70 replies to this topic

[nicksuth]

I will gladly offer you £350 for your Mpi Nick

Now I didn't say that, did I????

What's £350 x average compound interest of 10% over 34 years???

That will be about £8k then (ummmm!)

[nurseholliday]

A Mark 1 VW Golf in good nick is rarer than any Mini and you can pick one up ludicrously cheaper than the equivalent Mini. Minis are much more expensive than any other similar enthusiast car, and there's no lack of enthusiasm in other camps. It's just quite strange.

It's not like Minis are actually that rare, there's so many of them, just take a look at show attendance. I think it's not helped by the fact that the percentage of 'decent' Minis must be rising. As the years go by, less and less Minis will be looking forlorn in scrapyards and back gardens, and more and more will be owned, loved, possibly restored, or just in quite good condition.

[minicooper1.3i]

I'm lovin' this ranting thread Can't beat a late night drunken moan

Seriously though, I'm kinda compelled to agree. I too am getting a little pee'd off with the prices of some spares today. I was saying to my ol' man yesterday, that I remember back in '97, I could get two dunlop 10" tyres, balancing and fitting for £45. It's going to cost me over double that today for a pair of cheap mid range 12's. It's obvious why the prices are going up and up, because as more and more Mini's go to Mini-heaven every year, then the demand for spares is going to lessen, so manufacturing costs will go up. Simple economics really.

All that being said, I was more than a little disgusted the other day when I contacted my usual Mini parts people to enquire after a new crankshaft sensor for my MPi only to be told it would be about £60.......And it's not even a Mini only part! It's a Rover K series part fitted to thousands of other Rovers which are still going and being maintained. I know Rover have bitten the dust and the number of Rovers on the road will also start diminishing, but that shouldn't mean we should be ripped off for Rover-Mini parts just yet.

Incidentally, other companies were selling sensors for around £30 online, and a quick search on fleaBay found a brand new one in its box for a tenner. Sorted.

[Bungle]

you think the price of minis is bad

you find me a vw type 2, 21 window samba for under 10k

you would be lucky to find a rotted out shell for that money

you say mini's cost more now but did you get people spending 5k on a engine and gear box in the 70's or 2k on a full leather retrim ?

this helps push up the price

[sixwheeler]

A Mark 1 VW Golf in good nick is rarer than any Mini and you can pick one up ludicrously cheaper than the equivalent Mini. Minis are much more expensive than any other similar enthusiast car, and there's no lack of enthusiasm in other camps. It's just quite strange.

Try buying a VW beetle or more so, a camper!! Moggies and landrovers have gone much the same way. It's not just minis.

I blame ebay and numpties that are prepared to part with so much cash, mind, I bet some of them are regretting it now!

I remember looking (pre ebay hysteria) at Minis, campers, beetles and series landrovers for something to do and the prices were quite acceptable. A mere couple of years later and the prices had started to rocket - I believe largely due to ebay.

I remember several years of going to the landrover sort out and seeing overdrives consistently at £100 - £150 and eventually I bought one for £110. Two years later when I got myself another landrover and wanted another overdrive, the prices for them at the sort out had doubled. Why? Because that is how much they were selling for on ebay. I've seen them go for upto £450 on ebay. I didn't buy one.

When I was looking around generaly, campers were about £1000 for something with an MOT, not great, but running and legal. Two years later and all £1000 got you was a pile of rust.

There was a very noticable increase in prices over a 2 - 3 year period as ebay gained popularity.

I just vote with my feet and walk away. It's certainly not me that is helping to fuel these stupid prices; I am not prepared to pay the prices that are either being asked or indeed being bid. If everyone did this then the prices would obviously start to fall, but while there are idiots out there that are prepared to spend that amount of money on things, the situation is not going to improve. Hopefully this downturn in the economy and the fact that people are not awash with cash and easy credit may start to see prices fall to a more sensible and realistic level.

Edited by sixwheeler, 31 January 2009 - 10:09 AM.

[mister bridger]

Did anyone see the pair of aftermarket arm rests that slot into the doorbins of a mk1 Sold on ebay for £361 - now thats just insane!

[Jupitus]

I ran it for a year or so then stripped it, sold the engine, bought an ex special saloon car shell and fitted a 3/4 race 1275 "S" into it and did a few night rallies (when night rallies started at midnight ran 200 miles and finished at 07:00 hrs with a breakfast at some roadside cafe in the middle of nowehere) - them were the days????

Oh bloody right aye!!!!!

Hobbling to the start point with almost no brakes, getting my nav to bleed them while we get ready, then not telling him how spongy they still are until about 1/3 way through...

