is it just me or do our minis have some really soft paint? i have a january build 04 (brg/w) and i can barely lean on her without scratching her. a less than smart friend of mine shoveled the snow off her this winter and i have these huge scrapes going up the front all along the "bumpy parts" (i.e. above the lights, down the middle). now of course shoveling leads to scratching but this was a plastic shovel that led to some pretty wicked scratches, right through the clear coat. by bumper's also scratched to hell and there are some scratches just to the right of the driver's side door.
what's the deal??? sure i've been doing some back and forth between maine and new york but the ammount of scratches on her (besides the hood) considering i've only had her one year are ridiculous... maybe i'm being silly but i'm **** retentive about my car, and have been about past ones and none have ever gotten like this. my last car, a dark green 96 a4 had NO SCRATCHES and he was 8 years old when i got rid of him! maybe the a4's paint was exceptional, i don't know, but my mini's driving me nuts.

almost makes me want to get another a4... (for the extra room, too... i'm not that superficial!)
any thoughts?

 

maybe i should mention another thing about audis... they're TANKS. sure, the a4 had its problems, but none like the mini! and is it just me or does anyone else HATE the trunk latch? besides the fact that it doesn't close properly (or the computer doesn't think it's closed... i'll be getting this fixed when i get home), i really hate that "soft touch" or whatever it's called latch. give me a good old fashioned moveable "real" latch any day. and i want to hear that closing thunk! oh well. i know, i know, you get what you pay for, and i realize how great most of the car is, i just can't help complaining once in a while! i really miss the solidness of the audi sometimes... no rattling, doors closing properly (and opening, i might add, in the winter! )... eh whatever. sorry for all the complaining... sometimes i need to vent and i know you guys are here to listen!
anyway, we'll see how it goes, and how much it's going to cost me to buff out all the scratches...

 

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Everybody's asleep, hungover, or in a remote time zone I guess....

Yes, the paint is softer than what I've been used to. I wish it weren't, but I do LOVE this car!!! I have to baby mine more than I'd like, and since it's never garaged, it has picked up a minor flaws here and there, some courtesy of those blasted birds!! Anyway, the flaws are very hard to spot, but, given the right angle, I know where they are.

The rear latch is very fixable...just a simple adjustment. (I think...I have a friend w/ an '04 who has the same problem you describe. We tweeked it into working much better, but she has yet to take it in for perfect adjustment.)

I do get flustered sometimes when I run around to the back to open the hatch w/o disengaging central locking (car is running) only to find I'm denied access, and then having to go back around to hit the button. The feel of the latch is different, but it doesn't bother me.

I guess I'm lucky in that, since sorting through a few initial rattles, I really have none to complain about after 2+ years. I love my MINI (quirks and all) and for what it is and what it does, it....is...awesome!!!

Much better than my old Geo Metro!!!

 

The paint on mine is certrainly suspect. Less than three years of MINI ownership, and it has more (and more serious) scratches than my last car accumulated in 15+ years. My car is garaged overnight and it isn't out all that much -- less than 24K on it now. I'm starting to think about selling, and I know the scratches will cost me .

 

Yes, the MIni paint does mar easily. The clearcoat is soft. But a proper buffing to remove all the scratches and then protecting it with quality waxes make all the difference.

Use of the right tools and techniques when washing and quick detailing will help you from inflicting damage YOURSELF which most people do.

 

i wish i had the time and money to get my entire car buffed (it pretty much needs it), but unfortunately i don't. it's not so much that i'm angry at the scratches themselves, i'm just a bit disappointed at the paint quality. seriously, my last two cars, both of which were 9 years old... not nearly as many scratches as my one year old mini! just seems a little crappy, that's all. and yeah, if i sell i'm definitely going to have to get my scratches buffed out first... blech. maybe i'll just let it go for a few years and then get her totally repainted... ha.

 

I've heard the paint scratches more easily because it is a more environment-friendly formulation. If that's the case, I wouldn't be surprised to see this become more common.

The good news is that most scratches can be polished out, and as BradB pointed out, a good paint wax or sealant will do a lot to protect it. Just keep your friend and the snow shovel away from it.