Classic Car Buying Advice (Morris Minor 1000)

EstherWillows

I am currently in the process of looking for my first morris minor. It is more than likely be a 1000 saloon and be around the £3000 mark. Been looking a couple of places. Just wondering if anyone has any advice on what to look out for when buying a classic car (esp morris minors)? I am a twenty something girl and I am sure they will see me coming a mile off. Bit scared of looking at these cars on my own so it would be nice to get a bit of advice.

I expect the upkeep to be quite expensive, I plan on it being about £500 year, it that accurate? Also it will most likely be tax and MOT exempt or will only have a few years left of MOT. Apart from fuel and insurance are there any other major costs I should be budgeting for? It will be my first car for a few years so I am worrying a little bit.

Thanks in advance.

Esther

skivenov

Your best bet is to join a morris minor club (either a national one, local one, or an internet forum. They're the ones with the specific knowledge, so can tell you what to look out for better than we can. Chances are there'll be someone local to you who's happy to look over a car with you in exchange for a pack of beers.

Being a girl's no excuse not to be clued up, one of my mates is a 20-something girl with 4 classic cars!

Minors are really basic compared to modern cars, so if you can learn some basic spannering skills, you'll save a fortune on maintainence. You'll be suprised by what you can save on upkeep. Mechanical parts for them have never been expensive, and availability's great because so many parts are shared with other British Leyland cars.

The main enemies rust, not just obvious rust, but fillered over rust, rust aroing and behind a 20 year old patch, and hidden in awkward places rust. But the clubs will be able to clue you in on this.

Insurance can be dirt cheap on a classic policy. Tax excemption is on cars before 1973. Later cars get taxed on engine size, and moggy's have little engines, so get taxed at half rate.

I'm not sold on the idea of MOT excemption. To me, £40's cheap for a qualified mechanic to look over my car, point out anything that's wrong that could be dangerous, and give a written report. I can see insurers wanting an inspection doing on MOT excempt cars sooner or later anyway.

EstherWillows

skivenov wrote: »

Your best bet is to join a morris minor club (either a national one, local one, or an internet forum. They're the ones with the specific knowledge, so can tell you what to look out for better than we can. Chances are there'll be someone local to you who's happy to look over a car with you in exchange for a pack of beers.

Being a girl's no excuse not to be clued up, one of my mates is a 20-something girl with 4 classic cars!

Minors are really basic compared to modern cars, so if you can learn some basic spannering skills, you'll save a fortune on maintainence. You'll be suprised by what you can save on upkeep. Mechanical parts for them have never been expensive, and availability's great because so many parts are shared with other British Leyland cars.

The main enemies rust, not just obvious rust, but fillered over rust, rust aroing and behind a 20 year old patch, and hidden in awkward places rust. But the clubs will be able to clue you in on this.

Insurance can be dirt cheap on a classic policy. Tax excemption is on cars before 1973. Later cars get taxed on engine size, and moggy's have little engines, so get taxed at half rate.

I'm not sold on the idea of MOT excemption. To me, £40's cheap for a qualified mechanic to look over my car, point out anything that's wrong that could be dangerous, and give a written report. I can see insurers wanting an inspection doing on MOT excempt cars sooner or later anyway.

I have been lurking in MMOC, but I have been afraid to post. They all seem very knowledgeable. I have no practical experience with classic cars. I have a lot of books and have probably a pretty good textbook knowledge, but nothing beyond that. I feel that it is my age/experience that will be the actual problem. I just worry that my gender may make people more likely to FEEL like I am stupid in regards to cars and try and pull the wool over my eyes a bit.

I should imagine what I get will be pre '73 but post '60. I assume I will have to get a fair few MOTs and as you say I am sure there will be some sort of test sooner or later.

What would you say a more realistic maintenance figure would be?

Esther

david29dpo

Excellent first classic.
The oily bits are cheap and easily available.
Very easy car to work on.
Your biggest problem is RUST
You must take a expert with you to check the body, paying someone to restore bodywork will cost a fortune (I am restoring a Austin A35 for someone at the moment, going to cost thousands)
Good luck and enjoy.

david29dpo

PS
Maintenance should be quite cheap, probably on par with a new super mini

warwicktiger

http://www.mmoc-ni.co.uk/clubs/buying_a_minor.htm

marlot

There are some good books on amazon. I have this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Morris-Restoration-Manual-Haynes-Manuals/dp/1859606962/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351060809&sr=8-1

I would join the club, and see if you can get a club member to look at potential cars with you. Remember that the cars are 50+ years old - so loads and loads of scope for bodge after bodge.

Two door saloons can be converted into convertables if you want to (can't remember who makes the kit).

Gloomendoom

As far as I am aware, the silly MoT exemption is only for pre 1960 cars so, if the car you buy is younger than that, you will have to get it tested every year.

Servicing is cheap and easy to to do... but it will need to be done a lot more often than on a modern car so costs can add up. See here

As others have said, ask for advice on the owners forum. There will be plenty of people willing to help, maybe even inspect a potential purchase for you.

Mr_Toad

One of my daughters friends from Uni has an old Moggy, a 1957 and while it looks a little shabby it's in generally good condition and I particularly like the red leather seats it has.

She's learning as she goes and plans a full restore as time and money allows. She uses it as a daily driver and the only drawback is that it has a top speed of 60 to 65 mph, a bit low but she's happy with it.

Her dad is helping out and teaching her, he's also the one that got her into classic cars having restored a few himself.

A fine choice and a fine car.

Oh yes, I believe hers is called Bernard!

mikey72

Good choice of car.
Can be cheap to run, if you can find a good one.
The price should get you a good runner, with a reasonable restoration.
It's worth looking at a few first though.
I bought a classic mini for £1000, it's used for an everyday drive, it's in good condition, but no history.
Ebay, but local, so I had a look first and made an offer.
But I had been looking for nearly a year.
Spares are good, it now needs a new exhaust after a couple of years, full system £31. It's needed next to nothing since we bought it though, and it's done a few miles.
Regular oil changes help, and if you can't work on them yourself you need a good garage that knows old cars.

You do need to drive a few though, and decide if you're happy with the gearchange, and the brakes. Neither are modern.

daveyjp

Wait until the summer and go to a Moggie owners club event. Talk to owners, have a poke around the cars and at such events there are usually cars for sale.

Remember if a car has lots of paperwork and invoices it shows it has been looked after, but also that in your ownership the pile of papers will get thicker and this costs money.