Attn KEN L SO02 FTU

[ianking]

Just noticed under the minis you used to own that you had SO02 FTU.
We bought that car for Sarah from Eastern ages ago. Small world. Dont have it now though.

You said that it was riddled with faults but Sarah and I were just saying the other day that in terms of reliability that was prob our best mini. Maybe you had all the faults fixed. We didnt even have any rattles from it.
We stuck a set of clear side repeaters on it and chrome mirrors and chrome grill, tailgate handle etc but then took it all of when we sold it.
I have never seen the car since. We only kept it for a year as Sarah wanted to change. It was her daily driver whilst I had an indy blue one at the time.

I only have one pic of the silver car, if you would be able to send me a couple pics of it that would be great as I like to have pics of all my previous cars. The only pic I have of it was taken using a mobile phone whilst it was dirty.

[ianking]

This is the only photo we have of the car. Taken by Sarah on her phone at the car park at her work. Car was filthy :mad:

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i260/ianking82/so02ftu.jpg

[ianking]

Ken, are you there.

[KenL]

Ian,

PM me your email and I will send you some pics.

BTW, that car was for sale privately. I had it up for sale for about a month and never had a sniff apart from a trader making me a cheeky offer.

I would have sold it to you for £9250 if you had wanted it, what did you pay for it ;)

[KenL]

Ian - Since you said SO02FTU was reliable, here is the thread I wrote about my ownership experience with it on MINI2 Complete thread here: http://www.mini2.com/forum/mini-one/62118-my-2-year-mini-ownership-experience-warning-long.html (http://www.mini2.com/forum/mini-one/62118-my-2-year-mini-ownership-experience-warning-long.html)

My 2 year MINI ownership experience - warning long.

Now my MINI is gone I thought I should try and sum up what it was like owning the MINI.

July 02 MINI ONE in Pure Silver with SALT, 15" 8 spokes, spare wheel & CD player.

I owned the car for 23 months and covered 24k miles in it.

Owning the MINI was a mixed experience and I'll try and give pros & cons.

On the plus side the MINI was a blast to drive out of town. Even though it was a ONE on standard suspension it was great to drive. I never really felt it was short of power and after 5k miles or so it really was a wee flier. On the smallest tyres available and lightly specced the handling was brilliant and it was really chuckable. The steering was really direct and quite weighty for a small car.

Driving in town was not so good as even though on standard suspension it really struggled to cope with bumps in the road and often progress was uncomfortable. Motorway driving was pretty relaxed and comfortable for such a small car.

With TLC owning the car was really good and a clever marketing ploy by MINI. I would have been a lot more cautious buying it for fear of over the top servicing prices by BMW dealers.

The main downside though on owning the MINI were the faults it had over the time I had it. To be honest I think that the MINI was not really ready for production as the quality of the way the car interior was put together in my car and other early examples was very poor. Newer cars do seem a LOT better as two recent courtesy cars I've had were much better and suffered a lot less from rattles.

Here is a list of the dealership visits required in the time I had it:


Visit One – End July 2002 – 1 day

Misaligned steering wheel on car at delivery.


Visit Two – End November 2002 – 3 days

1. Rear hatch rattles going over bumps. Tried adjusting the rubber bumpers in the tailgate and putting some electrical tape around the U-shaped catch. This makes some difference but doesn’t cure it. Perhaps the lock needs replaced or adjusted.

2. General creaking/rattling noises from the rear of the car.

3. The dash board creaks/cracks especially when there is heat going to the windscreen. Pressing lightly on the dash makes it groan.

4. Rattle coming from passenger side of the vehicle especially when there is someone in the seat so it could be the seat or associated with the seat belt.

5. Intermittent buzzing from drivers side seatbelt surround at ear level.

6. The steering wheel makes a cracking sound when going from lock to lock at low speed.

7. Headlights on dipped beam seem weak. Could be alignment is set too low.

8. Condensation inside rear lights only visible sometimes but there must be moisture in there that could lead to long term damage.

Visit Three – Jan 2003 – 2 days

1) A dull knocking noise from the rear of the car which can be heard when travelling slowly going over even small bumps in the road. I had my wife drive while I sat in the back of the car with my head in the boot. It definitely sounds like it's coming from outside the vehicle. I jacked the car up and removed a rear wheel but couldn't see anything obvious. I wonder if it's some part of the suspension or something hitting the underside of the car. This seems to be a new problem as I only recall noticing it over the last week or two.

2) When the car was last in the steering was checked out as I could hear a cracking sound when I was reversing out of my driveway and turning towards full lock.

3) The door casings make an annoying buzzing sound that is most evident at lower temperatures. If I press even gently on the door it goes away. It seems to be coming from up near the little red reflectors on the doors. It's not them in themselves as I took them out and it was still there. Perhaps some felt tape or something behind any clips or the door casings would fix it.

4) The last time the car was in there was cracking sounds coming from the dash going over bumps especially when the heater in the car is on. Although the fix done was perfect when I first got the car back it has started coming back again. If you've had other cars in for this and now have a permanent fix I'd be grateful if that could be done.


Visit Four – March 2003 – 2 days

1) Clunking noises from rear of vehicle again – fix attempted by adjustment of hatch and striker replaced with new chrome part.

2) Steering column replaced – this resulted in my steering wheel being scratched and put back on off-centre!!!

3) Buzzing noise from doors.


Visit Five – April 2003 – 5 days

1) Investigation of rear knocking noises. This resulted in parts of the rear suspension being replaced.

2) Various rattling from panels in rear of car

3) Buzzing noise from doors.

Visit Six – Sep 2003 – 1 day

1) Replace broken rear seat catch
2) Further investigation of rear hatch knock
3) Service find hatch seal leaking

Visit Seven – Sep 2003 – 1 day

1) Boot seal replaced.

Visit Eight – April 2004 – 1 day

1) Boot still leaking, high level brake lamp replaced.

Visit Nine – May 2004 – 1 day

Dashboard lights, rev counter & speedometer go crazy!

June 2004 – day before trading in car

Airbag light comes on!
Dash rattles again intermittently

So as you can see owning the MINI was at times a joy but also a total pain in the ass.

I had always intended getting another MINI but when I really started to think about it I just could not at this time bring myslef to invest in another. I may however buy another MINI in the future and when changing my car again I will put MINI on the shortlist.

One fantastic thing about owning a MINI was how much it was worth even after 2 years and 24k miles. The car cost £11275 new and I traded it in for £8800. The £8800 is the actual amount I got for the car when you take into account the amount of discount I had agreed as a cash price for my new car.

Thanks for reading - I plan and sticking around MINI2 for a while yet http://www.mini2.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

[ianking]

Cheers for the info Ken

Like I say though you must have had all the problems fixed up on it as we never had a spot of bother with it.
Im pretty sure we paid about £10250. It was some time ago that we bought it and we sold it in 2005 for about £8750.

will send you a P.M with my email as any pics are welcome

Ian

[KenL]

Pics emailed to you Ian.

Cheers, KenL

[ianking]

Got the email Ken

Many thanks