First I would like to say hello to everyone. I have been browsing all over in this forum for the past week, and love it! Thing is, I had only checked on the pros and cons before purchasing our MC Sport convertible. So yeah... The finance guy got us on the Resistall and Dentguard, that I now after reading everyone's thoughts on it all.. Absolutely regret. I'm posting something about this now with hopes that someone can give me some sort of positive feedback on what I feel now was a huge mistake... However as far as our Mini goes, we could not be any more happier for our decision!!! We think this is our best vehicle purchase hands down 😎😄

 

Congrats on the MINI and welcome to the forum. Remember to wave!

As for Resistall and Dentguard, I had no familiarity with the products prior to your post. From just a little research, however, I've concluded the products are probably not worth it. Perhaps wiser MINI enthusiasts can chime in.

My '14 Roadster S should arrive in late September. I'll listen to the F&I guy, but I'm not much into such products. I will inquire about the MINI extended maintenance agreement - BMW has an excellent EMA. Given the fact that my annual mileage is so low, I may not purchase either the extended warranty or maintenance agreement.

 

Really thought we were on it to add this in the financing. We did so good on our mini research that we totally missed it on this one.. Ugh we have only had it a week and never even opened a bottle. Wonder if they refund us our money? Or even to just know that it is really good stuff would give me butterflies. Lol I mean least our car washes are paid for now huh. Crazy thing is I should had known better. Where we live I pay $20 to get our Honda detailed and for a few years before that I detailed it myself. It still looked brand new inside and out after 6 year

.

 

While I don't think the Resistall is really worth the cost, and is little more than a very expensive wax/sealant treatment, the Dentgard basically gives is an extended warranty to take care of minor parking lot door dings, hail damage, etc. for the next 3 years. Paintless dent removal can take care of 90% of dents and dings pretty quickly with good results (depending of course on the skill level of the tech doing the dent repair).

I had a large dent in the rear boot of my MINI from someone backing into me in a parking lot, and it was nicely repaired at a local paintless dent shop, but it cost me about $150, with another small door dent costing about $50. I don't know what you paid for these, and they're not for me, but I wouldn't worry about it. Enjoy your new MINI, and if you have any problems with your car's paint or dents in the next 3 years, you'll get them fixed for free.

 

Are these products expensive? I have no idea what they sell for.

 

They sell for whatever the dealer can get you to part from your wallet! There are always some brochures and signs in the finance guy's office, and these get packaged together for prices ranging from $599 to $999 and more. In reality, they are often heavily discounted (what does it really cost the dealer to apply a wax sealant treatment and spray Scotchguard on the carpets)? These are all referred to in the industry as "ADP" (additional dealer profit).

On my wife's last car, the dealer had already "installed" an interior fabric treatment and exterior paint sealant on the car I was looking at in the showroom (along with mudguards and wheel locks), and they all ended up getting thrown in for free when I bought the car.

 

Let me guess - first time new car purchaser?

Gotta watch out for those finance guys... It's a common misconception that the sales process has ended when you enter the finance office, the reality though is that the finance guys often do a harder sell for a variety of questionable add ons than you get from the car salesperson you were dealing with when you were deciding on the car...

The finance guys tend to be the biggest snake oil salesmen in the dealership and they like to take advantage of you having your guard down when you come in with them...

 

I'm prepared for anything the finance guy throws at me. I've bought or leased numerous cars over the years. The only thing I'm interested in is the extended warranty, but I remain very skeptical. I drive very few miles, relatively speaking, so I may not benefit from the purchase.

 

Do like I plan to do...decline the extended warranty and put the $ you would have spent into a separate account. If you have more MINI problems than is normal/reasonable, you can buy an extended warranty before the regular one expires. Or if you need something major after the regular warranty expires, you'll have the cash. If neither, you'll have some $ to put down on a deposit for your next car!

 

Sounds like good advice, Kenny.

 

Having spent my working life (40+ yr) as a paint guy (development and color formulator, tech service, paint engineer) with plenty of time in refinish and even more in OEM, I can tell ya that there's really not too much to be done to an OEM finish other than the normal waxes and/or, if needed, polishes. Any "paint treatments" out there are mostly snake oil... the polymers used in modern (last 25 yr or so) OEM topcoats are excellent at what they are supposed to do. Dry film performance is formulated in at the paint manufacturer's labs and then put into practice with every batch that is built. And believe me, they go through a butt-load of testing when formulated... hardness, color stability, chemical resistance, detergent resistance, salt-spray, humidity, surface tension, chip resistance, UV resistance, modulus of elasticity for the flexible paints, you name it and modern automotive paints undergo it.
That said, take care of the finish and it should last a good 10 years easily.

regards,
XLXRider

OTOH, my last car (bought new) turned out to be a factory re-paint that had apparently been a little over-catalyzed; it started taking a crap at 9 yr of age and by the time I sold it two months ago looked like dreck... "urban camouflage" I called it.

 

I imagine your situation is exceptionally rare. What is MINI's paint and corrosion warranty. Ten years?

 

MINI's paint warranty is the standard 4 yr/50K miles, but rust through and corrosion is 12 yr, unlimited mileage.

 

Thanks, Kenny. I'm learning useful things during this rather slow Saturday evening. My wife is at a Catholic Retreat all weekend. It's just me, a Chipotle burrito, and a lively tape of the qualifying session for tomorrow's Italian Grand Prix.

 

The car that the paint took a dump on for me was a 2000 Pontiac Sunfire. An excellent little car for the 145,000+ miles I put on it. But the lure of the MINI finally pulled me in... and yes, factory repaints these days are pretty rare, and the quality of the finish is higher than ever.
The new Ford "3-Wet" systems are "da bomb," providing better intercoat adhesion, better appearance, and greener technology. Ford pioneered this technology in assembly plants starting in 2007... you can see a video of a bunch of robots using bells as end-of-arm tooling to paint vehicles in this manner if you go to the URL below:


When the movie shows the robot dip into a "hole in the ground" in the bottom of the booth, that's the dump for the color change. It's also a bell cleaner, you can see that color change/bell cleaning is achieved in a matter of seconds.

In case you're wondering, those are not spray guns. They're centrifugal atomizers (aka turbo-bells or bells) and the process is electrostatic... MINI likely paints the same way, although I don't know if they are licensed to use the "3-Wet" type of technology or not.

Regards,
XLXRider