it right.



They use Paint Thinner to get bugs and tar off cars, always a good idea, right?



They have 1 Microfiber towel in the place, that towel be used on about 20 cars a week, washed over the weekend, cycle repeats. (I bring my own towels now, whore them to myself, wash nightly and repeat)



To clean stubborn stains on the floors, they spray them down with some de-greaser, then blast away with a power washer (thats IN THE CAR) (mean while, I diligently scrub with an interior brush until the stains come out)





I find it funny that they ***** at me for taking 4+ hours on a car, where they churn them out in under 2 hours. I can't wait until I get a new job (or my mobile thing starts to bring in some real income)



So I have recently been parking closer and closer to his Volvo trying to get a nice comparison look at our cars. From what I've seen so far, my car looks atleast 10x better then his. Best part is, he makes fun of me because I refuse to use his supplies to wash my car while I'm at work.
 
Jeremy1026 said:
I work at a local detailing place (as well as doing mobile on my own) and the owner didn't feel like washing a car, so he just took out his rotary, put on a wool pad, and started to wax it. THE OWNER. Of all people in the shop, he should know how to do it right.
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Well you might think so, but...

They have 1 Microfiber towel in the place, that towel be used on about 20 cars a week, washed over the weekend, cycle repeats.
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...here he pretty well proves that he really doesn't.
 
velobard said:
Well you might think so, but...



...here he pretty well proves that he really doesn't.
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Yea, that entire place is a joke. I got me some interviews tomorrow, I hope I can get out of there soon.
 
What about all the "pro" detail shops that charge you full price to run your car through a swirlomatic and dry it off with an old terrycloth towel that has been washed by the local uniform supply co. If you like to take out swirl marks this is the town to live in.



Also at the local luxury dealership, the car wash guys at the service station use a stiff bristle broom to wash all the vehicles. Ive watched them do this to brand new vehicles right out of the shrink wrap.
 
I don't have to put up with my places antics any more. I got a new job and am starting that monday. But do not fear, I will still be doing my detailing on the side :)
 
Ah, let's see, today... I was pumping the gas on our minivan, and I see a person pumping his gas. Pretty normal, huh? :) Well I look away, and the second I look back, I see gasoline gushing out and dripping all over ground. A lot of the gasoline was running down the side of his car on the paint. Either the guy was topping off or he accidentally kept squeezing the trigger when the pump was out of the hole. Anyhow, I guess he was kinda embarrassed, so he acted like he was pissed off.



He went over to get the window scrubber brush and started aggressively scrubbing the area with the brush. I didn't really care for his paint, so I just smirked and turned away.
 
Beleive me or not, during winter, as I was waiting on a stop light at the corner of a gas station. That guy was litteraly washing his whole car, an Acura TL recent model with the gas station sqeegee!! Maybe he thought the alcool was a good lubricant.:confused:
 
My neighbor uses a sponge type floor mop to wash his new Dodge Ram1500 4 wheel drive with duallies. I have never see any car wash solution over there, just a mop bucket, the mop and the hose. He spent a lot on this thing, all black in and out, euro style taillights, etc.

The wheels he has on it cost more than my Grand Am. He justs jams that mop into the wheels to clean them, I have to go in when I hear the metal screech from the mop and wheels making contact.
 
Espada said:
Here's the worst I encountered: My nephew cleaned my uncle's Lincoln Mark VI's shiny chrome rocker panels with EASY-OFF OVEN CLEANER! He followed the directions exactly: sprayed on the Easy-Off and left it on for 2 hours, then wiped off. (He would have heated it to 400 degrees if he could.)
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:funnypost That got an honest laugh out of me!



I can still recall my mother trying to get the paint on her Buick to shine by spraying it with Windex. Brrr...
 
OMG this was the most awesome thread I've read in a long while. I went through all 26 pages :D



I remember when I was a kid I would use paper towels to dry the car and I couldn't figure out why there were so many swirls.
 
