Team-BHP - effect of advertisements in car mags

Guys ,
This is to warn u ,abt the various advertisements cuming in Overdrive and Autocar.
* *Nowadays we have been seeing a lot of advertisements from 3M about their body protection schemes.all I can say abt 3M is ---it suckkkkkkkkkkks.
i had an AmazingGlaze body polish on my car which comes with a 2 year warranty.it really worked as I could make out the difference when looking at other newer cars of the same colour.
Even after the 2 year period my car color and the body *was better than others who had just done a Teflon.
After seeing this 3M advertisement,I replied to them .soon I got a letter saying that I can get 1500rs worth of polishing free.it cud be either the body,or the interiors or the underbody rust prevention.the only thing was that I would have to pay the extra amount over the 1500rs that I had won.
Since I had heard a lot abt 3M,I went for the ?exterior beautification scheme?,for old cars.initially ,it was decided that I would have to pay 1250 extra as it was costing 2750Rs.then on the day of polishing,when I called the concerned persom ,he said that the rates were hiked to 3500rs. So now I had to pay 2000rs extra over the 1500rs that was free.i am the last person to ever think of money when it cums *to spending on my car..so I did not say anything and agreed to it.,when my trusted Amazing Glaze wud have cost me just 2000rs .
Since I stay in mulund,the polishing was decided to be done at Udit Motors in thane,who is an Opel dealer.
Firstly I was not allowed to go near my car when this polishing was being done,saying it was not allowed.on top of it ,two of my T-BHP stickers were torn during washing.
Somehow I still managed to go near my car when no one was around,and u know wat I see,they were applying 3M wax polish repeatedly on my car and were rubbing it.

Also I had been using Turle Wax Vinyl polish or STP Sun of a Gun on my dashboard and the vinyl strips on the doors. So even after 3 years ,my dashboard and these strips were still as new.but these 3M people,dunno wat they did to it,both my dash and the strips have just faded .when I asked as to why 3M vinyl polish was not being used,I was told that the dealer insisted on using his vinyl ,dashboard and tire polish.for this ,the dealer was getting 300rs per car.and this happens at all the dealers that 3M do to,I was told.
Now all I can say is ,inspite of polishing with a turle wax platinum series wax ,which is supposedly the best,my car does not have the old shine,also there were a lot of swirl marks on *my car after this polish.i have managed to remove most of these swirl marks as I had a swirl marks remover.my Vinyl strips and the dashboard also are not the same.
So I will be going back to my old Amazing Glaze ,after the rains.
What really pains me is not abt losing the 2k rs,it is abt how people take us for a ride,and after one rain,my car looked worse than wat it was before.ALSO I CAN SEE THE METAL UNDER THE PAINT AT SOME PLACES ON THE BONNET AND THE ROOF.THESE ARE VERY MINUTE BUT I CAN MAKE OUT.SO U CAN UNDERSTAND THE QUALITY OF THE 3m POLISH.
What really shocks me is ,how can magazines like Overdrive and Autocar acrry advertisements like these,without checking abt the facts.,when there are people who blindly follow whatever is written by these mags.
Also I saw a Tavera being polished next to my car,I really felt sorry for the owner who was paying abt 1500rs for a simple wax polish.1500rs because ,a new car polish is different from *wat an old car requires .that is wat I was told.
I had written to 3M,and I was told that they can arrange for one more round of scraping my body paint,and this time for free.but I simply refused,after that they have not all cared to ask.
and the person who did the work was angry that I had complained *.
so guys beware.

SO GUYS,EVEN IF SOMEONE SAYS ABT GETTING A 3M POLISH FOR FREE,U KNOW WAT TO DO.JUST KICK HIS STINKING AA_,U KNOW WAT.
3M TREATMENT IS BEING DONE AT ALMOST ALL OPEL AND TOYOTA CAR DEALERS.,SO PLS AVOID IT.

Speedsatya.

Post Edited.

Note from the Admin : Do refrain from using indirect abuse on Team-BHP

Guys ,
There is something similar which happened abt 2 years back.
I had been looking for platinum or iridium plugs for my car ,when I saw this advertisement in Overdrive from BERU saying they have introduced a new 4-electrode copper plug for all Indian cars .
when I contacted this pune based company .the person responsible said that the had a single type plug for all the cars –i.e same plug for the zen,santro,ikon,opel astra…….and a different plug for carb cars and some other mpfi cars which did not come in the first list of cars.
I was surprised ,but he said that they have designed it that way and if it was not a genuine thing ,Overdrive wud not have carried that advertisement.so trusting Overdrive,I blindly bought these plugs each costing 160rs.,without consulting anyone.as I was told that these were the same plugs used in a Merc.also ‘made in france ‘was written on it.
Initially everything was okay ,as I did not go on a long drive ,so cud not check anything.but I did notice that my FE had dropped to 10kpl in the city ,when previously I was getting 14-15 kpl without ac.when I talked to the Beru person,he said that my free flow and the K&N were the main reason behind this.i knew that the free flow and the filter had nothing to do ,still I believed him.
then before going on my regular Mangalore drive,I had gone to the Maruti service station as my car was knocking at 80+kph in the 5th ,4th gears.,slightly uphill road.there I was told that my clutch plate had worn out ,and so I was having problems.i knew ,that at 12000kms there was no way that my clutch plate cud go.so I did not do anything ,and tot if at all my clutch plate is gone ,I will replace it at Mangalore..on the expressway,tha max I cud go was 100kph with a lot of knocking and anything above 80kph with ac was not at all possible.also I had to climb most ghats in first gear and as a result got a poor 14kpl when previously I was getting atleast 18+kpl and that too at higher speeds.
As a result I reached mangalore in 18 hours.,when normally I do it in a max of 16hrs.so I had to take a break after 15 hours as it was not possible to drive for another 250kms in the night that too without ac. also had to spend extra for the hotel and also was not able to fly on the ankola rd.
The only good thing was that since we were staying in a hotel abt 3-4kms from the ankola rd.,I cud go again on this road leaving my parents in the hotel ,by saying that I am going for repairs.
Also my parents wanted me to remove the free flow,as they felt it was because of all my mods ,that we were not able to use the ac or go faster .
Then in ankola, the next afternoon, I just went to a car parts shop and changed the plugs to the original MGP.and guess wat ,my poor car was flying again and thankfully, my dad
spared me.