Those were the days, mate, no question of it

[mab01uk]

Times have certainly changed.............
Going back only a few years you didn't have specialist (one make) car magazines, shows, continuous cable/satelite TV programmes on VW campers, Beetles, MGB's, Minis, Landrovers restoration, Internet forums and Ebay auctions encouraging more people into all this and bringing it to a much wider audience all around the world including countries like Japan and the USA.

The first Mini Shows I attended were the original Beaulieu Cooper Day (Mini Cooper Club) and 1st National Mini Show at Twycross Zoo (Mini Owners Club) both around 1979..............they did well to attract 40-50 Minis maximum and the 1st London to Brighton Mini Runs had only a couple of hundred entrants in those days finishing in Preston Park ! The first Mini 20th Birthday at Donnington organised by Austin Rover was an amazing event to us as enthusiasts then and is what I think sparked the modern Mini scene that we see today into life..................

In Europe I think the earliest organised Mini event was the IMM (International Mini Meeting) which was first held in 1978 in Germany when it started as a small 3 day camping event at Whitsun weekend.

The nearest we had to a specialist Mini magazine (apart from CCC) was Dave Vizards 'Mini Tech News' which was more of a monthly newsletter in black & white. I still have a full set from the '70's and '80's in the loft!

In the racing world we had Mini Sevens still running 850cc engines on steel wheels and my favourite were Free Formula Special Saloons with plenty of Minis, Imps, Anglias and Mk1 Escorts BDA...........not forgetting Peter Baldwin and his amazing Mini-Ford BDA's.
(I know there were a couple of "Mini Festivals" at Brands Hatch in the 1960's but I was too young to attend them!)

[Geehawk]

On the rear louvre subject. I have one bought brand new from Autoplas 5 years ago. Yes they made them that recently. It cost just over £50.

Mine has not wilted in the sun, maybe 5 years ago the grade of plastic they used was better than in the 70s/80s ?

I'm astounded that anyone would pay £320 for one, but as said its the market that decides. Part of the problem is that regardless of credit crunches and all peoples moaning, most people do have a lot more disposable income than they used to.

Anyhoo. If someone wants to buy mine with all fittings off me for £400, I need some new tyres .

It's getting to the point where I dare not leave the car parked anywhere as some scrote will nick my valuable louvre to sell down the pub

[Saxo-Fiesta-Mini]

i agree alot of parts go for silly money but honestly is still sooo much cheaper than restoring or modifying a modern car for instance the front supension i.e ball joints, track rods, cv joint, tie rod brush is about £20 on a fiesta mk3 it would be around £40 or £50 pound

so retrospectivley cheap ulitmatly its not just the mini prices that have gone up its the entire aftermarket scene but that the fast and the furouris halfords and max power have encourages 8 mill people a year to modify there cars to make a one of a kind car

so really its better to have lot of people so u can organise bulk buys and save cash anyone agree

[aston19uk]

inflation

[nicksuth]

Good Heavens, I didn't think I was going to start such a "hot" topic when I laid down my first thread, albeit in a semi-drunken state???

It's good to have a rant now and again though, just to get it off your chest so to speak?

I guess I'm just an old-git living in the past and quoting "them were the days" (just like my dad did about his motorbiking days of the 40's, 50's etc. when it ws Triumph, Norton, BSA, Royal Enfield etc.)

But £320 for a window louvre!!!!!!

[mk1leg]

Hi..Well you pay for what you get or someone will pay a lot more thats the way it is .........YOU put the word Classic mini or COOPER 'S' then you will get more ££££££££s but some people think there parts are worth more if they think there old...............

[greatgrowler]

I can't wait for Nick to sell his Mpi. Obviously he won't be 'milking it' so I may be in for a bargain. It will only sell for silly money if you and I will pay silly money.

[dave21478]

Lots of people saying people who pay high prices are "idiots". How do you jusify that? people will pay what they think a part is worth - just because it seems expensive to YOU doesnt make the buyer an idiot. Thats how market forces wk - if nobody paid higher prices for parts - nobody would make the parts in the first place as it wouldnt be worth their while - then there would be bit a problem, no?

Also, its all very well saying that in the 70`s you could buy XYZ for £400, but in the 70`s, £400 was quite a lot of money. Inflation is a fact of life.

If you want to see really "silly" prices, find me a 3-door mkI escort. People are willing to pay a couple of grand for a Mexico shell thats rotted into the ground. Another fine example of what was once a cheap and popular car becoming collectable and attracting "collectable" prices.