Window scratches

So, yesterday I took my car in for it's first service in the month and a half that I've had the car. I had my oil changed, my windsheild wipers replaced under warranty, and I went in on a Friday just because I knew that the dealership's dent specialist would be there and I had 2 that I needed to be suctioned out. After about a 2 hour wait, they told me my car was ready and I could leave after paying. I paid, got in my car, and came home and parked the car in the garage.

I was feeling under the weather, so I layed down for a nap. A few hours later I went to pick up my boyfriend to take him to dinner. When I opened my car door I noticed some strange light reflecting off my driver's side window. I looked closer and saw hundreds of tiny scratches. Like someone had taken steel wool and rubbed it on that corner of the window that most owners have trained themselves not to touch. I could easily stick my fingernail in each of the groves. It's pretty deep.

I'm livid. I just paid over $100 in servicing and I get my car back with even more damage? I called the service dept. and they said they'd look at it, but that there wasn't much else he could promise me. I know I'm in deep shit since I paid and drove off without saying/noticing anything. I'm wondering, how the hell do I go about fixing this if they refuse to?

That sucks..

I would talk to the service manager about it, progressing up the chain as necessary. They should take care of it... IF they don't, go through Subaru of America.

I had the same thing happen with a dent removal shop I used. Fairly certain it's from the tools they use on the dents. I made the same mistake, paid, and went home. It was a couple days before I noticed it.

I think you can use some fine metal polish like Flitz to polish out the scratches.

what in the world dent removal process could scrape your windows??

I have never heard of getting a car back with scraped up windows, but maybe I just dont get out much ?

I'm under the impression that it's caused by the tools they use, although since this guy has been working for my dealer for years without any sort of problem I'm not entirely sure what happened. He did look at me kind of funny when I was in the showroom waiting for the woman at the front desk to come and finish up the whole process, but I just shrugged it off.

Anyway, it made me paranoid enough to go all around my car to see if I could find similar damage to the paint or windows (seeing as one dent was under the door handle of the door with the scratched window, and the other was on my gas door), and couldn't find much. All I found were a few similar marks that were on my windsheild, but on the inside. WTF did they do to my car?

Well, you've officially scared me off of paintless dent removal. :O

I understand they push out the dent using tools that obviously need to be snaked towards the dent and then "worked." I imagine these are slim-jim like tools, and probably need to be pried around a bit to press out the dent. Maybe it's the tool getting angled around that caused the scratches.

I've heard that some jobs require drilling holes for the tools. I wonder if they then cover them up properly to avoid rust...

Well, you know what's funny is that I only went in to have the one on my gas door fixed. I didn't know about the other one until I got there. I figured the one on the gas door would be a breeze to fix, but when they showed me the one under the door handle I said "Sure, go for it." They were both tiny little push ins, nothing that looked even remotely difficult to remove. I'm regretting that now. If I had known that they were going to do that to my windows I would have just dealt with the tiny indention I never noticed.

What really bothers me about this is that after looking over the spot it seems as though the guy saw it and tried to buff it out, but only wound up making it worse. Then he neglected to tell me about it when he saw me, hoping I would do exactly what I did by leaving. Why do people who work in the automotive industry always have to be so shadey?

oh dear, the dreaded slim jim metal scrapes then. I experienced that once when Igot locked out of my car. This fool scraped my window tint all to hell and back before using an inflatable plastic pouch that spread the glass away from the window frame. Like I said after the fact he scraped my car to hell.

Oh well, and in the future I highly recommend not having little door dings repaired. If your car is too perfect it just becomes a target for lamers anyways. Just save your cash and have a few little flaws on the car so people (idiots) do not get jealous.

I even try to keep a bit of dirt on my car unless I know it will be garaged or in safe place due to the "haters" out there. lol of sorts:munch:

I had a few dents poped by a pseudo dent wizard on my WRX and he used a piece of static cling vinyl, like an oil change reminder, on the windows so that he didn't scratch them... it worked fine...

As with many professional services, there are real professionals who do it right, and then the majority that don't do it right. It's hard to tell who/what you're gonna get.

That's why sometimes "preventative" maintenance can actually do more harm than good if not done by a true professional. A few dents, a few scratches; an inexperienced detailer could do more damage trying his honest best to help you.

So, yesterday I took my car in for it's first service in the month and a half that I've had the car. I had my oil changed, my windsheild wipers replaced under warranty, and I went in on a Friday just because I knew that the dealership's dent specialist would be there and I had 2 that I needed to be suctioned out. After about a 2 hour wait, they told me my car was ready and I could leave after paying. I paid, got in my car, and came home and parked the car in the garage.

I was feeling under the weather, so I layed down for a nap. A few hours later I went to pick up my boyfriend to take him to dinner. When I opened my car door I noticed some strange light reflecting off my driver's side window. I looked closer and saw hundreds of tiny scratches. Like someone had taken steel wool and rubbed it on that corner of the window that most owners have trained themselves not to touch. I could easily stick my fingernail in each of the groves. It's pretty deep.

I'm livid. I just paid over $100 in servicing and I get my car back with even more damage? I called the service dept. and they said they'd look at it, but that there wasn't much else he could promise me. I know I'm in deep shit since I paid and drove off without saying/noticing anything. I'm wondering, how the hell do I go about fixing this if they refuse to?

Sounds like the PDR guy went through the opening in the top of the door and did not properly protect the glass (or rubber seals) when working the tool. Normally you'd wrap the tool in a cloth or piece of teflon sheet to make it slide easier and protect the glass/seals. The good news is that you can usually buff scratches out of glass with the right compound and expertise. I am sure the dealership can fix it.

Craig

That sucks..

 

I would talk to the service manager about it, progressing up the chain as necessary. They should take care of it... IF they don't, go through Subaru of America.

My dad took his Toyota in once and came back with huge crack in his windshield. Had to be replaced and the dealer wouldnt pay for it. So he wrote a letter to Toyota and never heard back from them. That was four years ago.

which dealership did you bring it to?

then again this is houston, and ANYTHING can happen >P

which dealership did you bring it to?

then again this is houston, and ANYTHING can happen >P

McRee Subaru in Dickinson.

hmm. that's odd, tell Barry to look into it

he's on the board here

and over on the TXIC board as well

I went over to McRee this afternoon and saw the service manager and Barry about it. They agree with me that nothing could have caused those scratches other than the tool used by the person who sucked my dent out. They have been more than generous about the entire thing and have promised to either repair the glass or completely replace the glass if the damages cannot be completely fixed. All of it will be covered by them or the guy they have to come in to service their dents, and should a new window be needed they will be covering the cost of tint as well. Also, they have promised they will have all work done within a month of today, as I'm moving across state at the end of December.

As far as I'm concerned McRee Subaru gets an A++ for this. They've handled things beautifully thus far, and I hope to see the same results in the future.