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10-12-2015, 05:38 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Orlando, FL.
Posts: 175
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Help, new to board need advice! Finish is ruined.
My wife and I recently purchased a 2005 BT touring Cruiser. It is a small 22 footer, and is almost showroom new on the inside, and clean on the inside. the outside is a little dull, but it has been taken good care of. The exterior was a little dull, but there were no black spots or anything. It is a really nice vehicle. and it has 27,000 miles on it. The Finish was a little hazy, and the surface of the RV is shiny in a few places, and mostly has a flat appearance. . So we decided to call a company that "specializes" in washing, waxing. They ruined the finish.... My wife is heartbroken, after the specialist, (a 21 year old with slurred speech...I should have known better when the company send out a kid to do an RV job) came to the door, he brought her out to see it. It is a disaster. My wife is besides herself....the finish looks awful. He didn't even finish the job...he said "I did the best I could". From what I understand he used an epoxy wax compound with a buffing wheel.) He was her for 5 hours, and the sides and back have spots of shine, but it's completely streaked with unshiny areas. It looks worse than before. We called an RV repairmen who did a walk thru on it just after we purchased it, and got his opinion over the phone about what he thought happened. He was helpful and said that the kid probably didn't buff it down; he went tooo fast and didn't buff it correctly. The company who sent the kid over took my call and told them abou the disaster - and the kid didn't even do the overhead cab, or wash it. And of course told the company owner that we refuse to pay 400.00 for a destroyed finish. He said he was sending a specialist out tomorrow who works on Prevosts, and will remedy the situation. Most of all, I don't know what to tell my wife. We don't know anything about RV exteriors. She is heartbroken. any help would be appreciated. thank you in advance.
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10-12-2015, 05:48 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 976
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Is your exterior gelcoat. If it is the way to get the best finish if it is oxidized is to do it by hand. The buffer will leave "clouds" spots that are dull where all the contamination collects. The striping also "bleeds" into the white. I've been buffing cars, boats, rv's for almost 30 years, I'd start with a light duty rubbing compound, then go to a polish and finish it with a good paste wax. That is if it isn't too oxidized. Sometimes there is nothing that can be done if the finish is in very poor shape. It's gonna take a lot longer than 5 hours to get it where I'd be satisfied. It took me 2 days to get my 34 foot class A to a near new shine...
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10-12-2015, 05:49 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Winnebago Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Where the Rig is Parked
Posts: 1,389
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I would give them the chance to fix it. If it was my business I'de treat everyone's coach like it was a Prevost .
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10-12-2015, 06:00 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Orlando, FL.
Posts: 175
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Thank you so much for your reply. The people who came of today did use a wheel and the finish looks cloudy, however the striping does not bleed into the white and the finis did not appear to be in poor shape - it actually looked somewhat shiny in places. I did not think my RV finish was that oxidized but maybe it is. Could you please recommend a light body rubbing compound as well as a polish and finish? In your opinion, do you think that I could get a good shine without the cloudy spots?
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10-12-2015, 06:58 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Vintage RV Owners Club Fleetwood Owners Club
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: c above
Posts: 5,525
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This is what I did, and it was done to my 82 PA that never was waxed that I know of. Mine had Blk mold almost 90% I know you said yours didn't. I used a House cleaner sprayed by garden hose it took off the blk mold. It then took me almost a week to get the oxidation off after that.
Then another week of waxing and the use of my buffer, I bought a professional buffer but everything was applied by hand.
That was 2 years ago and now I do it in the spring and fall and only a couple day's but I am retired so no hurries. Can ya get the wife to lend a hand? it'll go alittle faster.
Ya now the old saying ya want it right do it yourself...
Let us now how ya do.
Tim
ps I used all Mothers & McGuire's (sp) products. No afflation with them
__________________
1982 Pace Arrow P30 454
KarKaddy SS, Toad: 2009 Genesis
Tim, Joe and Lilly too. Mpls Minn.
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10-12-2015, 08:01 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: northern IL
Posts: 2,557
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Let the company finish it. Bt cruisers came two ways, either full body paint (like a car) or white gelcoat with vinyl stripes. If its white and has hazy spots, its oxidized. They will use a compound to remove the rest of the oxidization, then they will polish it and finish with a coat of wax. Don't worry, they will get it done right. If they work on prevosts, they know what they are doing. sounds like they sent a kid out to do a job that they thought wasn't too involved. if you want to do it yourself, meguires makes a marine line of products. They come in blue bottles. Use the oxidation remover first. You can do it by hand but you won't get as good a finish and it will take forever compared to using a buffer. Once the oxidation is handled, they make a polish that makes it shine like new and then finish it off with a good automotive past wax which me quires also makes. Be careful around the stripes as a buffer will burn them and any product with petroleum distillates in it will cause them to crack after time. Relax.....its really hard to hurt gelcoat!
__________________
2014 Fleetwood Bounder 35k
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10-12-2015, 08:06 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: northern IL
Posts: 2,557
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What the kid most likely did was get off some of the oxidation and in the process there were areas that look swirled. They just didn't finish, when you think you have removed the oxidation, most likely you haven't so there are cloudy spots. Once the oxidation is gone, the polishing step will remove the swirls and then the wax will make it perfect. Like others have said, its a looooong process but very worth it when its done. Your wife will jump for joy when she sees it done right!
__________________
2014 Fleetwood Bounder 35k
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10-12-2015, 09:04 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Orlando, FL.
