Faults:

Body completely rotten, gearbox total failure, radiator knackered, brakes rubbish, basically a wolf in sheep's clothing.

General Comments:

The car was purchased as a fully MOT'd excellent example of a sought after classic. On the surface it looked good, but soon turned out to be a piece of rubbish. Why in the preceding 30 years of production Rover under its various names from Austin to BL had never sorted the basic problems that showed up on these cars I will never know. The body was rotten in all the usual places, and structurally unsound, and in my opinion dangerous. I should point out that I restore Mini's as a hobby.

A complete strip down and restoration revealed unprotected areas that were rust traps back in 1959 and have never been treated. I sourced a replacement body, gearbox and after £6500 returned the car to its former glory. What is more annoying is that as a Mini fanatic I purchased a German spec. model in 2000 new. Yes it was more comfy, but sadly all the same areas found during the above restoration were still left dry and untreated. £5 worth of Waxoyl and the car remains structurally sound with no rust whatsoever, so why could Rover not have learnt or were they just out to rip us all off? No wonder they no longer exist, unable to compete regardless of what name they used or abused.

Faults:

The trailing arm bushes wore out at 92000 miles.

Welding around the front subframe mount, the boot area and underneath.

I cracked the casing on the final drive, which resulted in taking the engine out to replace.

The exhaust needed replacing.

Headlight switch needed replacing.

General Comments:

I think this is a great car, so much fun to drive! Handles really well on the small back roads, if not a big bumpy and bone shaking, but that's all part of the fun!

The work that I have had to do to it was well worth it.

Faults:

The engine that was in there was a 998cc engine. It kept having problems, like it was slower than other 998's, serious oil leak problems, and other running problems, so I changed the engine for an MG Metro 1275.

The reason for the change, was I wanted a faster engine, and wanted a upgrade, and I'm glad I've don't it!

General Comments:

Wonderful car.

Handles very well, and sticks to the road.

Fun to drive.

Faults:

Terrible oil leak that no one could seem to find or fix.

Exhaust kept falling off.

Accelerate cable got stuck on.

Trouble stating.

Wheel bearings went.

Anything that could really!

General Comments:

This was my first car and after a test drive I just new I wanted it! Just the look of the Mini is great, it's a classic with tonnes of style.

Not the fastest of cars, but it doesn't need to be, its acceleration an ability to take corners at high speed s is great. Mine had a 10 inch steering wheel with bucket seats and it felt like you was driving a go-kart all the time.

Parking is so much easier wen you can just plonk it down anywhere. Also parts are quite cheap and fuel consumption is very good.

Ideal 1st car, wicked in the summer, poor in the winter. Id love to have another one, but as a second car, just for days out!

Faults:

Battery kept going flat - turned out to be the Minidisc player I bought. A quick snip and some electrical tape soon sorted it.

Some minor rusting at the bottom of the door panels and below the headlights.

Passenger-side seatbelt can be a little temperamental, a quick squirt of WD-40 sorted that out.

General Comments:

A great first car: cheap to run and very nippy.

People will smile as you pass - it's the automotive equivalent of being blond, we mini owners really do have more fun.

Takes corners like you wouldn't believe.

Quick off the mark considering the small engine.

Very fast acceleration, again considering the engine size.

The car will go a lot faster than the 90mph on the speedo; unfortunately you don't realise how fast you're going until you look at the speedo.

A bit noisy between 50 and 60mph, but quite quiet above that.

Stock speakers aren't impressive: very tinny as you'd expect.

Don't expect creature comforts like power steering, electric windows, a clock on the dash, or even a dashboard at all. The car is so fun to drive that you don't notice these shortcomings.

It will seat 4, but it can be awkward getting them in/out.

An excellent first car even after 15 years. You get the feeling that the car will outlive you if it is loved.

The car against all other small cars are compared, none of today's "super-minis" have the familiar retro charm that the mini has.