What I meant by "don't wash my car" was just that...

I just got by car back from my 15K service. As suspected, they could find no trace of a rough idle or power loss through the rpm band. Fine, I'll just have to live with it for a while until it throws out fault codes.

What really made me mad though was how they "washed" my car. I specifically told him on 3 seperate instances during check-in NOT TO WASH THE CAR. I made it perfectly clear each time that I didn't want them to wash my car. Where's the cofusion? I see none.

When I pick my car up, sure enough, they had washed it. A quick lookover shows it's like they wiped it with sandpaper. It's awful. Swirl marks on every square inch of the vehicle. You'd have to try to get it this bad. Then I remembered how they "wash" the cars...a wet rag. That's it. They wipe the wet rag over the car and wipe the dirt off. No soap, no drying. I've seen them do it to new cars (a pickup truck with a huge barrel of water and some rags) and serviced (a shack with water and rags).

The manager was apologetic and tried to make small talk. Also, the person who I told on 3 occasions was a new guy. Still though, he managed to document my problems, couldn't he take a simple note? The damage is done though. I take my time washing my car (3 hours) to prevent this from happening. The damage is done. While I like the service center for the most part, this really upsets me. We've bought 4 new BMWs from them in the past 3 years. Despite salesperson lack of knowledge and motivation, we've been pleased.

BMW NA should be following up in the coming weeks on my service visit. I really want to bring this up and let them know how mad I am about it. Is this an advisable course of action? The service itself was fine, and I'll score them accordingly. At the end though, they ask, "is there anything you'd like to add?".

"Yes ma'am, there is."

/me runs off to print out the "DO NOT WASH" signs

"As suspected, they could find no trace of a rough idle or power loss through the rpm band. Fine, I'll just have to live with it for a while until it throws out fault codes."

Hello. I had a similar problem recently on my 4Runner. The problem felt like a miss in the timing, but no fault codes were produced. It turned out that a spark plug had a hairline crack in the ceramic insulator, and was intermittently shorting to the block. New spark plugs (all around) and the problem was solved.
You may be fortunate enough to have this inexpensive DIY fix.

Exactly. I have a bunch of 'Do Not Wash' signs, which I stick them all over the interior before handing the keys to the service guy. It really works.

Originally Posted by Alex Baumann

Exactly. I have a bunch of 'Do Not Wash' signs, which I stick them all over the interior before handing the keys to the service guy. It really works.

You'd think that these grown men could handle simple instructions though.

So, should I mention it on the customer service call? Have I a right to be upset?

Originally Posted by Alex Baumann

Exactly. I have a bunch of 'Do Not Wash' signs, which I stick them all over the interior before handing the keys to the service guy. It really works.

Yep, that is probably the best way to insure that the car actually will not get washed.

Originally Posted by eluder

You'd think that these grown men could handle simple instructions though.

So, should I mention it on the customer service call? Have I a right to be upset?

Of course id mention it...This is a $40K car not a smashed loaf of bread at the grocery store...

Id be so pissed that I would be proactive with the dealership and BMWNA.

Also, unless you write a letter documenting the issue to both parties don't expect anything to happen.

Originally Posted by LmtdSlip

Of course id mention it...This is a $40K car not a smashed loaf of bread at the grocery store...

Id be so pissed that I would be proactive with the dealership and BMWNA.

Also, unless you write a letter documenting the issue to both parties don't expect anything to happen.

I just typed a nice letter to them both. Here's hoping...

I don't think that BMWNA will get involved in this, for the dealers in the USA are independent companies working on their own account (that is what I know, at least).

Since car wash is an extra service that the dealership is providing, there is almost nothing that BMWNA could do in this situation, IMO.

If I were you, I'd spare the letter to BMWNA and try to solve the problem with the dealership instead.

Originally Posted by eluder

BMW NA should be following up in the coming weeks on my service visit. I really want to bring this up and let them know how mad I am about it. Is this an advisable course of action? The service itself was fine, and I'll score them accordingly. At the end though, they ask, "is there anything you'd like to add?".

"Yes ma'am, there is."

/me runs off to print out the "DO NOT WASH" signs

If this dealer sensed that you didn't like your service, they will probably just change your phone number on the work order, so that BMWNA won't be able to get a hold of you. This is a common practice.

As far as BMWNA goes, if they won't intervene when Savage BMW totalled my car on a joyride, what makes you think they care about swirl marks on your car?

I got swirl marks all over the place too with my the other car a few years ago. I found the dealship used a mop to clean cars, when the car is 'clean', they used the same mop to clean up the floor. I didn't ask for any compensation, I would if I knew I could do that. I thought it was hard to prove it was that car wash they provided caused all the swirl marks.

But yeah, I hate these people who wash others cars like this. This is equivalent to vandalism, which is also free of charge.

Originally Posted by Stuka

If this dealer sensed that you didn't like your service, they will probably just change your phone number on the work order, so that BMWNA won't be able to get a hold of you. This is a common practice.

As far as BMWNA goes, if they won't intervene when Savage BMW totalled my car on a joyride, what makes you think they care about swirl marks on your car?

Don't even bring up your story Stuka, it makes my blood boil the way you were treated. This is miniscule in comparison, no doubt. But nonetheless something that I think should be brought to someone's attention, even if they don't give a rat's ass.

Even though I've typed the letter, I don't think I'll send it. As others have mentioned, I fear it will be futile. I've decided I'll just complain when the survey calls, as a note. I might give the Service Manager a call tomorrow and remind him what the error messed up. He's a nice guy. I just want to complain, I don't really expect anything in return.

Originally Posted by rumratt

Keep in mind that reaming the SA on the survey scores will not actually gain you anything, other than getting the SA pissed at you.

