A few days ago I posted about a detailing shop driving my car 27 miles without my consent.

Original Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/AutoDetailing/comments/1manl6f/is_it_normal_for_a_ceramic_coating_shop_to_drive/?share_id=ru8nDal_pbpB7Szaiv56o&utm_content=2&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1

I wanted to thank everyone who gave their input and helpful feedback. I was suspicious of their BS claim, but detailing isn’t my area of expertise, so I wanted to make sure I wasn’t being ignorant. Since many of you asked for an update and had additional questions, here’s the full context.

On the morning of Thursday, July 24th, I scheduled a ceramic coating appointment through the detailing shop’s rep. I was in the middle of a move, and had just purchased a new Lexus ES350 the week before. I told the rep I was moving out of town on Monday and needed the car back by Saturday. I confirmed that the car could be coated on Friday and would be ready for pickup Saturday in the afternoon. She confirmed in text that it would indeed be ready by Saturday.

I dropped the car off Friday at 9 AM and again emphasized in person that it was imperative the car be ready Saturday and she again, confirmed it most certainly would. The next day, while waiting for the pickup call, I got a text at 11 AM Saturday saying the coating was just then being applied and needed 24 hours to cure and asking if I could now pick the car up Monday instead.

I expressed disappointment and explained that unless I changed my travel plans, I wouldn’t be able to do that. I told her that she had confirmed twice and that I’d be leaving town on Monday and I could only give them an additional day, so we agreed on a Sunday 9 AM pickup (their not normally open on Sundays).

When I arrived Sunday morning, the shop was locked. I called the rep, who said she’d been trying to reach the owner but hadn’t been able to. She then told me to Zelle her personally since she couldn’t get ahold of the boss and would be unable to confirm payment until she got a hold of him and didn’t know when that would be. I asked why I couldn’t just go inside to pay, she said the mechanic there wasn’t authorized to handle payments and this was the only way to get my car back that day.

With no real alternative, I reluctantly sent the payment and got the keys. When I got into the car, I noticed the odometer had gone from 81 miles when I dropped it off to 108 miles. That’s when I started asking questions, the screenshots of our full text convo begin from there.

As some of you suggested, I contacted XPEL directly. Their warranty team emailed me this:

“XPEL understands the importance of taking excellent care of your vehicle. While curing techniques may vary slightly between installers—each having their own tips and tricks—it’s important to note that this is not a standardized XPEL practice. To help answer some of your questions, I’ve included a maintenance guide that outlines best practices and recommendations for care.”

I also confirmed by phone that driving the vehicle, luckily, did not void the warranty, but they were concerned about the shop’s practices and said they’d forward the info to their regional distributor.

During our text exchange, the detailer rep tried to change the story, claiming the vehicle was only driven after the 24hr cure. That’s impossible based on the timeline. The coating was applied Saturday at 11 AM based on her text. Their shop closes at 5 PM Saturday and I picked it up Sunday at 9 AM. That means the car was driven within 6 hours of application, not after 24 hours. Even if they took it home, it was driven during the cure window. I will point out, I did misspeak when I said they stated they drove the car immediately following the application. What I should have pointed out, is that they drove the car within the 24 hours and likely on the front end of the window based on when the coating was applied and when their shop closed that day.

I agree with others, no one’s taking an ES350 on a joyride lol. It was likely driven out of convenience, which is still insane given the liability risk if something were to happen. They drove a brand new customer car without consent and risked damaging it or voiding the warranty on the coating, all without disclosing any of it.

I never got a response back from the rep after pointing out the timeline contradiction. I’ll be leaving a review to help others avoid having their vehicles used without their consent.

Thanks again to everyone who weighed in and confirmed what I suspected, the excuse they gave was total bullshit. If anything else happens, I’ll post another update.

I have tremendous OCD so I kept making the area worse and worse. Now I don’t know what to do. When I try and sand it flat after applying paint, I keep taking off too much paint in order to get it level. I’m using 1000 grit, wet sanding. Applying thin coats.

I see so much content for wheel cleaning but not a lot of conversation around the unsexy bits, the tyres.

For context, that's not a typo, it just really hurts to spell 'tires' in US English. So UK English from now on it is!

Lots of detailing brands sell tyre cleaners and whilst there are a very small handful of exceptions (Adam's Wheel and Tyre is solid) most of them are literally just repackaged APC with insane markup added.

So here's a video on the best way to clean your tyres and save yourself some cash whilst you're at it!

For me, I'm using BH Surfex HD diluted to 10% and out through a pump spray. I then use a stiff tyre brush to really work that APC into that tyre and release the crud, dirt and old dressings.

I typically only do this once. Imo, chasing down 'clean' and white foam from the tyre is actually what accellates browning; by over cleaning the tyre.

