c5vette73

My dealer told me that as part of the PDI they would detail my car before delivery.

Should I just ask them to perform PDI without detailing?

I've heard that dealers don't know how to properly wash cars and may even damage the paint.

Any truth to that?

Your input is greatly appreciated.

Glen e

of course there is truth to that - car wash guys make just above min wage and use towels over and over...have them rinse it, go home and start watching the vids here on learning detailing.
http://www.autogeek.net/detailingtips.html

I also can sent you a detail sheet of stuff that is EZ and works - all for about 100 bucks from the autogeek.net store...PM me

In fact, you're in miami? - drive up here to laud and I'll show you how to do it...

R&L's C6

No!!!!!!!!

C7GrandSport

I didn't let the dealer do ANYTHING cosmetically. I camped out in front of the dealership til the truck with my car arrived. I took the transport cover off myself. I had the dealership do the minimum PDI. I took it for gas myself, removed stickers/plastic, took it home and washed and waxed it. It was a great bonding experience with my new C7 to do this stuff myself. I just didn't want to chance anyone else caring about the car as much as I.

b4i4getit

I would not let the dealer even remove the car cover. Can you imagine some kid with a box cutter trying to remove the cover and putting some nice scratches in your paint ?

BWF07

Tell them thanks but no thanks. Dealers are not detail shops and therefore do not have any real idea on how to professionally detail a car or truck.

Do it yourself or find a good professional detail shop and take it there. But if you do take it some where, check their procedures and see how they work. They should never wash more then one car with the same wash buckets and I do mean buckets. There is a lot more to check on, but a good shop will be willing to tell you exactly what they will do and how they do it. They should also be willing to show you work they have dome on other cars.

450hp mike9

No PDI only

Bill17601

I guess I did. Now what?

b4i4getit

Sell it to one of the forum members. But its used so expect to discount appropriately.

post-it

No, my dealer gladly let me take the car without any cleaning. I also told them not to fuel the car, they gave me a fuel voucher at the local Shell Station for a full tank. However, the first clean up entails several hours of work, there was much residue on the wheels from the lubricant used to mount tires. I thoroughly enjoyed this process, gave her the second coat of polish tonight. The C7 is one beautiful machine!

c5vette73

Just called my dealer (Kerbeck by the way).

They told me that they would remove transport cover and apply only water to remove loose dirt. The car would then be air dried and that no buffing or chamois would be used.

Dealer claimed that this is done for my protection to determine if there is any damage to paint from the factory on delivery.

I would do this all myself, but I ordered out of state and having car delivered to me by private transport.

zipcode

When I asked Dave from Kerbeck not to detail my car, was told the same thing. Funny thing was, when I found chipped paint on my wing mirrors, the salesman turned around and said PDI was for mechanical bits and not bodywork

But here's the important bit for you, they actually did a decent job and left no swirls or fine scratches. I used to be a partner at a detailing shop and spoke with the guy at Kerbeck who details the cars before delivery, minimal wage or not, he actually is fairly knowledgeable about his work and seemed careful in how he handled the car, refusing to apply aggressive compound to remove scratches from my rims as he knew it might remove too much clear coat. Work area was nice and clean too

c5vette73

Good to know.

How was chipped paint issue resolved?

jschindler

The reality is that very few dealers would damage your car detailing it. It's unlikely they would do as good of a job as you might want, but it would be rare to damage it. It's not in their best interest to have cars coming back with damaged paint.

In my case it would not be that I don't trust them, it's just that I would undo whatever they did to put what I want on the car myself.

zipcode

They'll respray the wing mirror for me, once they get hold of the paint code

TnNightster

When I picked up my '09 3LZ Zed, I asked them not too for all the reasons mentioned above. Punks and new paint don't mix. I'll do the same when the time comes with my C7.

Glen e

I agree, my polish just takes off what they did...

and yes, they don't "damage" it but you can find all sorts of dealers who hologram or swirl the car due to a bad rotary or pad....

C7BLACK

When I picked up my car, they asked in advance if I wanted them to clean and detail it and I said "no" based on I assumed they would run it through a car wash machine.

I still have not "washed" it a week later, but have been slowly going over the car with Meguires cleaning products.

Found one booger on the rear driver fender side panel behind the rear wheel opening a few inches up about the size of 3/16" almost looks and feels like a machined hole, but is only on the surface. Since the car is black, from a few feet away it is not visible to naked eye, but can be felt by hand when cleaning and massaging (TMI) the paint.

As far a washing the car, when and if it gets really dirty after driving in bad weather rain and road grime, I can tell it is going to be a challenge to clean and get in all the seams, grooves and creases created by the various panels, lights, vents and angles. My C6 is always easy to wash without too much trouble, but the C7 is going to be a bear to clean especially being black

MThomas

aforand

Guys & Gals
I gave "Glen e" a call and ordered those Black Fire products that he had mentioned. Heck I had never even heard of it before. After the first two steps my LB 2LT Stingray just pops. Took to a friends house and the wife (non car person) said she thought the car looked "wet" and that is exactly what they advertise, I could not believe she said that. After I finish the third step tomorrow I will post pictures. You will not believe what you are seeing. Just an awesome product. Needless to say I highly recommend it.