Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello,

I have never owned a classic car.

I am currently looking at Morris Minor Travellers, my wife loves the look of them and I think they're great too.

I am not mechanically skilled in the slightest and therefore know nothing about car maintanence. Ideally I would like to find out if there are trade places which are reputable through which I could source a sound example; I don't have sufficient knowledge of these vehicles to trust myself with a private purchase (yet).

I do not have another vehicle at present and I am therefore looking for this vehicle to be the main family car. However, I would not expect to do high mileage, I live rurally and mostly drive locally to and from the nearby town - the only exception would be occasional family holidays within the UK, besides that we use public transport. We do not own a garage so the vehicle would be exposed but on a driveway.

I am not looking to buy a Minor Traveller as a 'project', so I do want the vehicle to be reliable and not need loads of repairs or maintanence - I can not physically undertake repairs/maintanence myself due to a disability so any repairs would need to be done by a garage. I have read the 'stikies' on your forums regarding 'what to look for' and 'how to buy a Morris Minor' but to be honest I don't think I could trust myself to buy with confidence with only that information to hand and no prior experience.

I have looked at many adverts for Morris Minor Travellers and frankly have been bemused by the vast difference in prices. I am not looking for a 'concourse' or 'show car' necessarily, although it is fair to say that I would like a sound working and nice looking example. That said I have seen adverts on classic car sites for vehicles which look great at around £2k and similar looking vehicles for £5k.

I live in Hebden Bridge, West Yorks so if anyone knows of reputable dealers/traders near me or can offer any advice I would appreciate it.

Welcome to the messageboard

Always best to seek advice before buying a Minor if you don't have any previous experience, and also to seek recommendations for traders. I suggest that you contact your local MMOC branch - I'm guessing that the West Yorkshire branch might be nearest. They meet at 8.30pm on the last Wednesday of the month at Cleckheaton Rugby Union Football Club. Contact: marilyn.cook1 (at) ntlworld.com. You'll then be able to meet and chat to local Minor owners who will be able to recommend the good traders / suppliers in your area, advise you what to look for when buying a Minor, and might even know of a nice traveller for sale locally or be willing to take a look at some cars with you.

Hello. The intended use for the vehicle will suit it perfectly. We use Travellers as every day cars. They live outside in all weathers and are utterly reliable. In the past I've done 18,000 mile as year in them. The only thing to watch is to keep the woodwork in good condition - loads of threads on that subject! If you buy from a dealer then you should get a warranty and have somewhere to go for routine servicing. There are a couple of places I could recommend, but unfortunately not near you. As Louise says, try your local branch. Happy hunting, and good luck.

theopenmind wrote: I am not mechanically skilled in the slightest and therefore know nothing about car maintanence.

If you decide you want to learn, the Minor is one of the easiest cars to service as there's very little to go wrong, & everything is easy to access. Parts are cheap too.

You can't do 12000 miles between services as with a modern, bits need to be looked after much more frequently but as said, it's simple stuff.

Hi,

Thanks for the advice so far.

It is great to hear that the Minors are good every day cars, I did wonder whether this was a silly route to travel down based on the aesthetic more than practicality so I am pleased it is not.

I understand it is difficult to give advice on adverts but if you don't mind I shall take the liberty of postng some examples of what I have looked at. I am looking at these two at based on distance from me and price range rather than anything else, but perhaps people could give me some pointers? I have seen some wonderful examples further affield too but I have no means of travelling to view them

1 - http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C187795 Again this vehicle looks nice to me, although there's not much info in the description. My only reservations are: I notice some white substance on the ash wood frame on the rear drivers side which could be possible woodwork restoration? I read in an article that if the frame is damaged anywhere the entire thing needs replacing and can not be repaired in sections. If this is true, what does this example mean? My only other reservation is the mileage which looks very high, but then of course I don't know what to expect!

2 -http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/cla ... rno/132788 This vehicle looks nice. Not sure whether a complete restoration 10 years ago is a good, bad or neutral thing. The colour is nice but maybe not practical? Not sure why the wheel hubs are all silver and not white like I notice on others. The mileage seems low for such an old car (?)

Of these two I think I prefer the green one but should I be concerned by that white patch and the mileage? I suppose I should go and have a look but before I do, has anyone any thoughts? Does price seem reasonable for what is being offered? I prefer to go to a specialist garage like this because I am inexperienced.

All Minors are certainly capable of being used daily providing they are well maintained.

With regards to the two cars you're looking at, bear in mind that buying a car from a 'trader' will invariably mean paying more than buying privately and there is no guarantee that buying from a specialist garage means that a car is in good condition and that any repairs have been carried out to a decent standard. A warranty gives some peace of mind but as an inexperienced buyer you would be better off getting someone independant, who has knowledge of buying travellers, to go with you to throughly check a car out first, particularly when planning to spend quite a bit of money.

As you say, it's difficult to tell the condiion of a car from photos, and neither of the adverts show pictures of the underside of the vehicles, which is the most important area to look at when buying a Minor. The condition of the woodwork is also important as it is part of the structure of the car, although some sections of the frame can be replaced without replacing all of the woodwork. With a £5,000 budget you should be able to find a very good example. Most Minors will have gone round the clock at least once, and maybe had replacement engines fitted at some point during the last 40 years, so don't let mileage sway your opinion too much. The fact that a car was fully restored 10 years ago doesn't really mean a lot really, as a lot can happen in 10 years. And try not to get tempted by a car just because it looks nice, or is a nice colour - take your time and look at several before buying. If you join your local branch as suggested you can take a look at the members vehicles and get a better idea of what you can get for your money. The silver wheels on the white car are just down to wheel finishers which have been fitted and are easily removed. Good luck with your search but please take someone with you who knows what to look for, regardless of whether you are buying from a 'specialist' or not.