Winter has hit with a vengeance in Wisconsin, and my baby needs a bath. Road salt looks particularly bad on BRG. I woke up this morning and the wind-chill was zero degrees, so washing it in the driveway is out of the question for the next few months.

Since I have never owned a convertible, my question for the group is: After I remove the antenna and fold in the mirrors what do I have to watch out for? Will I need a towel in the cockpit with me? Any areas that don't get real clean? Any problem with the blow driers and the convertible top?

I am always grateful for the advice I get on this forum so please chip in your two cents.

Thanks,

Larry
08 BRG MCSC (with cold weather package among other things)

 

I took my MCSC through a few carwashes places. If you can look for a brushless place. I tend to just do the basic wash No polish spray or anything... It looks kinda brutal when the dryer hits the soft top but I haven't noticed any leakes due to power washer or anything of the sort... Yes Have a micro-fiber cloth with you.. the water will tend to come in the doors whe the attendents open the door.
Thats all

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P.S.
Many will say never drive your MINI through any CW ever but a clean car is a Happy Car.

 

I'll take mine through touchless carwashes - but not often and ususally just during the winter to get the road salt off the underside. Touchless is the way to go but the problem with touchless is they use higher pressure nozzles which can get by the window weather stripping, although I've not had that problem. The MINI top is pretty tight compared to other convertibles I have owned.

One problem, however, with the new touchless carwashes as they pertain to MINIs is that most not set up for a car as short as a MINI and the rear tends to not get as clean as it should.

 

As long as you have the top up you should be fine.

Always nice to have a towel just in case but we've never had to use one.

I've heard that brushless is always better for the top... but not a crisis as long as you don't use them all the time. The dryer blows really hard and it sounds loud but I don't think it hurts the top at all. It feels like a temporary hurricane outside.

We had a weird experience in NC when it was cold out. There was a freak snow and the car looked too yucky for pictures. (We were on our special leaf peeping trip.) Anyway, we did the automatic brushless wash (no attendants) and got the under-carriage option included. Got out of the carwash to clean the windows and the car was steaming like crazy from under the bonnet... never seen that before. We opened it up and steam was billowing out and everything was wet... guess the jets must have really shot up there!

Only place that usually doesn't get clean is the back (around the license plate).

We've had a convertible since '05.

Have fun!

 

I am sure that you don’t want to hear this, but I would never take the cabrio to a car wash (never take any of my cars to them). There must be hand wash places near you, where I live in NJ there are 4 hand wash places within 3 miles and mobile hand wash services (they come to you). I would really try to find one of these.

Steve

 

I take my 07 MCc to the car wash once in a great while, usually during the winter months when I have to drive it. I agree with what others have said and look for the brushless car washes. It is not the best thing for the top but its that or let the road salt stay all winter, I will take the chance with the car wash as I plan on keeping the MCc for a good many years. Also whith the car washes you will have to clean and condition your top more often, after the first 2 car washes the top had to be cleaned and conditioned. I find it easier to leep the car in the garage and use it once a month or so during the winter months.

Hand washing is best, then the brushless car wash.

 

I've been taking my to both brushless (Laser) and conventional car washes for the past year-and-a-half with no problems ... and no need for a towel (even though I always have one in the boot).

 

I think all auto manufacturers do not recommend automatic machine carwashes for convertible tops at all. Especially with blown air drying. The top bubbles up and you can tell that this would stress the sewn points, glued points, etc.

And they don't recommend using pressure washers because it can drive the dirt, grit, etc. into the paint. So touchless washers can't be good neither.

Having said that, I still take my convertibles there (except touchless) b/c it's convenient and in the winter, it's a trade-off to get all that salt off the car.

 

I'm curious ... there are all sorts of cautions here about the bad things that can happen if you take your car through a car wash. Does anyone have stories or evidence of those "bad" things actually happening?

 

Just saw this pop up again and read your post. I was wondering what the bad things were that you were referring to so I reread some posts.

