[lisaoleary]

Below is a link to part one if this story...

Part 2 - Just spent 1/2 hour with the owner of the detailing company and his main detailer. They were both dumbfounded by what they saw. He said that he has 16 operations, and he has never seen any soap do this to a car. He said that half of the cars he details has this lower material (fibreglass/plastic), and this is the first time he had seen this. He called his soap supplier, and is having him fax over exactly what they use, and they took a test sample of there product right then and there to have it tested. We walked around the car and he pointed out that none of the chrome was effected and neither were the port holes or license plate frames, not to mention the rest of the paint. His main point, though, was, that even if their mixture was off that day, or even if we washed the car with comet or detergent, and left it on for a week, this type of damage should not have happened to a brand new car. While I know he has a dog in the race, I do kind of agree with that point.

Saturday I spoke to the service dept of my dealer, and to their new car prep center, and they too have "never heard of this." Seems my Enclave tragedy is an anomaly to everyone!! My insurance company said that this does not fall under comprehension as it is not fire, theft, glass issue, act of nature, but are willing to help me with whomever ends up being responsible. So, looks like we will be taking it into the dealership Saturday to see what they say...I feel like i am going to end up being a bit of a ping pong ball in this situation. The detail company owner has offered to do anything he can to assist Buick in figuring out what went wrong. He seems genuine. My thought is that if it is a Enclave thing, that it will need to be addressed, as it will happen again.

Will post Part 3 when enough transpires...

Lisa

http://www.enclaveforum.net/index.php?topic=834.msg10044#msg10044

 

[axiama]

Man that's scary. Let us know how it goes. :sosad:

 

[coopermine]

Has anyone else washed the Encalve yet? I am scared now, I do my own laundry and won't be able to blame anyone if something happens, plus my wife will kill me.

 

[Top Dog]

I had my Enclave washed at car washes in FL, OH.,NY and then Fl. again no
problems yet!!

 

[lisaoleary]

i don't mean to imply that this is a wide spread thing -- and scare anyone about washing their Enclave's...My guess is this is just an anomalous case, and hopefully I can get this rectify it as soon as possible....

Keep those new Enclaves clean :thumb:

Lisa

 

[mrbuick]

I always wash my own using Macquires? car wash or other brand names, without any problems. I never use dish soap.

 

[4kids]

Lisa,
I'm sorry to hear about your detail experience. I tried explaining this to my husband and then I read your post to him.
I was wondering if you had any photos?

 

[coopermine]

So what color is your vehicle Lisa?

I have both the ICE and McGuire's, I am planning to give it a wash tomorrow :woot: :woot:

 

[lisaoleary]

Coop - It is platinum....I am sure that you will have no problem -- Wash away!!

 

[lisaoleary]

Well, it sure isn't the album I thought I would post

It is in the gallery under my username (my very creative user name might I add)

I am confident that this will be resolved.

 

[desgnconcpts]

Lisa,
Thank you for posting those pics -- you did a great job of capturing the damage --

And now I'm going to ask: Don Willems, can you show those pictures to your guys in the body shop in Lansing???

I have the exact same kind of "drip marks" on the driver's side doors (front and rear) -- and it shows up on what seems to be the plasticized/matte black paint or whatever it is that is used to cover the black of the window frames. Whatever caused the drips on Lisa's car probably happened on my window frames, and happened when the dealer detailed the car. It doesn't show as clearly in a picture (I've tried) because of the black color of the frames.

There is something to this paint or material that's used and we need to find out what's going on with it. I have tried every (mild) cleaner that I've got to get rid of the spots to no avail.
Can you get the body shop guys to help????
Thanks!

 

[mss42]

wow,

that is something... lisa and design keep us posted on the outcome of the damage. we will need to know what to do incase it happens to us.

 

[osli]

Our Enclave was bought in a 2-plate state, and I didn't need or want the front license plate so I removed it. I'll cover the small holes left with color-matched plastic caps when I run across some that look like they will blend well, but in the mean time I noticed something interesting about the plastic bottom cladding... it appears that it isn't a through-dyed plastic but has some sort of paint or surface coating process applied. On ours (carbon metallic, with dark gray cladding) the base plastic color is a true black, with a thick surface coating of the dark matte gray. Not sure if they are using paint, or a dyed polymer overlay, or some sort of pigmented resin, but it isn't just plain jane plastic that you might find one a lot of other vehicles. Makes me wonder... is this common on newer vehicles for plastic cladding? I know Mercedes has used a rubberized paint on bottom cladding in years past, but this certainly seems different. The surface has much more of a plastic feel to it - not something I'd think you could wax, and it seems tougher and more scratch resistant than a paint. I'm guessing a dyed polymer bonded to the base polymer?

Maybe something is wacky with their dye process?

 

[ccaats]

It looks very similar to our Pontiac Montana cladding. We had a small "accident" and had to have a section of it replaced. Even though our cladding was charcoal, the cladding still had to be painted. I saw it when it came into the body shop, and it was dark charcoal, but with a very flat finish. The topcoat that they put on it gives it a more "satin" sheen and it is also very resistant to chipping.

 

[lisaoleary]

Well, I just got off the phone with my dealer. I am their forth Enclave owner with this issue. They are not sure at exactly what point there is a problem, but they are trying to work through it with GM.

Don Willems is getting this information into the right hands - Thanks Don, as usual you have really stepped up!

I should be hearing back from the service manager as to what the next move is....And, of course, will update everyone!

Lisa

 

[mrbuick]

It is good that your dealer acknowledges this problem. I am confident that this will be resolved to your satisfaction.

.....otherwise you will be singing (with apologies to the Rolling Stones) "I can't get no...satisfaction".....

 

[R2Cope]

Thank you Lisa for your consistent up follow up during this difficult time! Thanks goes out to Don for caring about the customers that buys the vehicles he helps build! :thumb:

 

[osli]

I hope that over the coming weeks and months we can get an update from the dealer/Don/GM/whoever on this issue. Is it isolated as in a process defect with a few vehicles, or systemic as in all vehicles have the potential problem under the right conditions? What agents are causing this undesirable reaction? What products should we avoid?

Very curious issue. Pure soap shouldn't do that to any plastic dyed, pigmented, or painted surface. On the other hand, a dyed, pigmented, or painted surface should stand up to chemicals more abusive than a common detergent. From either end, it really doesn't make a lot of sense. Hope it all gets sorted out, for your sake (especially!) and for ours.

 

[netmag]

Wow. Until I hear some more info on this, I think I'll just stick with good old soap and water for a while and hold off on the wax and chemicals. I don't want to end up accidentally using a product that could do this to our Enclave. Maybe we should start a list of specific products that are confirmed to work without incident on the vehicle.

 

[JRacer]

I have waxed mine entirely once with Mequairs Next generation Txt wax, and then waxed the entire front end again a week later with the same wax. I have washed it 4-5 times with a car soap made by Armorall. I have not seen any of this type issue yet on ours, but I plan to wash it again in the next day or two so I will be inspecting it with a fine tooth comb!!!!!