Service Department Destroyed New Car's Finish

[smpeck]

Well the unthinkable happened last Friday.

I put my new 135i in the shop for an oil change at 2,200 miles. Upon check in, I informed the Service Manager that I DID NOT want my car washed. I'm very anal about anyone washing my car.

Upon check out, I was told my car had been "cleaned up".

Attached are the pics of the resulting damage.

It's obvious to me they used a filthy mitt and scratched the hell out of the clear coat. What a mess!

First, I specifically stated that I did not want my car washed. That was their first mistake. But what if I had wanted them to wash the car? This is the type of job they do?

Anyone who is curious, this was done by the folks at Sandy Sansing BMW in Pensacola, Florida.

These scratches are beyond simple spiderweb scratches. Some friends suggest that I demand the car be re-clearcoated. I'm a bit reluctant to have their body shop do anything to the car based on previous bad results from their body shop.

Any suggestions?

[Linoleum87]

WOW! Did they wash it with sandpaper? Thats totally unacceptable. I would discuss it with the SA, and (as politely as possible) demand they cover the cost of a paint correction done by a professional shop (not their in-house idiots).

Good luck.

[Papa13]

you need at least a 2 step polish. Make sure that BMW covers the cost of a detail. I would raise hell. Hope you get it worked out

[Lester]

Phone BMW NA and explain what happenend. Call the GM of your dealer and tell him that you plan to report this to BMW NA. Tell him you expect nothing less than the damage to be fully repaired at their expense.

[matt]

daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn.

[ZedClever]

Oh man this is one of my worst nightmares. Really sorry this happened to you. +1 demand that they pay to fix it, and NOT at their shop at the one of your choosing because obviously the people there have no freaking clue what they are doing. Good LUCK!

[imdanomite]

BMW NA will have nothing to do with this. this is the dealership alone...that's fucking terrible.

[BlackjackMulligan]

Holy crap. Welcome to the wonderful world of Black BMWs. How did the dealer react to the damage?

Here's my suggestion:

Ask around your area to find the BEST detailer around. Make sure you ask true car enthusiasts. Take it to him and get an estimate, also have him tell you whether or not he thinks he can make it perfect again (probably can).

Go to your (stupid, careless) dealer and tell them that they're footing the bill or else you're taking them to small claims court. That's simply unacceptable.

[smpeck]

>> How did the dealer react to the damage?

The Service Manager informed me those were not scratches, but what they call "spiderwebbing". I got the impression he didn't see what the big deal was, and with me having told him directly prior to service that I didn't want my car washed, one would think he would have been a bit more apologetic. But I guess that would have been accepting blame for the damage.

After I threw my temper tantrum, they offered to hand wax the car. I originally agreed to that, but after a few minutes I realized the same idiot who washed it was going to be waxing it, so I put an end to that immediately.

I figured I could hand wax it myself and do a better job.

I told them they had f'ed up my car enough and I got out of there.

[1013mm]

HOLY CRAP!!!! really sorry for your loss! but I would get a good detailer and talk to the dealership manager.... after all you told the SA not to have your car washed.

[1013mm]

Originally Posted by BlackjackMulligan

Holy crap. Welcome to the wonderful world of Black BMWs. How did the dealer react to the damage?

Here's my suggestion:

Ask around your area to find the BEST detailer around. Make sure you ask true car enthusiasts. Take it to him and get an estimate, also have him tell you whether or not he thinks he can make it perfect again (probably can).

Go to your (stupid, careless) dealer and tell them that they're footing the bill or else you're taking them to small claims court. That's simply unacceptable.

still not going to do much since he has to pay for detailing at least every 6months until he lets the car go....

[Guildenstern]

Hey that looks like my car too. Mine came that way from dealer prep. My dad's M6 is like that too. Our Dealer is great, but they need to just give up on the car washes.

[BlackjackMulligan]

Originally Posted by jzhang

still not going to do much since he has to pay for detailing at least every 6months until he lets the car go....

Why? A good detailer and 2 step polish removes swirls, it doesn't hide them (like a dealer would). It should be as good as new as long as they're not too deep.

[shawshank772]

Holly shit!! The dealer scratched my car as well but not nearly as bad as that. Since I am cool with my SA we took it next door to the body shop (not the bmw body shop). They took it for the day and did a 4 step process on it. It cost the BMW dealership 400 dollars to fix my car. Thank god for a good SA. He even said "well now I have to explain why I just spent money on the car instead of having our guys do it". He was smart enough to know the same monkeys would be doing the correction.

[1013mm]

Originally Posted by BlackjackMulligan

Why? A good detailer and 2 step polish removes swirls, it doesn't hide them (like a dealer would). It should be as good as new as long as they're not too deep.

because after 6 months or so he will be footing the bill for detailing for something his dealer caused.

[amsfoto]

That literally made me nauseous looking at those pictures. I have Jet Black and know all about swirls.

[Greg@DetailedImage]

That is absolutely terrible, I'm so sorry to hear about that. You can restore the paint on your own and I'd be happy to help you. I have tons of great product recommendations and detailing advice for you. If you need any help please don't hesitate to e-mail me or PM me. Take Care!

Greg @ Detailed Image

[J-Sud]

makes me want to cry....

[JohnL135I]

Menzerna SIP green pad followed by Menzerna 106FA white pad, it will be good as new, but will take a lot of time. (You might not even need the SIP and green pad...)

[smpeck]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I'm writing a letter to the owner of the dealership along with pictures of the car. At this point I'll be asking the dealership to cover the cost of a professional detailing that will hopefully resolve the issue.

The challenge I'm faced with now is finding a detail shop I can trust with a Jet Black BMW.

Any suggestions on what to ask a body shop/detailer to determine if they are skilled enough to not ruin the finish even more?

The last thing I want is some goofball with an orbital buffer doing more damage...

[SlapSmak]

PM Me, I live in Jax, My parents live in Ft. Walton. I might be coming over in the next couple of weeks. I do a select few cars around town and have fixed worse.
I had to tell my SA 3 times not to wash mine when I took it in 2 weeks ago.. they were going to run in through their "brushless" car wash.

[Justin]

Is that just the sun shining on it or a halogen light? The dealer washed mine and it looks quite bad as well when under a halogen, but pretty reasonable otherwise. It's amazing what you'll see with the halogen.