26 replies to this topic

[Hannioli]

wahooooooooooo!! the dad's been convinced!! hooray!

dont have the time to look at a mini for another month though :'( damn uni, but look away i shall

[Bungle]

give me your money and i will look for you

[Hannioli]

sure thing bungle, give me your account no. and i'll transfer the funds right over

[Bungle]

we only use pebbles in Cornwall :'(

so have no use for banks, this is why we have lots of beaches though

[Hannioli]

haha

wow...that'd be awesome if i could use pebbles as currency! 5 mile stretch of stoney beach in seaford

hmm someone told me that an mpi would be a more efficient car and lead to lower running costs in total, that true?

[taffy1967]

It's how you drive the Mini that counts and I can get around 50mpg out of my 1990 Mini Cooper if I drive it sensibly. I did that and a tank full used to last me a week travelling some 350 miles to and from work.

But yes MPi and SPi Minis are superb, but don't ignore a carburretor equpped model, if it's in first class condition and at the right price.

You just need to worry about rust when looking at a Mini and carry a magnet and use it to check that all the panels consist of steel and not filler, cardboard or other C**p.

[Hannioli]

oooh thanks for the magnet tip! I will keep that in mind

[Bungle]

hmm someone told me that an mpi would be a more efficient car and lead to lower running costs in total, that true?

we have a mpi and a spi in my local club both have a stage 1 kit

my cooper carb with stage 1 kit and modded head with high lift rockers can always match them on fuel on club runs and longer trips to shows

so i would say no the fuel injection cars are not more efficient

[E.L.M.O]

I think in theroy there meant to be more efficant but theres so many other factors that can effect your fuel ecomamy the diffrence is marginable.

When/before you get your mini I have a few friends in east london (walthamstow and chingford) who know alot about minis so if you need help, assistance with anything they will be happy to help.

[taffy1967]

oooh thanks for the magnet tip! I will keep that in mind

No worries, but we live by our mistakes and my sister once bought a nice looking Mini and payed over the odds for it too. Then after a mere month or two, one of the wings started to bubble up and it became clear that it was held together with filler and some kind of patch-up material.

Anyway that Mini needed a fair bit of work to sort it out and she'd payed nearly 2 grand for it. If we'd done the magnet test, we could have either got the price reduced significantly or if the vendor didn't want to know, we could have simply walked away and looked for a better example.

So yes just becuase a Mini looks nice and is expensive, doesn't mean all is well. So check the top of the wings with a magnet and the complete scuttle panel (beneath the front windscreen), inner & outer sills, door steps, A'panels, beneath the headlamps, boot floor and the biggest MOT failure to hit a Mini is the rear subframe.

So make sure that's not falling apart with rust, or has holes or cracks in it and if it's been replaced then it would be nice to think they refitted a genuine part, because copies are usually terrible and Minis never handle the same.

Oh and a full service history and long MOT are worth looking out for too!

[Teapot]

the dad's been convinced!! hooray!

Yes, I had a little word with him and he said if an old git a responsible member of tmf like myself could vouch for the good sense in running a mini, that was good enough for him. Glad to interfere with your plans be of help

Edited by Teapot, 17 February 2007 - 09:23 PM.

[Hannioli]

lol thanks teapot