Just thought I would pass on my experience to you all regarding a Mini I went to see the other day, for sale by Turky in Charleston, SC.

Here's the ad on Turky's website for the car in question:

http://www.turkys.com/mini.html

http://www.turkys.com/69ltblue.html

I had called him to inquire about any Mini's he might have available --- I told him I was looking to pay no more than about $8,000. He told me he might consider taking $8,000 for THIS car --- even though it's currently advertised for $12,950. He says he needed to make some money so he'd take the hit...

... anyway. So I said I'd come down there and have a look, since he wasn't far away. I did ask a ton of questions before I went down there, but all he would say again and again was that the car is "Clean", "Perfect", "Rust-free", "Beautiful", and has "No problems with it at all." "I'm sure you'll love it," he said.

When I got there, two of Turky's mechanics were there to show it to me. He wasn't around. It took the two of them about 30 mins to get the car started. They changed out all the plugs (completely black) --- they kept flooding it by over-choking it, and administered large doses of Ether. I believe it had been sitting for a while. I took the opportunity to look the car over very intensively while they struggled to start it...

... once it was started though, it ran very well. It sounded fine, revved out fine, didn't hesitate, etc. It was a good runner. It did have a wobbly / mushy / vague shifter --- you really had to over-emphasize each shift to make sure you were in the proper gear before letting out the clutch, which made for some slow driving. It was fine once I got used to it, but it definitely needs some tightening up in the shift lever. Not a big deal, of course.

The pictures speak to the condition of the car. Turky's mechanics didn't try their salesmanship out on me - they got the picture, watching me climb all over the car, inspecting every nook and cranny, snapping photos, pulling carpet, wedging myself under the car, etc. They were also on their cell phones to Turky while they worked on the car, so I'm sure he was going "!##^$$^@@#!^&&!!!" while they struggled with it.

He did exaggerate the condition of the car, bottom line. And, he knows it, no doubt in my mind. I have not seen too many of these cars in person yet (maybe ten of them?), but I imagine this is more like a 5 or 6k car.

The rest of his cars were pretty bad. Enormous amounts of rust. I looked at one he has for sale on Ebay, and noted numerous areas of "interest" (concern) that were not shown on his auction.

He only had one car that was nice --- I really do think it was a nice car --- a mustard yellow Mini 1000, I think an early-to-mid 80's model year. It was a new arrival, so I don't know how much he wants for it.

Later that day, I told him what I thought of the car, in no uncertain terms. I also told him that I felt he was dishonest with me and had knowingly misrepresented the car. I told him I had taken many photos of obvious rust spots on the car, and that I felt the car had been painted to hide the rust long enough to get the car sold. I was very straightforward.

He asked to see the photos. Here they are:

http://s326.photobucket.com/albums/k...8%20Lt%20Blue/

It definitely doesn't look like this in the ad on the website.

Does this look like a $12,950 Mini to you? How about an $8,000 one?

I said it wasn't worth $8k to me, so he told me to think about how much I would offer him for the car. I called him back later and said I wasn't interested in it --- he asked if I would give him $6,500 for it --- I said "No", so he hung up on me. At this point, I wasn't interested on principle --- it was impossible to tell what I was really about to buy.

I am not going to call him any names here on the forum, or say that no one should ever buy from him. You should expect, however, to spend some time really looking hard at any car that you're considering buying from Turky, as with any car of this vintage.

 

Ah, Turky's... you either love him or hate him. He DOES always have Minis, though.

Personally, I think going in to his place without the Buyer's Guide linked at the top of the Classics forum is MADNESS. As was pointed out, Turky is a very aggressive negotiator (I've spoken to him about several cars none of which I ended up purchasing), so expect a fight if/when you ask him to discount the price due to the mechanical and rust issues you're suyre to find. You can certainly get a better price from a private seller on, say, Minimania's Classifieds, but he's a reseller with rolling (more or less... heh) stock on a lot, and lots of people don't have the patience to answer 20-25 classified ads to find the car they eventually buy like I had to do.

Bottom line - like any used car, caveat emptor, do your homework, and never, ever accept any claim (from Turky or any seller) without verifying it for yourself.

Best of luck to you, Motorsport on your search!!

PS - based on your photos of thelight blue car and the description of how the car runs, $6500 isn't ridiculous. It's certainly not "perfect" or "rust free", but then almost no Mini is - it's part of the charm.

 

Thanks very much!

Yeah, it's not a ridiculous price for the car - but I am not happy with the treatment, the high-pressure sales tactics, the refusal to treat my questions with any kind of respect or to answer them with anything other than "It's perfect!".

I do think that there is plenty of underlying rust that was painted over - so if you're a bodywork kind of guy (Norm), this is probably a great car for you.

