Do dealers always wash their cars that come in for service?

M

mikebai1990

New member
I'm having my fairly new Mazda MPV going to the dealer for a rotor replacement (prematurely warped). I'm worried that they will wash the MPV and put new swirls in it. Do they usually wash the car when performing service and warranty work? Should I specifically mention to them that I don't want it cleaned? Or maybe should I wash it squeaky clean first? :)
 
Well, depends on the stealership (I mean dealership). I drive a Sentra and go to a Nissan/Infiniti dealership, so they don't wash mine. That said, I like to bring the car in nice and clean so that I can see any kind of damage or staining that may have been incurred. That, and mechanics prefer working on clean cars and engines. They'll take more care if it looks like you give a @@it.
 
CleanV said:
They'll take more care if it looks like you give a @@it.
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that's what i was thinking as well, that's why i washed and qd my car before i took it in on thursday for the 4 hour/60k maitenance. they were really impressed on the condition of it! :)



mikebai1990 said:
Should I specifically mention to them that I don't want it cleaned? Or maybe should I wash it squeaky clean first? :)
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prior to them writing my car up, i mention to them not to wash the car and they write it on the invoice (NO WASH) for the attendants to see...
 
mikebai1990 said:
Should I specifically mention to them that I don't want it cleaned? Or maybe should I wash it squeaky clean first? :)
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prior to them writing my car up, i mention to them not to wash the car and they write it on the invoice for them to see...
 
My old local Nissan/Honda dealership washed every single car that came in, regardless if it was dirty or not... they even washed them if it was raining or snowing outside! Kinda ridiculous, but oh well.



I don't take my cars to dealerships, but I can guarantee you that if I ever did, I too would be putting a large sign in it saying "Wash this and you die!"
 
Some dealers do it all the time, and most customers like that. My Lexus dealer has a "touchless" car wash and all cars in for service get washed at "no charge." I think many dealers of more expensive cars do this, but I'm not sure which ones do and which ones do not. All Lexus dealers do this as a mandatory policy; at Mazda, my guess is that it's an option with the dealership.



I, of course, don't want anybody else or any machine washing my car, so I have a page printed up that says "Please do not wash this car today." (I find that the "please" gets a better response than "or buy me a new one," which is hardly an accurate measure of damages anyway). I put this on the dash of the car when I go in for service, because a mention of this request to the service rep will sometimes get lost, and the car gets washed anyway.



On the way home, I put the page in the glove box where it waits for the next visit.
 
The Lexus dealer I goto washes every car that comes for service.

The car looks nice when it is all wet, but when it dried lots of swirlies.

Now I specifically tell them NO WASH. Its like they wash with sandpaper!!
 
I'm setting up to repolish my car within the next couple of days to fix the butcherjob the local toyota dealer did on the paint, despite a request to the service manager and a "Please do not wash this car" sign taped over the radio. Given the amount of swirling on the car, I'm assuming they washed it with steel wool - it's never looked this bad in its lifetime. Sometimes they just don't listen :( .
 
Even telling the service manager and having it written on the invoice is no guarantee the stealership wash butchers won't mangle your car. One of my customers did just that and not only did Moritz BMW wash her car anyway, but the crap they sprayed on her tires slung all down the side of her car on the way home.
 
What really doesn't help is that at a lot of dealerships, the people detailing the cars are teenagers or college kids just wanting a cool summer job or quick money. At least that's how it is in my town. Not to generalize, but seriously... most 17 year olds are not detailing experts!
 
I tell them not to wash it, the dealership has it listed in my profile and I emind the writer each time it goes in. Many delaerships do the washes as a courtesy
 
Ok, I will break it down so all of you can understand this. I am a Detail Manager at a 5 star Certified Chrysler Stealership...





Any Dealership that is Certified HAS to wash it's customers cars if they want to retain its Certified (5 star) ranking. They have no choice because the parent compainies mandate it. We also own a Ford, Chevy, and Kia and they all mandate this. We have no choice.



The worrse thing is that Corparate doesn't help in the paying of getting this 'service' done. WHat does that mean to you? We are forced to hire the 'cheapest' help we can to get this washing done. That usually means hiring a recent High School grad at minumin wage who is just doing this 'job' so he can get some spending money.



An average size Service Department can go thru 20-30 vehicles a day. This 'kid' then will be required to 'wash' all these cars in an 8 hour day! Personally, it takes me an hour to was my vehicle properly!!! BTW, I dont allow him to wash my car either!!!!!



All I can say is to tell the service writter in writing not to wash the car, put a note in the car, and make sure the Service Manager knows you will hold him responsible if it does get washed. Since the Service writter and Service Manager's pay is tied into his CSI score, threaten to give him 0% scores on his survey. He will listen to that.





I hope this helps some...
 
The above post makes a good point. There are different kinds of washes.



If the wash is being done by a person, it is probably the lowest paid person there, usually the kid who runs errands and moves the tires around. He will wash the car with a dirty sponge and dry it with his shop towel. This is the way he washes new cars for delivery, also.



Some dealerships have a automated car wash installed, but I would think that this is rare. My Lexus dealer has one, and he showed it to me because he was very proud that it was "touchless" and would not mark up the car. We did not get into the details of whether it uses the same water all day long or not, but at least some dealers recognize the problem and try to avoid marking up the cars.



It's a shame because the dealer is only trying to help. Most customers probably appreciate the wash, because most customers don't care for their cars all that well. I have a neighbor who is a busy single mom with a 6 year old son and a full time business that she runs. As I walked by her house in the rain yesterday, I noticed that her fairly new car had NO wax protection at all -- but she has other things that take up her time. I have the luxury of being able to learn here how to keep my car looking good and how to protect the paint, etc. Not everybody (1) has that luxury and (2) even cares about the paint.
 
dmxsoulja3 said:
put a huge freaking sign that says don't wash my car or you are buying me a new one... thats what I do.
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I did the sign method once and it brought me much amusement. Sure, I received funny looks from the whole service department, but it was well worth it so I wouldn't have any more dealer-installed swirls!
 
cute02spec said:
What really doesn't help is that at a lot of dealerships, the people detailing the cars are teenagers or college kids just wanting a cool summer job or quick money. At least that's how it is in my town. Not to generalize, but seriously... most 17 year olds are not detailing experts!
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ill admit that
 
dmxsoulja3 said:
put a huge freaking sign that says don't wash my car or you are buying me a new one... thats what I do.
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I keep a big sign in the glove box that says "Do Not Wash Me!!!!!" I put it on the instrument cluster of my BMW. I have sat by the service bay and watched them wash every car that came out. Same bucket and same dirty rag in the middle of the winter.



Steve
 
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