[Rebel]

Brought it in today for the routine first service. Was told it would take 1-2 hours. I had agreed to wait & as the dealership is some way from home. After 2 hours in the waiting room the service guy came with his checklist documentation & effeciently went through all that was done. I signed & paid & was told the car would be ready in 10 mins. Little did I know that they were doing a software update that eventually took a further 3 hrs. They said their system crashed...was'nt gonna get to worked up over it. So when I was told to collect it round the back of the service area, there she was gleaming, with droplets of water all over......shock horror...next to a brush washer. I did'nt raise the issue then as I was at that point under time pressue, but now on reflection, I cannot believe they washed it in a brush washer without running it by me. On closer examination after it had dried there are clear swirl marks (Phantom Black) throughout the body that were not there before. I am furious & am gearing up for 9am Monday morning, especially as I was so calm with the 5 hour service. Any ideas on approach strategy. Do I have a case in getting a professional job to rectify & billing them

 

[stimpyvan]

Good luck. The owner's manual says that the paint is of high enough quality that automated washers won't harm the finish. Our local dealership does the same thing. My wife routinely has her TT washed there without any apparent problems, but her car is Sahara Silver and would be far less likely than yours to show problems.

 

[fraser]

swirl marks

Yes, tell them you they will have to pay for a professoinal pint correction look on detailing world http://www.detailingworld.co.uk I expect it will cost about £350 for a day's detailing and polishing, but the car should be perfect afterwards

 

[ShadyJC]

Black paint will swirl if you look at it cross-eyed, and the dealer will argue that it was there beforehand. I'd be surprised if you get anything out of them, but good luck!

 

[deak]

Never automated wash your car, unless you want swirls

As ShadyJC says black paint will swirl even if hand washed incorrectly. Never take a black car through any kind of automated wash...period. The good news is correction is easy in the hands of a professional and in fact the paint will likely be better than before...but every time you polish, you are removing a small amount of clearcoat. When I picked up my brand new 2009 S5 from the dealer I told them not to even wash the car after removing the wrapper. I actually had to polish three areas that weren't perfect straight from the factory.

 

[RGBArgee]

I actually had to polish three areas that weren't perfect straight from the factory.

I expect it was OK at the factory. There is so much hot air and muck being thrown around on account of the US election I expect it got contaminated!!

TT
RG

 

[speary]

As ShadyJC says black paint will swirl even if hand washed incorrectly. Never take a black car through any kind of automated wash...period. The good news is correction is easy in the hands of a professional and in fact the paint will likely be better than before...but every time you polish, you are removing a small amount of clearcoat. When I picked up my brand new 2009 S5 from the dealer I told them not to even wash the car after removing the wrapper. I actually had to polish three areas that weren't perfect straight from the factory.

You will only remove small amounts of clearcoat if you use abrasive polished. I've just tried Autoglym High Definition wax (contains carnuba wax plus some other bits), it gives an incredible finish and there are no abrasives int it.