Calling him and saying "unless you can think of something to convince me otherwise, I'm going to ream your ass out on the survey." might get you something. (what you should ask for, I'm not sure).

The common courtesy of a reach-around while they're "servicing" you?

Originally Posted by rumratt

Keep in mind that reaming the SA on the survey scores will not actually gain you anything, other than getting the SA pissed at you.

Calling him and saying "unless you can think of something to convince me otherwise, I'm going to ream your ass out on the survey." might get you something. (what you should ask for, I'm not sure).

I would ask for a hand detail by a professional detailer of your choice, on their tab. Get an estimate, bring it in, deal with someone who can approve it. They may have a detail shop in-house, but then again, I'm not sure I'd want their hands on my car again either.

I like the idea of "DO NOT WASH" signs, gonna make some for my next visit too. Can I put a "DON'T TOUCH MY NAV, RADIO, SEAT, STEERING WHEEL, or MIRROR CONTROLS EITHER!!!"

Maybe "Do not wash" translates into "Use a wet rag to clean my car"? Next time try "Do not clean my car... at all."

Reminds me of the time I took the car in 'cause they promised me a free detail (I was naive, ok?) -- I get back in and the entire interior's shiny (Armor-all/Son-of-a-Gun shiny). I was freaking out! I purposely got Vinylex and Hide Food so that the interior would remain factory and they go and do this... the car was 2 weeks old!!! Fortunately it all came out with a wet rag...

Each time I take mine to the dealer, I have the Service Advisor write on the service doc you sign before you leave, in permanent marker, DO NOT WASH

If its not written down, they don't know about it.

Sorry to hear of your episode.

I guess I'm lucky...my dealer doesn't offer this "service".

As jvr mentioned above, get an estimate from your detailer of choice and present it to the dealer's General Manager. If he hesitates to take care of you, GET IN HIS FACE and let him know how you feel. They will pick up the tab.

Good luck

Originally Posted by /\/\

As jvr mentioned above, get an estimate from your detailer of choice and present it to the dealer's General Manager. If he hesitates to take care of you, GET IN HIS FACE and let him know how you feel. They will pick up the tab.

Good luck

... especially if there are other customers in the general vacinity. It's a damn shame you can't make a request and have it honored without sitting there and watching your car every second it's there.

Last time I took my car in for oil service, I requested no car wash and they even had their own signs there that read "No Car Wash".

Originally Posted by Sicily1918

Maybe "Do not wash" translates into "Use a wet rag to clean my car"? Next time try "Do not clean my car... at all."

Reminds me of the time I took the car in 'cause they promised me a free detail (I was naive, ok?) -- I get back in and the entire interior's shiny (Armor-all/Son-of-a-Gun shiny). I was freaking out! I purposely got Vinylex and Hide Food so that the interior would remain factory and they go and do this... the car was 2 weeks old!!! Fortunately it all came out with a wet rag...

Wait, so what happened? They detailed your car okay but they also used Armor All on the inside? Is that a bad thing? I bought Armor All for my tires, but it says you can use it on the interior, too...

Also, I'm in a situation that is a little different. The CA convinced me to let them wash my car (so it's not that they washed my car over my objections, as for eluder). This was on delivery of my car. Anyway, they got swirl marks all over, as everyone here said they would. The dealership arranged for the owner of the car wash to detail my car. Should I not trust the dealership's detailer? He did say he'd need it for a whole day, but from a thread I posted earlier, it sounded like that part was reasonable.

Originally Posted by swchang

Wait, so what happened? They detailed your car okay but they also used Armor All on the inside? Is that a bad thing? I bought Armor All for my tires, but it says you can use it on the interior, too...

Stay away from Armor All... period.... end of story...

Originally Posted by swchang

Wait, so what happened? They detailed your car okay but they also used Armor All on the inside? Is that a bad thing? I bought Armor All for my tires, but it says you can use it on the interior, too...

The 'detail' consisted of washing it (at least they used water and proper cleaning materials) and shinying up the inside, which I did not want. I'm not sure what they used for the inside, only that it washed out with wet rags.

As far as Armor-All, it's great for ruining the inside of the car, although it takes quite some time for it to show, as it's long-term damage. If you're gonna detail, my recommendations are:

• Vinylex for the vinyl/plastic/dash -- I tried Meguiar's vinyl protectant but it's got such a strong plasticky smell I couldn't stand it (it's pretty bad).

• Lexol Leather Cleaner and Conditioners for the... well, leather...

• An alternate, but much better product for your leather is Hide Food, but it takes forever to apply it properly and can stain the leather if not applied properly (not that it's rocket science to apply the stuff).

• For your tires, try Son-of-a-Gun Tire Gloss or Black Magic Tire Wet (I'm sure the guys here can recommend other products too).

here is my suggestion,

i've learned this lesson not to trust anyone in terms of handling my valuable car.

i printed out "to-do" & "not-to-do" list and made few copies and handed over to the service advisors and also taped it up on interior of the car.

actually, the dealer service dept rather appreciated the way i did, because it was simple and easy reminder for them.

just make sure you don't write an essay, because people tend to ignor if it's too long... know what i mean?

good luck next time

Originally Posted by doeboy

Stay away from Armor All... period.... end of story...

Um, am I to assume that period means on the tires, too? 'Cuz if so... (already used it once).

Why the animosity towards Armor All as opposed to other products anyway? Or should I do a search?

Originally Posted by swchang

Um, am I to assume that period means on the tires, too? 'Cuz if so... (already used it once).

Why the animosity towards Armor All as opposed to other products anyway? Or should I do a search?

1) It leaves that gross glossy slippery oily coat on your dash...
2) Eventually it will dry out your dash and it will start cracking...

Don't worry about your tires... eventually they get replaced anyway... a dash or entire car interior is a little more expensive to replace...