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Hi all, with my T about to arrive in the next 48 hours, I called my dealer to ask him not to wash, clean, detail or even peel off anything off the vehicle. Only do PDI and whatever mechanical/electronic things that need to happen before delivery. I don't want to get "free scratches", swirl marks, or anything else.
Having said that, is there anything special that the dealer has to do to remove the Cosmoline, or the plastic wrapping, or undercarriage washing, or anything else I may need to know?
I can do my own detailing, but just curious if anyone else has received their new vehicle in what is basically "like just out of the factory" state.
IMO here is mine. I let them do it and tell them to just do a basic wash. Here is why. Yes you run the potential of getting a few more swirls but those are not going to be anything that is an issue for my detailer that he was going to do anyways before applying PPF. The issue with NOT doing it that way and has happened to my friends is under that plastic was a ding and a bigger scratch. He signed off the car and took delivery. Once it got to the detailer he ended paying out of pocket to get that fixed because the dealer was in no way taking responsibility because they were not allowed to check it out better.
I am sure there are plenty of scenarios that would also favor not doing this but I have found a light wash so you can thoroughly check the car before taking delivery is best.
It’s not an unreasonable request. Just be super mindful when you’re peeling off the exterior bits - I took great care and still landed up on a few minor (and I mean ultra minor) marks where I started to peel the edge of stickers, etc. Nothing that a quick hit with a polisher won’t handle though.
I just took the delivery last Friday. I told them no wash, no clean, and no license plate mount. They only had to setup the car, remove the white shrink wrap and all the other things. During delivery, I brought a detailer light and a bottle of quick detailer + couple rags of microfiber towel to inspect them myself for dings/dent/scratches with my SA w/ me.
I think you have them do it so you can do a thorough inspection before you drive off, otherwise any damage you find will most likely be yours ...
I agree with this above. You may be able to find a corner of the shop to unwrap yourself, but definitely inspect before you leave.
Also if you haven't heard of him already, he's a great resource:
I let the dealer do their thing. They outsourced XPEL installation to a very good shop. Some get very paranoid and may have to do with previous bad experiences
When I picked up my new 911, the woman who helped with the paperwork commented that my SA had been wiping the car down numerous times all morning...So much for the two bucket method. I’m sure it didn’t do the paint any favors, but the car won’t be a garage queen, so why worry.
I always tell the dealer for every car I get not to touch it. Just remove the white plastic and that's it. Then I drive it right to my detailer. The poster above is right that a quick wash most likely won't add any swirls to the factory swirls that the detailer already has to deal with, but I still prefer not to have them do anything.
There's a really detailed photo-essay someone posted here a year or three ago documenting how he made sure the dealer only unloaded his car and parked it where he could work on it right there on the lot. If you can find it (good luck with RL search!) he took photo's of all the protective wraps showing the dealer had left everything in place. This to me is the only way to do it.
Setting aside swirls and all, there are some really deep fundamental psychological reasons to do this yourself. Put a cat in a new room, they are not comfortable, they are scared. Gradually they go around checking out every little nook and cranny. Only then are they comfortable in the room. Whether you know it or not, the same applies to us all. In a very real sense the car is not even yours until you have gone over every inch of it. How could it be otherwise? How could it be yours when you don't even know what it is? You have to see it, touch it, feel it, smell it, sit in it, experience it- only then is it yours. The people who think they own a car that only others have worked on, I don't know what they own. Some icon or idea of a car, I guess. In their mind. Legally. On paper. In reality? In reality until you have done these things its no more yours than it was rolling off the factory floor on the other side of the world. It doesn't magically become yours automatically on delivery. You have to make it yours. Hard to think of a better time or place to do that than right there on the lot.
Hell no, why? Here is my 911 at Moe’s today removing the spiderwebs the dealer washes put in the paint. Now my car was on the lot for 3 wks and got washed a couple times. Did PPF back in Oct. finally got tired of the spider webs and now doing the correction. Under the PPF you can’t see anything as they were those fine hairline scratches, there were not a lot on the front end, the bad areas were the tops rear hips, and the back end painted area above the windows, not sure why. I used a sealer which covered them up a lot, but every couple of months I would see them again, so I finally said screw it and am him do the correction on the non PPF sections.
My my wife’s new m4, told them do nothing but put gas in it. I then spent 2 hours taping it up to drive to Moe’s (100 miles). He removed the tape and plastic, no chips, no scratches. Next time I will flatbed the car.
Wish I could have caught the 911 sooner.
The M4 got a ton a laughs driving home but there are no paint chips or scratches.
04-16-2018, 04:25 PM
Allow dealer to wash/detail on delivery???
