Folding Rear Seat - Current Mini Owners - MINI Cooper Forum

Yurinaut · #1 (**permalink**) Jan 18th, 2002, 09:53 AM

Got a quick question for the current MINI owners. I imagine that since the boot storage area is so minimal, how simple is it to move the rear seats down. Some hatch style vehicles are pretty easy to deal with by getting the rear seat belts out of the way for you by design. My wife's Mazda is kind of a pain since everytime you put the seats down, you have to move the seat belts over and then pull the seat forward and then hold them out of the way when putting the seats back up.

Question is, can you easily put the rear seats forward (and then back up) from the rear hatch area without hassling with the rear seat belts (or anything else)?

Thanks!
Mike

Dogger · #2 (**permalink**) Jan 18th, 2002, 10:00 AM

I've put mine up and down a fair number of times in the last few months and haven't noticed any snags with the seatbelts at all.

There's an easy release handle mechanism to drop the seats from the rear and I can just about reach the same handle to pull them back up again (but then I am only 5'9"ish tall (no idea what that is in metres!) ).

The only thing I have noticed about the split seats is that I sometimes have to slam one side back into the upright position harder than the other - if it get's to the stage where it bothers me enough, I'm sure the dealer can correct that quite easily though.

monsta · #3 (**permalink**) Jan 18th, 2002, 10:02 AM

Its not an easy thing to do, the seats go down no problem, but pulling them back up does require a little more effort than neccesary...

Yurinaut · #4 (**permalink**) Jan 18th, 2002, 10:29 AM

Thanks.It does sound like they have engineered the rear belts to be out of the way. Maybe a small bit of white grease on the lock mechanism would make the seats lock in a little easier? Either way, sounds like they did a good job with it. Thanks!

-M
PS: I'm 6'-2" so reaching it shouldn't be too bad. I figured since the boot was so small I'd need to put the seats up and down a lot so, this info is very helpful!

Mickey Gem · #5 (**permalink**) Jan 18th, 2002, 10:40 AM

I'm just over 5ft, so it's a bit of a performance for me to get the seats back up, have to climb in the back etc etc..not very elegant or cool!

sdmidget · #6 (**permalink**) Jan 18th, 2002, 11:18 AM

Speaking of the rear seats down -

how much space do you have in the back with the seats down?

That is, how large of a piece of plywood (cardboard, etc) will fit laying flat??

belfastcooper · #7 (**permalink**) Jan 18th, 2002, 11:29 AM

I've just put laminate wooden flooring down in my house which i bought from the local d i y store. The flooring boxes were 150cm long and easily fitted with the boot lid down by pushing the passenger seat forwards a bit. The skirting board was in 2.1m lengths and fitted between the rear window and the dash board shelf. No problems - i was very impressed. If you do need to drive a little with the tailgate open, there are handy lashing points to stop it opening fully.

kjs · #8 (**permalink**) Jan 18th, 2002, 02:00 PM

only problem I have with the rear seats is that the headrest catches on the back of the driver's seat when I put them down . Have to move the driver's seat a few notches forward, then put it back again (I'm 6'6" and have the driver's seat all the way back - it touches the back seat!)

kjs

belfastcooper · #9 (**permalink**) Jan 18th, 2002, 06:15 PM

Or you could remove the rear headrests for those journeys...