I am extremely excited as ive finally ordered my new car, a mini cooper S, I get it in September and cannot wait, anyway I have a few questions I hope someone can help me with,
Firstly the beetle, its 2.0manual in silver with black interior, it has done 30k has a cd changer and heated seats,
its just had 4 new tyres and will be newly serviced at time of sale, full service history of course, can someone please tell me how much its worth to sell privatly and how much can i expect on a trade in value, it IS in excellent condition, no stone chips or scratches or anything on the inside.
Secondly the mini, i really really really REALLY want harness seat belts, I have ALWAYS wanted them and now get to have a car that wouldnt look daft with them on, I definatly do not want to invalidate my warrenty but need some advice please,
Do you think MINI would fit them for me?
how do they get fitted to the car? can they use the exsisting belts points at the sides of the seats to secure them? I spoke to someone who said they would drill into the floor pan of the car and bolt them in under the seat but that sounds a bit tricky to me, and im sure the warrenty would be invalid if i got that done.
Any help or advice much appreciated. thankyou!
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bugged,
I'm not an expert by any means but I would have thought it would be pretty difficult. My mate had a Saxo VTR with harness belts but he had racing seats and they appeared to actually come out of the seats.
With regards for the warranty, again I don't know. I can't seem MINI going for it simply because of safety - seat belt pretensioners, airbags etc... but you can only ask.
Cheers
Adam
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I take it you mean 5-point racing harnesses? You would generally need to change the seats to racing bucket seats as well, I would have thought, since they'll need to have a hole between your legs for one strap to come through, plus attachments at each shoulder.
It's possible to do, and I can';t really see why it would invalidate any warrantee, but it might look a bit weird in a car which isn't stripped out, it'd be less comfortable, and I doubt it'd improve the sellability of the car.
On the other hand, you're not buying the car to sell it, and if you want it, you want it. You can always keep hold of the old stuff to refit later.
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sorry i should have explained a little more but i didnt want to bore you all to tears,
id really like a three point harness, three parts fit to the car, one each side of the seat like a regular belt and the last strap goes through the back of the headrest and somehow fixes
in the back.
my mum had a renault 4 when we were little that had harnesses in the back for us kiddies and an ex boyfriend had them in the the front in a mk 2 golf gti, i dont want big in yer face ones like a racing driver, you can get more subtle ones from demon tweeks and ripspeed and places i think, its teh fitting of them im having trouble with and before i go to a garage or car place and sound like a right wally i thought id ask the friendly back roomers for advice!!!! the mini comes with "sports seats" but not proper bucket sparcos or anything like that, i didnt really want to go that far. I also would like to have them semi permanant so when i do sell the car i can have it back to normal, im not sure i want the old belts taken out completly,
im not too worried about the belt tensioners and stuff because im wouldnt move far in a harness belt.
also a three point harness just goes round your arms and clicks together at the front!
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You would need added rear anchorage points.
These would normally go where the back seat is now.
As others have said, it's possible - but at a cost, and reducing your car practicality significantly.
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in the rear seat could i use the regular seat belt anchor points, i mean the bit you plug the belt clip into, has it got some sort of fixing that i could attach the harness on to??
i had thought that i would use those as they must be strong enough because the regular belt clips into it??? that way i could keep the seats in the back and have my harness, i would be able to carry passengers in the back but i dont normally take anyone anywhere anyway and if i did i could use my boyfriends car!
i then thought i could use the two anchors in teh front seat, where the belt comes from near the from and where it clips into across your lap, I dont know what the proper names are for those clippy bits and i really hope you know what im on about!
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OK, I'm confused now as to exactly what you want.
Here's how I understand the different types of belt:
3-point: This is a standard seat-belt, what you've already got in your car.
5-point: This is a full racing harness, two straps over shoulders, two over hips, one between legs.
4-point: Semi-racing harness. Same as above, but without the strap between the legs.
I think you're talking about the 4-point. I presume the two hips straps will be anchored at the two lower points of the standard belt, but the two shoulder straps are more complicated. Possibly the one near the car body could use the current anchor point, but harnesses I've seen tend to wrap around the shoulder and be anchored lower, so possibly not. The other side would I assume have to be anchored to the seat itself (and IMO so should the first side really) , and that's why I think you would need a special seat.