Chris Y. said:
At my local Benz dealership, I saw the so-called detailer drop his filthy chamois and pick it up and continue to wipe :(
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They did that to my wife's brand new Black E series Benz when they were prepping it for delivery. Three years later, when I traded it on a new Black E320 Bluetec I told them NOT to wash it. They did anyway but they were careful this time.
 
i was dont a search and happened upon this.... and it was dead alll day at work and i just read all the posts! love it!!



I TOO have victimized my parents cars with bath towels and turtle wax in my hey day... never felt that the car was as shiney as it could be. now, after many hours on this AWESOME forum, they alllways say how clean my car looks!



on another note, my wife never understood why it took 3-4+ hours to clean my car and would always yell at me for taking so long. she finally agreed to wash her car with me and now UNDERSTANDS and has agreed to learn and help out when it's time to clay bar my car!
 
i guess the one that comes to mind is my brothers detail job. he just got his impreza 2.5i and decided to wax it. i would have helped him but i didnt know he was doing it. he took a brand new jar of kitt car wax (which he got me for Christmas (and was never used by me:D)) and proceeded to slather on wax to his brand new car. he used the entire can- and for those who dont know what kitt wax is, its a cheap otc wax that has a mashed potatoes consistency. literally about an inch of wax on every surface of the car. then he let it dry- rock hard. i was impressed b/c he got the wax into every single nook and cranny of the car. you can still see wax in places to this day.
 
ok this one, i didnt know the guy but... my wife and i were out shopping, we see a brand new escalde ext thing parked right next to us. i looked over and it was nice and shiny, with a bunch of holograms. i was about to leave a card on the window when the owner walks up, so we start talking about his paint finish, mind you this thing has dealer plates on it. he proceeds to tell me the dealer threw in a free detail, which included a buff job. i proceed to try and explain that holograms are not good. he says "but it looks so shiny in those spots". i said ok, put my business card away and left.
 
Back in the day when I worked at the car wash, tunnel type, we put a little mark on the windshield to say what wash it was like a G was for the Greatest, P was plus, T was for extra wheel and tire care and so on, anyways so I just got done washing a brand (bought it 2 days prior) new Mercedes 500 something (really expensive one) it was black FYI, so I was told to go to the back and dry it off also as I was one of the better ones to work with nicer cars and more of a people person than others. SO it was me and some other guy back there and I greated the gent and gave him a rag to dust if he felt he needed to ( I think it was just to keep them busy while we dried the cars off) so we dried it and the other dude saw a small bit of bird poo that didnt come off so he pulled out the steel wool we used to take the grease pen marks of the window and scrubed it off!!!!!!! as soon as he started he relised what he did... his jaw dropped and I just looked at him and called the manager over via radio... good thing the guy was chill as chill can be cause I would have fliped! Long story short not only did we have a tunnel car wash, oil center, and self serve, but a Full detail shop, we sent him over there and got him squared away, disater avoided... and that was how I was introduced to detailing. I also got to see the tunnel rip off a few mirrors, ant's, and other odds and ends.
 
This thread is awesome! Let me share my stories while I was evolving as a detailer.



First wash ever, on my mom's BMW E90 330i. It got dirty so I though this is too nice to let it stay dirty. I wash it with some car shampoo given to me by my cousin and with a "soft sponge." At least I had the right mindset and didn't use the rough side hahahaha



Okay, upgrading now. One bucket. Car Shampoo. One mitt. I had also read that some people like to start with the wheels, so I did. Mind you, I still have one mitt.



Upgrading some more. Mr Clean autodry system. Still have one mitt.



Then, two mitts!



Now, a two bucket system user with grit guard. Sometimes, I get annoyed at myself hahahah



edit: have you guys been approached at gas stations by people with this waterless wash and wax yet? while i was getting gas one time, this lady comes up to me with a spray wash and wax and i'm thinking, the second they ask me to try it, i'm going to say no.



so i'm getting gas she approaches me and tells me about the product, and sprays it on my car while i'm putting in my zip code and stuff. I see her about to wipe my paint with her dirty *** microfiber towel and i just yell STOP! then i went to my trunk, pulled out my QD, and sprayed whatever she had sprayed off my car. My car was extremely dirty too so i was really careful with the wiping. She sprayed a bit of my wheels, window, and paint :hairpull
 
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