Ran over to the grocery store this morning and while walking out I see two guys walking away from my CLK63. Happens often enough so I smile a little sense of pride but when I get close there is a nasty little scratch right behind the drivers door on the rear quarter where a few seconds ago they were standing. The one was wearing jeans so I know exactly what happened. He leaned against the car to look in and his metal snap button dug into the paint. Man, I was pissed. My father taught me from the time I was little the "Look, don't touch principal" when admiring a nice ride. Polished out 70% but no excuse for it happening.

My buddy calls me a little later in the morning with panic in his voice asking if I can run over to take a look at his MB CLK500 he bought a week ago. There was a guy driving around his neighborhood giving out his business card advertising he had a mobile vehicle detail business who came to your home or office. The guy was older and said he had 23 years experience, blah blah. My friend wanted to get his new car detailed so he hires the guy. About an hour later he walks outside, watches the detail guy scrubbing back and forth on his rear deck lid so he walks over to ask the guy what he is doing.

His jaw drops to the floor as he sees the guy has sandpaper in his hand. The guy says " I am wet sanding a few tough scratches I can't seem to get out". I get the phone call 10 seconds later.

My father owned a new car dealership for most of my life of which I spent plenty of years working at (and owned for 10 years) so I know a thing or two about paint and was just shocked when I got there. The guy totally sanded off the clear coat and wreaked the paint on the trunk.

I ask the guy what the hell was he thinking and shrugs saying " I guess I pushed a little too hard." My friend is just sick to his stomach and walks away.

Of course this yahoo doesn't have insurance or a bond so my friend will end up paying to make the repair even though the detail guy said he will pay for it. Yeah right! I guestimate $600 to repair it.

Morale of the day I say to myself. When you think things might seem bad (my scratch) they usually can be worse (my friends "scratch") so remember to always keep things in perspective.

Second lesson of the day. Always make sure before hiring anyone, make sure they have insurance and if appropriate, a bond as well. Also not dumb to check references.

Hope all of you had a better day!

Cheers

I wax my own rides for that reason. No one will take care of your car like YOU.

Can't help the occasional parking lot mishap, and with cars that draw attention it's just going to happen. Your friend however, should really start detailing his own car. The situation does suck though.

I do my own as well but I know lots of people who don't have the skill to remove scratches particularly with an orbital buffer. To polish a black car and not get swirl marks takes some talent.

Here is what the "experienced" detail guy did to my friends car-


Not pretty

Thanks, now i'm not going to be able to sleep tonight.

Ouch, ouch, ouch!!!

Years ago my late wife used the rough side of a scrubbing sponge to remove some stubborn bugs from the front end of her car. She had gone through the clear coat too. I sure was pissed!
I had to get the front bumper, both front fenders and the hood repainted....that set me back about $2000.00! They did a perfect match, so it looked good again.
Today the same job would be twice that!

There are no words to explain this

What had this guy been working on for "all those years"?

Army tanks perhaps???

*UPDATE*

My friend took his car in to our local MB dealer's bodyshop to get the rear deck lid repaired yesterday expecting to spend $700-800 in repairs. Their paint specialist looked at it and said "I think I can polish the damage out." which made my Buddy want to kiss him. He said MB's use a generous amount of clearcoat and he believed there was enough left for him to repair the scratches without needing to repaint.

I went with to pick up the car later in the afternoon and we couldn't believe he did it. It looked perfect and you could shave in the mirror polish job he did.

The manager at the bodyshop said the paint guy was an artist and it showed. $150 to hand buff and polish the rear end. What a lucky SOB!!

If you happen to be in Minneapolis and want to get your car detailed, if the guy is in his late 50"s and named Pat, RUN!!

Good news.

Perhaps that's what the original detailer intended to do before he was released?

Well, if you mean did he intend on removing the light scratches then sure it's what he tried to accomplish but had no idea how to go about doing it so he attempted a proceedure which exceeded his skills and by luck because my friend walked out therby stopping him, he didn't totally ruin the paint on the trunk.

The detailer admitted he shouldn't have attempted to wetsand the trunk but thought he could handle it. He should also drive down to the MB bodyshop and kiss the paint specialist because he saved him a big repair bill.