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When I purchased my CPO Lexus it came with complimentary car washes at my local dealership. Couple questions regarding this. How long do I have this benefit for? Is it customary to tip? I feel bad not tipping especially getting something free.
The benefit is for the duration of the warranty. Dealers usually wash the car out of warranty anytime you have them work on the car. When going for a wash only I found that the wait time at the dealer could be quite long compared to a commercial wash. I ended up going to a commercial wash most of the time because of the wait. But, like you, I felt comfortable tipping. Car wash attendant is a tiresome job.
Im not a professional detailer, yet Im overly picky about who touches my car. My service advisor has noted my file to NEVER wash my 350 F. After a week of owning it, I came back for personal settings to be done and a few radio issues and the dealer left heavy swirls all over my black paint from their " free wash". I made them detail the car for free ( I knew the owner of the dealership and I was pissed). DISO is what we call it in the detail world. Dealer Installed Swirl Option.
In my honest opinion, Do yourself a favor and wash your own car. If you need any detailing advice or have questions, please pm me. I posted a few pics of my car and work on facebook and it went viral. I broke down my entire detail process with links to products and all. Im always happy to pass on the good word. I just need an email address to send a word doc.
My Service Advisor or staff at the front desk return the keys to my vehicle so I'm never presented in a situation to tip the actual washer. In the last couple years though, I prefer avoiding them wash my car since the wash is rarely to my satisfaction. (spots missed on the body, wheels, arguably fine scratches introduced, etc). Besides mentioning it and having it written on the service order form, I have a printed sign Do Not Wash Please I pull out of the glove box and place on the dash.
Giving a tip all boils down to whether you were happy with the service you received. Consider how the employee did his job or how professionally he gets along with you. If he did an excellent job, you should tip him 20% – 25%. If he did poor work, you can tip him less or not at all.
Im not a professional detailer, yet Im overly picky about who touches my car. My service advisor has noted my file to NEVER wash my 350 F. After a week of owning it, I came back for personal settings to be done and a few radio issues and the dealer left heavy swirls all over my black paint from their " free wash". I made them detail the car for free ( I knew the owner of the dealership and I was pissed). DISO is what we call it in the detail world. Dealer Installed Swirl Option.
In my honest opinion, Do yourself a favor and wash your own car. If you need any detailing advice or have questions, please pm me. I posted a few pics of my car and work on facebook and it went viral. I broke down my entire detail process with links to products and all. Im always happy to pass on the good word. I just need an email address to send a word doc.
All best to you and your new ride!
190% agree with this! Unless you don't care about the paint on your car, all a dealership does for a "free wash" is introduce scratches and swirls onto your ride. If they actually do a hand wash, they reuse the same towels (not even sure if they're microfiber) that have been used on other cars and most likely using the same dirty water in buckets. And all bets are off if they use the automatic touch ones.
Bottom line is there is no one that will care for your car except for you.
Dealership car washes messed up the finish on my wheels on my 2021 IS 350. Good news is they agreed to replace (yes... replace!) all four wheels. Good customer service, but then again, I had to argue for a while to get them to agree to do so.
yep that's why i never take anything free from dealers. and no one touches my cars but me, if i can help it and it's reasonable. this means maintenance, car wash etc. "complimentary" means "how bad and cheap can we do this complimentary thing"
It didn't feel good to have to basically argue with them about how we shouldn't have even gotten into this situation because they knew I didn't want the car washed, as well as having it explained to me (without my asking) of how the PVD chrome finish shows imperfections easily and that I am just particular about keeping my car "nice". I mean, I can't really complain about the end result, but I would've appreciated less of that guilt tripping in the beginning.
05-26-15, 05:04 AM
CPO Free Car wash etiquette
