Before you inquire about it at your dealership or anywhere else, call your local police station first. The NYPD offers this service for free. I had it done to all 8 pieces of glass on my MINI. They even gave me a signed offical letter to show to my insurance company. I emailed my carrier that I had it done and asked for their fax number so I could send them a copy of the letter. But they emailed me back and told me it's OK and just gave me the discount. A whole $18/year

 

That's good advice. If the cost of window etching is more than free I don't think it's worth it.

 

that was one of the BS dealer markups I had to pay at Roadshow in Memphis. For my second MINI, I was smart enough to buy from Classic with none of this kind of silliness. ... .

 

I have never heard of this "etching" before. What is put on the glass and what are the benefits? If it's free... it may be a good idea. dan

 

I bought my '03 MC from Roadshow in August of '03. The only BS option I had to pay for was a $249 "documentation fee". I got them to discount the car $350 off MSRP to compensate for the BS documentation fee.

Maybe I just caught them at the right moment?

 

etching = scribing the VIN into the glass
since glass is one of the more valuable parts of a car for a quick strip - having the VIN etched makes the car undesirable. Kinda like wheel locks that make it harder to take the wheels...not impossible, but harder.

That's the theory anyway

on the upside when I had this on a car - already done, it was a standard dealer thing in Miami 10 years ago - I discovered that this action resulted in the same discount as a wiz bang alarm system I had on a similar car.... yep, about $18 a year. Guess which is cheaper to buy? and no they don't stack the discounts. $18 was the maximum I could get for anti-theft systems. Etching gave the max discount... Lo-Jack? same thing, $18 bucks saved/year.

made me re-think alarm systems ever since...

when's the last time you saw a black&white racing to the scene of a car alarm going off?

 

I think the VIN number is engraved in the glass of all windows. Dealers use it as an almost 100% profit, "option" that they ofter have already done to the car, making it hard to refuse if you want the car.

Since there hasn't been a documented case of a MINI being driven off without the use of the OEM key, this seems like a total waste. If it's free I guess you just have to decide if you want your windows scratched. Also, every time you get a new windshield you'd need to get it redone.