Advice for a newbie

C88

Sorry if this is in the wrong place.

I'm 24 and was looking to get a weekend/evening car. I always had my eye on a mini (1980-1998) i understand this means a NCT every year (sounds strange) but i like the idea of knowing each year the cars running ok.

If i was going to buy a mini and it had a recently done NCT would it be safe to say the car is in a good enough shape? (would they check for rust? etc) or would you still need to check it yourself or bring a mechanic?

I don't know much about cars so thought a mini would be a good place to start learning about cars? Are they hard to fix?
The car would be kept in a driveway would a cover help or would it be a bad idea to even consider getting one if it was due to be kept outside?

Would it be much different driving one compared to a car with power steering? I couldnt imagine them been that hard to street/drive.

Any thoughts or opinions would be gratefully appreciated.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.

w124man

Original Minis - the ONLY Minis - are a hoot to drive. Go and drive one as much as you can before you spend your hard earned money. They are NOT like a modern car to drive and you really need to be 'spanner friendly' if you are going to own one ...... I had dozens of them!

C88

Thanks for the reply, i would class my self as a fast learner/willing to try so wouldnt mind, i suppose everyone has to start somewhere. when you say original you mean something like this?http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/vintagecars/4479938

serious3

go for it! they are mad fun and mad simple to fix, theres a big mini scene here, i've had 14 over the years and the only advice i'd give you is check for rust!!! then check again!!! try get one thats just or recent had an nct.

unkel

w124man wrote: »

Original Minis - the ONLY Minis

They are not the only MINIS

C88

Cheers for the feedback, which would you recommend a 1.3 or the 998?

w124man

unkel wrote: »

They are not the only MINIS

Yeah, I suppose you're right ....... :eek:

Bigus

w124man wrote: »

Yeah, I suppose you're right ....... :eek:

That's not a mini that's a greyhound skirt.......it's only An inch away from the hare

iverjohnston

i would recommend you get one with disk brakes and a servo brake setup. Otherwise you will realise that being a fast learner is one thing, but being a fast stopper is something else altogether! Loads of fun to drive, I had an 850 with the 10 inch wheels, and if you ran over a ciggie butt, you could tell if it was a filter one, or not!

C88

iverjohnston wrote: »

i would recommend you get one with disk brakes and a servo brake setup. Otherwise you will realise that being a fast learner is one thing, but being a fast stopper is something else altogether! Loads of fun to drive, I had an 850 with the 10 inch wheels, and if you ran over a ciggie butt, you could tell if it was a filter one, or not!

Would i be right in think that Minis from 1984 to 2000 would have disk brakes and ones before 84 would be drum?

macplaxton

I think so, they went to 12" rims then and got 8.4" discs. Not knowing a huge amount about Minis, but I presume before 1984, 1275GTs got discs and the odd Cooper had tiny, tiny 7.5" discs.