Rail Dust Problem

No pics, but if I see the car again I'll be sure to get up close shots.



There is holograms, swirls, marring, RIDS, faded sections from transport/packing, wax residue.



Ridiculous
 
I've been sub'd by dealerships at least 15 times this year. It happens; you just need a combination of things. Usually a good customer who has been patient, but insistent. A number of errors or failures on the dealerships part, and a good reputation. It may not work in this case, but it sounds like the OP has tried multiple times to have the car fixed by the dealership. At this point I don't think it's unreasonable at all for them to pay someone he found and is confident can fix it.
 
Picus said:
I've been sub'd by dealerships at least 15 times this year. It happens; you just need a combination of things. Usually a good customer who has been patient, but insistent. A number of errors or failures on the dealerships part, and a good reputation. It may not work in this case, but it sounds like the OP has tried multiple times to have the car fixed by the dealership. At this point I don't think it's unreasonable at all for them to pay someone he found and is confident can fix it.
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I hope Kaval doesn't mind me posting this but this was his experience dealing with the same sort of thing.



Bad dealership experience – MoT - TorontoMazda3
 
Cliff Notes:



-Client has big problem with his paint

-Brings it to dealership, they make it worse

-Client loses confidence, talks to Kaval

-Kaval draws up estimate for client

-Client brings in estimate, dealership laughs at price

-Dealership employee openly mocks Kaval on the forum

-Client brings it to Kaval on his own dime



I'm working by memory, but I think that's all right.
 
Ya, Kaval showed me that thread. Sometimes that's the way it goes, however I think one of the issues in this case was the client. I don't think he went about it the right way. Here is how a recent example of this went for me.



- client buys c6

- a month later his ac fails and he gets it repaired under warranty, despite being asked not to dealership washed car and swirls

- dealer 'buffs' car for free to remedy

- car looks like ***

- dealership gets there 'best detailer' to re-buff

- car looks even worse than ***, and glass is ruined (dont ask)

- client tells them that at this point he is willing to bring the car to me to be repaired at their cost, or he'll contact gm canada and have them buy the car back.

- dealer agrees because he is polite but forceful, and has indicated he will involve legal help.

- i fix car for a whole bunch of money, the end.



I think in Kavals case above the owner probably didn't approach the situation correctly. He said he "left them VMs" but never went in person because it was too far. He never involved legal assistance, etc. So basically they brushed him off and won. I can say this; if a BMW dealership washed my car I can promise you beyond a shadow of a doubt they would end up paying me to fix it. So ya, in this case Pauls client is the one that needs to make it happen.
 
Well, since this is such a common problem and you have experience with it, why not do a writeup on how to get the dealership to pay for bad detailing? We get enough of those threads around.
 
Holden_C04 said:
Well, since this is such a common problem and you have experience with it, why not do a writeup on how to get the dealership to pay for bad detailing? We get enough of those threads around.
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I don't think it needs a writeup, tbh. It's too varied, sometimes you're dealing with the dealership sometimes with corporate. I think a lot of it is common sense.



So some tips, that I'd think most people would know.



- stay calm, don't flip out ever. you'll invalidate your entire case.

- offer the dealership one chance to fix a mistake, you almost have to. if you are unwilling to do so you will pay out of pocket. sometimes thats just the best option. in pauls case the owner has already given them this chance.

- at this point usually a dealership will just pay to be done with it. if they dont then you get the number of the business manager and deal with them.

- if that doesnt work, and it usually does, you take it to corporate. this will almost always work.

- if that doesnt work get a lawyers letter.



Generally speaking the business manager will want nothing more than you make you happy so you screw off. So as long as the quote isn't stupid, they will pay. When you get quotes get them in writing and make them very detailed, obviously.



Another key, and as I mentioned this was the mistake kavals client seems to have made, is that you need to be persistent. if all you do is leave voice mail and they dont return your call you need to show up in person or write them a letter and have it delivered signature required or registered mail. That or get a lawyer involved and pay them an hour of work to send a lawyers letter.
 
Picus said:
I don't think it needs a writeup, tbh. It's too varied, sometimes you're dealing with the dealership sometimes with corporate. I think a lot of it is common sense.



