Alright...I'm not usually the type to get furious about stupid stuff but when it comes to my car I get pissed.

I had a fender bender a couple weeks ago and got my car fixed at a, so I was told, reputable shop around here that my insurance and a few friends had recommended/used.

They fixed the front up. New hood, bumper, etc. I called them 2 days ago and asked them to make a note on my file to PLEASE NOT WASH THE CAR. I call yesterday and ask if it's ready, she says no they have to wash it first since it got all dirty during repair. I said well can I just pick it up I plan on washing it anyways. She said it is part of procedure to wash.

I go pick up my car and there are those fine towel rubbing marks over the entire car. Call me picky but this **** pisses me off, I had this car in perfect shape and now the entire thing is covered in swirls when the sun hits it.

Any way to get these out? What would you do in my situation? I am pretty floored, especially since I asked them not to wash my car because I was afraid of this happening. It's almost as if they didn't even use soap and just scrubbed the car with a cloth. The "new" hood looks like crap too. Swirl marks all over. Don't think I can just go back and demand my car be repainted, but shoot.....this means it's happening to many others as well..

Any suggestions?

 

Repaint the car because of swirl marks?? Surely ye jest! Any reputable auto detailer can take care of that, and I'm sure someone around here will have a suggestion too.

 

I got you...lol. I have made it a priority to keep this thing in top shape for years since I plan on keeping it for as long as possible, so it kind of got me going when I saw that. That'd be awesome if it could be taken care of

 

Yeah, I'd be pissed too.

I'm a claims adjuster for State Farm and our preferred shops offer washing and vacuuming as part of their service. If they forget, they can take a hit by our quality control inspectors and they don't want to risk it because too many "hits" will get them removed from the program.

But geez, if a customer specifically requests their car NOT to be washed, how hard is that to understand?

Now... even the most careful person who uses the best products to wash their car will get swirls in the paint over time. It's just part of car ownership and maintenance. You already had some in the paint before it went to the shop, just not as severe as the ones you have now, by your reaction. I guarantee you did. Hell, I just polished my Chili Red R50 a few months ago, use only the best detailing products, and I guarantee I do.

But all is not lost. Swirls can be removed with relative ease using a random orbital buffer, the right pads and polish. If you're not up to the task yourself or don't want to invest in the equipment (anyone really serious about keeping their paint looking good should have it), then you can take it to a pro and have it done.

I know... you shouldn't have to pay someone a few hundred bucks to do this since the shop is responsible. But A) you will never convince them they did this and B) you should have your paint polished periodically anyway.

 

Thanks for the reply. Good to hear I can get it out. I have some wax at the house with a buffer, but usually resort to using microfiber cloths. I can give this a try before taking it in to a shop. Yes, there were a couple fine ones before, but being the analytical / obsessive type nothing nearly as bad as now. Bummer hope they come out!!!

 

Wax won't get them out. Wax goes on after you get them out. To get them out, you need polish. If you've never used polishes with a buffer, make sure you study up on the process first or you will just be wasting your time. Swirls aren't hard to get out... if you know a bit about how polishes work on your paint, use the right one with the right pad, and know the proper way to use a buffer.

 

By the way, you live in the same state as a legendary detailer around this board. Octane Guy is his handle on the board. If you want your MINI to look like new again, take it to him. I'm sure he's not cheap but man, he's GOOD.

If you lived around here, I would do a semi-pro job for you and it would look very nearly as good as new. But I'm 3,000 miles away.

 

Yeah octane guy is in Orange County I think...i'm pretty close to him. Might consider that some time. I'll read into it before trying anything. Thanks!

 

Welcome. Wish I could do more. Love teaching people how to polish up their paint and really detail a MINI.

Spend some time reading some threads in the detailing forum and I bet you would feel comfortable doing it yourself. That's pretty much how I learned, 7 years ago. Within a year or two, I was really good at it.

 

I'd pressure the shop to pay for a detail/polish from Octane Guy.

