Am I just a whiny wimp?

I had the dealer install a new airbag in my mustang today.  When I got home, I had to clean grease and buff out some scratches in the metal part of the dash.  I know I auto cross the car and it has spots where the gauges need to go for the blower, but really?  If I wanted to leave grease marks and scratches on my car I wouldn't wear gloves and use fender protection.  Small things, I know and some people have real problems.  But this is why I do as much as I can myself, or use a mechanic that knows how much I love my car.  I am planning on keeping this car and passing it down, so I'm trying to keep it clean for posterity.  Is it me?  

I get it. If you wanted ruin your junk you could do it yourself and not have to pay anybody.

That sort of thing is annoying, but at least it sounds like it was relatively minor.  If the dealer is like every other business these days and asks you to fill out a survey, be sure to mention it.

I find it very irritating when I get a vehicle back that's in worse condition than when I dropped it off.  One of the many reasons I rarely have anyone else work on them.

A while back, I had to drop off my bike for a recall and they kept it overnight.  Instead of just keeping in the shop (where there was plenty of room), they rolled it out in the fenced yard where it got rained on overnight and they returned it without cleaning it up.  Looked like someone threw a coffee can full of dust on it before it rained, too...  Really pissed me off.

I still have two vehicles that need the airbag recall (plus the WRX needs some other recall as well). Not that either the Sequoia or WRX are all that nice both with well over 100k miles, but I still dislike taking them to a dealer for any reason. Half due to inconvenience, and half due to simply not trusting anyone at any dealer to not berkeley something else up on the car while they have it. 

So, when i die of airbag shrapnel wounds, I'm sure I'll look like a dummy, but whatever :)

I was detailing cars for a living when I had the air bag recall done on my last Outback which had a light tan cloth interior. It wasn't a very nice car, but the interior sure was clean. Some of the grease stains that got left on the passenger seat I was never able to get out, no matter how many methods and tools I tried.  The ash tray also wouldn't latch, which was simply a linkage out of place... I had that fixed before the windshield defrosted. 

I get it. It's a 200k+ mile car, and Subaru is probably berking you on flat rate warranty time. But c'mon. 

Also funny how the multi point safety inspection failed to catch the CEL, exhaust leak, worn suspension parts....

I don't think it's remotely unreasonable to expect to get your car back as you left it. As an aside my local Subaru dealer did the airbag and I got the car back shiny and clean. 

For the brief time I worked as a mechanic if I had to work on the interior of a car I always made sure I had the plastic seat covers on and my hands were clean.  I had dash boards and other plastic interior covers that didn't quite fit as well as original, nothing horrendous but still I could tell.

As for grease marks that's just pure laziness. 

Had a similar experience with the Subaru dealership not rotating my tires. I have to manually ask AND I’ve even resorted to marking all the tires so I know if they were rotated. Thank god my last free oil change is over with. Oh, despite this, they NEVER forget to tell me about my cabin filter, and even remove it to show me... losers. 

Normally, any question of "Am I a whiny wimp?" should get you the answer of "YES You WUSS!!!" just for even asking.

But, today for example, I had to a bunch of work on a really crappy Sonata (redundant), and there was a big thumbprint on the inside door panel.  I don't know if it was there when the car came to us, but it sure as hell was not going to be there when the car's owner picked it up.  Y'see, there's this thing called "professionalism" that I believe in...

In reply to Knurled. :

You’re a dying breed sir. I’ll treasure you like a last living specimen dinosaur. 

question is. Why would you get greasy replacing an airbag? These are mechanics who can't be bothered to wash their hands after doing a nasty under the hood or under the car job, then jumping into yours without doing more than wiping a rag over their greasy paws

In reply to mad_machine :

Weird E36 M3 happens.  You're on your way over to the car and the guy in the bay next to you suddenly needs an assist.  You had to move something out of your way.  Who knows?

I recently started using those latex gloves that seem to have proliferated, after finally finding a company that makes them in a size/shape that fit my hands.  The nice thing about them is, no matter how filthy they look, if they are not wet, they don't leave smudges.  You can wipe a nasty filthy-looking glove on a piece of white paper and if the glove is dry, the paper is clean.  And if you really need to, you can just snap the glove off and BOOM, clean hand ready to go.

Downside, a box of a hundred usually lasts me about a week and a half, two weeks tops.  But way better than those $30 Mechanix gloves that would last about a week before they started fraying, and you couldn't wash them without them ballooning two sizes larger.  Pay $40 a week to the tool guy and most of that was taken up by that week's gloves...

I had the Honda airbag recall done, and when finished, I found the steering wheel trim had a tiny crack. Sat in the bay fuming for about five minutes, telling myself, "if you want it fixed, go back in and fight with them. If you leave, you're okay with it forever."

I left.

It wasn't until I got home that I found the Torx screws in the driver's footwell.

I reached out to Honda, who told me they weren't going to offer me any consolation, and in no uncertain terms, I should return to the dealer, who would have to figure out the screws.

I did not want to go back.