I use the touchless warsh down the street. It does a passable job if my car isn't too dirty. In the winter it is godsent to keep the salt off. But nothing beats a good do it yourself car warsh. I think a foam canon is a great tool to use.
The wash I use also has a touchless but I prefer to do it myself, beside since I had it ceramic coated I only use water but no soap.
Does it really help with the washing your car ?? Nope.... The MINI just sat there all soaped up..... I had to do all the work...
Yup... Connects to a power washer.... I was amazed at how long the suds stuck to the car... I was able to wash the whole MINI without the soap running off the vehicle... The foam cannon uses a ratio of 1 part soap to 5 parts water in the container.... Did the whole MINI and still had enough to do the P-car as well... I think that because the foam sits on the paint for as long as it did, it helps to hydrate the dirt better and probably does a better job of not scratching the paint when I wipe it with the mit. Can't provide any testing proof of this, but I'm happy with the final results....
Finally, the 14 day weather forecast is favorable for changing from winter to summer tires (plus 1 hole stiffer on the rear sway bar and 1/4 turn stiffer on the front Koni Yellows). Did that this afternoon. Will do my wife’s car next weekend.
A couple of weeks ago, my daughter took her MINI to the MINI dealer for an oil change and to have a look to see where the oil leak was. She ended up with the oil change and a brake job, and diagnosis that her motor had a crank seal leak and oil pan leak, and head cover gasket leak. The estimate cost to fix the leaks at the dealer was $4000 (CAD) !!! She called me and I told her to not have the leaks fixed. Yesterday, we took her MINI to my friend's shop. They cleaned the engine bay and they drove the car around a bit and then told us her car needed a valve cover gasket. They couldn't find any other leak. So they replaced the gasket for $300 CAD, labour included. I'm thinking I can't trust my MINI dealer anymore. The changeover in ownership and staff we are no longer a valued client.
That’s a shame. Had you driven in with that car and not your daughter do you believe the prognosis would have been the same ??
I'm pretty sure the prognosis would have been different. Everybody that was there when I bought my car back in 2005 is no longer at this particular dealership. I've even moved my business to a different MINI dealership, as this one has merged their MINI division into the BMW division. All three of our MINIs were purchased from this dealership. We left because they denied warranty that was previously promised on something on our Countryman. This is the last time my kid is bringing her car back to this dealership also.
Looks like your MINI dealer uses the same playbook as our local dealer. They seem to always find a way to pump up the bill to painful levels. Your daughter was very smart to call dear old dad.
I’ve always thought that MINI feels they build premium cars therefore they can gouge customers when they come in for service. Seems like a shortsighted approach to me but evidently the powers to be at BMW feel differently.
I never even got to put mine on this winter......Covid and working from home the damn thing hasn't been driven in over 3 months.