Mini Pricing

[Gary Pope]

There is a guy down the road from me in Brunswick Georgia who regulary has two or three Mini's for sale on his lot. They range from Sixties through to Eighties, but his prices always tend to be $6000. They look in good to very good condition, but the price seams high in my opinion. I'm just wondering what the going rate is for a good condition Mini these days. ?

 

[coldplugs]

Gary, based on the prices I saw last summer in my Mini search, they're at the low end of the right hand drive scale. LHD seems to add $2-$3K in the US. I couldn't find a decent non-Cooper LHD for under $9,000.

The best source I know for general value info is the MiniMania for sale list. Start at:

www.minimania.com

 

[78Z]

That seems about right. In Canada it is about $10K (approx $5.5-6K US) for a nice base Mini. A cooper would be a lot more. And we have more Minis than the US too.

 

[BuddyJ]

I've found www.classiccore.com to have one of the nicest Mini selections around and they have decent prices. I emailed them about pricing and got a prompt response from Ian, the owner, and he seems like a delight to deal with.

 

[Gary Pope]

Thanks for the information. I am glad to see the Mini is comanding a decent value. We don't see many down here in the South, maybe because a car without A/C or the top off is unbearable from March through November. When I lived in the UK over the years we had several Mini's along with an array of other Austin's. I think the Maxi was one of my favorite cars.

 

[Steve]

A Maxi? Gary, I used to own one, albeit an early 1500. The back of the driver's seat broke, the gearshift was like stirring porridge (little Scottish reference there for you), and the thing self-combusted one afternoon as my wife was backing off the drive. Insurance payout was more than I'd paid for it though.

[ 01-08-2003: Message edited by: Steve ]</p>

 

[Gary Pope]

Maxi .. here's the thing. We had the 1800cc version and it had beautiful leather/vinyl seats, wood dash and trim, thick wool carpets, had that wonderful smell that old British cars have like old Rovers and Jags. It was a roomy family car. I remember we had to drive it down to England and back before the M6 was built. I was just a kid so I can't judge on the car mechanicaly etc, it probably was crap .. but just have that fond kid memory of it .. Im guessing early 70's.

 

[Steve]

Careful, you're giving away your age now!

The 1800 was admittedly a better car than the 1500, and they also got better as the model aged. Typical BL, launch the car then let the consumer do all the testing!

I had the Mini Metro (MG version, posh aren't I?) which wasn't bad, and a 1963 Mini 850 deluxe, blue in colour. The Mini was the first car that I paid for with my own money, drove it for a few years, then sold it. Replacing the water pump on it was the worst job. Fond memories of that little car, I'd have another! Says it all really.

 

[zanzibar]

$5000 to $10,000 is the typical range for a Mini from good to outstanding condition. There are a few decent cars around for under $5000, but they're few and far between. Probably the most reasonably priced dealer in the Southeast with a large selection is Barn Hill Minis. They have a shop in Wales where all the purchasing and restoration is done, and they have a location in Orlando Florida where most sales take place. They can ship anywhere if you don't want to go to Florida.

I got my Mini from them last February after an extensive restoration/customization. It's awesome! Great guys with very nice cars.

Sorry for the commercial. If anybody is seriously considering a classic Mini in the near future, there's a very big Mini gathering in St Petersburg, FL from 3/7-3/9. There should be over 100 classic Minis attending and quite a few for sale.