Now I am a mini owner and I think there is some essential advise that all potential mini buyers should know. If I had known these tips when I had bought my first mini I would have saved myself a lot of hastle. So here it is.
If you are planning on buying a second hand mini cheaply there ... Read review
Now I am a mini owner and I think there is some essential advise that all potential mini buyers should know. If I had known these tips when I had bought my first mini I would have saved myself a lot of hastle. So here it is.
If you are planning on buying a second hand mini cheaply there are a few areas which you need to be careful. If the mini is of a significant age then there WILL be rust, do not be decieved by a nice new spray ... ...prone to rusting.
- the most important thing to consider with rust is how much it could cost you. You have to be careful, if there is rust within 30cm of the subframe then it needs to be repaired before it will pass its MOT. That means you havnt got a choise whether you want to repair it or not. You can repair rust by welding or by using a fiberglass compound. but only welding can be used when repairing key areas on the car near the ... more
Now I am a mini owner and I think there is some essential advise that all potential mini buyers should know. If I had known these tips when I had bought my first mini I would have saved myself a lot of hastle. So here it is.
If you are planning on buying a second hand mini cheaply there are a few areas which you need to be careful. If the mini is of a significant age then there WILL be rust, do not be decieved by a nice new spray job, there are several area's on mini's which are very prone to rusting.
- the most important thing to consider with rust is how much it could cost you. You have to be careful, if there is rust within 30cm of the subframe then it needs to be repaired before it will pass its MOT. That means you havnt got a choise whether you want to repair it or not. You can repair rust by welding or by using a fiberglass compound. but only welding can be used when repairing key areas on the car near the subframe.
- Firstly look under the sills of the mini (these are under the doors) check for rust along them. This is best done buy probing the metal with a screwdriver.
- Towards the back end of the sills just at the beginning of the wheel arch you will find the ends of the rear subframe. MAKE SURE that there is no rust within 30cm of the subframe. Do this by probing underneath the wheel arch with a screwdriver. You can tell rust is emerging by the bubbling of the paint surface on the metal.
-Next have a look at the A-panels. these are situated between the wings and the doors. And are of a triangular shape. Once again check for any rust holes (surface rust is not too bad if it is not deep)If there are rust holes you can either fiberglass or weld a knew panel on. A new A - panel costs about £9 from a good dealer.I had to do this with my mini- a lot of work but very cheap since I did the welding for myself (this is relativly easy but you need to buy a welder which starts at about £140).
- probably the most common place for rust is on the wing. Around the top part where it meats the window frame, it is common because water from the roof and windscreen gets temporerily caught here. If there is a small amount of rust here, dont worry it CAN be cut out and repaired. But it depends if you either are prepaired to do it yourself or pay for someone else to repair it.
- other less important area's to check are: bumpers, doors and around fittings (lights etc.)
Now appart from the old rust problem there are other hidden problems that can cost you dearly.
In mini's the engine and gearbox are joined. This means that replacing the gearbox is extremely hard and very expencive. For this reason there is an easy way to check whether your mini's gear box is on its last legs. Drive the car and slow down, shifting from 3rd gear into second. But do this a fraction earlier than you would normally so as to gain a few more revs. If when you change gear you encounter any resistance or funny noises, you engine is probably on its last legs.
It is very common for people to just bolt on large wheels to minis. But beware if the mini is old the suspension and steering may not be strong enough to support such big wheels.
There is far too much I could go into at once but hope this can help you when you buy your mini, although there seem to be a lot of possible problems, the advantages of this superb car far outweigh its negatives. So Buy yourself a Haines Manual for minis for essential information on the engine.
Advantages: Economical, Oodles of character Disadvantages: Cramped interior, basic trim quality
...I saw a 1984 1.3 Austin Metro for sale in my local free-ads for just £350, I was exstatic. I remember my best friend owning one from new and he had said that it was the best small car he had ever purchased. My wife needed a new car for work, and so I decided to investigate. Two weeks later I had haggled the owner down to £330 and I was the proud owner of this stunning blue pocket rocket. I'm making no false pretence that this is a fast car, however ... ...around 65bhp on tap.
