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JV · Nov 14th, 2001, 05:34 AM

Merchantible quality claims can be tricky ones - BMW probably wouldn\'t just roll over on that one.
I\'m no expert in the field I\'m afraid (I\'m still training remember!) but I do have a \'basic\' legal knowledge. My take on the situation is that it would be for a Court to decide how badly the seats have worn - would they consider it so excessive they weren\'t merchantible?
From a common sense point of view, wouldn\'t BMW probably hire a pretty decent legal team as well - believe me, I\'ve worked with decent corporate lawyers before - they earn a lot because they\'re sharp. A country solicitor would get taken apart.
Perhaps a more useful avenue would be the small claims court - claim the seats were defective and that BMW didn\'t replace them and so you want enough money to have them recovered (check EVO out next month - I think their long term MINI is being re-trimmed for about £700) - a small claim is not time intensive, and will also only cost about £60 to file - you can do the paper work and you won\'t need a solicitor - loads of websites can help, or even me.
It\'s also worth noting that if you lose you can\'t be made to pay costs - BMW might even settle a claim of this size out of Court because of the costs incurred fighting it...worth looking into.

Nov 14th, 2001, 05:34 AM	#11
JV MINI2 Regular Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hertfordshire Local Time: 03:50 AM Posts: 169 Offline	Rubbish Leather Seats Merchantible quality claims can be tricky ones - BMW probably wouldn\'t just roll over on that one. I\'m no expert in the field I\'m afraid (I\'m still training remember!) but I do have a \'basic\' legal knowledge. My take on the situation is that it would be for a Court to decide how badly the seats have worn - would they consider it so excessive they weren\'t merchantible? From a common sense point of view, wouldn\'t BMW probably hire a pretty decent legal team as well - believe me, I\'ve worked with decent corporate lawyers before - they earn a lot because they\'re sharp. A country solicitor would get taken apart. Perhaps a more useful avenue would be the small claims court - claim the seats were defective and that BMW didn\'t replace them and so you want enough money to have them recovered (check EVO out next month - I think their long term MINI is being re-trimmed for about £700) - a small claim is not time intensive, and will also only cost about £60 to file - you can do the paper work and you won\'t need a solicitor - loads of websites can help, or even me. It\'s also worth noting that if you lose you can\'t be made to pay costs - BMW might even settle a claim of this size out of Court because of the costs incurred fighting it...worth looking into.