Good stuff: Permatex Disc Brake Quiet 127ma 80077. This stopped the squeal after replacing the brakes on the mini. I ended up doing the brake job without any anti-squeal products last weekend, mostly because I didn't know I needed anything. After reading the mini forum, the permatex was highly recommended so I picked some up from O'Reilly yesterday. I could only hear a squeal coming from the front brakes, so I took those off and put the permatex on the pads and the calipers, which it said not to... but I did it anyway... I was very careful to avoid getting any on the rotors (covered them in newspaper). Put it all back together and the squeal is gone. Yay for products that actually work!

On a less happy note... we went to the honda dealer yesterday to see about buying a new fit sport AT. We both test drove one on the lot, although we were pretty sure we already knew what exactly what we wanted. The problem, of course, is that they didn't have the color we wanted in stock. It was pretty late in the day, so they ran all the numbers, filled out a credit contract (we're getting a Loan to give Kristen another source of good credit), and the salesman said he thought he would be able to get the car we wanted the next day (today). We were both pretty surprised, as we figured it would take at least a few days. We left a deposit so they could order and get it in. I just got a call from the salesman saying he found one with the right color, but the dealer he found it from had the Pro Pack on it (wheel locks, and a tray for the trunk), and it was another $280. I said no, we don't want those, and suggested they could easily remove those items and sell me the car the way I wanted it. Ha! That didn't seem to work... excuses came: "we don't have a technician here today" which is probably true, so I offered to change the lug nuts for them. Ha! That didn't go over well. this is why i love car dealers (and this is the best rated ones around). So they're going to keep looking for another car that is what we want. I told him we're not in a rush, and we're not interested in paying more for options we don't want. Yay me for not giving in to pressure.