WTF--"We won't buff it because it's black and new"
 

My car was in at the dealer for two things... a six month checkup and the bumper being resprayed (there was some minor paint peeling, so I made them take it off and redo it). They sent it to the local body shop that they do business with. I figured that, since I was planning on doing it anyway, I might as well get the car detailed while it's at a body shop. They called me a few days ago and gave me the options; $350 for color sanding (told 'em I didn't need that) or $250 with buffing. I thought $250 was a little steep, but I figured that it was safer than letting the local car wash and whatever guy they picked up from Home Depot that morning doing it. It had been there since Friday, so I called the dealer yesterday to see if it was almost done. He said it would be done that afternoon and that I could pick it up after 6pm. Around 4pm he calls and leaves a message... "The body shop says they won't buff the car for two reasons. First, it's black, and second, it's too new. We're just going to charge you $150 for the detailing." I called him back immediately and got his voicemail. I left a message saying "I'm not sure I'm understanding what's going on here... without buffing you're not going to get any of the hairline scratches out, that's the entire reason I want it detailed. I'm not paying $150 for a wash and wax." He called back and I talked to him; he said "Don't worry about the scratches, we got them all out. They used a polisher on it." So I went to get it and there was literally no difference at all; they kicked *** on the interior but I don't think they did anything other than wax the exterior. None of the hairline scratches (most of them are the type you get when the guy washing your car isn't using a clean sponge/rag, nothing major and nothing a good buffing shouldn't take care of) are gone.

Obviously I'm going back tomorrow to bitch about this, but I'd like to have some ammo. Has anyone ever heard the excuse they gave? You can't buff a black car? People won't buff newer cars? It seems to me that someone just wanted to rush this car so they could get off early for the holiday.

You should do it yourself.

I once happened to be watching a detailer about to start with an orbital polisher on my black 330 Cic. I took note that the guy was opening a fresh new polishing bonnet for his polisher, which put my mind at ease. I was watching from a place where he couldn't see me and didn't notice he was being watched. He had a little difficulty with the package of bonnets and one fell onto the concrete. He simply reached down, picked it up and put it on the polisher. I ran out there just as he was about to start sanding away my paint!

I told the guy never mind and took the car home to finish it off myself.

The body shop was scared the buff a new car.... Which happened to be black... Which happened to be a hard to maintain colour. Can't blame them. Would you rather have them lie and do a crap job or be honest like they did and backed away from detailing it??

Find a detailing pro to do it, not a bodyshop.

:iagree:

i like turtles...

[YOUTUBEHQ]CMNry4PE93Y[/YOUTUBEHQ]

I would NEVER have a dealer do anything other then major warranty work on my car.My dealer hasn't seen my car since I picked it up in May and it now has 5000 miles.I do my own work and if I can't I make sure the people who do give honest quality service!
For the most part dealers are rip offs.Not all but most of them.They will sell a truck load of rubber crutches if someone is stupid enough to buy them.
Over charge and who knows if they even do the services they charge you for?
These dealers hire the cheapest workers to detail and half of them don't even know anything about detailing.Take it to a professional that you have checked out and know he is a good detailer.

I have to agree also

YEAH! YEAH! Wait, why am I yelling....

Black is a difficult to color to polish... For a newb. Lol

As with anything it depends on the dealer. I took my black 996 to the local Maserati
Dealer for a detail prior to selling it. When I picked it up I almost decided to keep it. It never looked better.

I would expect nothing less from a Maserati dealer!I doubt if they have make believe detailers on there payroll!

Upon further inspection, it turns out that not only did they not remove the hairline scratches, they also added quite a few of their own. I know dealerships need to limit costs, but you'd think they'd at least get someone halfway decent to detail their more expensive cars. I'm not even going to bother with asking them to fix it; I'm going to cut my losses and find a real detailer. Any good ones in Southern California? Like in "I've seen them do a kickass job on a black car," not "My buddy just started up a shop, so I'll do him a favor and recommend him.";)

Yah, talk to octaneguy aka Richard. He knows nissan paint very well amongst many other paints.

ShowCarDetailing

He's the inventor of BlackWow.

Yep, I'm nervous about DIY'ing mine. I'm just doing everything I can to make sure I don't have to...prevention > cure.