[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]So a few weeks back I was at a Car's and Coffee event and parked next to some Mini's that were just 2 years newer than mine. I quickly noticed how tired and faded my fender and grill trim looked compared to theirs. Mine has several cosmolene stains from where the Nevada sun melted the cosmolene in the summer and it dripped onto the plastic too. I've had other exterior plastic parts like my antenna and windshield wiper valance completely deteriorate and the dealer has replaced those. I'm still under the maintenance and factory warranties. Are these parts covered by the warranty too? Anyone successfully have these replaced by the dealer?[/FONT][/SIZE]

 

Doubt fading by the sun is covered. Deterioration is one thing, colorfastness is another. Although it doesn't hurt to try, but you could also try this:

http://www.showcarsupplies.com/bw/

Vendor is a member on here "Octaneguy" and he gives an everyday discount to NAM members.

 

The 2 products you want are Pre Wow and Black Wow. You will have initial sticker shock but realize that it only takes a drop of the stuff and a bottle will last you a long time and the results will blow your mind. Won't be intimidated at the next cars and coffee either.

PS: Richard may or may not tell you. Apply the Wow and let it set for a day or two before washing.

 

What about Wipe New? I am wanting something to keep my 2013 MCS from fading and I was shocked to see some people say that Wipe New was good and you do not have to apply all the time. Does anyone have any experience using it and what do you think. I am still trying to pick what I want to get to use. Any help would be great.

 

Get the Black Wow and Pre Wow...as others have said, you won't be disappointed. It's expensive, but it actually lasts. I tried many other products on the mini's trim before I decided to try Black Wow and none of them lasted more than a week or two.

 

Snake Oil!!! Listen and watch carefully to the sales pitch. They start out with a bazillion dollar value for only 19.95 and if you order now we will double the order just pay.... If it is of the value they say they will be selling it for that much. If it is 19.95 for two then it is worth 9.95 a bottle. Also, if you watch, they just wipe it across the surface. NOTHING cleans that easily and surely won't stay clean as long as they say it will. All that "But Wait" advertising is nothing more than a carnaval side show taken into the cable network selling cheap qewpie doll geegaws to the rubes. Another good example is that gold plated buffalo nickel for ONLY 19.95 can't get a bid on ebay for 3 bucks.

 

For what it's worth, I tried everything from peanut oil to Pre-Wow/Black-Wow to remove wax residue from my black plastic trim, and nothing worked... until I used a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Bingo. Worked the first time. And the Magic Eraser certainly costs less than most of the other "remedies." I'm going to keep some around to clean up my trim every time I wax the car. I'm not sure how it would work on cosmoline stains, but it wouldn't hurt to try.

Spridget

 

Next time you wax, mask off the black stuff with blue painter's tape and save yourself a lot of cleanup headache. If you ever polish with a RO you really want to mask off everything that doesn't want polished including stripes.

 

At our MINI dealership, we will give you one replacement set of fender arches if its related to cosmolene. We usually suggest this around 10k miles because we really don't see much cosmolene after that time. Just go to your local dealership and point out the cosmolene stains, not the fading, and tell them its nothing you did, your car just did this and you can't clean it. Defective part is how we file it in our system. Hope this helps!

 

Thruxton: Many thanks. I figured this might be the case. I will add this to the list for my next warranty visit.