my plan is to buy a mini, already running between the 5 - 10k mark.
seeing as though im not the most knowledgable guy in terms of cars.
wanted to know how maintaining a mini is>? hard, easy...
whats the engine like in terms of reliability?

just general questions to put my mind at ease.
any help would be awsome

Find a good one and you shouldn't have too much problem if you drive with mechanical sympathy. Be expected to fix things on something that's not quite good, but at least you can then fix it right.

Servicing will need to happen twice as often as a modern car due to the gearbox and engine sharing the same oil.

_________________

the engine is only as reliable, as how well maintain it. It is much more work than a new hyundai or corolla. If you are prepared to learn the basics of maintaining a mini, it will dramatically reduce the labour costs when sending it to a shop.

there is plenty of information and parts suppliers on minis.

minis have to be constantly checked over for problems, oil should be changed regularly, brakes adjusted regularly, coolant checked, tyres etc. if you are not afraid of getting your hands dirty, it can be a very easy, enjoyable and rewarding experience.

my 2c worth

_________________
1975 Leyland Mini: 1060cc - resto/ ex-hsc project.

Bit of a broard sort of question these, but IMO they are fairly easy to maintain, it does depend upon how fair you what to go with and what your description of maintenance is though.

They were once considered 'hi-tech' but in reality, probably 'different' or 'non-conventional' might be a better term.

Again, depending on how far you want to go in terms of DIY you might need some special tools, but most of these are not expensive.

On the Reliabily question - it really come down to quality of parts, quality of workmanship and frquency of maintenance. Compared to modern cars, they are high - but easy - maintenance. Do what the book says, when it says and for the most part, it'll keep going and going.

There is no saving in buying 'cheap' (meaning crap) parts. Buy the best available.

Spending between $5 and $10k should get you a reasonable good mini, but like anything second hand - buyer beware - so it is no guarantee that it won't be a heap.......

Hi considering I was in your spot a few years ago here is my view:

Want a mini to customise?

Want a mini to learn about aspects of cars?

Than go for a cheap one that doesn't have much rust and go
from there. That’s kinda what I did and ended up learning
a lot about cars and mini’s

The other idea considering you say you don’t know alot
would be to buy one that has had the work done on it

another thing I found out latter is different engine sizes and
make sure you know exactly what you are buying

eg. if the person says its a mini clubman
ask here and get the numbers and make sure

as most mini's aged 73+ are Leyland mini's
slightly different

I must admit in the past I have been pretty bad with maintenance on my minis but have gotten away with it.. Current mini now get's oil and filter changes once every 3 months (when I'm in Oz), regardless of how few kms it's done - KMart KMX is too cheap to worry about it.

Water I check maybe once a fortnight if I'm lucky?

I do always check for oil leaks though haha.. none at the moment fingers crossed.

These are the little things you will have to get used to though owning a mini. Driving with spares - eg points, condesor, rad hose, fan belts, bottle of coolant, empty fuel carry tank; and driving with a few tools - 1/2, 9/16 AF spanners etc, screw drivers, wire.. I even carry a spare water pump in my car!

You may never need any of these tools/spares, but guaranteed the first time you go out without them - you will!

_________________
tim
68 Deluxe 1293, HIF44, megajolt/EDIS4, daihatsu alternator..

'a mini is for life, not just for christmas!'

G'day Blackhowler, and pre-welcome to the wonderful - colourfully - never a dull moment, world of mini's

There has been some pretty good advice posted here so far.

If I can suggest, seeing as how you've said that you don't know a whole lot about "mechanical stuff".. and given your bugget .. I would buy one where all the hard work is done (well thats kind of a misnomer, the work is never really done).

I'll try and explain why I say that.

See my mini that I am building at the moment, would have cost me about $18,000-$22,000 if I had out sourced all the work. Its got the lot, power windows, remote central locking, cruise control, a pretty hot road motor, floorless body (if I do say so myself ), super clean and classy interior...... sounds pretty hot hey ?

Here's the thing though,,, as awesome as my mini is,,, and trust me, its awesome,,, c'mon .... if I sold it on ebay, I'd be lucky to get $8-9,000. Thats it.

Not cause the car's crap, but because that is all the market will offer for them if they aren't a special model (GT, Cooper S, Cooper, Sports850)...

So if you are willing to pay as much as $6-10k, and you can be just a little bit patient, you could get yourself a real winner If your not mechanically minded, take someone with you that is so that they can help you out.
.
.
.
IMO this is a much gentler way to get into it rather than just diving in the deep end with a full on resto job, because even though the hard work is doen, there will be work that you still need to do with it and you can learn little bit at a time,, rather than having a total bomb that lets you down and then ruins the experience for you with an overwelming amount of problems at once....

Then if you want to have a go at a total resto then you'll be in a better position from a know how point of view.
.
.
.
But that is just what i would do if I was in your position,, its up to you, just my 5 cents worth.

I've had a mini for a few years now, I drive it to work and back once a week and take it out for a blat on most weekends. I check the oil and water before every trip and general security of items at the same time. Also as soon as something is starting to squeak I change it.

For the past couple of trips I have had a thump on every acceleration. I started out changing the rubber universal on the drivers side, then the engine steady bushes. But while doing the steady on the drivers side I removed the clutch baked bean can and it was leaking, so now I am replacing the clutch master cylinder and the brake master cylinder seeing that I'm working in the general area anyway. SO.... what I'm getting at is I probably over service mine. I guess it works out at fifteen minutes under the car for every hour driving the car, but that's just the way I do it.

hehehe flintstone mini!