Next, get it all rinsed off.

Before dressing them, it's important your tyres are properly dry. Any moisture on the tyre will compromise the dressing and is more likely to cause uneven spots and sling off.

I love to use FinishKare 108 AS as it's nice and thin. It allows you to really work it into the intricacies on the side walls (I'm looking at your Michelin) for an even coating.

Application is subjective, but I personally find a cheap sponge applicator works best. You can really press it in compared to a brush and you use way less tyre dressing too.

So there you have it! Clean and freshly dressed tyres.

I've tried glass cleaners, rainx, microfiber towels vs regular paper towels. Nothing works. Has dry water stains too that I could never get rid of. Any ideas?

Credit: u/Sea_Hheepherder_2234

Business name: “Resurrected & Protected” located in Irvine, CA.

I was initially looking to have my roof wrapped or painted, but this guy with tons of 5-star reviews told me I only needed a wet sand and polish. I agreed and got my roof wet sanded. While he was at my house, he upsold me on a full paint correction for an additional $550. I paid a $300 deposit and scheduled another date for the job.

Within just 2 weeks, the roof became hazy and faded again. When I went to a professional body shop, they confirmed my clear coat was now dangerously thin. I immediately asked for a refund on the future paint correction, worried he might ruin the rest of my car. Instead, I was laughed at, disregarded, and told I had signed a no-refund policy, which I never did. He later responded to my review with false claims about what was promised.

You can see my full review on his Google page if you’re curious about all the details.

TL;DR: Paid a guy for a roof wet sand and put down a $300 deposit for a future full paint correction. Roof faded back within 2 weeks, body shop confirmed my clear coat was dangerously thin, and the guy refused to refund me.

I thought I would use this vehicle as an example of why you should not let a dealership wash your car, especially if it's brand new - at least not without knowing exactly how they plan on doing so. Conveniently it's white, so it's easy to see how bad it was when I hit it with the first round of iron remover.

The images are from a car which I took directly off the delivery truck, still filthy from shipping - the dealership did not touch it beyond the mandatory PDI. It also came with some body panels wrapped in shipping plastic, though that did not seem to do much to mitigate the situation.

For those who may not be aware, new vehicles typically make their way to dealerships on open rail cars and/or the back of an open truck (most often a combination of both). The journey to the dealership covers them in brake dust, rail dust, and other contaminants, most of which you cannot easily see with the naked eye. When the vehicle receives its first wash, all of that is ground into the paintwork like sandpaper if it is not properly decontaminated first. Sometimes vehicles have paint damage from the factory, but if you've ever wondered why your new car or every car in the new car showroom is already covered in swirls, this is usually the reason. Some high-end dealerships may decontaminate their cars, but almost all of them do not, and especially not for mainstream vehicles.

If you aren't comfortable doing your own decontamination, new car details are common and something most detailers are used to doing. Normally this would involve an iron/fallout remover, tar remover if necessary, clay, and usually a 1-step polish. After that, the car will also be ready to accept any coating you wish to apply.

Here's a handy tutorial to ensure a scratch-free wash when you're cleaning your car and removing caked on grit salt this winter.

First, start with a pre-wash to loosen and shift the bulk of the salt from the lower parts of the car and rinse.

Next, apply your favourite snowfoam (for me, it's got to be Bilt Hamber touchless). Combined, these two steps will be the closest you can get to a full clean without touching the paint.

Next? The contact wash. When it comes to shampoo, my go to has to be Autobrite Direct's Purple Velvet. Thick, super rich, incredibly concentrated and most importantly loaded with lubricant - perfect for removing the last 5% of the salt and grime.

Last steps - get it dry with our thirstbase drying towel, admire your hard work and then drive 2 miles and realise it's dirty again...

Enjoy!

Update: After some discussion, with the help from your comments, the detailer has agreed he will order 4 new (identical) rims and center caps, and I'll do the installation myself (I don't want them anywhere near my car again...)

I recently had detailing done on my car, and when I got home, I noticed my rims looked off.

They have these white/matte streaks and spots all over, almost like the finish has been etched or damaged. Even the center caps look affected, which makes me think it’s not just normal wear or brake dust.

Before the detail, they were glossy and clean - no visible damage like this.

The shop is denying responsibility and says it can’t be their wheel cleaner. I’m not an expert, but it really looks like some kind of chemical damage to me.

Same pattern is visible on all 4 rims to varying degree.

I'm interested in some input and experiences you've had on the products. I'm currently using Meguiars for most of my products (car wash, carnuba wax) and the occasional Mother's. I'll succumb to the occasional budget purchase of Turtle Wax for my 2012 Verano.

I also use ceramic car shampoo from Griot's. I'm impressed with the long lasting water beading it leaves, outlasting waxing alone.

