1st week; 1st gripe, and it's a small one (pun intended).

I came out of a '07 Toyota Yaris into my 1-week old '07 MCS/a. The Yaris is extremely user friendly when it comes to places to keep stuff. There are three glove boxes - one in front of the steering wheel (the gauge cluster is center mounted), one across from it on the right side (reportedly because dashes of cars built with right-side steering mirror left side steering cars), and a big drop-in glove box in the normal glove box location in front of the passenger seat.

Then there's a small 'drawer' that opens on the lower/left side of the dash - a great place for glasses, a cell phone recharging cord, etc. The pockets on each door have a cut-out designed to hold a small water bottle, and there's a deep pocket on each door that's perfect for holding maps, a small towel (I try to keep one in the car) and other useful items.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not one to haul around a bunch of useless stuff, but I do have a small list of things that I do like to have with me when I'm out motoring. And, believe me, the quality of the plastic interior parts on the Yaris are no where near the quality of the interior parts on a MC (the car can be bought for less than $13,000 OTD, so that's to be expected).

My new Mini has one glove one box that has a lower shelf that's just deep enough to hold two CD cases side-by-side while laying flat. The inside of the Mini armrest is useless.. The door pockets aren't deep enough to hold a handful of maps (guess I'll have to spring for that GPS I've been looking at), and the 'secret compartment' on the dash is just big enough to hold 4 CDs.

While I was at Hendrick Mini in Charlotte today, I saw a Mini accessory "Union Jack" Boot Box, a covered plastic storage bin that goes behind the back seat. It's a good size box, so I asked the parts manager if I could take it outside to see how it fit my car - she said sure, so I did.

The box looked like it might work well, with a couple of exceptions.

• The sides are as long as the inside of the car's storage compartment is wide. There are two plastic dividers that go between the sides (they mount in two cut outs on the front and rear portions of the sidewalls of the box). When in place, top rests on these two plastic dividers, allowing up to "15Kg" maximum weight to be carried on top of it. Sounded promising..
• The problem as I see it is that if the lid has any weight at all on it, the pressure of the lid being pushed down, pushes the sides out, allowing the weight of whatever's on it to expand the box - then the lid falls in... Not a good design.. (just my .02 cents)
• ..and, there's the matter of price.. The freakin' box retails for $236.00!!! Barnum and Bailey must have seen me coming when they put this one on the shelf.. I thanked the parts person, and excused myself.

So,.. to summarize.. (sorry, I do tend to run off at the fingertips on occasion) - it's easy to see that the glove box and secret compartment are the two places where I'll be using to carry most of my small stuff. Do any of the aftermarket vendors who advertise here sell a quality storage box that goes behind the rear seat of a R56 Mini?

I guess this is just another reason why they call it a "Mini"..

All replies welcome..

 

If you're used to carrying a lot of stuff...yeah I can see where storage may be a problem. I came from an R50 so I'm happy as can be.

In my R50 I found an inexpensive (and light) plastic storage box (w/ lid) and placed it in the boot off to one side, attached to tiedowns with a small bungee cord that ran through the box via holes I drilled in each end. The nice thing about this is that the lid, coupled with the smallish span of the box, was strong enough to still support groceries, bookbags, and musical instruments. The other nice thing is that the box height approximated the "seat down" floor level. So....could you gang several of these boxes to suit your precise needs?

 

Another source for storage (I call it my trunk - boot to the purist):

 

I would just throw all your crap in a duffle bag, and toss it in the back seat. God knows there won't be any people riding back there! LOL!

 

Tear out the rear seats and, if necessary, build a cabinet for stuff. An MCS shouldn't have rear seats.

 

...so true... my latest addition (as of yesterday)

 

Is that an '07? It looks like it has the larger cup holder that is attached to the center console. I've heard that they aren't available yet for the '07s.

 

Political statements are for a different board.

I'll bite my tongue on this, only to thank the powers that be that you're in the minority.

 

oh no sorry, its not, but I just posted in the 07 section because I dont see why the 07's wouldnt be able to have a RSD kit

 

It wasn't intended to be political, and I figured that comment would quickly get under someone's skin. I'll just delete it - no foul.

"Powers to be.." ?? "..minority" ?? Hey, what can I say.. I live in the south, where such behavior is encouraged.

'nuff said...

 

I asked that same question yesterday while hangin' out in Charlotte - I was told "they're working on it.."

 

Additional thoughts on space: If you add the MINI aftermarket armrest, you gain a sizeable storage space. The divider for the main glove box is expensive, but effective. Also, I find that the boot cargo nets offer lots of ways to securely carry additional stuff. Case Logic makes a storage bag for small items that lays on the floor in front of the drivers department.

 

We take ours to Costco each week shopping for a family of 5 no problem .Never had to put the rear seats down,it's like playing Tetris you just gotta think ahead.

 

I agree with korby, Ive taken my MINI to Costco and also a full trip to the grocery store and managed to get it all home with no problems. You learn to strategically place and stack things. Anything is better than driving a land barge.

PS - Way to stir up controversy

 

Do your trips to Costco go anything like this?

ETA: Is a saddlebag available for the 07s? Seems like the best way to gain some space.

 

That's what I've been told too, but it looks like one is in that picture which is why I asked if it was indeed an '07 MCS. Those cup holders will fit any the 02-06 models, I think they even started coming with them instead of as an accessory in the 05 model year.

 

As to the storage box. Yeah, it's waayy to pricey but my MA threw it in for free so I can't complain. The partitions do flop out and you can NOT put any weight to it.

Solution? Get some cotter pins and a drill bit to match the size of the cotter pins. Put the partitions in and grab a bungee cord and wrap around the outside of the box right near the partitions. Mark some holes on the outside tab of the partitions fairly close to the box and drill away.

Put the partitions in, then insert the cotter pins. Cheapest mod I did on Snoze... .89 cents. As for the weight on top of the box now? It'll handle almost anything now.

Oh, and if you take out the partitions and line it with a heavy duty trash bag? Instant cooler.

Sparks