So some tips, that I'd think most people would know.



- stay calm, don't flip out ever. you'll invalidate your entire case.

- offer the dealership one chance to fix a mistake, you almost have to. if you are unwilling to do so you will pay out of pocket. sometimes thats just the best option. in pauls case the owner has already given them this chance.

- at this point usually a dealership will just pay to be done with it. if they dont then you get the number of the business manager and deal with them.

- if that doesnt work, and it usually does, you take it to corporate. this will almost always work.

- if that doesnt work get a lawyers letter.



Generally speaking the business manager will want nothing more than you make you happy so you screw off. So as long as the quote isn't stupid, they will pay. When you get quotes get them in writing and make them very detailed, obviously.



Another key, and as I mentioned this was the mistake kavals client seems to have made, is that you need to be persistent. if all you do is leave voice mail and they dont return your call you need to show up in person or write them a letter and have it delivered signature required or registered mail. That or get a lawyer involved and pay them an hour of work to send a lawyers letter.
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Met with the dealer and their paint expert. Looked at the specks with a 10x magnifier and they are white, irregular in shape and appear to be on the surface of the clear coat which is a good sign. It was still hard to see clearly though. Oddly enough, the paint expert tried to convince me there was nothing wrong with the paint :rolleyes: That there was no risk of corrosion :confused: My response was that it would be a maintenance nightmare. Anytime the car was waxed or polished, the dust could break free and cause swirls and scratches. This is exactly why the dealer ended up further damaging the paint.



We tried a little acid based metal fall-out cleaner (Car Brite) on the windshield and the specks seemed to dissolve away, another good sign. Still not sure if its rail dust or overspray, but my guess would be the former. Either way, the following Mazda TSBs should apply:



http://www.valugard.net/cms/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=mvh4MRfjtCQ%3d&tabid=95&mid=464



http://www.valugard.net/cms/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=afD8RavBKeY%3d&tabid=95&mid=464



The service manager agrees with me that a qualified detailer needs to do the repair. He's concerned as I am of the possibility of further damage.



Met with gtpaul, great guy. Gtpaul's estimate is now in the system and waiting for approval. Will post some pix shortly.



Regards,



Bitfryer
 
Awesome, sounds like you're making good progress. Weird that rail dust would be white. Any chance it's concrete? I've seen concrete dust on cars and it's a nightmare, but an acid based cleaner would probably take it off the windshield like it did on yours. Keep us updated. :)



Oh, if it is concrete a concrete remover (topoftheline.com) sells one, would probably work (Paul might have some too).
 
Ah, I didn't dl them. Weird that it's white; I've not seen that before. Oh well. If you've got a decontamination kit it'll probably make for a pretty leisurely detail. Have fun!
 
I've seen tons of fallout/acid rain/rail dust and I can honestly say I've never seen rail dust that was white? I guess we learn something new every day thanks to Autopia.
 
BigJimZ28 said:
no this is what you had to say







Big jim I completely apprecieate your opinion, but thats where it will stay. I asked you to post pics of you Z you responded which one. Still waiting !





so someone telling you there are less evasive ways is ripping you apart:o
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I get home late, Im super booked. Sometimes my thoughts come out faster than my words. NO DISRESPECT AT ALL ! I jumped to the extreme with wetsanding, then tried to backstep. My bad judgment .:wall
 
Little update for you guys.



Did my test panel tonight, turned out good.



Fallout-remover/clay

Rinse

clay

M105/Orange

SIP/Orange

106FF/White

FF/Blue



Some raildust spots lingered but i didn't let the fallout remover sit long and could have used a bit more aggressive clay.



Swirls 100% removed

RIDS 99% removed

raildust 85-90% removed (to be solved with more fallout remover + clay)



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gtpaul said:
Just a test panel so far - we'll see if the service manager actually says yes. lol.
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I really hope so! They should be ashamed as to how bad they made the paint! Wow, what a difference! Would love to see you finish that car.



I can't believe the dealership used the term "expert detailer" for that hack. If everything goes well, hopefully you will become their true expert detailer.
 
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