I've never heard that the dryer could damage the top and confused by what was meant by the "top bubbles up" statement that was made. I'm wondering why it would be any different than driving down the road at high speeds or on a windy day? I've seen other makes of cars driving down the highway with bubbled up tops but never a MINI.

I was thinking back after I posted before and I do remember one thing. In my '05 MCSC I did have an occasional slight dribble on the driver's side window (top front corner) when I used the car wash. It was VERY minor and the tech at the dealership said it was because of the angle and pressure of the spray. My '08 MCSC has gone through the car wash 3 times so far (I think) and I do not have ANY leaks.

I come from the good ol' days of junky "American" hard top cars and can remember riding through the car washes with my mom. We'd stop at McDonald's and eat/drink and then we all had our empty cups that we would use to catch the streams of water. It was an event! Funny memory.

BTW: My MIL informed us that she was talking to her friend about wanting a Cabrio and her friend was telling her not to ever get one because of all the leaking. (?) Apparently she had an old Saab or something with issues... so that makes ALL Cabrios bad? Makes me wonder if "stories" are just passed down as fact without any real back-up. Does that really happen? (Of course it does.) I usually try to clarify when I have "heard" or "have been told" something since it doesn't make it a fact.

My personal experience with the "brush" wash is this: coming from Maine (at least) cars/trucks had lots of dirt and salt and tiny rocks that I have seen embedded in the brushes or those big noodle-y wash strips. I have "heard" that this "shows" more damage on black vehicles (but I've never owned a black vehicle). Where I live in Florida, we don't have the same kind of road grit so I feel a little better about occasional use.

I'd love to be able to lovingly handwash my cars all the time but I don't have the time to do it. And IMHO... when faced with leaving a car dirty with salt eating the car or a bubbly spray down... I would choose the bubbly spray down without hesitation. Oh, and I usually get "the works" with the spray wax and stuff too. Along with the area around the license plate not getting so clean, the wheels usually never get clean either. I get out and wipe down both of those areas.

 

I am w/ Steve on this one. During the winter I go to the dollar power wash and hose the car off real quick like. I just can't trust the machines and the cheap chemicals they typically use.

Takes 4 minutes in the cold to rinse all the crud off the ride.

 

The only kind of carwash I would EVER take my cabrio to is a wand-wash... where I'm the one controlling how much I'm spraying and where... ALL "touch" carwashes (brush and "soft cloth") *DO* swirl your paint. BADLY. At best. At worst, they produce real scratches. Just depends on how dirty the brushes / cloth is... "soft cloth" means "nice holder of other people's dirt"...

Touchless washes are *better*... high pressure water is NOT going to scratch your car by "driving" the grit into it, as some folks might suggest - many professional detailers use powerwashers to do the initial rinse. But MINIs can be pretty persnickety about having water where they don't expect to have water... way to many electronics with controllers stuffed in the strangest places. So I don't want a robot randomly spraying high pressure water into every nook and cranny of my car... if some happens to work its way into the right footwell kickpanel where the body control module is, you WILL be in a world of hurt...

Hand wash, wand wash, or no wash, if you like your paint. Go read up on this in the Detailing 101 forum.

 

I'm still continuing to hear "what might happen." You'd think if car washes created all these dire consequences this thread would be flooded with stories of gloom. Until I hear something other than "folk-lore" I'll continue to err on the side of keeping my MINI clean by using both laser and conventional car washes ... just like I've been doing for the past two years ... with no issues at all!

 

Study "swirls". You have some if you've used either a brush or cloth wash. And you get more every time you use the one of those carwashes. Most folks don't understand what paint is *supposed* to look like... because 97% of all cars you see have swirls from carwashes. Again, MUCH info on what swirls are and how you prevent them in the Detailing 101 forum.

http://www.google.com/search?q=swirl...ient=firefox-a

 

Maybe it's the color ... my Cabrio is a Pepper White Sidewalk and I just looked at it and can see nothing in the paint that would cause any concern whatsoever. And, the car has probably gone through car washes 75 times?????

