Tomorrow's the dreaded recall notice and the many opportunities for dirt and grease to enter my vehicle's cabin by uncaring employees so I take some precautions,lol...wish me luck:

 

LOL
I thought i was **** but this is a new level. Things i won't do

Valet
Park in crowded parking lots

But i haven't been too worried about dropping it off for service or detailing

 

Didn't even bother to cover up the pedals so their dirt won't get inbetween the raised dots... Tch tch tch

 

Thats pretty cool, but....

I'd also have 2 or 3 sheets of A4 paper printed with "DO NOT WASH" in big bold black letter with exclamation marks, and tell my service advisor not to wash the car.

Thats when you're likely to get real damage with swirl marks, scratches etc etc

 

I don't do any of those things because I'm lazy

What I do every time my car goes in for any kind of work is do a high definition video walkaround the entire vehicle at the repair shop or dealer, so it's clear the car was dropped off in mint condition and I can prove any damage done was not pre-existing.

 

Schraderade- that is an outstanding idea! Wish I would have done that before I dropped off my BMW M3 years ago. When I went to pick it up one of the wheels was severely damaged and the dealership claimed it was like that when I brought it in.
After investigation, the dealership discovered one of their newly hired employees had taken the car to a drive-in car wash and the rails had impacted one of the rims. The dealership then paid for the repair of my rim however that was almost a week after the event and me raising a lot of hell!

Very easy to do on an iPhone so no excuses for not doing one!

Walt

 

The first thing dealers do when I drop off a car is a walk around to note any damage so I'm not sure if a video is really necessary. When I pickup the car I do a walk around before leaving.

 

I believe that is to limit their liability rather than protect you as an owner.
i.e. if there is pre-existing damage and you claim, they can prove it was there.

On the other hand, if they damaged something and you claim it wasn't pre-existing, you would basically have to trust that they will be forthcoming with their own inspection form. I guess maybe I have trust issues with that! :-)

 

Drive it.

Take pictures on the forecourt before handing over the keys.

Show them to the member of staff who takes charge of your car.

Mention that you have business interests covering construction and waste disposal.

Be overly polite.

 

I remember taking my , then, Jeep in for sevice . Yep they gave it me back serviced & washed ,but they managed to blast the 4x4 badge off the back with the hose & didn't tell me . I didn't notice until I got it home . 2 days laterI de-badged the whole thing !!