All this happened because Overdrive carried this advertisement.dunno how many others have done the same ,and maybe changed parts that were not all responsible for the fault.
I had written to Overdrive abt this ,but got no reply.but the advertisement was not seen again.
Also had seen an ad for a battery operated jack saying it cud lift anything upto 3 tonnes,but it cud not lift even a Sumo when I went with a friend to buy it.

So guys be careful .

Speedsatya.

Hey speedy

What's happened with you has been terrible. And frankly no one likes either having his car look worse than before after a supposed improved treatment or have his spark plugs be changed to something that promises the world but doesn't deliver.

Overdrive and ACI can't actually always be blamed. Verification of such details isn't easy and generally these magazines carry a disclaimer stating that they can't be held accountable for such ads. Honestly they shouldn't be. I had a tough experience myself getting on with one of the K&N dealers for a piece for a friend from one of the dealers who put up their ad in ACI. What's essential is to verify all facts before making such a purchase or use such a service. IMO, most of the aftermarket accessory and performance dealers in our country suck, so unless someone out here on TB recommends it after his/her personal experience or one of your friends does, it'd be wise to stay away from most of these dealers.

Revv

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ] ,but he said that they have designed it that way and if it was not a genuine thing ,Overdrive wud not have carried that advertisement.so trusting Overdrive,I blindly bought these plugs each costing 160rs.,

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]

All this happened because Overdrive carried this advertisement.dunno how many others have done the same ,and maybe changed parts that were not all responsible for the fault.
I had written to Overdrive abt this ,but got no reply.but the advertisement was not seen again.

It is absolutely ridiculous to even think that Overdrive, Autocarindia or any other publication around the world will go checking their advertisers background. Think about it, you read about a "multiply your money 24 times in 24 hours" thing in the Times of India. You invest, the company goes boom and you lose everything you had. Could you blame the Times of India and sue them for carrying that ad?

No ways. Their primary job is reporting. Ad space is one of the main sources of revenue for them. Who advertises is not their concern.

GTO

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (GTO @ Sep. 03 2004,11:15)]who advertises is not their concern.

GTO

hey gto,
i simply cannot understand this logic.do you mean to say that if these magazines *get revenue ,they can sell their space for any stupid product.
Dear friend,there are people out here who just swear by these magazines ,and take everything that is written in them as granted.

*

i know it is virtually impossible to check the credentials of every advertiser ,but then ...........
if anyone had seen the state of my car after the damned polish,i am sure even that person wud have bashed up the 3M guy.u give ur car for polishing and get ur car back with all the paint scraped from your body.
i dont think ,this is what we call polishing.something was definitely wrong --either the polish quality or maybe the person involved was not trained properly.but 3M is at fault.if it was in the US ,maybe i could have sued 3M.

Hey Speedsatya,

Well firstly, i feel that 3M has some really top quality products....atleast abroad (dont know about india).

What i feel is that the guys at the center you went to messed up by either doing the wrong procedure, doing the procedure wrongly, or using adulterated products.
It seems like they have used some sort of abbrasive to get the paint shiny (especially since they called this the old car treatment).

and finally, you cant hold ACI or OD responsible for the advertisements placed in the magazine. Its not like they are reccomending the product. It's a paid advertisement, publicity for payment. As simple as that.....and for anyone to think otherwise is just riddiculous.

Why dont you consider following up this matter with more official people at 3M. Especially since some damage has been done to the paint....

cya
R

Hey Speedsatya.

If I’m not wrong you have a 2001 MPFI ZEN. Don’t know which colour though.
There are few instances where due to sudden popularity, the original products have been replaced by the fake stuff. Chances are those retailers also not aware of that. For example, a popular product called F1 car wax. It was one of the very few products that use to deliver what it promised. After using this product for six years (22 cans, since I keep a tab) 23rd can came to me as a shock. After applying my Amby’s rich black looked deep grey.

I had to take the car to my friend’s garage for a G3 treatment. A little explanation needed here for G3. It has two stages. One, a very fine rubbing compound to cut the surface grime and two the polish. They use machine buffing for the process. Treatment works well with modern paint (like 2K) but not for standard NC paints cause the first stage rubbing compound will pull out a coat of paint which is not desirable.
In your case I suppose it’s 2K equivalent paint so there shouldn’t be any problem.

After this stage you can use a good turtle wax or you can use what I use, BLUE CORAL CARNAUBA CLEANER WAX. Marketed by PENNZOIL. Priced around 325/-.

As a brand 3M is known for it's innovation and fantastic products. You're one of the unfortunate victim of fake product and marketing

Hope you’ll get back your good body shine by the process I mentioned.