Posts: 175
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Thank you
I really appreciate everyones help here. It has been invaluable, and hopefully tomorrow things will look better. We decided to let the company fix their mistake. Mojoracing, we have a BT Cruiser that has gelcoat with vinyl decals.
So the owner said that the RV specialist is coming over tomorrow. He is going to get rid of any extra oxidation off the gelcoat, by using a buffing wheel and compound. He said he will do that in small sections. From there he will bring it to a shine with the buffing wheel and then add a wax or gelcoat. Do that sound like appropriate? The owner said that the kids that came over today didn't properly remove the oxidation. They let the compound dry before they wiped it off. The problem is, that the owner assured us when we called the company a few days ago that the pros that he was sending over working were RV specialists. There is a trust issue here. They were kids, they didn't touch the cab over the truck. They said they washed the RV first, which they didn't...dirt and grime were all over. They were kids, and got tired and couldn't do the job right. There was one small section on the RV that was shiny. It was about 1/2 a foot wide. I think they clearly gave up and got lazy. I'm concerned that the "RV specialist" that is coming over tomorrow won't be much different. We'll see what happens, and I will keep you posted. I think eventually we will do this ourselves, with the help of your input. We will buy the Meguires kit for Boats. We live in Florida and there are shiesters everywhere...we looked online and this company looks like nothing more than a glorified car was/wax detailer. They had several bad reviews...I guess we live and learn.we've used our RV just three times since we bout it two months ago and absolutely love RVing together. We bought this little BT Cruiser at a great deal from an elderly couple who had trouble getting up the stairs. It is a creampuff,. It was garage kept, according to the fella that did a walk through for us just after we bought it. So, my wife has had a tough day. hopefully, we can make it look better somehow. It really is her pride and joy.
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10-12-2015, 09:34 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Country Coach Owners Club Solo Rvers Club iRV2 No Limits Club
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Vancouver, WA
Posts: 37,725
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I'd be sick too, but give them a chance to get it right, hopefully they'll come through for you!
__________________
2009 45' Magna 630 w/Cummins ISX 650 HP/1950 Lbs Ft, HWH Active Air
Charter Good Sam Lifetime Member, FMCA,
RV'ing since 1957, NRA Benefactor Life, towing '21 Jeep JLU Rubicon Ecodiesel
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10-13-2015, 04:28 AM
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#10
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Moderator Emeritus
Nor'easters Club Fleetwood Owners Club Workhorse Chassis Owner
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: NH
Posts: 5,099
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Keep us posted. Would be interested in seeing how you do.
__________________
Bruce & Nancy
FMCA F280542
2004 Bounder 35E
US Navy Vet.
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10-13-2015, 08:42 AM
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#11
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Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 30
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Good luck, and interested as well. Am likely looking at needing this as well.
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10-13-2015, 08:59 AM
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#12
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Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: northern IL
Posts: 2,557
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Sounds like Florida all right. I have parents in their 80s and they have fly by nights stopping by the house all the time wanting to do this and that. Any work that is done goes through me first. If they can't get the job done, look for a reputable company that can. You could visit a large rv park and ask at the office who they recommend. What they told you about working in small sections is true. Just be sure they do it in three stages 1) cut the oxidation with a compound. 2) polish the gelcoat to remove any micro scratches. 3) seal the finish with a good wax or sealant. Some will combine steps two and three with a product that polishes and seals but in my opinion the three step is better. If its not sealed at the end, the oxidation will come back quickly. GOOD LUCK!
__________________
2014 Fleetwood Bounder 35k
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10-13-2015, 01:09 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Orlando, FL.
Posts: 175
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Thank you so much, everybody.
Hello everybody. I want to thank you all for your help. This morning Kathy and I decided to have another company come over to check out our RV, before the "expert" from the original company got here, which was to be at 11:00 o'clock. As you might remember the original company sent out a kid with a bucket to stand on, and did something terrible to the finish of the RV. Then left after giving us the news that it was the best he could do. He didn't touch the cab above the truck. he didn't wash the RV. Anyway, the new company came over, and a three member crew took a good look around the RV. To make a long story short, they said that it looks like the previous company put on a wax that was not meant for an RV. They didn't recognize the wax, and said that the wax was still on the gelcoat. They saw scrape marks where the previous company buffed it down with something that was too abrasive. They didn't do a hard sell, they were on their way home from doing another RV in the resort area of Orlando, and sincerely wanted to help. They arrived early, they had a company box truck, three men, ladders, etc. At that time we took a chance and told the previous company not to come back. We allowed the new company to wash the RV, because they said that the original company did not wash it. They had to wash part of the RV by hand, because the unusual wax that was put on it had not been removed or buffed down. The original company left the compound and wax on. After they washed it, it looked similar to how it looked when we purchased it. I was very relieved, and so was my wife. So, we told them to finish the job, and they did. It looks really, really good now, much much better than it ever did. If I can figure out how load up some pictures I will. My wife is really happy. Though it's an older RV, she really loves it, and now it looks better than it did when we first bought it. Thank you to everyone that gave their input - this story has a happy ending.
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10-13-2015, 01:53 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
American Coach Owners Club
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Lakeland. Florida
Posts: 340
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It would be helpful if you would post the name of both companies here or at least in the RV Service Reviews site. Lots of us in Florida hungry for good companies of all types.
__________________
1998 American Eagle
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