 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / MINI / July 2004Daily driver
Hi I have a good question for you all. I has been five years since I last owned a mini, she was a great little car and now I am thinking of getting another. This is where the problems start even though I love minis to bits they are full of problems mine would not start on cold days or after sort journeys, and the rust. At the weekend I would be working it changing worn parts, the usual. The big problem I have with getting another is will it be the same. If I am going to be spending ?4500 I want I car that will start every morning first time even when it is freezing out side. I want something that will not cost me a fortune in repairs or see me cringing at MOT time. So my question is a mini still a good daily driver that I will not have to worry about. At least my ford Ka starts first time every time  SignatureRocky --- http://sail.to/dune1x --- "One diection is as good as another" -Saying of the open sand > Hi I have a good question for you all. I has been five years since I last > owned a mini, she was a great little car and now I am thinking of getting [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > So my question is a mini still a good daily driver that I will not have to > worry about. At least my ford Ka starts first time every time I would say that £4500 should buy you a decent Mini that shouldn't give you any problems. Try looking at one of the later injection coopers perhaps. I had a 1.3i as my first Mini and it never let me down until a roudabout crashed into it. If you don't fancy a recent model, £4500 should buy you a good carb model, only they might not be quite as good at starting in the cold. That said I had a £100 '88 City E for a couple of years, total dog, bits falling off it, the lot but it started everytime. As for rust, well, check it over very carefully and waxoyl or similar from day 1, cross your fingers and take up Voodoo and you *might* hold off the rust for a little while. Make sure you check out lots of cars and make sure you get a good one, £4500 should buy you a car with no problems and in tip top condition. Dave > Hi I have a good question for you all. I has been five years since I last > owned a mini, she was a great little car and now I am thinking of getting [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > So my question is a mini still a good daily driver that I will not have to > worry about. At least my ford Ka starts first time every time For £4500 you should be able to get a decent Mini with no problems. Try looking at the later injection models which should be more reliable and start easier, although if its an older one you are after, £4500 should buy you one in A1 condition anyway. Rust is a bugger, make sure you check carefully and buy one with no rust if possible, then waxoyl everything. That should keep it at bay for a while at least. Good luck, Dave > Hi I have a good question for you all. I has been five years since I last > owned a mini, she was a great little car and now I am thinking of getting [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > So my question is a mini still a good daily driver that I will not have to > worry about. At least my ford Ka starts first time every time For £4500 you should be able to get a decent Mini with no problems. Try looking at the later injection models which should be more reliable and start easier, although if its an older one you are after, £4500 should buy you one in A1 condition anyway. Rust is a bugger, make sure you check carefully and buy one with no rust if possible, then waxoyl everything. That should keep it at bay for a while at least. Good luck, Dave It depends on what you get and how you look after it. There are some very tidy minis around that will do you fine. I have rarely had a problem with the pickup in the last 5 years. I paid a lot for it and knew the history. It had had a full nut and bolt and bare metal respray rebuild 2 years previously. If you buy your atypical ancient rot box and have no intention of doing any work to it for yourself then no, it isn't a good daily driver. Neither will your Ka be in 20 years time!! The Muffin Man > Hi I have a good question for you all. I has been five years since I last > owned a mini, she was a great little car and now I am thinking of getting [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > So my question is a mini still a good daily driver that I will not have to > worry about. At least my ford Ka starts first time every time What I was looking is at least a 1997 model, half leather would be nice two. Most come with alloys now anyway, so that would save me some money. Will have to add electric windows and central locking, but that's not a problem. But is it fair to compare minis to other small modern cars, like corsa`s or Ka`s, etc. It depends on what you want. I have a mate who has got a 2 year old Clio that left his missus stranded in town on Friday. Just because it is new doesn't make it reliable - but you have a much better chance!! I know loads of people who break down all the time in their ?200 bomb of a mini that last had a service sometime in the late seventies. They are pi$$ed off and say that the mini is crap and unreliable. Again, if it was a modern Clio from 1978 with no service in the last 15 years I would expect it to break down all the time too!! It is all down to the condition of the vehicle. If you get a good condition mini with little rust and sound mechanicals AND you keep it well serviced. Oil change, plugs, leads, greased nipples etc. AND you waxoil it on a regular (every 2/3 years) basis, you should have a trouble free motor for years to come. I have a friend who had a P reg equinox that he didn't maintain. He didn't service it. He didn't wash it. He filled it with broken CD cases and crap. He wondered why he hated his unreliable rusty filthy car. When it had that level of maintenance, having a new car was a nightmare as it had too many things to go wrong!! Carbs are easy to play with and fix/replace. Electrics (I hate em but) on