A few of us here at DI have recently purchased new cars. Before signing the paperwork and having the keys handed over, all of us made one thing clear, DO NOT wash or detail the car! The salesman, service writer, or anyone else that overheard this request simply looked at us like we were crazy.  The norm at these places is often to “take care” of the customer by washing or detailing the vehicle so the request seems bizarre and it’s foreign to almost everyone at the dealership.

We all know too well what a low quality car wash can do to the condition of the paint and if not, take a look at this great article from Zach McGovern: The Real Cost of a “Cheap” Car Wash for a more in depth description. Those in the high quality detailing industry have heard the horror stories of people dropping off their cars and requesting that it is not touched, only to receive it back washed and plenty of new imperfections and swirl marks, etc. have been added.  All the hard work you put into making your paint look great is literally washed away, pun intended, and you are left with a mess that takes a lot of time and effort to fix.

There are some solutions that we have heard of, some customers have mentioned how they have told as many people as possible at the dealership to not wash or detail the car. Now this may work if you end up talking to everyone who will see the car, however what if you miss someone or they simply forget who knows what they will do? Other customers tell as many people as they can, along with printing out paper signs. These signs are great, however they generally do not last. They get dirty, can rip, and if you try to store them in your car who knows how many uses you will get out of them. They can even be a pain to hang, does anyone honestly have any tape laying around their car? 🙂

This is why we here at Detailed Image have come up with the DI Accessories “Do Not Wash” Rear View Mirror Hang Tag! Simply hang this on your rear view mirror before you hand your car off so everyone who comes in contact with it knows to NOT wash or detail your car. This hang tag is one sided, measures 3.375″ x 9″ and it is made of sturdy .035″ white polyethylene, so you know it will last. When you are not using this tag simply throw it in your glove compartment for easy storage. This will also allow you to always have it on hand for easy access whenever you drop off your car!

Dropping your car off at the dealer to have work done, have an oil change, or just have it serviced should not bring fear into a car enthusiast anymore.  Not only do we recommend it for you personally but we encourage professional detailers to hand this out to their clients so the dealership doesn’t undue all your hard work. We hope this simple “solution” helps aid in combating this frustrating dilemma!