Car Washing Horror Stories

Another story, but with a good ending (hopefully).



Started squaring away my car this past Fri.

Did a wash, a quick clay job, and put on some Paint

Perfection Glaze ( paint is swirleed to heck, so I just

wanted some protection until I figure out what to try next:D )



Along comes one of my dad's friends. He's in a rush, so

he drags out the wash bucket with dirty water in it, and

grabs the "broom" (don't know why it's still in the shop,

I coulda sworn I tossed that thing a few weeks back),

and proceeds to to do a rush job. I just stood there

and watched. I tried to get him to let me help him,

but he said it would take too much time to do what

I wanted to do (no lie there:D ). I'm thinking it may

have taken him less than 10 mins to do the car with

that damned broom.



After he was done I just looked at the car, and it was

just dull. True, it was silver, but you could barely see

the reflection of direct sunlight on the thing. And the

paint felt just like the sandpaper I used to knock down

OP. Seriously, it didn't look any better than before he

started. I pointed it out to him, but he did not pay me

much attention. Too much trouble for what the car was

worth, he said.



I told him he was better off taking the car to the regular

carwash. His reply?



"I'm never going there, they're a ripoff."



After that remark, I made him promise to give me the

car for a day the next time he came by, otherwise I'd make

sure he wasn't allowed to bring the car back again.



I think I got his attention, as he promised to bring it to me

for next Fri.



Shortly after that conversation, another person comes by

to get a wash. As he's about to go for the bucket and the

broom, my dad's friend quickly pulled him to the side and

said something to him.



Now I have 2 appointments
 
This thread should be made a sticky with the title "NEVER do any of these things!!!" lol.



I have a friend that won't let anyone else wash his car or do anything to it. His process is fill up bucket that has dirt on the bottom, use TONS of Blue Coral wash, use old black but should be yellow sponge, then rinse car off, then use CWB that has been lying behind the seats do dry without cleaning it, then use some several year old KIT wax with whatever he can find to put it on. His red car looks pink under the right light. Then he usually takes some tire shine aerosal and sprays it on the wheels and tires, because it makes his rims shiney!!!
 
xnevergiveinx said:
... bar soap from the shower (i guess thats thier wax, because they apply it in circular motions when they are done).

I once saw a lady at a diy carwash waxing her car with a candle
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You made these last two up, right? :D
 
I was busy today so my son was doing the usual wash for me. I went into the kitchen for a little muffin/coffee break. I glanced outside and I see my son scrubbing the car and my neighbor "the car collector" washing his car too (Probably got jealous seeing a 15 y/o washing the car diligently while he sat on the couch eating).



He was scrubbing his Porsche with a Zymol wash. So far so good. What made me gag a little was that I see him take a sponge and starts washing the wheels with nothing but water. When he was done, he used the same sponge and start scrubbing hardly onto the rest of the black Porsche. :eek:



When he was done, he took an Absorber and dried the wheels first and started drying the hood. He popped the engine compartment open and started wiping the engine. I could see little dirt patches being wiped off on the absorber. He then drags the absorber across the rest of the car... Poor Porsche :sosad
 
Originally posted by xnevergiveinx

... bar soap from the shower (i guess thats thier wax, because they apply it in circular motions when they are done).

I once saw a lady at a diy carwash waxing her car with a candle







Setec Astronomy said:
You made these last two up, right? :D
Click to expand...





ha, i only wish i was making it up. the first dude, my friends neighbor, he is asian, does not understand english well, can't figure out when trash day is and how to throw stuff out properly, can't cut the lawn right...gotta give him props for trying

the lady at the carwash, yeah, it was a candle, with a wick, at least she picked a green candle to match her green car. she was also making all the same terrible typical mistakes at the diy carwash
 
I thought I've seen it all until I skimed through this thread. I saw a few apartment tenants cleaning their dirty car with windex with regular cloth. One tentant years ago had an old Chevy Aerostar (one of those old min vans) with crome wheel; I saw him washing the wheels almost 3 times a week in the parking lot but the entire exterior of that van was unwashed. Countless times, I have seen late model cars at the DIY car wash bay whose owners (or whoever brought that car to that wash bay) are using those dirty & hard black bristle brush to scrubing the clear coat. I am simply amazed at those people; but, for some people, detailing or washing cars is not a high priority nor of any interest, I guess.



