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Poor quality from dealer detail/touchup

1K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  pony killer 
#1 ·
So I got my car back from the dealer today and I'm not happy. After a week (Monday afternoon to today) of them having it for a detail, paint touch up and replacing the tailight, the result are putrid. The detail sucks, the interior still has smudges and dust everywhere (the dash pad was completely clean when I left it but is dirty now) and the paint is more swirled than before with no trace of wax whatsoever. The touch up is horrifying as there are layers of orange and brownish paint on my red car. And this stuff is caked on. Mind you this is a GM dealership working on a GM car so the proper paint color should have been available. And lastly the tailght. They should of had in Tuesday but didn't have it till thursday. Then whilst installing it they "noticed" the tailight was cracked and chipped. So here I am today, just receiving my car, and still no taillight as it was suppose to be in the next day since wednesday.

Is there anything I can do about their poor job at the touch up, as it looks way worse than before?
 
#2 ·
Talk to the manager if that does not work escalate to GM directly.
 
#3 ·
I'm sorry for your poor experience. As competitive as everything is, I would be shocked if they did not make good on this. It's too easy to take your business elsewhere, especially when these are things that you're paying for out of your own pocket (as opposed to warranty work). They WANT that kind of business. They'll authorize the do-over.
 
#4 ·
Never ever let a dealer do a detail. Their idea of a wash is a hose and a brush.
 
#5 ·
I work in detail at a GM dealership. I too would be worried handing off my G8 to someone at a different dealership. The detail employees are usually teens just out of high school.

Maybe they only buffed the paint and didn't use the swirl remover compound. My supervisor has told me stories of places only buffing the vehicle and not doing the swirl removel or waxing. Then the customer will complain about the job and will be told that it will cost extra to remove the swirls because the customer only stated that they wanted it washed and buffed. People shouldn't have to list off every single step in the process to get what they originaly wanted.

Chances are they made no attempt at ordering the touch up paint for your car and just figured "red is red" and used whatever they had lying around.

I would talk to the manager and point out the problem areas on the car where they supposidly fixed or detailed it. If they give you the run around, tell them if they don't fix it they will receive a bill from the auto body shop your taking it to for the damage to the paint.

I don't think you can do much about the tail light shipping issue. The dealership doesn't really controle how fast they can get the part.

Hope it all gets straightend out for you.
 
#6 ·
A good detail from a dealership. That's like...

  • A fox making an excellent hen house guardian.
  • Fart cans on Honda's equaling horsepower.
  • Republicans and democrats holding hands and singing Kumbaya.
  • AC/DC making a Christmas album.
  • Finding Turtle Wax in Junkman's detailing arsenal and him using it to make paint shine.

Hell will freeze over before any of that happens.
 
#7 ·
What I failed to mention earlier is the car was purchased used from the dealer. The touch up was thrown in as part of the deal/purchase. Now the car looks worse than it did with the bare scratches. So much glob on one scratch it leaves shadows in the evening. I'm taking the car back Saturday (if a proper taillight arrives) to have the tail lamp installed and will bring all of these hideous sores to the managers attention.
 
#8 ·
Make them redo the detail until satisfied. If they can even get it there.

I saw the no wax comment and not to defend them but if they did the job right , then you shouldn't see wax.

Most detail shops , be it a dealer or otherwise is going to have young college and high school kids working there.

I'm a detail manager for the Dealership and I'd put my work up against ANYBODY ! Anyone ! Any time. I try to not take offense to some comments about dealerships detailing department sucking because they are right. I , amongst some others are the exception to the rule.
 
#10 ·
... I try to not take offense to some comments about dealerships detailing department sucking because they are right. I , amongst some others are the exception to the rule.
I'm pretty sure that there are exceptions to the rule out there but they are far, and I mean REALLY far and few in between. Some of the crap that I have seen dealerships put out should be against the law. If a dealership was the last place on earth to get my car detailed because I couldn't do it myself, I'd have the paint stripped off and go with the primered look.
 
#9 ·
There are always exceptions with dealers and detailing quality. If trained properly, even a high school or college student can do it right. Doubt the manager will be around on a weekend but you should bring it to their attention. Hope you get it resolved.
 
#11 ·
When I was hired at my dealership I just remember everyone saying "Oh thank God we finally got an adult in here!" I've been working there for about 7 months now and we have already gone through 3 people. 2 kids and 1 adult (who was as mature as a kid).

But I would tend to agree that finding a dealership that knows how to detail properly is pretty rare. That's why I do the best that I can with every vehicle that comes my way. People should feel that when they bring their vehicle into the dealership that the job was done properly. Everyone loves to see their car looking brand new again.
 
#12 ·
Keep it up Matt. If the term still works with youth these days , I'd say , lead by example . I find it does sometimes but if the manager isn't doing the leading , then trying to get the rest of them to fall in line is difficult.

I've got a pretty solid team right now and they need to improve but I have dealt with worse.

I've seen people who only last a day because they can't handle the expectations and responsibilities but those are the guys I don't want any way , so it's a win win for me .
 
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