On the advice of many of you, I'm trying to find the best-bodied Mini I can find. This one seems to be about average, but I think I can spend another $1k-$2k and get a better car, or maybe even the same $6.5k for a private party car that's been cared for.

 

6500.00 is a pretty good price for the light blue mini but not $12,950 which is what he has as the sale price on the mini, his bottom line price of 6500.00 is just about double what is asking price is

 

I live in Charleston, about 5 minutes from him. The cars are all crud buckets FOR what you pay. He seriously needs to drop the prices on them. Are you in charleston? We have a mini meet monthly, check the lowcountry mini club forum

 

I see several problems with this car without even hearing it, Is this being sold as a 1969 or a 1975? external door hinges, sliding windows on a 75? New paint cool flag on roof must be just like a woman, it added 6 years to its life

 

Motorsport, in reality you should be thankful you went to Turky's. You attended a free class. The more you do this and hone your critical eye, the better you will do when the "right" Mini comes along. I think you did very well for a newbie in your visit and have pegged the price accurately. I think $6,500 is generous on that car when there's no way to tell what lurks underneath. Better to find one properly done, or not touched at all.

Minis from OZ or NZ will normally have less rusty shells, bad paint and really worn rubbers. Better to see one before its painted.

Mercy, how familiar are you with Minis produced in OZ or NZ? I really don't know much about them. I do know they had odd combinations (exterior hinges & roll-up windows, Clubman S's with 1098's etc) that weren't found anywhere else.....

 

Yup, I really am --- it was good to see what else he had, too, in Mini's for sale. It was a very educational visit.

Thanks to all here for your help - and especially to the Big Fella

 

They did some strange things in OZ.. I am more familiar with their Mokes that came from there. Back in the 70's and 80's we never saw a NZ car, a few Mokes that was about it. If we saw a Canadian Mini it was because they drove it down. Once the Mini was no longer imported to the US, they came from no where, it was a lock down. My dad bought my 60 Morris 850 from a Navy guy that bought it new and brought it over on a navy ship, it has always been a LHD as far as I know, so I dont know if he found it in England or he special ordered it. Back in the day the sailors were allowed certain liberties if they could haul it back they did.

One of the coolest collection of Mokes I have ever seen both Aussie and English was on the Island of Catalina off California, in the 70's and 80's we would go over there and drive them all over the island, they rented them there and since you could not bring a car onto the island unless you lived there they rented Mokes. Anyways.. that got OT, sorry..

One link of the "before" pic of the mini had 69 in the title of the jpg if you notice, then after it is painted it is listed as a 75, the blue mini appears to be a 69 not 75, looks like you dodged a bullet on that deal. But then again there are some other re-vins in his stock that would be worth less than that one but make you look better and probably start anyways.

 

I asked him about the fact that it's advertised as a '75.

He said the previous owner (in New Zealand) installed the drivetrain from a '75 into an early shell.

 

That points out that the regulations on cars is specific and odd in various countries. There are some things you can and cannot do. I think after some mods, OZ makes the owner have the car inspected by an engineer.

The uK had a strange system of awarding points on how much of a car is maintained when it is updated or the shell replaced. Based on the points the registration may be kept or must be changed. See http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring...le/DG_10014246

 

One thing to note that I really didn't think much about when I got mine is that the mileage on some of these is in kilometers. So that car could have 176000km instead of 76000km which is only 110k miles which isn't that un-reasonable.

 

and some have been replaced anyways.. you can rarely tell the true mileage on a Mini.

 

When Turky says 'rust free' he might mean 'free rust'.

 

Im glad that I did a search in google for Turky's minis to see if anyone had done a write up on them. I have watched a couple of cars go off his lot via ebay or with a sold replacing the previous vehicle description. There is currently a yellow one that I have been looking at which looks nice, but may be over priced. The one thing that I had noticed is that in the shot within the engine bay, it looks like there is rust that has been painted over. It says Rust free and from the outside panels it does look that way, but a lot of the rust prone areas dont have shots of them and with the engine bay looking like what appeared as painted over rust...I havent really bit at it yet. On the site, it says that he has more pictures on request, but maybe it would just be a good idea to stay away from this seller as I feel I would be too much of a novice to notice the things that would make a car worth less or worthless.

 

reaseach reasearch research.....

 

this looks like rust right?

I couldnt seem to figure out how to post a picture, maybe this forum doesnt allow that. Instead I have placed the photo in my gallery. It would be a long drive for me to go up to Turkys, so I only want to make the trip if it could actually be worth my while. Im looking for a daily driver with minimal to no rust, but realistically understanding that since I plan to park it outside, it doesnt have to be pristine (I have no garage). I would rather find a physically flawless car with mechanical problems...mechanical is easy...rust if for the birds.