a carb, they are easy to play with and fix. If you want a reliable car that will last you 3 years without touching it and then bin when it starts to go wrong, by a Ka or a Fiasco or something similar. If you aren't going to maintain it it will be much more reliable!! That is why people buy new cheap cars and no-one wants a second hand one anymore. People don't want to look after their cars. They want them to work until they throw them away!! If you are prepared to change the oil, grease it's nipples and maintain it, there is no reason that a mini won't do you for just as long, if not longer... For my 3.5 grand I have had 5 years of happy motoring in a 34 year old car. The Muffin Man > What I was looking is at least a 1997 model, half leather would be nice two. > Most come with alloys now anyway, so that would save me some money. Will > have to add electric windows and central locking, but that's not a problem. > But is it fair to compare minis to other small modern cars, like corsa`s or > Ka`s, etc. Thanks muffin man. You are 100% if you put in the time then they will not let you down. I don't mind servicing or greasing a mini, just as long as its not every second weekend. My Ka is 2000 with 3500 on clock full service history (means nothing,) and it now needing new engine mounts, and I don't drive it that hard. The big problem is that I don't own my Ka the finance company does L , so it would be a personal loan to pay off the car finance plus some extra for my next car. This means I would most likely going with my Ka to trade in L . Getting a good deal on a personal loan is not problem as I work for a bank. I have never had a car other than a mini as my daily driver - the wife does. I don't spend my entire life working on it either. That would get in the way of building a new one and faffing around with motorbikes :) Good luck with it. Don't buy the first one you see. Don't buy one thinking that if you pay the money you will get a car that is worth your money. Shop around!! Many people are asking silly prices for them in a lot of the mini shops. Huddersfield Mini Spares have a very tidy Y reg (new) saloon with a different interior and some alloys on it. ?9995!! Clearly Gordon Brown introduced mini shop tax last week. That car should be in your price bracket if it is anywhere else!! It would get ?3000 tops trade in against a Euro box!! These guys do an outstanding job and all drive minis but don't ask silly prices for them. If they have one in it is in excellent condition as they know exactly what to look for. http://www.jcbates.co.uk/ Just to give you an idea, they had an immaculate Paul Smith LTD edition in last year with your price tag on it. 15000 miles!!!!!! If that was at somewhere like Huddersfield Mini Spares you would have been looking at at least ?10000 with the prices mini shops seem to be asking at the moment!! Just so you know, I have no affiliation with JC Bates other than they have my pickup shell in the body shop half way through a sand blast and repanel experience. The body work guy is in the middle of doing his own moke shell in the same manner. I have seen loads of their work and trust them. That's why I go back. Good Luck The Muffin Man > Thanks muffin man. You are 100% if you put in the time then they will not > let you down. I don't mind servicing or greasing a mini, just as long as its [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > my Ka to trade in L . Getting a good deal on a personal loan is not problem > as I work for a bank. Thanks agian, Muffin I only want ?2900 trade in for the euro box, If I am going to travel all the way down from scotland I would have to be damm sure that I was going to buy at the right price > Thanks muffin man. You are 100% if you put in the time then they will > not let you down. I don't mind servicing or greasing a mini, just as [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > means I would most likely going with my Ka to trade in L . Getting a > good deal on a personal loan is not problem as I work for a bank. If you wash it and check fluid levels etc. every weekend and look after it when you should according the service interval you shouldn't have any problems really. According to haynes, which in my opinion is as good as anything for sevice intervals and stuff, the cat should be serviced every 3000 miles/3 months, so probably twice as often as a newer small hatch. A Mini will need more maintenance that a more modern vehicle, make no mistake about that, but the rewards are worth it. I suppose you know yourself if you are the kind of person to take the time and stick to service schedules or the kind of person to leave it till it breaks down, if you are the former, then get a Mini! Dave As we say in the U.S. (and perhaps in the UK too): DUDE. If I could legally import a 1997 Mini, I'd do it in a flash. As far as reliability: my 1969 Mini, refitted in Denmark before export to the U.S. over a year ago, is doing just great. I changed the water pump early on, but the existing one was ripe for failure. Likewise, I changed out a pot joint oil seal a few months ago. Other than that, it's been a fine daily driver. Just ask the folks here in Portland, who are used to seeing it zipping across town each day: 50 miles a day, 5 days a week. A great daily driver, doing fine on regular maintenance. I didn't buy it for the attention, but it sure gets the looks; many people have never seen a classic Mini before. And it's so much better than driving a 10mpg Hummer H2 which gets you a different kind of attention here (i.e. the "bird"). Geoff > What I was looking is at least a 1997 model, half leather would be nice two. > Most come with alloys now anyway, so that would save me some money. Will > have to add electric windows and central locking, but that's not a problem. > But is it fair to compare minis to other small modern cars, like corsa`s or > Ka`s, etc. > At least my ford Ka starts first time every time Stick some Cooper stripes and Mini badge on that. After all, if it worked for BMW... :-) |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.