I know it's not the ideal way to wash a car even for a hardtop but my options are limited. I live in a condo and have no access to a hose or any water supply. Until I order a Nomad cordless power cleaner, my options are either a drive thru car wash or pay a hand wash place about 40 bucks to wash the car. A $5 drive thru wash is obviously preferable.

My last car was a convertible and some drive thru car washes worked fine, others shot high pressure water at certain angles that would cause water to leak in through the seals.

The Mini's top seems to be better sealed so maybe it would be fine.

So, is it ok to put a Mini convertible through a drive thru car wash or do I absolutely have to spend the 40 bucks for a hand wash? The one I would use is touchless, although I can go to a regular one if that's better for the Mini.

 

Touchless is probably a better bet if that's your only option. Do you not have access to a pay-to-spray wand wash kind of place?

 

hrmm...now that you mention it, I might be able to find one of those. If I recall correctly, the one I've seen cost about as much as the touchless drive thru though. You think that would be better?

 

I wouldn't do it.

An out of the box idea that you may want to consider is a portable washer.
These systems are primarily targeted at horse owners that have to prep horses at shows with no access to water, or electricity, in the middle of a field.
They are basically a 10-20 gallon tank of water on a two wheeled dolly, that uses a 12vdc RV water pump and a rechargable/cigarette lighter powered battery system.

 

That's pretty much what the Nomad I mentioned earlier is. It's a 3.5 gallon cordless rechargeable sprayer. I can get one online for about 160 bucks. Haven't been able to find one locally.

How much are the portable washers you're talking about? And is it something I might be able to buy locally?

 

Just go to the self service bay at the carwash....use the hp hose on the car body...and don't spray the roof directly..bring your own the brush/shammy....the bubble hose/brushes will scratch...

 

If your gonna go through a wash I would just make sure it's touch free...I have an '05 Convert I'm the OG owner. It doesn't leak when I go through the wash.

 

Definitely look for a pay n spray place and bring a bucket or two. And bring your own brushes, etc.!

I guess I'm lucky because my apartment has a power washer in the garage. I usually put $1-2 for a good rinse+soap cycle. Wash/etc. with the bucket and then another $2 to rinse. Costs less than a drive through

Sometimes local wash shops are relatively cheap too... less than $10 maybe which is just a little more than a drive through touch-less.

Just make sure you remove any magnetic badges before the power wash - I forgot and lost one of my grill badges on the front grill. It got blasted off by the water and 5 minutes later when I returned a neighbor had already stolen it.

 

I've tried the " gentle wash" places that use slow moving shammy type brushes... Bad idea. I have swirls on my paint because of that. Much prefer the pay and DIY spray places. I also have my own bucket and microfiber sponge and towels. Those do great! It's been two years so I plan on clay bar detail and hand wax to hopefully get the swirl marks out.

 

Just another heads up, I've been to two separate "magic wand" type touchless washes with my MINI... they're not really a "magic wand" thinking I was in a normal sized car, they've missed the back of my car.. both times at separate places...

 

I take my MINI to a touchless car wash. It has a large inverted "U" robot that sprays all around as it moves from front to back. A little water may leak in around the front of the windows but not much. It does a very good job, especially on the top (IMO). Not so good in the rear because the MINI is so short. And only $6.00 for the premium wash and wax. In between washes I use a detailing spray and microfiber cloths to keep it looking good.

I know some folks would say don't ever go to a car wash, and I do not go to the ones that have brushes of ant kind, but it's just a car.

 

Yeah, I agree with the "it's just a car" school of thought. I know a drive thru car wash won't destroy it. I was mainly just wondering about leaks and possible damage to the window/top seals since they shoot high pressure water jets right at them.

I'm not sold on the premium wash with wax though. Not sure if it's a good idea to spray that wax on the fabric top. When I would take my last car there I would always get the cheap wash with just soap and water, no wax or sealants or anything like that because I didn't want wax on the fabric top.

btw, do you take your antenna off first or just leave it there? I know since it's touchless there shouldn't be anything that hits the antenna but it looks like it's in a very vulnerable spot.

 

I have a 4" (I think it's a) Craven antenna, so no, I don't take it off.

As to waxing the top, I doubt if there is really much wax in the spray, but after 2 years and about 12 times through the wash the top still looks as good as anybodies who takes care of it. Now the "spot free rinse" I don't know about

 

My husband and I religiously wash our cars at home, and when we lived in an apartment I would take it to a "pay n spray" place. However a word of caution if you have an S or above... I have heard stories of hood scoops getting sucked out of the car by the dryers in automatic car washes.