I've had my 2005 G35 Sedan for less than 90 days. It's got just over 2000 kms on it. The manual says to get the first service (oil change) at 3 months or 2k kms. So.... I take it in and ask them to touch up a rock chip on the top of the car (between the sunroof and the windshield), and also to ask their body guy to buff out a 3" very light scratch behind the rear passenger door on the rear quarter panel.

I drop the car off at 10am and they say they'll call when it's ready. By 5pm no call so I just drop by. I got there after they had closed but I see my car has been moved so I go take a look. I see that the roof rock chip has been touched up and then I look at the scratch. OMG!!!! No wonder they haven't called me -- it's a mess. My G is LakeShore Blue and it looks like there are fingertip sized splotches of lighter blue/grey across the middle portion of the scratch.

The Service Dept Receptionist is just getting into her car to leave. I grab her and ask her what happened. She has no idea but she sees the Body guy (who is also just leaving). He comes over and says that he didn't think it was a deep scratch so he was hand buffing it out using a mild polish and soft cloth (a cloth diaper) and when he went to get more polish he saw that his cloth was blue!

He figures that the clear coat was unusually thin ("Maybe the factory had a bad day", and said that he showed the Service Dept Manager the polish he was using to show that it was very mild. He said that he has seen a lot of Hondas with thin clear coat problems too.

I asked him when it happened and he said 10:30am. So, since the Service Dept. Mgr had let the car sit there all day with no call to me, I'm assuming that he's trying to figure out a resolution to the problem before calling me.

It's now 11am, and I've not called them. Figure I should just wait for them to call me with the bad news (that I already now know about).

So --- they should offer to repaint the entire quarter panel right? If they do, is it worth it? What are the chances that something else will get screwed up when they are repainting?

Now I'm ready to run out and get a Clear Bra, but that only covers the front/bumper, headlights, mirror, rear bumper. My most major damage so far has been on the roof and rear quarter panel. Any kits for the whole freaking car?

Help!!!

 

If they are using a diaper to polish, I'd never take it back there again. You don't want to use a "smooth" cloth to do anything to your paint. You want some kind of weave to act as a buffer so that the particles that are on the paint don't grind into your paint. Instead they have a place to go (into the weave).

Keep us posted. It'll be interesting to hear how they resolve this.

 

jim -- are you sure? I just did a search around the net and couldn't find anywhere that says not to use cloth diapers on your car. I did find lots of sites like this, that actually recommend cloth diapers and say that they have a fine weave:

http://www.dccarcare.com/tipowk/tipowk11.html
"I highly recommend a fine weave cloth like the previously mentioned diapers or my cotton cloths"

http://www.epinions.com/content_1731829892
"Use them for washing and drying your car. Cloth diapers works almost as good as a chamois cloth and much cheaper."

http://www.ehow.com/how_1327_wax-car.html
"Use a cloth diaper or a cheesecloth to polish the car's entire surface"

Can you point me to some other sites that say otherwise?

Thanks!

No call from them yet. IE They didn't call at all yesterday. So I'll call them today -- dop - I wonder if they are now closed for Canada Day... well, it's only 7am. I'll find out soon.

 

One link on Meguiars that recommend against using diapers for detailing:

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/sho...ghlight=diaper

Autopia :

http://autopia.org/forum/search.php?searchid=16027

http://autopia.org/forum/showthread....ghlight=diaper

http://autopia.org/forum/showthread....ghlight=diaper

.. there are tons more on Autopia. Just go and do a search.

Regarding your links, one of them mentions that diapers are fine for final step polishing and you are working on a completely clean car. The other looks like a guy that's trying to save money and find other uses for old diapers.

I've following the Meguire's and Autopia sites for some time, and everything I've ever seen says don't use diapers.

I'd take advice from auto enthusiasts before either of those.

From the sounds of your original post, it doesn't seem like they even washed the car before trying the polish. At that point the diaper is acting more link sandpaper.

Just my 2 cents. I'd never use a diaper, or let one come near my car.

There's not much you can do at this point other than take it somewhere else where they don't use diapers next time.

 

Thx Jim.

The dealership just called. They said that they believe it is a factory defect and they are going to repaint the rear quarterpanel.

Hmm, ok, but then if it's a factory defect, shouldn't I be worried about the whole car? The car is less than 90 days old and has about 1250 Miles on it (2000 KMs)

I don't want to get the whole car painted --- or do I?

Has anyone else heard of or been through something similar?

 

I would also have them look at the whole car to see if it has clear coat problems elsewhere. If one panel had a problem whose to say others won't either. Don't let them push you around with excuses, you paid good money for your car alls you want is to make sure the clear coat is on (the entire car) properly.

I think I've heard some people complaining about a possible really thin clear coat, I would search on this site to see if this a more common problem.

 

Thx Punchit.

How should we test? I guess just have them polish other panels? Or is there a professional way to test the thickness of a clear coat?

I have very limited knowledge of car paint so excuse this stupid question... Can they sand the rest of the car and apply a new (thick) layer of clear coat, or would they need to actually paint the whole car and then put on a new clear coat?

Thx

 

There are actually paint thickness gauges that can be used to see how thick the clear coat and underlying paint are. It costs several hundred dollars, so the dealer may not have one, but a paint shop might. Just tell them you want the whole car checked and make it their problem.

 

Like Jim said it can be checked and should be checked by a professional. You don't have to be rude but make sure they do something to guarantee the car's clear coat is what it should be. The problem with having a very thin clear coat is that the worst damage won't show until years later and then who knows if the warranty will still cover it. Often times dealers will not be willing to help you, you'll need to be persistent.

 

?????? A real 100% cloth diaper is the best thing to use on paint. I have used them for years and never had scratches on cars like terry cloth towels do.

 

The dealer had farmed out my car to a local body shop so I went there and spent about 45 mins talking with 3 guys there. They had just finished doing the rear quarter panel on another G35 Sedan, same LakeShore Blue (but for a dent).

Anyway, we polished various parts of the car and couldn't replicate the burn through. One of the main body guys was saying that there is no way that the damage was done by hand and that the detailer at the dealership was just lying about using polish by hand with a cloth diaper and more likely had used a machine and/or wet sanded it. When looking at it under a bright light at an angle there were some very odd scratches. Also, when hand polishing, how could he burn through such a small area.

So the dealer is paying for the repainting of the rear quarter panel and the rear passenger door. Everything is off and hopefully it'll be ready Saturday.

Thx for everyone's help here!

 

Glad to hear the good news, I hope they do a quality job for you.