how realiable would a vintage mini cooper be for a newbie?

bladybladyblah

I would love to drive a vintage mini cooper. To be honest I'm pretty clueless about cars in general. How much would a mini cooper be? Are they expensive to run? How reliable are they?

Cheers!:cool:

ImaBM-man

I was in the same position as you. I had wanted one for years. I got one in excellent condition with alot of extras on it, however unlike you I'm really into cars. It made buyin one which I thought would be reliable and that was in good condition easier. Mine was a great run around,used it everyday until someone crashed into me and it was written off.:mad:

Look round carzone for prices. I'd stay away from a jap import and if its from the uk have a proper look over it for rust(its a real killer on a mini).

Also have a peek on miniresource.com, they're really helpful over there and you might even find a good one for sale. Other than that insurance is cheap enough(for me anyway, 20yr old male,2yrs no ncb) and it only costs about €20 to fill the tank!:D

bladybladyblah

20euro to fill the tank sounds pretty sweet. Roadtripping in a mini over the summer would be amazing but I suppose I should take a while to get a decent mini. How much did your mini cost, if you don't mind me asking and where did you get it?

The mini died?....what a tragedy. *sniff sniff*

Run_to_da_hills

You would also want to learn what a radiator bypass hose looks like and how to replace them when they blow

bazz26

The original Mini wasn't the most reliable car in its day but the Mini was never about how reliable it was. It was about cheap small car fun. I think the main culprit was rust more than anything else.

Look for one that has been owned and well cared for by an enthusiast. An enthusiast will spare no expense at servicing and maintaining their car.

Try one of the Mini owner's forums for more advice on what to buy and what to look out for.

Mailman

Minis especially later fuel injected electronic ignition ones are generally fairly reliable in that they'll usually get you to your destination but they are high maintenance.
Problems included an immobiliser fault, wheel bearings, crunching 2nd gear, oil leaks and an obvious lack of anti-corrosion protection.

Run_to_da_hills

Anothing to consider about the old mini is that they are not the safest car on the road in a frontal collision compaired to a more modern car.

There are also a higher traffic volume, worse drivers about and higher traffic speeds since the 60ies & 70ies when these cars were popular.

Max_Damage

I would have thought the Jap import versions would have been the best of the lot. The Japanese know how to take care of their cars.

That said, many of the JDM versions are automatics and overpriced.

They all use the Austin A-Series engine, which to be fair, was never known for it's reliability.

Zube

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

There are also a higher traffic volume, worse drivers about and higher traffic speeds since the 60ies & 70ies when these cars were popular.

Much lower road deaths though. Deaths these days are half what they were in the late 60s.

Possibly because we don't all drive vintage Minis.

Run_to_da_hills

Zube wrote: »

Much lower road deaths though. Deaths these days are half what they were in the late 60s.

Possibly because we don't all drive vintage Minis.

Motorways are also a contributing factor to less road deaths. In the days of the Mini you also had Brit bikes and 6 volt beetles driving about with glow in the dark lights and little or no brakes.

Zube

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Motorways are also a contributing factor to less road deaths.

They would be if we had more than a couple of miles of Motorway in a straight lne...

No, deaths are down because cars are safer. Vintage minis aren't.

kona

if you dont want to work on it yourself, dont get one unless you can afford the maintenance.
you HAVE to stay on top of stuff.
ive a 91 cooper with a minispeed tuned A-series. Ive it since may , engine was fully bored out and rebuilt in 2005, since ive owned it, apart from the usual servicing, ive replaces, track-rod ends, water pump, radiator, drums at the back, handbrake cables, fixed a bit of rust before it went out of control, new headlights.
this is all on a rebuilt engine.

my advice is to go for a carb engine, 1275 if you can as generally these are better to drive than the 998cc.
DONT get a injected A-series, they are rubbish, a pain to fix, the rover ecu is ****, this coupled with the fact that the parts are hard to come by and expensive. Also the gearboxes in these are ****ed as rover specced the wrong grade oil(15w40 as opposed to 20w50, good question to ask a seller tbh what oil they use, anybody who is into minis and knows their stuff uses 20w50)
if you must get a injected one, get a spi, 91-96(early). you can revert these to carb.
who ever said avoid jap is a nutter, the Jap minis are much better than the englsh cars, less rust, less botched repairs and much lower mileage.

main points
-Get a solid body, the mechanicals are easy and cheap-ish to fix and all can be done on the driveway with a socket set and a screwdriver.:)
check, A-panels, Boot, battery box, scuttle, door skins, sills, floors rear valance, wings, headlights check them all for rust.

Unless you feel like reading pages and pages of tech info, buy from a garage with a guarantee.

web cars in bray sell jap imports, he as some nice ones, full leather, 1275, low mileage, solid bodies.

OR

there is a dealer in donegal selling a 91 RSP cooper(1 of only 1050) with 30 miles on the clock for €15k, good buy!!