3 replies to this topic

[thinker]

Hello all,

The wife and I just looked at a 1994 Rover Mini that looks to be a Mayfair or 35th Anniversary edition.  It is a Japanese market car with only surface rust on some underside bits.  Very good condition and low miles.

 

It's the automatic transmission that I have questions about.  

 

1- how reliable are they?

2- how hard are they to repair?

 

Thank you,

Craig

[xrocketengineer]

Since you are in the US, and owning a Mini appears to be new to you, I would stay away.  The transmission parts are hard to come by and finding a repair shop that can work on them on our side of the pond is next to impossible, from what I can tell. 

[MikeRotherham]

I have a 1994 Mayfair automatic and would tend to agree with xrocket engineer.

 

You have to be very dedicated to own one.

 

Very frequent oil changes, using the right grade of oil, are needed to keep the internals clean and in good shape and hope the previous owner did the same.

 

I love driving mine.

[thinker]

Thank you for the warnings. But I think we are going to make the plunge.

We will be making an offer soon.

The odometer reads to a conversion of about 20K miles.

I am not unfamiliar with automotive care and have given all may cars near OCD levels of care. I had a 91 Mazda 626 with over 300K miles on the clock when I sold it. My current 05 MINI Cooper S has 135K and my 19 MX5 has about 10K and when you open the bonnet to the MX5 you can’t tell it’s been driven at all. The 05 S looks like it might have gone 20K.

Maintenance doesn’t bother me or give me pause.

The getting the right kind of oil shouldn’t be a problem, or much of a problem. Portland has a very active car culture and there are at least two MINI and Mini car clubs in town. The annual All British Field Meet is one of the biggest car events each year.

I’m sure I’ll be back on here asking more questions. I have also already signed up with at the Automatic Mini Registry as well.

Looking forward to all the blood, sweat, toil and tears.
Thank you again for the warnings. They have not gone unheard.
Craig