PDI and other Dealer Prep Issues...
10-31-2002, 07:57 AM
#1
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PDI and other Dealer Prep Issues...
From what I have gathered, once the cars get to the dealer, they apparently do the following:
1.) Unload and check the car (turn engine on, system test, etc.).
2.) Check all fluid levels.
3.) Remove plastic and glue.
4.) Wash the car.
5.) Apply a teflon coating wax.
6.) Fill gas tank.
This is the list given to me by my sales rep, so I can only vouch for it based on his word. My question is, what is the story with the teflon wax? Is it a good idea to let them apply this, especially if I am going to go over the car with my own wax/buff job anyway?
Any insight or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
- Chris
1.) Unload and check the car (turn engine on, system test, etc.).
2.) Check all fluid levels.
3.) Remove plastic and glue.
4.) Wash the car.
5.) Apply a teflon coating wax.
6.) Fill gas tank.
This is the list given to me by my sales rep, so I can only vouch for it based on his word. My question is, what is the story with the teflon wax? Is it a good idea to let them apply this, especially if I am going to go over the car with my own wax/buff job anyway?
Any insight or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
- Chris
11-03-2002, 12:28 PM
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Chris,
I, like many others on this site am a fan of Zaino. My am still awaiting my Z to arrive. Hopefully any day now. I have specifically asked my dealer to NOT apply the sealant or whatever they use on cars when they are prepping. I don't know exactly what it is or who may be applying it. I do know one thing, no one will do with the care and detail I will. I will hit it with a full Zaino protocol once it's home in my garage.
My .02
I, like many others on this site am a fan of Zaino. My am still awaiting my Z to arrive. Hopefully any day now. I have specifically asked my dealer to NOT apply the sealant or whatever they use on cars when they are prepping. I don't know exactly what it is or who may be applying it. I do know one thing, no one will do with the care and detail I will. I will hit it with a full Zaino protocol once it's home in my garage.
My .02
11-03-2002, 04:27 PM
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Re: PDI and other Dealer Prep Issues...
Originally posted by stemenc
From what I have gathered, once the cars get to the dealer, they apparently do the following:
1.) Unload and check the car (turn engine on, system test, etc.).
2.) Check all fluid levels.
3.) Remove plastic and glue.
4.) Wash the car.
5.) Apply a teflon coating wax.
6.) Fill gas tank.
This is the list given to me by my sales rep, so I can only vouch for it based on his word. My question is, what is the story with the teflon wax? Is it a good idea to let them apply this, especially if I am going to go over the car with my own wax/buff job anyway?
Any insight or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
- Chris
From what I have gathered, once the cars get to the dealer, they apparently do the following:
1.) Unload and check the car (turn engine on, system test, etc.).
2.) Check all fluid levels.
3.) Remove plastic and glue.
4.) Wash the car.
5.) Apply a teflon coating wax.
6.) Fill gas tank.
This is the list given to me by my sales rep, so I can only vouch for it based on his word. My question is, what is the story with the teflon wax? Is it a good idea to let them apply this, especially if I am going to go over the car with my own wax/buff job anyway?
Any insight or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
- Chris
Being a person that has worked with several new and used car dealers, I think very little of these programs.
All it is is a polish/wax. Sometimes acrylic based. It doesn't last 3
months let alone three years. It's applied by the dealer or an outside shop. It costs the dealer about $10.00 if they apply it themselves or approx. $60 if farmed out to an outside shop. It's a great money marker for the dealer and salesmen joke about it all the time. The sales guy usually gets another 100.00 added on to his or her commission if they can talk the buyer into the "sealant" program. Sometimes the dealers are so nasty that they include the price of the "sealant" in the payments hidden from the buyer. The guarantee of the "sealant" is useless and hinges on the laws of average. Don't waste your money. If these systems could ever work they'd be formulated in the paint or applied at the factory.....
Teflon is bullsh$t in a wax, kinda like slick 50 is bullsh$t in a car engine.
Read on:
Dupont several years ago released a press statment about their trade mark product Teflon. In a nutshell, they said the Teflon added nothing to waxes or polishes as Teflon can and will only bond to metal while heated to very high temps. Basically what they were doing was giving a disclaimer for all of the polished and waxes hitting the market making claim after claim about how superior their product was just because it was supposed to contain Teflon. This came out about the time the debacle about PTFE resins and the Slick 50 product that also turned out to be a big farce.
I would like to point to some concrete evidence regarding Teflon. This comes from Professional Carwashing & Detailing magazine, January, 1989, page 110.
A direct quote:
My conclusion is based on the information I have gathered in the past year from representatives, lab technicians and chemists from many leading car care product companies, including DuPont, the maker of Teflon. According to G.R. Ansul of DuPont's Car Care Products Division, "The addition of a Teflon fluoropolymer
resin does nothing to enhance the properties of a car wax. We have no data that indicates the use of Teflon fluorpolymer resins is beneficial in car waxes, and we have not seen data from other people that supports this position." Ansul also notes that, "Unless Teflon is applied at 700 degrees F (371 degrees C), it is not a viable ingredient, and it is 100 percent useless in protecting the paint's finish."
As we can all see, DuPont answered this question once and for all in 1989, over 10 years ago! Let's use the advice of the manufacturer of Teflon that it is no good in a car wax (except for marketing reasons) and move on.
11-05-2002, 07:26 AM
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If you are truly buying a 350 Z, do yourself a HUGE favor like I did. Tell the dealer that you want the car unwashed, and just like it came off the truck. Let them do their mechanical inspection only!
The car comes from Nissan with only about 2 gallons of gas. If the car has a full tank, they have driven it to the gas station.
Take delivery with the shipping paper on the outside, shipping plastic seat covers on the inside, and the front license plate bracket in the trunk, and the nearly empty tank of gas.
Remove paper and plastic yourself, drive directly to the gas station and fill it up.
Drive it home and wash it yourself. If you do this and wash it carefully, you will have a beautiful scrath/swirl free finish.
Do not let the dealer wash/prep your 350Z!! This will practically guarantee fine scratches/swirl marks in your brand new paint.
The car comes from Nissan with only about 2 gallons of gas. If the car has a full tank, they have driven it to the gas station.
Take delivery with the shipping paper on the outside, shipping plastic seat covers on the inside, and the front license plate bracket in the trunk, and the nearly empty tank of gas.
Remove paper and plastic yourself, drive directly to the gas station and fill it up.
Drive it home and wash it yourself. If you do this and wash it carefully, you will have a beautiful scrath/swirl free finish.
Do not let the dealer wash/prep your 350Z!! This will practically guarantee fine scratches/swirl marks in your brand new paint.
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