Hello, i'm a new member here. I've been reading this site for a long time and its been very helpful so far and i wonder if anyone can help me with a particular problem i cant find on here.
I've finally got my first Mini Cooper - its only a 2003 but thats all i could afford! Its british racing green with white wheels and white bonnet stripes. I bought it in June of this year and its just had its first service. The bonnet stripes were in very good condition when i bought it but clearly the mechanic who did the service pushed the bonnet down with grimey/oiley hands and now i have a brown print mark on the front of one of my white bonnet stripes :angry:
Ive read on here about windscreen washer stains and yellowing but i dont have anything like that - just this horrible brown mark. I'm rather an obsessive cleaner with my mini and it wont come off with wash and wax so i wonder if anyone could suggest something a bit stronger to get this stain off with that wont affect the vinyl?

Many thanks in advance!

You could try Halfords Bug & Tar Remover (http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_71 4851_langId_-1_categoryId_165682) or similar, but I'd be sure to check that it is safe for use on vinyl (online info says "safe for use on most paint finishes and glass" but "not suitable for rough plastic vehicle mouldings").

Rather more curiously, nail varnish remover* and full-fat mayonnaise are also good for getting oily or sticky marks off things (one or the other, not at the same time obviously)... might be worth a shot, but of course, caution would be advised! :)

*Nail varnish route reconsidered - see following posts. :o

I had black greasy marks on my white stripes and used Meguiars Wax, which easily removed the black stains!

Thank you both for your suggestions. I'll try the cheaper options first and see what happens - especially the mayonnaise, thats quite an interesting one! If not the wax sounds like a good plan.

Mayo is brilliant for getting sticky marks off things! :D

Thinking about it, the nail varnish remover is probably ill-advised, given the proximity to paintwork. :o

Let us know how you get on. :)

Mayo, you learn new things every day. It must be the oil in it as wd40 will clean of grease and oil marks...

Update - Had a go at the stain today: tried the mayo and then some undiluted car shampoo which i admit did reduce the stain so thank you for the suggestion, but unfortunatley its not gone completely :frown: next up i'll have to try the more expensive route, the halfords bug stuff and the wax and hopefully that will shift the last of it. I decided against the nail varnish remover aswell haha being a woman and seeing what it does when i drop it on stuff accidently i decided that it would probably lift the stain but only cos it would lift the vinyl aswell! lol

Oh well, worth a try I suppose, and glad it helped a little bit, if not entirely!

Are the stripes in otherwise good condition? I'm thinking, for what it might cost experimenting with various cleaning methods and products, it may well be worth fitting a new set, especially if they're stone chipped for example? :)

Oh well, worth a try I suppose, and glad it helped a little bit, if not entirely!

Are the stripes in otherwise good condition? I'm thinking, for what it might cost experimenting with various cleaning methods and products, it may well be worth fitting a new set, especially if they're stone chipped for example? :)

They are a little bit stone chipped in places but not too bad. depends i suppose how much a new set would be? i have absolutely no idea, and would have no idea how to put them on lol not my sort of expertise when it comes to cars. Plus mine arent just white,they have the john cooper signature in green on them aswell - not sure how easy it would be to get a direct replacement. Has anyone else fitted new bonnet stripes before? If so, how much did it cost and how easy was it to do?

From mini.co.uk ..£57.20.. I think i paid £80 on a newbuild