SCRATCHED SEAT BACKS

[ny152]

A friend is buying a two and a half year old MINI from a non MINI dealer and the back panels of the front seats are heavily scratched.

I know that MINI changed the design of these because of the problem with them getting marked, but has anyone managed to get them changed under warranty? Just asking as otherwise its £65 for the parts!

She also mentioned that the seat was awkward to tilt forward. I seem to remember someone mentioning before about the mechanisim being altered there as well. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of this?

Thanks for any help or advice :)

Goldmini.

[macblob]

My MINI was a 51 plate, so would be about 3 yrs old now if i still had it.
Didnt have a problem with the back of my seats being scratched but then again didnt have people in the back very often.
The seat mech was rubbish IMHO, think the newer ones have a different mech. The original one was very fiddly to work.....fustrating but not a major problem

[sleepyrascal]

I have a Jan 2002 coop. Seat backs are heavily scratched thanks to the dogs, and seat tilt mech it rubbish, until you get your head around it. I was trying to source seat backs on ebay because I wouldn't have thought warranty would cover self inflicted damage which is what it is really. Another thing you might find soon is the front seats will begin to squeek! LOUDLY!! It is very annoying!!

Sorry i'm not much help, but I would be interested to see what solution you come to because I am in the same situation. A quick fix might be to apply some tyre shine to the seat backs. Although I might just fork out for new ones.

[sleepyrascal]

have a look at this thread.... There was one about scratched seats a while back also, but i cant find it!

http://www.newminiscotland.co.uk/snitzforums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2332

[ny152]

Spoke to Fairbairns Glasgow and they say the seat backs wouldn't be covered under warranty (even though they said the reason they were changed is because the got scratched too much)

New seatbacks are £27+vat each so my friend is going to go for those probably.

Thanks for the advice :).

Good news is that I booked my OneD in for a service at the same time and they've offered me a convertible as a courtesy car :D.

[lightbody]

My 51 MINI (currently for sale at Henry Bros!!) had the new seat mechanism fitted under warranty. They should do this for you. Its fool-proof. The early mechanism was OK but ONLY if you knew what you were doing! It can be easily spotted by the nice oval levers on either side of the seat.