As for myself, I go to those DYI car wash pay late in the evening or very early in the morning (no other customers) to wash off the car first (with the DIY wash nozzel a few feets away from my car) and bring out my own buckets of water with quality car wash soap to wash there (thus, I need to be there when there is no or only a few customers), dry it out in the parkting lot at the DIY with WW towel and apply sealant, wax, or one of those quick wax/Sonus Acrylic Glanz.
 
CarsFreak said:


He was scrubbing his Porsche with a Zymol wash. So far so good. What made me gag a little was that I see him take a sponge and starts washing the wheels with nothing but water. When he was done, he used the same sponge and start scrubbing hardly onto the rest of the black Porsche. :eek:



When he was done, he took an Absorber and dried the wheels first and started drying the hood. He popped the engine compartment open and started wiping the engine. I could see little dirt patches being wiped off on the absorber. He then drags the absorber across the rest of the car... Poor Porsche :sosad
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Sounds like he's going the right direction, but is just a little confused as to the sequence!
 
CarsFreak said:
I was busy today so my son was doing the usual wash for me. I went into the kitchen for a little muffin/coffee break. I glanced outside and I see my son scrubbing the car and my neighbor "the car collector" washing his car too (Probably got jealous seeing a 15 y/o washing the car diligently while he sat on the couch eating).



He was scrubbing his Porsche with a Zymol wash. So far so good. What made me gag a little was that I see him take a sponge and starts washing the wheels with nothing but water. When he was done, he used the same sponge and start scrubbing hardly onto the rest of the black Porsche. :eek:



When he was done, he took an Absorber and dried the wheels first and started drying the hood. He popped the engine compartment open and started wiping the engine. I could see little dirt patches being wiped off on the absorber. He then drags the absorber across the rest of the car... Poor Porsche :sosad
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LOL. my neighbor does that too when they see me washing me washing the cars (im almost 15 too..). they also make the same mistakes if not worst.:p
 
another qx4 said:
LOL. my neighbor does that too when they see me washing me washing the cars (im almost 15 too..). they also make the same mistakes if not worst.:p
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I'm being talked about. I have an unusual obsession with a car and I do a majority of the detailing for me dad. :rolleyes:



I started early I guess. At the ripe age of 13.



BTW, I found this site after my dad (CarsFreak) left it on. Great site.
 
Ha Ha some of these are great! To be honest i havnt seen what my nabours do, they all use a sponge as do my family, i try to tell them :(
 
The following story is not for the weak of heart or avid car lovers.



My ex-girlfriend lisa decided to clean her "just acquired from grandma" 2000 pearl blue toyota camry. She washed the car using ordinary paper wipes and GLASS CLEANER with amonia!. No water, no soap, nothing else!. Needless to say as soon as her little brother called me i rushed over to her house and had

to rinse it, buy new supplies (i will be damned if her ammonia tainted car will get cooties on mine) wash it and wax it. The whole process took me about 3 1/2 hours to fix. I dont talk to her anymore..but I wonder her washes her car?, i miss her car..not her...hahahaha:rolleyes: :woot:



and yes she is blonde
 

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Saw THREE 997's (one was black too) at the swirl-o-matic today, the owners were washing them with the brush and drying with PAPER TOWELS....:angry. I would have offered them cards, but all three had Georgia plates (damn tourists). In retrospect, I regret not doing so, as I could have always used to line up a few details along the ride to and from college :). Oh yeah, and I know a guy who takes his Ferrari to the "other detailer" in town. He might have 20 years of experience, or whatever, but I'm better ;).



