I'm so perturbed now. I spend an entire week detailing my car, it was beautiful, I took it to the Honda Dealership in Hagerstown Maryland to have it aligned and I just noticed this morning that the jerk who worked on my car took it upon himself to wipe my whole entire car down with a shop rag to remove fingerprints and smudges. My car is so scratched.:angry Anyone have any ideas if I can get Honda to repaint my car? I was thinking about taking a picture and keep going up the ladder of people until I found someone with the authority to tell me yay or nay. :angry :angry :angry
Sooooo Mad at Hagerstown MD. Honda!
- Thread starter ahunt01
- Start date
Yeah it's swirled heavily. Swirls are small scratches in my book, but yeah I doubt they'll repaint it. I agree I really don't want them to detail my car either. I had some bad swirls on my car before, and about 5 coats of Z5 removed about 96% of them. But I'm not sure it'll do this. It may but I didn't want to touch it in case they'd repaint it. Lol yeah I know it's not gonna happen, I'm just burning off steam
Here's the car before http://www.citlink.net/~ahunt01/zainoed
Here's after Hagerstown Honda got their hands on it
http://www.citlink.net/~ahunt01/swirls :angry
Here's the car before http://www.citlink.net/~ahunt01/zainoed
Here's after Hagerstown Honda got their hands on it
http://www.citlink.net/~ahunt01/swirls :angry
stuart hicks
New member
That really blows what happened to your car. Repainting just makes your car no longer original. Those scratches will come out with a rotory though. I doubt a PC would do it, but i've taken those type of scratches out with a rotory and the trusty 3m line of products dozens of times.
Just grin and bear it and fix it yourself.
Just grin and bear it and fix it yourself.
Lol yeah it wouldn't be the first time I've goten screwed, nor the last probably. I would love to do the work myself, but I don't trust myself with an abrasive swirl remover. I would rather take it to a qualified detailer. The thing I don't like about using a rotary or any kind of abrasive compound is that it takes some of my clearcoat off. Normally I felt more comfortable just filling the swirls in with Z5 and it looked great for 2 months or so, then just one coat of Z5 every now and then maintained it. But I'm afraid I'll have to have something abrasive used this time. Hopefully with using Zaino now, instead of cheap Wal-Mart carnuba waxes like I used to, losing some clearcoat won't really matter since Zaino in itself is kind of like a clearcoat. Will a detailer have to strip off my Zaino before they can use an rotary buffer or some kind of swirl remover?
stuart hicks
New member
The thing you gotta know is that you've already lost some clear coat though. The damage is done so at least have it fixed. If you're not comfortable with a rotory then yea have someone else do it.
My problem was i was never comfortable with someone else using a rotory on my car so i learned for myself how to use one.
One thing you find is how many times you can actually buff a car with a rotory at medium speeds without hurting the clear coat.
Any way good luck with that whichever route you choose.
My problem was i was never comfortable with someone else using a rotory on my car so i learned for myself how to use one.
One thing you find is how many times you can actually buff a car with a rotory at medium speeds without hurting the clear coat.
Any way good luck with that whichever route you choose.
VetteToVair
New member
ahunt01 said:
Umm, Zaino isn't like your clearcoat. Any paint cleaner or the slightest abrasive or even your own isopropyl alcohol/water mix should make short work of the Zaino. It will abolutely be gone if you have it detailed. On a brighter note, i think you are the only one who has successfully hidden bad swirls with Z5.
BTW, I would fix it myself or at least have a "pro" do it.
Yeah I'm worried it's going to be really hard to find a professional in West Virginia. I'm just curious, has anyone here had the dealership or your mechanic do something like this to your car? I've owned several cars just in the past 5 years, and I've never had a shop scratch my car up like this. Occasionally a nick or something but not to this extent.
imported_Smoker
New member
Ive seen and dealt with scratches like that a few times.
Depending on the car make and paint type it can take some getting out, but I've removed them.
I would try some DACP, go to Diamond Cut (be careful .....)
It might take 3 or 4 passes, so be patient.
Usual cause is little kids rubbing dusty paint ....... all too common.
Depending on the car make and paint type it can take some getting out, but I've removed them.
I would try some DACP, go to Diamond Cut (be careful .....)
It might take 3 or 4 passes, so be patient.
Usual cause is little kids rubbing dusty paint ....... all too common.
You dont need diamond cut thats way to strong. They didnt make those swirls they where already there probley. They just whipped the Z5 Off Z5 Doesnt remove anything it just hides it. Try DACP with a yellow pad and then Swirl free polish with a buffing or white pad. And all your swirls should be gone. Then apply a sealent IE AIO,UPP,EX,BF Should solve your problem. But either way he shouldent have toached it because if you had the swirls removed he would have made some.
Well the car had some swirls caused by the one and only time I took my car to a car wash which has brushes that you get out and clean the car with (one of the dumbest things I ever did). Anyways, the swirls weren't that bad. I fixed half of the swirls with Meguiars swirl remover, but it didn't take them all out. Z5 finished the job covering them up. I don't think they wiped the Z5 off, it looks like they tried to clean off their fingerprints with a shop rag :wall . Maybe it wasn't dirty, but my car was. I'm pretty sure that's what they did because I had put fingerprints on my hood before I took the car in, and when I got the car they were gone.
stuart hicks
New member
Those scratches are just that. I would say in looking at the scratches from the picture they've done far more than remove the Z5. As always go mild 1st then more aggresive if needed. Dacp is fine but 3m products seem to be best at removing scratches to me. Just a matter of preference though Perfect- it and finesse are my favorite.
Yeah I had caused verticle and circular scratches from the car wash and from careless washes at home, never horizontal scratches.
When and if I do need to take the car to a detailer, other than looking at other cars they work on, would tips would you guys have for selecting a pro? I'm hoping there might be some things that would stand out if they suck. I guess looking at customer's cars it the only real way to tell though..
When and if I do need to take the car to a detailer, other than looking at other cars they work on, would tips would you guys have for selecting a pro? I'm hoping there might be some things that would stand out if they suck. I guess looking at customer's cars it the only real way to tell though..
I'd get a quote from someone you trust to make return the car to it's prior condition and present the estimate to the owner of the dealership. Of course the most that he will off is to get his in house new car prep guy to spend some time on it which I wouldn't do. So you tell him that your going to take him to small clains court. Get your information together, including pictures and quotes and present them in a professional fashion to the judge....
Good luck.
P.S. My parents were married in Hagerstown a LONG time back...at times that had some swirls too , maybe it's in the water.
Good luck.
P.S. My parents were married in Hagerstown a LONG time back...at times that had some swirls too , maybe it's in the water.
To have the swirls removed by a professional detailer, what kind of price would I be looking at, roughly? I'd love to be able to take them to small claims court, but unless the detailing job would be a whole lot of money I'd rather not take up alot of my time with court. Being in my senior year in college I barely have time to do anything, except do school work and work on my car lol.
