Help! Sand glued to car???

[jsfofec]

This is my first post, although I've been reading and learning an unbelievable amount of information over the last couple of months.

Unfortunately my first post is a bad one. In short, I brought my '06 Honda Pilot (black) to the dealer today to have a new grill put on. When I picked up the car, I was so focused on the grill, I didn't pay attention to the rest of the car. Afterwords, I picked up my wife, she noticed something sparkling on the body. When I looked, it appeared almost as if sand was pasted to the car. It is all over the car and stuck to it. When you touch the car, it feels like sandpaper.

What do I do? I called the Customer Service Manager (who is also a good friend of ours) and she said not to touch the car, she wants to talk to their detail and service manager first and show them some photos I sent to her.

I know the longer I wait, the worse it will be for the paint. If they want to detail it, do I trust them, or just try to fix this myself?

My car is scratch free, I've worked very hard on it over the last 2 months to keep that "showroom" appearance, and now this. It makes me sick to even think about it.

[jsfofec]

Re: Help! Sand glued to car???

Here''s another photo

[SL1CK]

Pick up Meguiars Quik Detail Kit. It comes with a bottle of Quik Detailer and Detailing Clay.

This will remove this sand that appears to be "glued" to the paint.

Claying is really easy.

Open clay and knead clay into a small wafer, if dropped on the ground, throw it away and use a new one! (In this case you can break the clay into 2 or 3 pieces to save clay)

Spray some Quik Detailer on the clay and on the affected area. Proceed to rub the clay across the affected area in a back and forth motion.

You may need to clay the area(s) more than once.

If it doesn't remove all of it, you may have to get some of their "Aggressive" clay.

The Quik Detail Kit cost about 10$.

The Smooth Surface Kit is comes with Clay and Quik Detailer, but included a Supreme Shine Microfiber and a sample bottle of Cleaner Wax.

[Mark2]

I'd try to use somkind of D-greaser or bodysolvent on it before claying. Looks like big particles and alot of them, the claybar will be filled with sand(or whatever it is) very quickly.

[jsfofec]

Thanks for the replies. I have all of the products and tools I would need to clean this mess (I've been reading and taking notes here for the last couple of months). What concerns me is that I don't have the experience to deal with getting what appears to be sand or something glued to the car.

I think I need to find somebody who knows what they are doing to clean it. The dealership really wants me to bring it to them so they can fix this mess. They already told me who they will have work on it, who according to them, is their best person.

The good news is, I noticed that practically all of the car care products they have on display there are Meguiar's...but do I trust them to do the job, or go to a professional.

[squimper]

That's a tough decision. Heck I don't even have to make it and I'm finding it difficult. hehe But here is what I would probably do.

As crazy as it sounds, I think I would bring it in to the dealership, but when you drop it off, speak to the service manager AND the actual person who is going to be cleaning the vehicle and make your requirement crystal clear.

If they aren't able to commit to the level of detail you want/need then walk away and ask them to pay for a detailer that you chose and trust.

If you aren't going to do it yourself, then all you can do is try to stack the odds in your favor. That being said, I think that having a conversation with the people who are going to work on your car makes a big difference. If they associate a person to the work they are doing, they tend to be more cautious in my experience.

Unless of course you yell at them before they detail your car, then you're screwed.

[JB 95C4]

Originally posted by squimper
Unless of course you yell at them before they detail your car, then you're screwed.

Kill them with kindness otherwise this brings a vision of the Detailer, malet in hand, with a chisel removing the sand! Seems like they want to do right by you and knowing you will only help them try harder.