Fuel economy is excellent, returning 45+mpg on a long run, and about 35 around town (perfect for negotiating the confusing one way systems of inner bournemouth cheaply...), and fuel efficiency is not the only money saving aspect of this car: After 3 weeks it appeared that the seal had gone in the petrol cap, a short trip down to my local Rover dealership sorted me out with a brand new cap, and I only had to hand over £1.45!!!
...
Tonyoverdrive 19.01.2006
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Ciao members have rated this car review on average: helpful Review of Austin Metro 1.3
Advantages: Good cars as long as someone doesn't mess around with them Disadvantages: Dangerous boy
My brother is Mini mad. When he passed his driving test, he bought a Mini straight away. His first Mini was a Blue W reg model. The trouble was we had just moved from Southport to Glossop, and he had left the car in Southport. Therefore, we had to drive him back to Southport. When we arrived, he tried to start the car, but it just would not start, after an hour he turns round and says, "It hasn't got no petrol in it." So I went to the petrol station ... ...drink before heading off home, so we pulled into a pub, on the outskirts of Southport. When we come out he then says, "The car hasn't got any oil in it." Therefore, we had to go to Halfords and get some oil. We then set of home, my god it was a complete disaster, the headlights went out on the motorway and he almost collided with another car. It a wonder he got home in one piece. Two months later and he arrived with another Mini this one was an x ...
mandyco 13.03.2001
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Ciao members have rated this car review on average: helpful Review of Austin Metro 1.3
Advantages: cheap, fun to drive, great handling Disadvantages: unsafe, "sad" image, oldfasioned
I owned an F reg metro from new. I brought it in 1989 and it gave me 10 years old faithful service until i decided to get rid of her. I like the metro, and in my opinion is certainly one of the better small cars around. The metro, like any other car has its good and bad points. First bad points, lets get them out of the way! Bad points...
seats - the seats are quite rigid but dont seem to support the back very well and can lead to backacks on long ... ...the beginning of the 80's so safety isnt exactly up to todays standards, infact the so unsafe when they crashtested the car they had to invent a new catagory for it, basically a deathtrap!!
Performance - there not racing cars! Ths engine is a bit whiney and my car only had 4 gears and there are other 1.3 cars which perform much better than this. Oil, oil, oil.. the car does have great handling because it has a low centre of gravity, i.e its body ...
djp110 13.04.2003
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Ciao members have rated this car review on average: helpful Review of Austin Metro 1.3
Advantages: Cheap, economical, surprisingly fast, full of character Disadvantages: Tends to get burnt whilst sitting in driveways :0(
...present I recieved a 1972 Austin 1300 GT. This was not really my car of choice, but i loved mini's and my dad is a classic car freak so he'd found me this little Austin. We spent months doing my "Polly" up, she got the full works, new interior, new carpet, respray..everything. She had a genuine 80,000 miles on the clock.
I loved my car, and have to say was very surprised when I finally got behind the wheel at how fast she shifted ! May have been ... ...board I would buy an Austin 1300GT. She was a star.
Unfortunately a few weeks ago someone thought it would be amusing to burn my car. I woke up on the Sunday morning to a funny smell, and when I opened the front door there she was on the drive still smoking. I would just like to say if I ever caught the ******* that did this, I would chop his hands off.
Long live the Austin 1300GT ...
austinhead 10.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this car review on average: helpful Review of Austin Metro 1.3
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Advantages: cheap to buy, excellent British engines, good fuel economy Disadvantages: rust
's make excellent first cars and family runarounds, so heres a few tips on what to look for if your after a Maestro and a few tips on the Maestro range.
For starters the engine - The Maestro in it's Austin-Rover guise came with a choice of a 1.3 or 1.6 engine. These are both incredibly reliable engines whichever you pick. The 1.6 is the same as was used in the Montego (examples of which are often seen having done 100,000+ miles as ex-company cars and still running strong), and the 1.3 is the excellently reliable and simple to work on Austin A Series engine, as used in the Metro.
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