Car Detailing Horror Stories!

J

jammerz101

New member
The other day I see this guy at the gas station using the complimentary squeegee dip it in the nasty used cleaning solution and proceed to try to remove all the love bugs from his windshield. Then he goes back, dips the squeegee in the cleaning solution again and goes to town squeegeeing the bugs off the front of his car! What a mess!

It was a relatively new 5 series BMW. :(


What kind of detailing horror story have you guys seen?
 
I see scotch-brite to clean sap, bird droppings, bugs etc. off of painted areas on peoples cars more often then i would like too. Duct tape to hold things on peoples cars that they are too cheap to get repaired, duct tape exsposed to water and a lot of sun and heat can mess things up.
 
I see a horror story everyday. Smokers.

Stink, tar and nicotine grime, ashes. I won't ride in a smoker's car.
 
I could tell stories for days about the outrageuous stuff Ive seen my boss do to trucks. Most of them start out with "he had Pepsi bottle full of laquer thinner in one hand, a paint roller in the other, and a pocket full of razor blades". Ive seen leather repaired with "a close match" dye being sprayed on it and then rubbed down with Final Sol so as only the dry cracks are filled. Once this is repeated 10-30 times the cracks are filled with dye but its not oversprayed on the seat because you've wiped it off. It does kinda leave the leather a little white looking ;) To each his own I guess lol.
 
You want to see horror??? Check this out...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_sl_bj4z0A]YouTube - Dumb woman washing her car ... inside[/ame]
 
I wonder how many people use Expert Village for their car care instruction! I'd almost go so far as to say listen to everything that he says, then do the exact opposite for best results.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS6LgQ-ArEw&feature=related]YouTube - How to Clean and Detail a Car : Auto Detailing Products[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0_1sNljUTA&feature=related]YouTube - How to Clean and Detail a Car : Where to Find Auto Detailing Supplies[/ame]
 
Had one a few years back ( 80's ) that the owner used some type of heavy steel wool to wash the whole car ( windows too ):violin:. All I could do was say sorry and got back in my truck and drove away.
 
Several years ago I had a client who kept his and his wifes car spotless. The wife would call every now and then if she spilled coffee or had ate in the vehicle during the week. She would wait and pay the shop cash so he wouln't find out in the weekend.

One day she calls and says "I had a little accident. If I drop it off and go to lunch with a friend can I pick it up later?" I said (knowing it has never been more than 15 min) "Sure! We are busy but drop it off out front and give me a call I'll go out and do it" She calls says "it's out front on my way with a friend to eat" I go outside and miss the little dots of white on the drive because all I see is white coming out of the rear doors of her minivan and down the bumper. I open the door and a 5 gal. bucket of latex white is on it's side with the lid half off. I couldn't speak or move it was in the back and up to the middle of the van. I don't know how many rolls of paper towels she threw down but that was added to the mix.
Fast forward after calling and saying it won't be done. It's near the end of the day. Husband shows up someone bumped his door wants to see if it would rub out. It did. I was running to get supplies so he didn't come inside.
He then decides to use the restroom.
I have never seen someone stand speechless for so long. The van is surrounded by trash cans all blown apart and parts of it everywhere.
He goes to the bathroom comes out and says "She's going to have a big bill" and leaves.
I bet that was an interesting night.
She came in paid her bill the next day and didn't say a word. I was still cleaning up the mess it made and the toll it took on equipment.
 
Concours.John said:
Several years ago I had a client who kept his and his wifes car spotless. The wife would call every now and then if she spilled coffee or had ate in the vehicle during the week. She would wait and pay the shop cash so he wouln't find out in the weekend.

One day she calls and says "I had a little accident. If I drop it off and go to lunch with a friend can I pick it up later?" I said (knowing it has never been more than 15 min) "Sure! We are busy but drop it off out front and give me a call I'll go out and do it" She calls says "it's out front on my way with a friend to eat" I go outside and miss the little dots of white on the drive because all I see is white coming out of the rear doors of her minivan and down the bumper. I open the door and a 5 gal. bucket of latex white is on it's side with the lid half off. I couldn't speak or move it was in the back and up to the middle of the van. I don't know how many rolls of paper towels she threw down but that was added to the mix.
Fast forward after calling and saying it won't be done. It's near the end of the day. Husband shows up someone bumped his door wants to see if it would rub out. It did. I was running to get supplies so he didn't come inside.
He then decides to use the restroom.
I have never seen someone stand speechless for so long. The van is surrounded by trash cans all blown apart and parts of it everywhere.
He goes to the bathroom comes out and says "She's going to have a big bill" and leaves.
I bet that was an interesting night.
She came in paid her bill the next day and didn't say a word. I was still cleaning up the mess it made and the toll it took on equipment.
Click to expand...

I think you win, John.
 
Concours.John said:
Several years ago I had a client who kept his and his wifes car spotless. The wife would call every now and then if she spilled coffee or had ate in the vehicle during the week. She would wait and pay the shop cash so he wouln't find out in the weekend.

One day she calls and says "I had a little accident. If I drop it off and go to lunch with a friend can I pick it up later?" I said (knowing it has never been more than 15 min) "Sure! We are busy but drop it off out front and give me a call I'll go out and do it" She calls says "it's out front on my way with a friend to eat" I go outside and miss the little dots of white on the drive because all I see is white coming out of the rear doors of her minivan and down the bumper. I open the door and a 5 gal. bucket of latex white is on it's side with the lid half off. I couldn't speak or move it was in the back and up to the middle of the van. I don't know how many rolls of paper towels she threw down but that was added to the mix.
Fast forward after calling and saying it won't be done. It's near the end of the day. Husband shows up someone bumped his door wants to see if it would rub out. It did. I was running to get supplies so he didn't come inside.
He then decides to use the restroom.
I have never seen someone stand speechless for so long. The van is surrounded by trash cans all blown apart and parts of it everywhere.
He goes to the bathroom comes out and says "She's going to have a big bill" and leaves.
I bet that was an interesting night.
She came in paid her bill the next day and didn't say a word. I was still cleaning up the mess it made and the toll it took on equipment.
Click to expand...

Whoa.... yeah I can't beat that. I will offer these up in honor of that job, thanks to google:

Paint+splatter+car.jpg


paint+spill.jpg
 
WOW there are some good ones here. I love the video of the girl spraying her car out. The paint bucket kills me. And I am still trying to figure out what the powder ajax is for. Do tell.

I don't have anything that comes close to those. I did however polish a friend's car while she helped once. Well, I was trying to save time so I used an orange pad with M205. Doesn't sound too bad, right, could work on some paint. Well her paint was soft and I left buffer trails on her hood. (very slight but they were there) We pulled it into the sun after doing the hood and she looked at me and said, "um, what is that?". My pride was shot. I didn't feel like the big shot detailer then. The funny thing is that she wouldn't have known what it was unless I had shown her pics form the forums I had been on.

I regrouped and repolished the hood and continued on the entire car with a crimson hydro and PO85RD on the DA. Problem solved. :rockon
 
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