Hi,

Just curious what you all think about the quality of car wash offered by most MINI dealers following service, etc. Is it too paranoid to refuse it for fear of a substandard job resulting in damage to the paint?

So do most of you give it the okay or decline it? I never really gave it much thought with my old MINI but now with my new '13 I'm feeling a bit overprotective!

Thanks!

Lg

 

i mean if they are just going to wash it why not lol

 

I used to always get the free wash and they always did a great job at Crevier BMW/MINI in Santa Ana,CA. My car is PW/PW but I never noticed any swirl marks or other damage from their washes.

I don't get the wash anymore since they power wash the cars and that's terrible for my vinyl :(

 

decline. They probably don't properly wash their towels/wash mitts.

 

I would guess that the quality of the wash varies by dealer... Or for that matter, by the person doing the washing. The first time my dealer washed my car, you could see where they'd wiped down the doors... Not quite clean. The second time, it looked really nice.

Spridget

 

Two kinds of responses show up with questions like this. Ones from those who don't give a hang about the finish on their appliance and let anybody drag a dirty rag over it. The others very much against are from those few OCD two bucket, top quality microfiber home detailers. Ask yourself which group you identify with and there's your answer.

 

That's my Mini dealer too. Not tried the free wash there yet, although I'm meaning to give it go.

 

If you are absolutely **** about your paint, DO NOT EVER LET THE DEALER WASH IT!!!! Like swirls??

Always wash by hand if you really care.

 

How **** are you?!
LOL
IF you spend HOURS detailing your car, rubbing and stroking it, making it perfect, yes, decline it.
Modern car washes are pretty good, just remember, Paint is there to PROTECT the METAL and car. IF you are the type of person who obsesses over the slight possibility of a nearly invisible mark in the clearcoat from a carwash brush....you know who you are....do it by hand and use a detailing kit when done.
If you wash you car a few times a year, usually at the carwash place, and your car is, well, your car, and you have other things in your life to worry about, yes, take it!!
Simply put, if the dealers car wash was TERRIBLE, they would not be using it for long....In fact it might be better than the local place since there are no folks washing muddy 4x4's!!

 

I haven't picked up my MINI yet. I've told my MA not to bother with detailing it, I'll get that taken care. So how's that for an answer.

 

Good answer, because they'll put in some dealer installed swirls and get wax all on your vinyl.

 

Well, I used to be against it, but I'm whatevers about it now. Sure their towels aren't the cleanest, but unless you're an amazing detailer with badass $10 microfiber towels, you're wash isn't bad, but not as good as you think.

So I say, why not.

 

Nope, decline. I don't obsess over every single swirl mark and I wash my MINI once every 3-4 weeks so I'm not as OCD as some are. However, I paid my hard earned money for my MINI and I don't want to roll the dice on someone earning minimal wage to wash my vehicle.

 

It's just a courtesy. Usually not the best car wash, but every new car they sell goes through the dealer's car wash.

 

I trust Motor City MINI here in Metro Detroit. They do a good job and I know most of them, so they know how picky I get

 

The fewer times they touch your paint the better. I have my file updated with "Never wash".

 

MINI of Portland hand washes Molly in a garage type enclosure, I have on occassion had them hand wash her, but for times when I've already given her a bath I have a laminated sign on 8.5x11 paper that says "Please Do NOT Wash Molly!!...Thank You...RJKimbell".

 

Free car was, why not. If it was a show only car - well then it wouldn't be at the dealer. Only been to the dealer twice in 10 years, washed both times, came out fine. It is more important how the owner takes care of it. One car was will not damage anything when the paint is maintained. I clay at least once a year, and wax more often. My car is no garage queen, but you would never guess it is 10+ years old.

Nik

 

Not gonna lie, that came off as a total a-hole comment.

 

Lol, for someone who worked for minimum wage for quite the number of years, I guess I would have reacted the same way had I read that comment. Oh well, didn't mean it as such.

 

No worries, I thought it was funny.

 

I've specifically told them not to wash it any time I have it at my local dealer (Seattle Mini) - but only since the left two long deep scratches in it during a previous wash / visit. It looked like maybe they left some kind of a tool or a small box on the roof, then moved the car . . which caused whatever was on the roof to move. The car was wet when I picked it up and wet for the next couple of days . . so I didn't see it until it was too late to complain about it.

 

I think that if I had a new car, getting it delivered in the spring, I would want to wash the car myself.

My car is a daily driver, and when I bought it, there were plenty of nicks and scratches. I have never hesitated to accept a free wash. It seems like my other projects at home have a tendency to move ahead of washing the MINI.

If I was driving my new car in the winter, I still would probably accept the free wash, just to get rid of the salt, since it will likely be a couple of months before the next wash.

It also depends on the amount of free time you have. In my life BC (before child), taking 6 hours on a saturday to wash, clay bar, polish wheels, and wax the car was fun. Now there is other sources of fun on a Saturday.

Sorry to confuse the issue. The reality is that it will likely have been washed at the dealer before you get in it the first time.

Have fun,
Mike

 

A lot of ***** ain't free these days

 

I decline them every time, but only because of a pair of bad experiences with a Ford dealership and some related deep scratches.

--Matt