 

Guys, you have to remember that these were very cheap cars when they were built 40 years ago, they are going to have rust, just get used to it.

If you want a truly rust free car you're either going to buy one that's been totally redone and done right, or one that's so new it shouldn't be here - either way, it won't be a $6500 car - or even $8k - it'll be a lot more than that.

Still, I'd buy the best one (body) you can for your budget, you can fix mechanical stuff, but rust is a lot harder and more expensive to deal with if you can't do it yourself.

 

It could be rust but it also could be rubber seam sealant. Regardless the paint in that section most likely did not adhere properly and probably will lift at some point.

That paint job is fairly fresh and definitely is not original as stated on their website. I'm assuming this is the car. http://turkys.com/77basb.html

 

I understand that being such an old car and how everything was rust prone so long ago, I only beg to wonder why someone would use a work like "rust free" or "no rust" if there is clearly rust on the car. Its not something subjective, its either there or it isnt. Por15 sounds like something built for cars from this era, would think you would hear of more cars with this on them at this point. Im not really looking for a show stopper, but I surely dont want something rusting through so much that I can drive it like a flinstones car. I want something as a daily driver and have always loved the look of these old cars, but I am afraid of two things, 1 I dont have a garage, so it will be kept outside...probably under a cloth and two...most are very old and reliability may be an issue. Do a lot of you use these as Daily Drivers? Btw, it would most likely be my only car at this point.

 

stratman997, that is the car that I was looking at. The writeup in the car seemed nice enough and the only thing that bothered me was the one picture that looked like the paint was coming up on the inside of the engine bay. The other thing that seemed weird was that there was water on the inside of the engine bay. You can see drops of water all over the place. Engine/Electronics/Batteries and water dont mix well.

 

The car has been painted, that's for sure. The lifting paint under the master cylinder is probably a result of spilled brake fluid. It looks like they painted over it - that's means the new paint will probably lift as well. I do like the color, though.

 

It's just an expression that REALLY means "no rust visible if you look at the car from 20 yards away. At night. And don't open the doors, hood or trunk. Or look under the car."

In other words, if you see this phrase used, you automatically know that you can (usually) chop off 30%-50% of the asking price to determine the true value of the car, because the seller is either liar or a clueless idjit.

Of course, this is just a generalization... In my experience, you CAN find a good, minimally rusty Mini classic in the $6k-$8k range, but you have to be ready to search, search, search. Before I bought Fiona (my '92 classic) I set a rule for mtself that I'd only look at cars on Minimania's classifieds that were under $7K (my max budget) and that ran right out of the gates (no mechanical work required) and that had no visible rust. I was OK with a little bit or rust, and in the end I got a car that has a bit or under-the-surface rust in the wings and the door skins, and that eventually holed out in the left-side floor pan - all of which I feel is reasonable considering what I paid.

If I'd paid $12k-$16K fr my car, that amount of rust would have pisse dme off royally, but I knew what to expect from reading posts in here.

BE WARNED - I had to look at well over 50 cars, at least 6 of which I got to the late "send me pictures of the following 25 areas" stage before I jumped on my current car. As it was, I feel I got lucky, time-wise (I had a very motivated seller).

As for Turky, here's what I'd do.

Assuming you've seen the car and azre OK with the amount of rust (i.e. you think the car won't collapse and that you can fix it or know someone that can) - If he asks $12k, show up with $6K IN CASH and wave it under his nose. Turky's used to bullying people and using a "take it or leave it" attitude, so don't be afraid to do an about-face and walk off the lot. His cars are (usually) in no way worth his asking price, but they ARE Minis and so do have SOME value. I guarantee you though - Turkey knows what his cars are really worth, and he seems to like marking them up 100%, then offering to "only" take a 50% profit, thinking that it sounds like a great deal. It's not. This works pretty well against clueless n00bs.

Having the cash in-hand is a powerful motivator - don't negotiate without having it in your hands. Think Kurt Russdel in "Used Cars" to get the feeling for what you're going for here... hey, TURKEY WILL TRY IT ON YOU so why not fight fire with fire? If he refuses your offer, walk away - I guarantee there are better cars than his out there for the money.



TIP: Be the guy on the right... otherwise you WILL BE the clueless, hapless n00b on the left.

 

I guess its just a matter of finding those cars. One day I will be a proud owner of a classic mini

 

My feeling for you and anyone that wants to spend that much on a nice classic to use as a daily driver and to park outside is to re-think your purchase. It won't be rust free for long and it won't be so neat and cute anymore when you have to bum a ride to work. If you are serious about getting one, drive a newer beater for now save your money and get one as a second car when you can have both. I would be more worried about getting indoor storage for the car than a few spots of rust under the hood.