 

Dude - suh-weeet info! Google Maps says I am 29 miles from his place in Anaheim. Noted for future reference!

 

When my MINI was hit, the shop who did the work also blessed me with a full exterior and interior detail. This included using a clay bar and a whole bunch of other things I know nothing about. When I got my car back, even the little orange metal spots in my pepper white paint were gone. I got my car back looking better than when I handed it over.

That said.....I would take the car back and demand a full detail (the "works"). Any car that has just had body work/repairs done should look showroom quality when finished.

 

You're very fortunate, EHans... he's a MINI enthusiast and a world-class detailer. Find some of his threads here and you'll see he's done some amazing work on some very high-end cars.

 

I'm going to look him up and see if I can get my car in before I go back to school out of state.

Going to talk to the shop as well and show them their hood in direct sunlight with the obscene amounts of swirls, thus proving to them that this happened on their watch and not on mine

 

Zaino....study the site, watch the youtube videos, throw away your "microfibers" ......swirls are not a problem, just part "par for the course", easy to get, easy to remove.

 

If it's your body shop painted panels that have swirls, you're supposed to wait for the paint to fully cure before polishing. I think it's around 2-3 months.

 

Forgot to come back and update.. took it in back to that shop and gave them one more chance. they got all the swirls out and car is in best shape it's been cosmetically.

hood still crooked and windshield sprayers squirt to my garage ceiling. worry about that when I come back in 6 months. thanks all for the help !!

 

the reason why you see swirl marks is not cause of washing the car with improper towels or wipes. its because they sanded and buffed it after they painted it. they wash it to get the compound off the car. swirl marks happen when the deatailer is busy and has to rush to get the cars out. he needs to run glaze over in a slower motion. its time consuming. most shops buff their stuff cause of paint nibs. im a professional painter and a tech. been doing this for a while and its a simple fix. dont get frustrated over it its a lot simple then you think. it just needs another pass threw like i mentioned earlier. just explain to your detailer what you want done so they can focus on the panel. tell them to take their time with the car and you want it looking like new. if you want to do it yourself its a lot of reading and hands on experience to show you the correct way.

 

Thought I'd add my experience to this. I've had my hyperblue MCS for about 4 months now. Always hand washed and carefully dried it once or twice a week. After seeing this thread a few weeks back, I assumed all the swirls came from previous owner passing through a mechanical car wash maybe.

Anyway, in searching / reading, I came across a McGuires products instruction -seemed easy enough for me to do by hand.

After washing the car, I went over the whole thing with Scratch X (doing black roof 2 times), then went over the whole car with Ultimate Polish (again twice on the roof, black is tough) -Then of course wax on the whole car.

I'm very very pleased. It looks pretty darn good for a novice like me.

I still see a few swirls, but much much fewer, and not nearly as deep. You must be "looking for them" or you won't see them now.

I asked my friend about them (he manages a body shop that we grew up in -his dad has owned it for last 25 or 30 years). My friend laughed and said to me "Swirl marks for an obsessive guy like you are Jesus's way of letting you know you have a f#%*ng nice car."

Yes I'm obsessive. I'll try clay someday, and learn more about it. Someday I'll graduate to learning to use a nice PorterCable rotary.

Meanwhile, I know if I wanted to spend a hundred bucks or more, I could have a prodetailer make it look better than it does now.

Hope you end up with results that satisfy you.

 

Adding a small piece of advice: Never be in a hurry to accept your vehicle from a paint & body shop... or a new or used vehicle from a dealer. (Yes, they "touch-up" new cars). Always inspect it under fluoroscent light in the shop...never in sunlight. Look for imperfections, overspray, acid rain, excessive sanding, swirls, "fish-eyes", paint runs, uneven metallic, poor color-match, mis-alignment of body panels, etc.
Don't sign for or pay for poor workmanship. Yes, it's inconvenient. Yes, you need your car. Yes, it's aggrevating. But, if you accept it, you will regret it...sooner or later.