I've introduced myself here before, but I feel I ought to reintroduce myself, as I am buying my Mini tomorrow, not just looking around anymore!
I'm 17 on Jan 22nd, and have gone for a Mini! Originally looked, as the classic car insurance loophole would save me alot of money, but the more I looked, the more I liked! If you gave me a 106 or something now, i'd sell it and buy a very nice Mini!
I'm jobless, currently, but have saved up £1200, and am saving for my insurance as we speak!
I've been watching the Mini market since the summer, and I have a good idea of prices. I hadn't been to see any before this one, but I know the prices, and there was just something about this one I found on eBay. I went to see it last night, and took my aunt's partner, who has owned probably 20 Mini's, and even used to race them.
This particular Mini is a mid 80's City E, with a 1275cc engine dropped into it, and a custom interior. It doesn't run though, and has been sat for 18 months. It was dark in this little back garage, but we took some torches, and had a look round. The rear subframe was the worst bit, but we think it'll last until the next MOT comes, if not longer, 95% good my friend said. There is a little surface rust under the headlights, and a little under the windscreen from what I saw, but i'll ensure this is sorted out! Apart from that, everything was good, sills, floor, gutters, all the normal mini places. The engine wasn't seized, and showed no signs of it previously blow up, or overheated, but we didn't try and start it, as we didn't want the owner to know it would run with some tinkering, and maybe affect the price
I think the owner tried charging the battery, and that is about it. His dad gave him money for a new car we were told, and from then on it just sat there. Not sure about this, maybe he is just inept when it comes to cars, as fixing it would have doubled the value of this car I reckon, or we're being told porkies, but a look at the floor pan, and the boot floor confirmed that it hadn't had any bad smashes, everything was straight. Steering rack was good too.
Anyway, so we go away, telling them we're interested and we'll be watching it on ebay... At this time, with 1.5 days to go it was at £600. We walked back up the road to our car, and my phone rang. It was the guys dad, saying if I wanted it, his son would end the auction for £650... I was the first person to come and have a nose round, even though there were about 5 bidders, and 30 bids, and if I wanted it, it was mine, he said. I was shaking with excitement, but didn't want to make any rash decisions. I called him back, and said I needed to speak to my dad, and I couldn't get hold of him, and told him i'd let him know by 10am today if that was okay.
I went home, having a good think on the way, and did a HPI check, everything seemed okay, so I was interested, but decided it was a gamble. My experienced friend didn't want to rule my decision, and said it was down to me. I spoke to my Dad, and my Mum's partner (a former mini owner), and both of them thought they would go for it if it was them. If it turned out to be something small, like a starter motor and a new battery, it wouldn't be a problem, and I'd have lots of my budget left to but towards my insurance (~£700 declared modified tpft by the way from Footman James!) - but if it turned out to be something bigger, i'd have a good £600 to put it right, with alot of time, and help from more experienced petrol heads, and if by the end of it, I had a Mini I had imagined I'd get for £1200, i'd be happy, and i'd have learnt alot along the way. So anyway, it was my call really.
I had a good think, and phoned them early... I couldn't wait until 10am, as the ebay auction was at £620, and I was concerned that by the morning it may have gone over the £650 offer I was given, so I accepted their offer at 11pm last night.
I was meant to be picking it up today, but my Aunt's partner couldn't get hold of the trailer today, as his buddy was using it for business, so we're going tomorrow lunch time... after finally managing to acquire the cash (damn withdrawal limit!).
I'm very excited, i've wanted to own are car since I was about 5 probably, so 12 years later, I'm about to get there! I'm also pretty nervous though! To me, this is like it would be for an adult when buying a house! It's taken me forever to save this £1200! I also hope I still like it in daylight, but I like it in day light (when it is clean though!) in the ebay pic's, so i'm not too concerned. I just hope it's a simple fix, and I can put a good £400 towards my insurance, and i'm almost there! (Whether i'd be able to save another £700 for insurance if I spent all of my £1200 was another worry) - but we'll see!
My plan for it first is to get it running, of course! After that, I want to change the horrible blue tinted rear lenses, probably for mk2 lenses, and put a pair of white backed mirrors on, to match the roof, and bonnet stripes. The interior is ok, nice than the stock stuff IMO, but if I did it my way, it'd be different, but that will be done in time... for now i'll just get the rip in the seat repaired, and once i've set aside the money for my insurance, i'll put a good headunit in so I can control my iPod with it's massive music collection from the head unit. I'll add a speaker board under the seat, or put speakers on the parcel shelf, then I'd like to build my own enclosure for a small sub, for the right side of the boot, so I still have room in the middle for bags and stuff. Just putting a little sub in to get some good quality sound for my music, (no thud thud rude-boy-ness!) - Also need to replace the tatty plates, probably with pressed ones for the retro look, and put halogen lamps in the front, put some chrome wipers on, and a nicer fuel cap. Later I plan to add some spotlights, probably 4, and for shows/summer/pics etc. they'll have white covers on them, to match the mirrors, roof, and bonnet stripes.
In the future, i'd like roller rockers, central locking, maybe an alarm, electronic ignition, a little engine tuning, an interior revamp (probably just plain black, Recaro's or something quality, as I don't think cobra classic low backs would go as well in a blue and white Mini, for example, as well as it would in a red and black one? Amazing how the colours can determine stuff like that, and the general style!
) - slightly wider arches, and some deep dish wheels, with hi-lo's or something to get the handling spot on.Anyway, i'll update tomorrow with some of my own pics when I get it, and maybe if we have time to have a tinker, whether the problem is small, or slightly bigger - but we're both thinking small... Optimistically?
For now, a picture from the advert.
Also, forgot to add. 90k on the clock, 1985... not bad, but is that the original clock, or the clock for the 1275 engine that was put in by the previous owner before the guy i'm getting it from? Who knows.
Also want to get that dink out of the bumper under the grill, on the right! ...and install a couple of hidden kill switches, just in case... I don't want to lose my pride and joy, or go through the hassle!
What do you think, for £650?
AND, what should I call it?! (Viewed it on friday the 13th, bought on a sunday, previous owner's name is jason, it is coming from Hooley (Coulsdon), if that helps come up with any suggestions?)
AND, where is my nearest Mini owners club? I live in Sandhurst, Berkshire.
Excuse all the questions, and the massive essay!
Matt.
Edited by Baines93, 16 November 2009 - 04:54 PM.
