Interior care tips & advise

Ceramic tint is the way to go, including an IR blocking clear tint on the windshield.
All those shades and covers, personally no way I could live with putting those up every time I park.

 

Like I said, the sunroof shades, I just left in place full-time through the month of August, and pretty deep into September. If it’s hot enough for me to depend on air conditioning, it’s hot enough that I’m not opening the sunroof either. And I’m sorry, but I have the ceramic tint on all glass, including the windshield, and the windshield shade makes a huge difference on its own. I park in full sun for nine or 10 hours a day at work. All it took was one day of forgetting to put up the sunshade to realize what a difference it made.

 

I agree with this... I have all windows tinted (except for the sunroofs) including the front windshield.. makes a world of difference. The mini is small so it's relatively affordable to go this route compared to tinting other (larger) sedans or SUVs

 

Great advice all around, but one thing I’d add is make sure to get a windshield shade that is uber easy to install and remove. Like the one JonR mentioned. I’ve found that some of them (Heatshield brand is the worst) are so annoying to install because they are laser fit, so you end up rubbing against every interior surface just to get it in and out.

Having my car live outside under the sun in 105F+ weather, I’d say the reflective moon roof shades, windshield shade, and lastly the ceramic tint were key. Best part about an EV is the preconditioning though. 5-10 minutes should be able to cool the car down even in the hottest conditions.

As for the interior, our first SE looks brand new after two years. You could try applying something like Opti-Seal on any surface for better protection (and supposedly it helps with dust).

 

Oh man that would be a fix it ticket here or straight up ticket. Front window tints are defacto banned here. Front side windows have to let in min 70% light.

 

It’s really hard for them to tell nowadays whether or not a windshield has an added ceramic tint; most windshields are tinted to 80% from the factory, and the top of the line “clear” ceramic tints are also 80% transmissivity. The light meters that some of the cops carry in their patrol cars wouldn’t be able to catch a clear windshield tint.

 

FWIW, Ontario law is loose, it’s at the peace officer’s discretion. “Occupants should be identifiable from the outside of the vehicle.”

 

Planning to tint my car in the next few weeks once the rain dies down. I normally go with 20% but am having reservations since the mini is so small and is mostly windows all around.

Anyone with 20% have any input on night visibility? Surprised to say this as I would have never second guessed going with 20% in my younger years.

 

I have 80% VLT on the windshield, 70% on the front sides, 30% all around the back and both sunroof panels. The ceramic tint makes a huge difference in IR transmission, and 30% is dark enough to provide some shade and plenty of glare reduction, and a little bit of privacy/security from the outside. It’s certainly not dark.