16 replies to this topic

[Alburglar]

Everyone please read below. It is an e-mail that Southern Mini Owners Club has generated to all it's members.

Something very fishy is going on.

"The Southern Mini Centre appears to have closed down and taken Minis and funds with it.
If anyone has a contact telephone number or Address for Eddie Payne or Ian who worked at the centre please email me ASAP.

A SMOC member has lost her Mini Clubman and funds - Reg PDX102R and cannot contact them and the landlords have repossessed the property. If anyone is in a smiliar position or can help at all, let me know."

makes the fibreglass dash's and consoles from them priceless now. Good job I've already got one.

[miniman5]

bloody nora! they cant jsut nick of with there mini can they? i htink every one on the form should hunt them guys down and torcher them until they give that gal her cluby back! :grin:

[Alburglar]

Terrible isn't it.

People around Gillingham area in kent need to keep their eyes peeled. SMC have obviusly got in debt and been evicted. That poor girls clubby has probably had it's tags replaced woth ones from a knackered old mini and been flogged on.

Is the chassis number stamped into metalwork anywhere on minis? Or is it just the riveted on tags?

[Dom]

yeah i heard of this on the smoc site and minipark.net serious sh!t people.

[miniman5]

im not sure i have all the windows eched with the no. plate thing

[Dom]

i think i do

[Mini1275]

Terrible isn't it.

People around Gillingham area in kent need to keep their eyes peeled. SMC have obviusly got in debt and been evicted. That poor girls clubby has probably had it's tags replaced woth ones from a knackered old mini and been flogged on.

Is the chassis number stamped into metalwork anywhere on minis? Or is it just the riveted on tags?

there riveted on tags

[bluebottle]

whats more likely to have happened is that the landlords have repossesed the building, and all its contents, including her car. if she can prove ownership, it shouldn't be too hard to get her car back.

although my experience of this is a little different, i had to resort to a raid with a pair of bolt croppers and a trailor to get my car back once!...although that was mild compared to what some other customers did!

[Sylvie]

:gasp: :sad:

Sorry to hear about your mini, hope you get it back soon.

[Sfanatic]

The first question is, 'were they a limited company'. If they were and they have 'gone broke' then a receiver/ liquidator will be appointed. You negotiate the release of your vehicle with him and if anything is owing for repairs you will need to negotiate this. Never pay the price asked as even if work has been done, it will not carry any guarantee. A good rule of thumb is to offer between 40% & 50% of the amount shown on the work records. Check the work has been done first. In the case of all limited companies, the home addresses of the directors will be listed on the records at Companies House and that is public information.
If it's not a limited company, then the owners may be personally bankrupt and the trustee-in-bankrupcy will work in the same way as a receiver/liquidator. The Citizens Advice Bureau can advise further on this as they will know the addresses of the local bankrupcy courts and tell you how to search.
The owners of the building will be a good point to start and their details will be with land registry, so contact them first.
In the event that neither of these applies, or if you feel that you are getting nowhere, then report the disappearing cars as stolen as soon as you can.

[Alburglar]

Cheers I'll try and pass that info on

[shaun of the Tamar Valley]

hopefully her mini will be back with her soon

[seven]

Something I spotted on Minispares.com forum.

Copied and pasted
Hi All;

I've just heard of a really unique and completely genuine offer. As a result of a recent bankruptcy a complete load of company stock is going for sale. Be aware though the sale is not for bits and peices here and there, but the whole lot, lock, stock and smoking exhausts. We are talking about upto a dozen complete Minis (saloons mostly Mk3's and 4's and clubmans). There's 30-50 complete engines (including cooper and copper S units I beleive, as well as 2 complete cars with fully tuned 1340 and 1380 power houses), bodypanels galore, chassis components, spraying equipment in fact, the lot has to go. There's even a nearly completely restored Mk1 or Mk2 shell the seller is not 100% about the shell as he's not a Mini person, personally I think it's a Mk1. The seller is the landlord who owns the units that were rented by the company who went under. He's open to offers in the region of 8-12k for the lot.

So if you want to start your own Mini business, or even if you already have a business and want to increase your stock here's your chance.... but hurry as I wouldn't think this offer will be hanging around for long. And sorry about this to all our international Mini bods, but this is strictly a UK only offer.

Anyone interested in the first instance should either email me or post a message here and I will put you in touch with the person selling the stock. He will not split any of it so don't ask, it is a job lot and to give you an idea of the amount of stock, it currently fills 3-4 small industrial units. Having seen this stuff (I was a customer who was affected by the bankruptcy) it truly is a one-off offer.

So if your interested the email to reach me on is [email protected] but I would hurry as I don't think this will hang around for long.

Hope this helps .....Steve
Also I think you can repossess your own property as long as you do no damage
so pretend to be VERY interested in above ask to view take keys take your own car

[Alburglar]

Steve, that's a great find. I've forwarded that info to SMOC, so thay can tell the relevant people.

[seven]

Think i read somewhere that chassis number stamped on body on lip under bonnet rubber.Not sure can`t check just getting back into mini scene,doing research on
superchargers when spotted above.