Morris Minor Owners Club

I have just bought a car the was refurbished only about 3 years ago by a well known convertible restorer Its now rotten underneath needs extensive welding . So when you buy a Moggie beware .
It will , I am told all fixed and ready to go for the summer .

You can't name the company but lets have some pics or some details as to what was done so badly as that is always useful to know and is it the original restoration company who is rectifying the work? One thing in the companies defence is that they will only repair what the have been asked to and paid for so maybe who ever was holding the purse strings dictated how far the company could go with a restoration?

Is there perhaps a clue in your posting - in the beware comment ?

I have no problem with the rust on the car as I will always get it fixed . Its is being repaired by a local garage in Canterbury that understands about welding old cars. and any more rust he finds photos later

Hi Faversham, I know the garage you are talking about and have some inside info on them and other Morris Minor garages in the area. Anyone else- PM me for details! The best thing you can do to avoid this problem is to join your local branch and ask around- local knowledge is power! We in the East Kent branch will welcome you- we meet 2nd Monday of the month at the Dog and Duck pub in the charmingly named hamlet of Plucks Gutter.

On the BBC news they ran an article today about the 2nd hand car business http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8572148.stm quite damning! And there are some (but thankfully not all) dodgy classic car dealers/restorers around as well as some very good ones. local knowledge will help discern the two.

In the meantime, good luck with the re-build on your car!

I don't understand why you cannot name the company. You are stating a fact - the car is rusty - end of.
Of course, if you are pursuing them for damages, then yes, better to keep quiet until resolved.

Pete

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I'd be taking it back to them.

Pete

I never bought the car from them I am just saying that after about 3 years the rust has come back so be careful when you buy as even the best restored cars can get bad very quickly . I will always get the rust fixed but is just a warning

It's not always a simple case of blaming the restorer!
There are loads of half restored cars around, simply because the owners wouldn't/couldn't pay for additional work.
There are also some real botch jobs where the owner paid for top notch work but got a bodge.

Either way, the forum has to be run within the T&C's. these are there to protect the club, and it's the club who gives us the forum ;-)

I have to say from experience that i had one specialist refuse to do a rear chassis extension repair for me (on a rather botched Minor) unless I paid for extensive work on the sills. This annoyed me at the time, but they do have a reputation to maintain!

As for quality, the same goes for DIY resto's - some are good and some are bad.

I agree. This sort of thing happens in all trades, where the customer wants the bare minimum done, despite the recommendations of the professional (which is understandable).

There are plenty of examples on here of people complaining about shoddy work from "specialists", but this sort of thing (turning work away unless they do a full job) actually reassures me. It shows that the company care about the standard of work that goes out, and unless they can do it to their standards, they dont want to be associated with it. Credit to them.

If this is the company I am thinking of (Whom I will not mention in public to abide by the T&C's) then this "quality" is not an isolated example. They subcontract out their welding work and I spoke to a welder who received an emergency call about a Minor the company was about to deliver to a customer. Upon lashing the Minor on the trailer ready for delivery, a load of rust fell out underneath the car.

This welder was then asked to do as cheap as job as possible to get the car ready for sale. He described the cars of this company as going out to customers "in varying states of decreptitude". MOT or no MOT, dealer or private, it is very much buyer beware, I'm afraid.

And yes, there are some excellent Minor restoration companies as well.

faversham999 wrote:I never bought the car from them I am just saying that after about 3 years the rust has come back so be careful when you buy as even the best restored cars can get bad very quickly . I will always get the rust fixed but is just a warning

I don't agree---the best restored cars can't/don't get bad very quickly.

Back on the road with new MOT so its off to France next month

I rebuilt our 2 door 6 years ago with all new panels. Now its awating repair for welding due to rust. The panels came from Nr India

Modern cars dont rust but afrer about 8 years if they go wrong the become to expensive to repair.(scrap) When you repair the Morris check the panels every year.

Interesting about rusty convertibles. When I was looking for a Mog I was considering purchasing from what I think may be the same dealer. In the end I went to another well known dealer near Bath. I paid what I considered to be over the odds for a saloon ( I was after a rag-top or traveller's car) but all things considered I got a very sound and reliable car. I have done some long trips with it and no problems apart from a brand new set of points breaking up which cannot be blamed on the garage. In the end I probably saved myself money and bother.[frame][/frame]

Got mine all fixed to my standards.Now having to sell the car as I have bought a 2 Door Saloon (Lilac )