P.S. Murderousmind, you are definetly a much better tempered guy then me. My ex gets zero free work, and if her car needed detailing, she'd pay double for it :).
 
I was detailing my car last friday and got hungry so I wen't to the shopping mall next to where I live. I parked my car in the underground parking lot and passed next to a Toyota Avalon that was being washed by the wash while you shop guys and to my own disbelief he was doing it with his bare hands :shocked , no sponge or washing liquid just his hand and water. I couldn't help but laugh a little :D as I walked next to their stand where it said Hand wash $15 , I never tought they literally meant a hand wash. As I left the mall I watched that same guy dry the Avalon with a dirty towel as cars passed right next to him spraying dirty water from the ground all over the car and he just continued drying it.:rolleyes:



At the end of the day I felt a lot better about making the effort of washing my car myself and not letting someone else do it:xyxthumbs
 
My mother-in-law decided to give me a nice surprise early this morning with a 'car-wash' by spraying down my new, swirl-free M35 Sport and then wiping it dry with a few of her old rags she keeps to wash her own car. No soap, no wash mitt...just spray it down and then wipe it dry with very dirty towels.



I was so upset at her but couldn't say anything because she's the sweetest thing on the face of this planet and often treats me better than her own son. My wife (God bless her heart) wanted to yell at her, but I had to stop her. Her Mom would have been heartbroken.
 
I gotta get a camera phone to post the crazy stuff I see at the local swirl center.



Yesterday I watched a guy spray Armor All wheel cleaner on his steaming hot wheels and then proceed to wipe off with paper towels, no rinse. Thats a might strong cleaner for those who havent tried it. This was being done at the vacum area. When I say his wheels were hot I mean hot, the smell of the acid on the wheels is what made me look. And to think I sweat it if my wheels get AZ when the outside temps ae hot never mind the wheel temp
 
My soon- to- be father- in- law is a good guy , but not too savvy.

He's the type that never wants to let on that someone --- especially someone younger than him --- might know better than him about ANYTHING.

So after I invited him to the house one weekend with the promise of a barbecue and a detail for his SUV , I was less than surprised when he showed up with the vehicle in a general state of cleanliness...damned if I was gonna get the upper hand on HIM.

Upon asking him the obligatory , "So , you washed your car , huh"? , he proceeds to tell me how he cleverly just wiped it down with commercial strength APC (for hotel use , by the way) and a terry cloth towel.

Not wanting to show him up and start an argument by telling him that he probably just stripped any vestiges of wax that MIGHT have been on the car AND scratched the S**T out of his finish , I humored him and told him how good it looked.

I then sat back and watched as he commandeered the grill and burned the food while rain fell flat and cloudy on his paint finish.



......just eat it and smile.
 
There was a 11 year old girl down my street washing her mom's liberty. You could tell she wanted to help and was ready all in her bathing suit and she rinsed the car by repeatedly "slapping" the water nozzle (not literally, but the water flow was "slapped" on to the vehicle), then used a good 'ole kitchen sponge and God knows what kind of soap/shampoo in circular motions on the hood.



And then I saw a Cayenne going through the swirley a couple of days ago. Sheesh.
 
Intermezzo said:
My mother-in-law decided to give me a nice surprise early this morning with a 'car-wash' by spraying down my new, swirl-free M35 Sport and then wiping it dry with a few of her old rags she keeps to wash her own car. No soap, no wash mitt...just spray it down and then wipe it dry with very dirty towels.



I was so upset at her but couldn't say anything because she's the sweetest thing on the face of this planet and often treats me better than her own son. My wife (God bless her heart) wanted to yell at her, but I had to stop her. Her Mom would have been heartbroken.
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These are the hardest ones to swallow.... How do you tell them? How do you refuse their good intentions? Well, at least she gave you an excuse to work on the paint.
 
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