9 replies to this topic

[poppy]

hello, im embarking on buying my first mini but have come stuck at the first post. ive seen one i like but have a few questions.
firstly is a rover classic seven 1.3i mini 1275 a mini cooper?
also on having the car checked over by a mechanic i have had some feedback but being a girl i have no idea what it means, here is what ive been told
'there is fluid seepage, anthough minor, this may indicate a potential major problem'
'the exhaust, although having no leakage, there is external corrosion present'
'the auxillary drive belt is extensively cracked, replacement is recommended.'
'the braking systems fluid content contains water/condensation, complete replacement of braking systems fluid content is advised'
'on accelleration/de-acceleration a thumping sound occurred which indicates that the front sub frame mounts or engine mountings are either very worn or split, futher investigation advised'
'fluid is present on the base of the steering rack and on the base of the gear remote'
can anyone help shed some light on the severity of these points and possibly translate them into girl speak. (apologies feminists)

[StevenClarkuk]

Hi,

Not a specialist but these are the sort of things things you would expect to see on a used Mini.. Some would need consideration though....

'there is fluid seepage, anthough minor, this may indicate a potential major problem'

- Hard to report on without seeing a pic of where it's coming from.. most mini's leak oil and most need little effort to fix. If it's got a puddle of oil underneath the car then it might be more serious..

'the exhaust, although having no leakage, there is external corrosion present'

- Again hard to comment on, depending on how bad it is. It may last a month or a year, but best budgeting incase you have to replace it...

'the auxillary drive belt is extensively cracked, replacement is recommended.'

- Not a difficult job to do.. This will take 1 fan belt plus 30 Min to change.

'the braking systems fluid content contains water/condensation, complete replacement of braking systems fluid content is advised'

- Advised But not essential.. If the brakes work good with no drifting when applied hard you should be OK.. if the brakes are a bit funny then it would only take 30-45 minutes to replace the Brake fluid. This is recommended every 2-3 years in most cars, but not very many people bother with it.

'on accelleration/de-acceleration a thumping sound occurred which indicates that the front sub frame mounts or engine mountings are either very worn or split, futher investigation advised'

- There is a number of engine/subframe mounts that could be broken/worn. If the engine is thumping, then it would be wise to get this fixed pretty soon . It won't do much damage to the engine, but might result in replacing your exhaust prematurely and it's annying to drive like that.. Depending on what mounts are faulty and how many, you could be talking about 30 min to a couple of hours to fix (Plus parts)

'fluid is present on the base of the steering rack and on the base of the gear remote'

- Not sure about fluid at the steering rack, but at the base of the gear remote is usually caused by a seal that needs replaced. Again very common. Not a major problem if it is this seal, not too difficult to replace.. Probably about 1 hours labour again if you decide to fix it.

All in all there doesn't appear to much that would suprise me.. your priority would be to fix the engine/subframe mounts and replace the auxillary drive belt (Fan belt)

Hope this helps...

Any other questions, just ask?

Steven

[poppy]

cheers for that, so none of the problems are expensive to sort out or difficult to fix then. also i was looking for a mini cooper but this mini is a rover classic seven 1.3i mini 1275, whats the difference. thanks for your help in advance.

[Bungle]

the badge on the front :wink:

[poppy]

so it is a cooper? i am so nervous about spending my hard earned money that im getting paranoid im going to make a wrong decision over the car.

[Bungle]

its not a cooper but its the same engine :wink:

[RacingGreen]

its not a cooper, but all of the later cars were exactly the same apart from the trim and badge as bungle mentioned.

[minidaves]

I can understand about spending your hard earned cash and buying a lemon, I have seen it soo many times. There are problems with late minis like they can rust quite well for starters, if you wern't quite so far away I would offer to look at some cars you have found as i fix these little cars all the time.

Minor faults are ok, rust is expensive to sort properly, and late mechanical work can also be expensive especially if you cannot carry out the work yourself.

if u want pm me and i can then give u my number and you can discuss with me.

dave

[poppy]

thanks guys for all your advice, there is no rust on the mini at all, this was one thing i knew to look out for. apart from a very small thumb print sized amount on one headlamp it was rust free. i wouldnt be carrying out any mechanical work myself as i dont want it bodged! some of the comments made by the mechanic i got to look at it (above) began to worry if the repairs would cost me too much to warrant buying the mini. but from stevenclarks reply it all sounds fairly cheap and straight forward. however the fact that its not a cooper has put me off a bit, i did want a mini cooper specifically.

[Bigbudders]

Don't get hung up on the badges, not at least with the later cars. They are exactly the same i believe, like they say apart from the badge.
You'll see in about 10 years, when you've had it sprayed a totally different colour, new interior and a fire breathing engine

Thats the reason i really never did much with my last mini, it was a nice special edition so i couldn't bring myself to rip out the interior.

As for my mini 35.... rule doesn't apply. Where do they come up with these hideous patterns???