303 UV Protectant spray was recommended to me by another MINI driver virtually as I bought my first MINI. While originally billed as 303 Marine Protectant to protect boat seats, dashes, etc from the harsh environment they are constantly exposed to it is ideal for the non-leather parts in your MINI. It now carries the Aerospace label (your MINI does feel like a rocketship sometimes, right?). I thought it would be a good idea to give you a 303 protectant review.
Years ago, more years than I want to admit if you wanted to clean the dash of your car you had basically two choices, a typical household cleaner such as Fantastic, or Armor All. Armor All did a pretty good job at protecting your dash and seats, it also made them slick, oily, and worst of all, shiny. I absolutely hated it when everything in my car was oily to the touch and reflected sunlight like a mirror. Back then I had never heard of or seen 303 UV Protectant.
Times changed and Armor All came out with a low gloss version which I thought was the greatest product ever for the interior of your car. It was still a little oily although not nearly as bad, did not shine hardly at all, and kept the plastic-looking great for years, right up until they either quit making it or every place I had access to stopped carrying it, whichever.
The good news was that about that time Meguires came out with an interior detailer which was pretty good stuff so I started using it until I bought my MINI. This stuff was good and a huge improvement over previous products I had, but it didn’t leave the fake leather looking as nice, or have the supposed protection of what came next, 303 UV Protectant. I will say this about the Meguires though, if I had not found the 303 UV Protectant, I would still be blissfully using the Meguires, it really is good stuff.
As soon as I started using the 303 UV Protectant spray I remembered all the things I hated about the original Armor All. Not because it did those things, but because it solved every complaint I ever had about it.
The 303 UV Protectant spray cleans quite well, leaves no gloss to speak of that wasn’t there from the factory, leaves almost no residue at all, and so far seems to protect quite well. I now use it on any non-painted, non-leather, non-cloth, surface I have in both MINIs and on my Harley (pretty much just the seat and saddlebags).
Another nice feature is that while 303 UV Protectant does leave a residue on glass if you overspray on to it, it is nowhere near as bad as the oily mess you get with Armor All. This is really nice because while I tend to spray the 303 UV protectant spray onto a rag and then use the rag to wipe down the dash, doors, and seats, I still tend to touch the rag to the glass along the edges. This may leave a little streak on the glass but in the old days, such a streak would leach into the weatherstripping below the window glass and then streak all over your window when you rolled it down. Yech!
I do not like using 303 UV Protectant on leather because leather needs some form of conditioner or it will start to dry out and crack, so I use a cleaner with conditioner built-in for my steering wheel and shifter.
Another issue that the 303 UV Protectant seems to help with is slick seats. You know what I mean. You clean your seats (particularly on a motorcycle) and then when you go for a drive you are sliding all over your seat at stops and turns. While I have never found a good cleaner that totally eliminates this, the 303 UV Protectant keeps this to a minimum. Far less than the Armor All ever did, and probably the same as the Meguires.
Overall I would rate the 303 UV Protectant spray as a 5 out of 5 since I can not think of a way to make it any better. It addresses all the concerns I have ever had regarding a cleaner and protectant for these surfaces. If you can’t find the 303 UV Protectant, give the Meguires Interior Detailer a try, I would say it is a 4.5 out of five at least.
If you want a really good cleaner and protectant, 303 UV Protectant is the way to go!