 

Light colors definitely do *not* show swirls as badly as dark colors. That said, they're still there... just not as noticeable. With the car clean, park in bright sunlight. Stand back and look at the paint at an angle. You should be able to see the swirls. As I said before, 90%+ of folks just think that's the way paint looks.. but all the little swirly reflections you see weren't there from the factory, and they reduce the overall "shine" of your finish as you accumulate more and more over time. The only way to get rid of them is to polish the car properly, and the only way to minimize getting more is proper hand washing technique. There's a reason most cars have swirls... maintaining a swirl-free finish is a lot of work. But the results are worth it...

 

Nice pic Paul! and I agree with your sentiments. I got my PW Cab about a year ago. On advise from Heather (Detailers Paradise) I immediately put a coat of Epic on it and let it go that way through the winter. In the spring I clayed and polished it for the first time and could not believe the difference. HUGE!!!

Last winter I had a beater to go through the storms with. This year I'm not so lucky. We've had 3 so far all about a week apart. Just crappy timing as far as getting my car clean. I've taken it to a wand wash once. And while I agree with your sentiments on the pressure not causing damage, I have heard that the high pressure will take off sealant, and therefore I use it very sparingly. I would not consider going into any car wash even touchless. There are stories out there about lowered MINI's not faring well in those things.

 

I don't want to beat the proverbial "dead horse" ... but once again all I hear are dreaded stories. Nobody is telling us how awful their MINI looks because they have actually gone through a car wash. And you're telling me that if I get down real low, and look at the paint at just the right angle, in just the right sunlight ... I might see swirls. I've got to tell you ... I'd much rather drive a clean MINI than worry about looking for something that 99.9% of people would never see. Enjoy driving your dirty MINI or standing out in the cold washing it. I'll keep taking mine to the car wash until I hear of actual proof of damage ... not just folk lore.

 

BigGuy - it's your car. Do what you want. You're not unlike the VAST majority of car owners in your preferences and apathy about swirls. That's OK. But some of us like our paint to look as good as it possibly can, and last as long as it can. And automated carwashes play no role in that. If you care to learn more, and see what the fuss about swirls is all about, spend some time here:

http://www.noswirls.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=31

Plenty of before and after photos of MINIs there.

This is what brush and cloth automated carwashes, and improper hand washing, do over time:




But, again, having a swirl-free finish is a trade-off decision. I've decided that it's worth a little extra effort to have a show-car quality finish on the car I drive every day. It turns heads everywhere I go. But obviously very few folks feel this way.

 

So admittedly, you are new to car ownership and concerned with keeping it running reliably for a long period of time. But in this thread, when you receive advise about taking steps to reduce damage to your paint you scoff at it???? One thing you did to help your cause is buy a PW car. A good choice for someone who doesn't want to keep up a diligent effort to keep their paint well cared for. However, the swirls are still going to come and you can either take steps to minimize that or not.

 

this my MINI 1st winter...and after reading this.. i think i will wash it myself..

there a carwash near me and they use brushes .... after u come out, there are guys who dry yr car with towels..i wonder how clean are those towel and how many times do thye rinses it between drying cars? will those towels leave swirl or scratches more than those washing brushes?

 

If you park and watch those guys for a while, I'll bet you see one or more of them either drop their towel, or drag part of it on the ground, and keep right on using it.

 

That's almost the ONLY cleaning I've done for the past 3 years -- and just rinse spray! See my thread: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...r-3-years.html

High pressure wands are especially fantastic for brake dust on the wheels. Amazing how clean they get just from spraying.

 

THAT GIVE ME GOOSEBUMPS

 

Quite the contrary ... I've owned cars for nearly 50 years and have been quite close to the industry. I just wish we could get together ... because I would challenge you to find the dreaded swirls on my car that you're all so excited about. You'd think that, after 75+ trips to the car wash, the paint would be completely gone by now!!!