Interior door pulls and leather seats

[Philsy]

Hi

i'm looking for a used Cooper S and have just viewed a 2003 car. The interior door pulls have worn to the extent that all the silver finish has rubbed off, leaving bare plastic.

Also, the bases of the leather seats look saggy.

Are these common faults and, if so, how can they be rectified?

Thanks

Phil

[iain cooper]

some signs of a hard life ? how many miles and how many owners ?

[Philsy]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

One owner and 49k miles. It doesn't appear to have been cherished, though.

Phil

[humph]

Hi Philsy. The MINI leather seats can show signs of sagging, but the door pulls are odd I would have thought, never seen it before. Perhaps both would suggest that the car has spent it's life doing lots of short journeys with it's driver getting in and out a lot. Excessive wear to the door side seat bolster is normally another indication of this. My advice, speaking from experience, is do not buy a MINI that shows signs of not been looked after properly. There are always plenty of examples that have been looked after, buy one of these instead, you won't regret it.

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Humph (original)

Hi Philsy. The MINI leather seats can show signs of sagging, but the door pulls are odd I would have thought, never seen it before. Perhaps both would suggest that the car has spent it's life doing lots of short journeys with it's driver getting in and out a lot. Excessive wear to the door side seat bolster is normally another indication of this. My advice, speaking from experience, is do not buy a MINI that shows signs of not been looked after properly. There are always plenty of examples that have been looked after, buy one of these instead, you won't regret it.

Good advice!

I'd just add that the paint on the door pulls can wear excessively simply if the driver wears rings.

[Philsy]

Hi, thanks for the replies

I wonder if someone has deliberately scraped off the silver, after it began to get scruffy - on first glance you wouldn't see it was off-white plastic and not silver paint!

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

I've got a good solution on mine; I've used bicycle cork handlebar tape around my door pulls, it looks good, is much nicer to use than bare plastic and stops the scratches (or covers them up if the damage has already been done!). Oh yes, it cost about £5 to do both doors!

Tigger.

[NeuroBeaker]

Nice idea Tigger. Though, I've not heard this expression before:

Quote: Originally Posted by Tigger, Eeyore & Roo (original)

it looks goos

Is it a new one, or have I had my head in the sand again?

[Philsy]

This is the car I was looking at:

Autotrader - MINI COOPER S Chilli pack

It has some other issues - spilt in handbrake gaitor, scuffed rims, small dent in roof.

Good deal?

Phil

[Philsy]

Quote: Originally Posted by ARCrawford (original)

Nice idea Tigger. Though, I've not heard this expression before:


Is it a new one, or have I had my head in the sand again?

Maybe it goes gooey on hot days?

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

You lot! Haven't you ever heard the word "goos" before?!!!

Okay, neither have I, but it does prove how close the "S" and the "D" are on the keyboard

TIgger.

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Philsy (original)

This is the car I was looking at:

Autotrader - MINI COOPER S Chilli pack

It has some other issues - spilt in handbrake gaitor, scuffed rims, small dent in roof.

Good deal?

Phil

It's certainly cheap and it's got the all important Chilli Pack and Air Con. Do check the Classifieds section here first, there are usually some bargains to be had...

Tigger.

[MINIMANIAUK]

We do have leather door handle covers for the silver plastic ,they velcro on around the handle and are in grey(panther black) leather ,also available for the R56 cars - would be a better finish than handlebar tape

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Quote: Originally Posted by MINIMANIAUK (original)

would be a better finish than handlebar tape

I wouldn't really want to comment on another person's idea like this (and a customer of yours at that!), but, seeing as you now have, the handlebar tape fits tightly (being firmly stuck, rather than velcro'd into place), so it is impossible for it to slip around in use and it's the material that you would expect to find on the handlebars of a £2000 + custom built touring bike, so it looks and feels expensive too.

Anyway, back to the Thread.....

[iain cooper]

handlebar tape in the interior of a cooper s ? you must be aving a laff ? how naff is that ?

yes you may expect to see it on a £2000 pedal bike, but not inside a mini surely.