Just Witnessed... Horror

I

Imatk

New member
So I'm sitting at work eating my lunch and I'm watching the parking attendant "wash" one of the owner's car.



I say wash, but I'm not certain you could call it that.



Basically... he was using the dish soap from our kitchen in a small bucket and I believe it was also a dish rag (although hard to tell as there wasn't much rag there) which used to be red but obviously has seen better days and is now not only spotted with black dirt but frayed and ripped.



Well I watched in horror as he rubbed and I mean RUBBED the paint with this dirty dirty rag and with pretty much no suds in the bucket he was using... just a bit of water with a few bubbles here and there.



Needless to say he also used the same dirty dirty rag on the wheels AND tires as the rest of the car.



He was not using a hose either... so how did he remove the "soapy" water?



Well I was interested in this too. And then he did it... he pulled out a roll of paper towels.



Now imagine this... it's a new BLACK Q45... it's already starting to spot because he's doing this in the parking lot in full sun with dish soap... and NOW he's RUBBING (and I mean RUBBING!) the rest of the car with paper towels.



I couldn't watch any longer. I got up with my lunch and had to eat elsewhere. It phsyically pained me to watch this take place.



But hey... the owner probably only had to pay him 50 bucks or so... I have no idea.



Just wanted to share... so sad :(
 
wow... You should of found the owner and told them you would detail his car..



It scares me to know people do stuff like this..
 
This seems to be the way most people take care of their cars. The sad thing is that most people don't even care.
 
and i bet he would argue that his technique is perfected through years of experience in mobile detailing.:wall



its guys like this that make it so hard to sell a $150-250 dollar detail.



Jim
 
Yes... I honestly couldn't sit there and eat and watch anymore. I had to get up... I just heard from my buddy that sits next to me that he was using Windex on the car... the ENTIRE car... spraying it on the paint... Oh the agony!
 
My wife detailed my Dakota...they ruined it. It may have lousy paint but it had even less when I saw it...I feel the pain..
 
That's horrible! Isn't that just plain common sense? I mean you don't expect people to know about foam guns and expensive microfiber towels but come on! Paper towels? Gritty tire gunk on the rag that he used for the paint? Wow.



abnot said:
My wife detailed my Dakota...they ruined it. It may have lousy paint but it had even less when I saw it...I feel the pain..
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What did she do?
 
metload1 said:
What did she do?
Click to expand...



Nothing. She did not realize it. I was on a business trip and saw it when she surprised me as a gift. I knew zip about detaling so I was lazy. She tried to help.



The end result sucked. I am just now getting the entire truck repainted. Dodge paint supposedly has not been great but they really took the clearcoat off.
 
Easy guys. Some people just dont know any better. Its not like you get a manual on how to detail a car when ya buy i!

Eat your lunch, eat your dinner, and feel fortunate to have a ton of friends here on Autopia......
 
Yeah I didn't mean to disparage the guy... I'm sure he thought he was doing the right things and didn't know not to do the stuff he was doing.



But it was too painful to watch, it being a new black car... knowing what kind of marring was being caused.



That brings up a good question. If you see someone doing that should you say anything? Not in a bad way... just sort of try to help them in as diplomatic way as possible.



I figured if I said anything he would just get mad at me so I left it.
 
Only if you have a few minutes to explain the right procedures. You could just explain that especially with black cars you need to excercise a little additional caution, rags will mar the surface with a lack of a lubricating wash soap, and proper drying implement.

And ya never "rub" black, PERIOD!
 
It's funny how some guys just get right down offended when you try to help them with their car washing techniques.



I was at Pepboys the other day and it seemed like a gentleman was having trouble deciding on a good wax to purchase. I recommended NXT Paste or #26. He scoffed at me, said he knew what he was looking for an brushed me off. I wanted to take some of that #26 and spray it in his eyes!
 
I know what ya mean. I have no pressure washer so I just go to the local wand wash (basically like a 2 car garage cut in half, except enough room to fit cars, trucks, and the washing equipment) and bring my buckets and the usual with me. Finished washing the car, dried it off and rolled it out of my stall to see the guy who was in the other stall is outside drying his car in the sun with a bath towel. He was almost done so I didn't bother. I usually don't talk to the other people washing their cars but sometimes they do give me some funny looks heh. "Why is that kid HAND washing his Pontiac?!"
 
I wanted to take some of that #26 and spray it in his eyes!
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:laugh:



agreed. it's mostly just an ego thing...people don't want to take criticism, regardless of it being constructive or not.



back to the OP...if you have a way to approach the owner of the vehicle, you might have a good detailing opportunity. better yet, get some pics of the marring on the paint in direct sunlight and show him/her. :)
 
Yeah maybe I'll ask him if he needs a "full" detail ;)



And yeah I'm always a little cautious when it comes to giving people unsolicited advice because it does seem that often people get offended.



But in this case maybe I should have anyway.
 
The thing is that most people don't quite grasp the technique to properly wash their car. Every time when I walk back to my car from the school, I have a bad tendency of looking at every car's paint finishes as I go by, and sad thing is that 8 out 10 cars has severe swirls, spider-webbing or some really deep scratches from improper parking. But, the truth is, if it weren’t for these people who treat like cars like an entrance matt, then all the word 'detailers' simply wouldn't have existed.
 
My neighbor uses some kind of window cleaner on his car and wipes it with paper towels, I just walk away from it :wall . Can't say anything because he will say i don't know what I'm talking about. (try once before).
 
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