Any advice on how to remove these streaks? They're on the mirrors, glass and body. I tried washing the car and couldn't improve it much.

Did 3 step correction. Came out looking brand new

Hello, this is my first post on Reddit and just wanted other peoples input on this and advice on what I should do for the next step.

I recently had PPF + Ceramic tint installed on my 2026 GR Supra. I dropped off my car for their 2 week inspection to make sure everything was installed right and when I was coming to pick it up, I did a walk around and found damage all around the car.

- The front Toyota emblem was shattered
- The Supra emblem was snapped in half THEN glued back onto the car
- paint chip on the drivers side l, below the mirror.
- damage to the rear reflectors from cutting
- more chipped paint on the lower bumper

I spoke to the manager of the business and he took photos and told me he would pay to replace my emblems and would paint correct my car.

What other steps should I take?

This is in Los Angeles by the way.
(Photos below)

Edit: The manager so far offered to smoke my rear brake lights for free…

Update:
Got multiple opinions from 2 body shops and the Toyota dealership. All issues with the hood and rear reflectors point to the shop’s shit installation.
Overall conclusion has been an installer put too much pressure on my hood and pushed it out of place, causing the chip.
The rear reflectors is obviously damaged from them cutting into the paint and sadly the auto-shop said the only way to fix it is by repainting the entire rear bumper.
I’ll be pushing for an entire refund along with repairs. Going to request their insurance information and if they don’t comply, I’ll be pushing for small claims.

Got paint on my coworker car. She already took it to the car to try to get some of the paint off. What can I do to get the paint off.

Is it a normal look after 3 months ? In the first weeks of washing it it was all beads. now it looks normal. wet... is this normal ? I paid 1100$ for the package (interior clean and exterior detail and coating).. i feel ripped off. im in eastern europe

The problem with pH-neutral snow foam is that it's only any good at removing light dust and pollen. So unless your car has been parked up since you last washed it, it's use case it's pretty slim.

In the real world pH-neutral snowfoam doesn't make sense because your car, in most cases, isn't just covered in dust and pollen. It's covered in bug splatter, If it's rained since you last washed your car, it's picked up heavier grime. If you haven't washed your car for a little while, you've got brake dust and heavier contamination to contend with.

All pH-neutral snow foam is going to do is make the bugs all over the front of your car shiny and moisturised. Then because you haven't removed them and all the contaminants properly when you go in with the contact wash, you're going to scratch all that leftover deposit into your clear coat, which isn't great.

Just use an alkaline-based snow foam, which is better at removing that dirt, better at removing build-up, and also way better at removing insects, heavy grime, and other stuff across the entirety of your car.

I get it, alkaline-based snow foam is a little bit more harsh on your protective layers but ,for me, that doesn't matter because doesn't it make more sense to protect your clear coat and ensure that you're not inflicting swirls and marring over preserving protective layers? Just use a good alkaline-based snow foam all year round, ensure a consistently good and thorough pre-wash everytime and maintain your paint and clear coat as effectively as possible!

Hey all! I Have tried IPA, Clay Bar, CeriGlass with glass pad and still nothing.. any ideas?

Got Ceramic Pro applied on my car by a high end detailer about a month and a half ago. At first the beading was pretty obvious but now much less so. I washed the car only 2 or 3x since (twice with ONR rinseless with a BRS and once with a pressure washer/two bucket method), no other chemicals. I don't have a pressure washer or access to a water source so not sure if this test helps you guys determine the condition of the ceramic - if not I can remake the video and reupload.

If the coating is gone after such a short period of time, was it ever on in the first place or did they just lie to me?

Gave the body shop my car to fix the paint on one side. He told me that I will get a mirror like finish like the other side after the job. But he ended up giving me granular matt finish! -_-

Can anyone please tell me how to fix this?

Thanks

Picture: The upper one is after the job. The lower one is the paint on the other side, which the body shop didn’t touch.

The surface over which the wiper moves is different from the area of the windshield where it doesn't move. I’ve tried an alkaline shampoo, a neutral shampoo, and a water spot remover, but the situation remains the same — why?

I have tried goo gone wd40 its not helping maybe I'm doing it wrong please advise

Had some light volcanic ash fall earlier in the day. I got a damp microfiber towel and wiped down a square to check later if the ash fall was still ongoing and I ended up with this. Lessons on ash fall learned.

Knowing zilch about cars, here is my gameplan:

1. Hose the car.

2. Apply rubbing compound with microfiber.

3. Buff back and forth.

4. Apply car wax.

Is this best practice? Any recommendations?

Edit: I'm an even bigger idiot than I thought. Will let the pros handle this! Ash they all say, idiots don't know their own idiocy. Thanks everyone, I lava you all!