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sorry bazzabear i dont explain stuff very well, it is a proper harness belt but only has three points, check them out on the demon tweeks website, it is very similar to a 4 point harness, you have two hip straps and then two shoulder straps but the shoulder straps join together way behind your head and therefore only need one anchor point.
OMP, sabelt and sparco all do them, i know i can get hold of them, its the fitting that tricky!
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Oh right, sorry, my mistake.
I know the ones you mean now.
I would assume that the top anchor needs to bolt into the floor behind your seat then?
Again, I don't see why this would invalidate the warranty, it's not like it's making anything on the car more likely to break.
I suppose all you can do is ask the garage about it.
It might interfere with the rear seat passengers leg room though, and if they fidget they could end up strangling you ;)
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>I would assume that the top anchor needs to bolt into the floor behind your seat then?
Or to the rear seat belt anchorange point?
(concealed under the rear seat squab)
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Technically they are illegal as seatbelts must be capable of being fastened with one hand. However if E Marked & AFAIK only 3 & 4 point ones are and not all of them then most BiB seem to turn a blind eye. As regards the shoulder straps they should go as near horizontal from the seat to the mounting as possible, certainly no more than 45Deg. I have had them in road cars in the past and did debate having them in the TR7 when it was rebuilt as I might do the odd track day with it.
Jim
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>I would assume that the top anchor needs to bolt into the floor behind your seat then? Or to the rear seat belt anchorange point? (concealed under the rear seat squab)
Do you mean the top mount for the standard seat-belt? I would have thought that would pull the belt uncomfortably sideways.
Or do most cars have an extra anchor point as standard which I am not aware of (perfectly possible, there's a LOT of things about cars I'm not aware of!)
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Four point seat belts require to be fitted either to approved mounting points including the shoulder straps that will have to go to the rear parcel shelf if there are approved mountings. Putting these straps to the floor is not only illegal but puts you at great risk. One you are going to hit the airbag with great force as you will not be restrained and it will probably break your collar bones. You may find that should you fit them i.e. not the factory, you will require an MOT. Now as you have removed the advantage of the seat belt pre tensioners, in an accident you are going to fly around a lot more. Ok you’ve been watching the World Rally Series with all these guys in race harnesses. You clearly do not appreciate how tight those belts are. The only advantage I can see of not officially fitted harnesses is if you role it over it may stop you from sliding out onto the roof. They look good but that it about it unless you have officially fitted harness and the disadvantage of displacing the and rear passengers. Regards Peter
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o.k but what about the three point harness, can i not attach it to the rear seat mounting point (to the piece you clip INTO)
im not fussed about having rear seat passengers (theres not much room in a mini anyway)
there is then only one fixing in the back and it would be secured properly as its where the rear belts attach.
althought i would obviously have the harness adjusted properly, it will not be so tight as to cut off my blood supply, i have driven in harness belts before, my ex boyfriend had them in his golf, they were far more comfortable than a regular belt in my opinion and felt more secure.
Also i do not watch motorsport on tv, it bores me and I dont go for guys in race harnesses, i am not a girl racer I want them because I want them not because i am trying to be cool. I do not have a poxy england flag on my car nor do I have those stupid blue washer jets!! ;-))
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You can fit a 4-point or 'pseudo-4-point' (using three points), but you would have to get someone to fabricate a suitable additional mounting.
There are a number of companies that will do this. One I know of, that has the necessary experience and a good repuutation is based in Stanmore, Middlesex:
www.quickfitsbs.co.uk/rss/home.htm
They have an on-line catalogue and will install the belts for you.
I have no idea what effect this would have on warranty or insurance; its not something I would contemplate doing though, there are too many potential downsides, especially on a new car.
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o.k aprilla i will have a serious think about it then, espcially as you wouldn't do it.
thanks for the link, i will have a look as well.
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Actually here is a better link (perhaps a new website they had done) - it has a pdf catalogue:
www.reflexsafety.co.uk/
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