Car scratched after warranty work

[53billabong]

Just posting this up to see if anybody has had a similar experience.

Last week I took my Clio into my local renault dealer (Herds in Weybridge) to have a problem with the sunroof looked at. The car ended up needing a new sunroof frame. This was replaced and is now working beautifully....However! I went to wash the car this morning and noticed about 5 scratches around the car that were not there when I took it in. These all look like the result of them washing the car after replacing the broken part (Theyre on the bit where the bonnet meets the wing, the end of the C pillar by the back window etc). Some of them were deeper than others, a couple looked as if theyd gone right through to the primer.



Fortunately a couple of hours and a lot of elbow grease has managed to get rid of them, although Im not particularly happy about having to spend half my day off polishing out scratches that shouldnt even be there in the first place! Ive spoken to the customer services manager who says that when they clean the cars they dont use a sponge - just a cleaning spray that is then jetwashed off. Is this correct?

I didnt realise that the car was going to get washed. If Id known that they were going to I would have asked them not to!

I just want to see whether a similar thing had happened to anyone before - and also to find out whether the guy I spoke to was telling the truth about how they wash the cars.

Sorry for the long post!

Andrew

 

[Final Maxim]

at carcraft they didnt wash with sponges no, they sent them through the car wash machine, then jetted down the engine bay and door appatures. it then came inside to be leathered off and hoovered

 

[Lee]

I have no idea what Renault Birmingham or Sutton Park use but Id say it has the softness of a scouring pad looking at the state of mine.

 

[Pete]

I tell the dealer to not wash mine everytime it goes in for a service, first time they serviced it it came back with a chip on the wing.

Only way for you to find out how they clean it would be to watch them do it.

 

[NIN-172]

I took mine into Renault Leeds for the 4K rattle sorting.
They couldnt find the problem even though I had explained to a Technician exactly what the problem was. So they charged me for fixing something else like a lambda sensor wire clip or something, which was never a problem anyway & my driver side door had been dented sometime while thay had it in their possesion.
I told the manager, but he said that there was no proof that I hadnt brought it in like that. So I got well & truely stuffed.

& I still had the 4k Rattle to sort out.

Hence the reason why I try to stay as far away from them as possible now.

[Edited by NIN-172 on 07 March 2005 at 3:29pm]

 

[53billabong]

I find it strange that they can wash the car without a sponge? Ive taken it through one of those quick hand wash things before and they do pretty much what the guy at Renault said - although they still used sponges. I just dont see how you can get the dirt off without a sponge - call me old fashioned but that seems like the easiest way to wash a car!

 

[53billabong]

Quote: Originally posted by NIN-172 on 07 March 2005

I took mine into Renault Leeds for the 4K rattle sorting.
They couldnt find the problem even though I had explained to a Technician exactly what the problem was. So they charged me for fixing something else like a lambda sensor wire clip or something, which was never a problem anyway & my driver side door had been dented sometime while thay had it in their possesion.
I told the manager, but he said that there was no proof that I hadnt brought it in like that. So I got well & truely stuffed.

& I still had the 4k Rattle to sort out.

Hence the reason why I try to stay as far away from them as possible now.

[Edited by NIN-172 on 07 March 2005 at 3:29pm]

Thats the problem. Its almost impossible to prove that the damage wasnt there before. Im gonna wait and see what they say when (if!) they come back to me.

 

[badinvincible]

Quote: Originally posted by 53billabong on 07 March 2005

I find it strange that they can wash the car without a sponge? Ive taken it through one of those quick hand wash things before and they do pretty much what the guy at Renault said - although they still used sponges. I just dont see how you can get the dirt off without a sponge - call me old fashioned but that seems like the easiest way to wash a car!

If it wasnt a sponge, it may have been a brush...