Hi,
I just wanted to share my experiences of Somerford.
I have a 2001 Y registered Cooper Mpi (must have been manufactured in 2000) which I have had for nearly 2 years. It is a nice car with really good history and low miles. Inevitably it had a fair amount of corrosion in all the usual places (screen corner and dash top, scuttle, A panels, sills, bottom of rear skins etc)
As I hope to keep the car for a while I thought I would have a front end refurbishment together with the other work and a respray (not cheap but don't ask!).
After waiting just over 12 months they were able to fit me in and the work took 12 weeks to complete. I picked the car up last Friday and it is really nice. I wanted to keep it as original as possible as it is one of the last ones out of Longbridge - not everyone's cup of tea but my choice I guess. I have absolutely no connection with the company, but have known of them for around 20 years. I was quoted a price for the basic work and then options and additional costs were discussed as the project unfolded - there are some things that cannot be seen until the sandblaster has done its work! I was also supplied with regular weekly updates with photographs, which was useful.
I would love to think that I could tackle a rebuild myself but it might be a step too far - though I do pretty well all of the mechanical work myself. Many thanks to Pete, Gavin, Mike and Karen 