_________________
Copper 4 lyfe!

At 5k I think you're shopping in a bit of a hit and miss area - you may get an honest yet not perfect car - like mine, or you could end up with something that's been tarted up superificially for a quick sale, with a lot of unknowns.

Once again I'll use my car as an example. The exterior is rough - minor minor rust, but the paint is flat and thin, three different shades of red too. One door is shiny, , the roof is spray can white flaking off to red underneath, and the bonnet is like 200grit sandpaper!

But mechanically it has a strong 1293 (~5000km new when I bought it), disc brakes, the best mini gearbox I've ever felt (which is only 3 mind you!), but all for less than $4000 (In September 2008). I had to do a few minor things for RWC, new wheel cylinders, new master cylinder, caliper kits, bleed brakes, change RHS CV joint boot, new steering wheel, add a horn.. but other than that it's just been oil changes and a radiator flush for maintenance. Any other work I've done on it have been improvements rather than repairs. It was on the road for around $5000.

On the flipside I looked at a tarted up metallic magenta clubby near newcastle for $6000, with an 1100, drums and tan leather interior. It looked pretty hot to be honest.. but it ran like crap, the brakes were damn well dangerous, and the "show car quality paint" which was 2 years old was bubbling up along the seams and bottom of a-panels etc.

So basically, at the lower price point, substance over style is the sensible choice! I can jump in my mini and know it will get me to the city on a 40 degree day. 100km round trip, no worries.

For 10k I expect you should be able to get a car restored in the last few years, with a reasonably fresh 1275 engine and disc brakes. You may pay a slight premium for a round nose as these seem to be the favourable ones at the moment.

_________________
tim
68 Deluxe 1293, HIF44, megajolt/EDIS4, daihatsu alternator..

'a mini is for life, not just for christmas!'

Especialy designed to peddle Freddy Flintstone style.

Ha ha,,

Yeah, I actually have 2 "flinstone mini's",,, its what you can expect leaving them outside for 30 years...

Funny enough though, superSeven mentioned cars around the $5,000 mark being hit and miss... well, I bought a mini from Victoria like that, it was tarted up for sale... Looked a million bucks from the outside, but the driverside floor pan must have been an optional extra or something?

I was so tired and buggered from the trip down there, that I didn't check it over properly.

And that is another good point. You see a lot of mini's advertised with "fresh paint". Be sure to ask them how fresh it is. Few reasons.

If they say "oh only 2 months old",, then ask your self --> "who spends $5000 on a complete respray and then puts the car up for sale for $5,500?" chances are its a dodgy back yard fixer-up-er-4sale job. Look for things like overspray on the rubbers, overspray on the tires, overspray on the exhaust pipe,, open the doors and look at the sills to see if there is a visible mask line....

Thing is, a car can have really bad rust, and you can bog straight over the rust with out cleaning it off properly and it will last for 6-12 months (it depends on how bad the rust is and if the person made any attemp to clean it) before cracking the paint and trying to fall out. Areas to watch out for arë:

A panels

Bottoms of door skins

At the back of the car, where the seem is for the beaver panel, if you follow it to the vertical seem, just to the side of the tail light,,, in that corner they often rust... run your hand over the panel, if there is a sudden boldge when you get to that corner, some one has probably bogged in rust.

Floor pans

The underside of the drip rail on the roof

In the drip rail on the roof

Battery box

Floor pan in the boot
.
.

Those are the common places (some one might be able to add a few more).

Another thing to look for. It is not at all uncommon to get mini's where they have been T boned in a car accident (sometimes quiet badly) and then the lazy panel beaters pull it half way out with a slide hammer and then bog the rest. I have seen 3 mini's in the last 12 months that had 1" of bog over the whole side rear panel. Of course these repairs don't last long,, maybe 4-7 years depending on how bad,,, so have a good look at this panel, if it has (normally you just get one) hair line crack about 6" long horizontally,, chances are it is full of bog.
.
.
Me, I'm a total bastard when I go to look at mini's. I usually dismantal it infront of the owner (much to their disgust usually).. I always pull out the rear door cards so that I can feel how thick the panel is (how much bog is in it), I pull the carpet back etc etc..... (some of you are probably going "so that was you!!!!")
.
.
.
But look, the thing is that even the youngest Aussie minis are 32 years old this year, so it is near impossible to find one that hasn't been repaired at some point... so the trick is finding one that was repaired properly and not just by some tool from Greenacer...

Truth be known, for every mini that has been repaired poorly, there are 7 that were done right. So you needn't worry toooooooo much.

But its the chance you take with any older car. I've seen plenty of old Mustangs with bog falling out of them, plenty of old falcons, plenty of Torana's... even (or I should say especially actually) the real old roadsters that everyone hot rod's.

If you spend all your time worrying about it, you'll miss out on all the fun of a great car... I've got a few friends (ha ha yeah you read that right) in SA, who are driving around mini's that are full of rust.. they still drive,, they just ain't going to win any show and shine events

But if your spending closer to the 10k mark, you should get a pretty good mini.

thanks heaps for all your help really appreciate that... something to dwell on for the next month.. i live in nsw but found this on the site http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=59981

would travel down there cos it seems like its worth it..

what are your thoughts?

well its worth it at least for the engine

Very nice interior and the engine bay looks awesome,, I love the dunlop mags, and he's not kidding they are hard to find (if that is your kind of thing). The sills look nice and straight, so if it has been in a prang it was fixed properly.