Does anyone feel that the exterior paint is soft? It seems that it doesn't have the same surface hardness as my old Volvo. It takes nothing to leave a scratch on it. As an example my wife did a little dusting with her California Duster and you could see fine/microscopic surface scratches in spots. I don't use, but I think it would be a disaster if she took it in to one of those car washes that use the rotary brushes. The upper horizontal surface of the rear bumper seems to be especially susceptable to accumulating scratches. Our MiniCooperS is a month old 2005.

 

B/c I want to see if anyone else has had paint problems.

 

Paints in today's cars are water based as they have to meet stringent EPA pollution standards. Water based paints are horrible for durability and chip easily, hence why so many MINI owners are forced to invest in clearbra products to protect the front end.

Water based paints are a UNIVERSAL problem accross brands and models, not only MINI. Your Volvo probably was one of the last cars to have factory oil based paint which was 1000 times more durable but not environmental friendly.

 

That's a pretty fast bump, LB. You must really, really want to know!

The paint is one of my MINI pet peeves. I'd go on, but I'd just be repeating what I've already said on several other threads, so I'll spare everyone. Suffice it to say that there's a reason you see so much chat about clear bras on NAM.

What year are your MINIs? I was kinda hoping Cooper would one of these days wake up and do something about this problem!

 

Have placed an order for an 2006 MCS and should be bringing it home in time for Xmas (Present for the Misses)

Where do I get a Clearbra and how much does one cost ?

 

As a one-car family, I'd like to hear from folks who have bought new cars other than MINIs in the past year or two... are you having the same paint problems with other makes?

 

Hondas and Toyotas are notorious for soft paint problems.

 

Best Clearbra in the market:

www.accuguard.biz

Have it in my '05 MCS since mid June 2005. Best $345 (installed) I have ever spent on the car.

Check my gallery. You can't even see it!

 

Just a follow up to my initial thread in response to the possibility that all the manufacturers have the same water based paint durability problem. The Mini is my wife's new car. I have a green 2003 Passat W8 that has survived without a scratch and seems to have a harder clear coat surface. We use the same California Duster which scratches her car and not mine!

 

VW's and Audi's seem to have tougher paint finishes, but they are still water based and still subject to road stone chipping.

My brother in law has a Brazilian built 2002 VW Golf GL Solid Black and the paint finish still looks pretty good for a car that receives little or almost no paint care whatsoever.

 

The MINI's finish is generally delicate. A fact of life with the beautiful but seemingly fragile factory paint.

 

Toyota Camry paint complaints:

http://www.thesqueakywheel.com/compl...plaint5121.cfm

 

My mom has a Honda Odissey 2000, no scrathes and we use it a lot. The last longest trip was from Guadalajara to New Orleans this year. My father has a 2003 Jeep Liberty, perfect paint. Both are white, but still.

There's also a black 1998 Malibu, treated kind of bad and looks good sometimes, and a 2005 Renault Megane II, 2 months old, but the paint looks soft.

I have a very unoticable scrath on the bonnet, I't makes me crazy sometimes, took it 3 times every 2 weeks already to the dealer and no fix yet, and they want me to take it again... no thank you, I'm taking my precious MINI to a good shop.

 

The new Renault Megane is a nice car. Neither Renaults, Peugeots or Citroens are currently sold in the United States. Americans don't like French cars

 

The dealer I got my MINI from seems to install the clearbra on most of their inventory anyway.

They also offered some sort of whole body teflon coating ... anyone know anything about that? I think I had to get it right when the car was new to get any guarentees with it, which I didn't do because I'd never heard of it. Anyone got input on that? Supposed to protect your finish and work like a permanent coat of wax. The dealer said that after you do it, you in fact CAN'T wax your car because the wax won't stick to the teflon coating!

If anyone has good feedback on it, I may do that on my next MINI.

 

That teflon coating stuff sounds as slick as snake oil. . .

But of course, I have no experience with anything like that, just a lot of skepticism. . .

 

I've read about the coating... sort of an "extra-thick" clear-coat sprayed on by an authorized body shop. Had a link for it at one time...

My g/f's '03 MCS and my own '03 Jetta got clear-bras shortly after purchase in 2003. Both were self-installed. Two-plus years later and 60K miles on my car and 30K on the MCS, the fronts of both cars still look great. Also have the headlight protectors.

The MINI is not an easy install. Half the reason my car has one was so she could learn/practice on a car with a less curvy hood. She was glad she did. She has installed clear bras on two additional MINI's since.

here.

 

yeah as i've said in the past, my friend decided to shovel the bonnet this winter and i now have four HUGE scratches all the way up the bonnet. i call them my extra racing stripes. my rear bumper's also a mess. i intend to let it go for the next year or so, let more scratches accumulate and then bring it somewhere for touch ups (or, more likely, repainting). my last car was a 96 a4 and it held up with NO SCRATCHES for 9 years. quite a difference. i was super pissed at first but now i figure whatever. it's still a heck of a lot of fun to drive, and that's what counts, right?

 

We owned 3 Mustangs 98, 00 and 01. 2 Rangers 99 and 02 and all had to be repainted due to acid rain. I had a Mazda MP3 that was fine, and our current cars 03 VW GTI (Indigo blue) and 04 Ram (Red) and they are holding up pretty good, much better than the Fords did. All our cars are parked outside both at work and home all the time. I wash them usually no longer than monthly (more often in the nice weather) and wax them 3 times per year. I know, I am lacking in the cleaning department but I will get better, I promise.
It seems that the finish on imports is a little better than the domestics in my opinion.

 

Has anybody ever bbrought the car in for paont warranty, I was wondering.. if I don't spend money on a clearbra and get to suffer any scratches from normal use on public roads..Wouldn't that damage be cover under the paint warranty?.. Also I hate to highjack...but since with are tune -in the paint issue.. has anybody experience stains in the boot area right below the rear whiper??? I got my new MCS about 6 weeks ago and it seems like the water fluid damage my paint...I am bringing it in to the dealer this weekend to get it fixed....

 

Actually the factory paint on my MCS is pretty strong. I have barely
any chips or nicks on my bonnet. The aero bumper was painted locally
by the dealer's bodyshop and that chipped like heck so i touched it up
and using Xpel clearbra I bought from Ryan over at: www.autopaintguard.com

The clearbra is a must-have for dealer aftermarket paint.

 

I agree with Kechan. I don't think the problem is with the quality/durability of the MINI paintwork, per se, but rather the seemingly delicate Clearcoat. Both of our MINIs live under the brutal South Florda sun and so far the paintjobs have held up extremely well.


Of course, it helps to keep the car washed/waxed, etc to ensure durability.

You wanna see reallly thin paintwork? Take a look at any Honda. You can almost peel off the paint from the car with your fingernails.

 

May be Indy Blue has better chip resistance, because Chili Red, for instance, tends to chip easily if left unprotected. This is why for my second CR MCS I decided to get the VentureShield (www.accuguard.biz) clearbra and couldn't be happier.

 

Does anybody know a good car-wash/wax place in the BocaRaton/Miami area??