Dealership detailers

I cant understand what the problem with dealer detailers. If they use clean mits, and towels they shouldnt have a problem. Most cars dont need a buffer used , actually just a spray wax is all they need. I knew some dealer detailers and they were pretty good , but they were union workers and made good money , and were doing there trade for 10 to 15 years.
 
Scottwax said:
Agree 100% with both your posts. Other than Sewell, there is not a dealership in the Dallas area that does new car prep well, with Moritz being the absolute worst. Holograms from improper buffing are the number one problem I see from dealership detailers. I am sure there are some dealers out there who understand how important it is to have a competent detailing staff but I can tell you in the Dallas area, it is quite rare.
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I visited a prestige new car dealer last week (to hang out with the Ferraris :2thumbs:) and wandered around for a while watching the "cleaners :grinno:" give the Maseratis, Jags, Lambos etc their weekly bath.



Shocked and dismayed. Is all I can say.



Actually, no, I can say heaps more.



From not even knowing what products they're using.. "I dunno, it just comes in a big bottle" to "this is how we clean the cars" (said as they wash the tyres, dip the sponge....SPONGE.... back in the bucket and clean the rest of the car).



Granted, you want to pay minimum wage, and have the untrained do the training, then, I guess you get what you pay for. :rolleyes:



But then had a chat to the distributor (just supplies the products to the dealership) out the back, asking about their products and if he'd noticed the holograms on the Maserati out the front.. and one of the detailers was coming to get a pad and asked "What's a hologram......?" :banned:



"PUT DOWN THE ROTARY, AND BACK AWAY FROM THE VEHICLE"



Just thought it. I shook my head, and vowed when I buy my Ferrari.....
 
dublifecrisis said:
the VW dealer where I get my car serviced actually has a gas station type wash tunnel. they do the complimentary car wash for oil changes etc and I always decline it. When I bought the car new, they did decent job and avoided swirls etc.
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Yeah, I've learned to decline the dealership washes as well. I used to own a Saturn that went through the "automatic" wash tunnel, and it destroyed one of my wheels on my car. The dealership ended up buying me a new wheel to fix the damage that occurred because they didn't have a disclaimer on their servicing contract that said, "The dealership is not responsible for any damage that occurs while your car is in for service."



At any rate, to stay on topic with the dealership detailers - There are detailers at the dealership, and there are "wash detailers".



The latter are the guys who are paid minimum wage to spray water onto your car and wipe it off with a huge stack of terrycloth towels that have been dropped on the ground, used to wipe grime off of wheels and then used in the same usage to dry off a hood, etc.



DETAILERS will bust out the DA or rotary and clean your car within an inch of its life, and are usually only seen working on new cars as a way to get it ready for sale to a customer.



Keep in mind, however, that most true dealership detailers are cranking out as many cars as the salespeople are selling, so they're going to skimp on certain steps if they can, because of time constraints. I'm not saying that ALL detailers are like this, but let's face it - if you have 14-15 cars being sold in a day, and you're the one who's supposed to be doing a full detail, are you going to be able to spend 6+ hours getting ONE car completely prepped for sale? Probably not.
 
I too used to work for a dealership and was absolutely shocked when I went to work there. All cars got washed with a brush, even the dark colored cars. I watched a guy my first day detail a brand new black Escalade using a wool cutting pad to apply wax on the paint, and then remove the wax using the same pad...with a dewalt rotary. I saw another guy spray down an entire car with tire shine because he thought it would make it look shiny...this guy could not speak english, nor had any experience even washing a car. Neeedless to say within the first week I was the new Detail Manager and began training an entirely new staff. At this dealership they were paid by the car and always had cars waiting on them, so the more cars you got done in a day, the more money you made, and no one ever inspected the work.
 
jwinders- Were you able to get the dealership's prep squared away or were you [spitting] into the wind?



Saintlysins said:
..I am happy to say that one of the detailers (out of a dozen I guess) asked me how I did that and you could tell he truly wanted to learn more. I handed him my business card, and he’s called me. I’m meeting him at the shop Saturday morning. I hope, after his tour, he’ll join the team. I love recruiting this way. :bigups
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Hey, that's great news!



lawrencea said:
I cant understand what the problem with dealer detailers. If they use clean mits, and towels they shouldnt have a problem..
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Of of the problems is that many dealerships pinch pennies and don't *have* decent materials for their guys to use. And/or they don't keep 'em clean because laundering takes time and money.



Even as kid, I had to say "this is *my* buffer and these are *my* towels, don't touch 'em", which sure didn't endear me to my fellow employees (nor did the boss' saying that only I could do the dark-colored cars).



And, heh heh, considering how much I went through figuring out how to wash without marring, it's quite possibly just beyond many of the people hired to do this work; they simply don't have an understanding of what's going on (or what *should* be going on). I know that if I do *one* sloppy wash a vehicle usually isn't perfect any more...and *my* version of "sloppy" isn't what most people are doing by a long shot ;)
 
I know this discussion has been mostly about new car condition, but here's my latest dealer detail. This cusotomer said the car looked fine when he picked it up and he only hand washed it once before he brought it to me. Now I know that he could have marred it some if he washed it himself incorrectly, but he didn't do THIS kind of damage:

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Obviously it was auction or dealer prepped or these would have been visible upon delivery.
 
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