Buying a Moggie: help!

[mattrich]

Hello all,
I am new to the world of Morris Minors! I am looking seriously into buying one having just joined the club and have been doing a lot of reading around the subject. What I am wondering is whether, as a novice, it would be worth buying from a dealer rather than taking the risk of a private sale. Ideally, I would like a later (say from 1965 onwards) 2-door saloon. Specialist dealers such as Charles Ware (which is not too far from where I live) are selling models for around £6,000 but privately there seem to be many in good condition for half the price.

My worry is whether it's a false economy for someone like me, who is not very savvy about mechanical things, to buy one privately and then find that it needs a lot of work ....

Grateful for your advice.
Cheers,
Matt

[LouiseM]

Hi Matt,

Welcome to the messageboard I would recommend contacting your local MMOC branch. As you are close to Bristol the Avon branch is probably your nearest. They meet on the first Tuesday of the month at Langton Court Hotel, Brislington. Contact: avon-mmoc@talktalk.net Members there will be able to provide you with all sorts of advice with regards to buying a Minor and someone may even be willing to look one over for you, or know of a good one for sale. The main thing you need to look out for is rust/rot in the chassis, floors, panels etc. Mechanicals are reasonably easy to put right but buying a car with a lot of rot could end up costing you thousands. A nice looking shiny car can be hiding a mulitude of horrors! If you don't have a lot of knowledge about old cars you need to get help/advice from someone who does and can thoroughly inspect a car for you. Specialist traders tend to charge a premium but there should be no problem with buying privately as long as you know what to look for. Let us know where you are and we can hopefully point you in the direction of someone who can help

Louise

(ps: I deleted your other message in the 'wanted' forum as there's no need to post the same message twice and it can get confusing!)

[mattrich]

Thanks, Louise, I wasn't sure where to put my message to achieve maximum coverage so thanks for deleting the other one for me. I am in Cardiff: there doesn't seem to be a branch in Wales but Bristol is less than an hour away.

Thanks,
Matt

[LouiseM]

There's a South Wales branch who are pretty active, see here: http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=34756 and a few members from your area post regularly on here (santa dawes, matt coles etc) so I'm sure someone local will be along shortly

[RobThomas]

I'm in St Athan, if that helps.
01446 795489

[mike.perry]

You can recon on paying around double the price in some dealers and the car can still be far from original, and remember that the price you pay will not be reflected in the price you get should you wish to sell it in the future.
You could probably get the same quality car for around half the price privately, just be patient and find someone willing to inspect it with you.

[mattrich]

Thanks, everyone, for all your advice. Much appreciated.
Matt

[santadawes]

Hi. Someone mentioned my name.

[santadawes]

Email sent to you.

[MColes]

Yep I'm in Cardiff, more than happy to help if I can