Bought a 1982 mini city 1000 off of ebay. The description wasnt quite up to par with what it was. It was described as having had the rust professionally repaired, and rust free. Had some surface rust in the door frame, a little around the windshield frame, and a few spots here and there. Not bad, but not rust free. The kid was kind of a pain to deal with. I bid £1330 on the uk ebay site, and drove 250 miles round trip to pick her up. I test drove the car, and gave it a once over, talked with the wifey, and went back to talk to the kid that owned it.

I was polite, but I told him I didnt think the vehicle was as advertised, that it had a few spots of rust in the rear quarters, around the windshield, etc. He didnt believe me, and went out to look at it with me. I then told him, that I didnt think the car was as advertised, and that I wasnt looking for any kind of a project vehicle. He told me well you already paid for it. I told him, its contractual, based on it matching the sellers description. He got all pissy, and told me why do people always do this?? I said I`ll offer you 1150, or you can relist it. I explained how far I drove, and that I didnt come here to jerk him around, but was under the expectation of a different condition provided by him. He said its almost a 30 year old vehicle, they are all going to have rust. I said, i dont mind paying more for a vehicle that doesnt. I said yours was advertised as no reserve, and rust free. His dad tried telling me the same thing. He went on to tell me how people had already offered him 1200, and at 1150 he was losing money, and that he had more into it than that. I told him cars that you fix up arent investments that your going to make money off of. You`ll loose money everytime. Its a lesson I learned along time ago. Then he told me that he forgot to send the paper to the licensing bureau that it was not being driven, so he got a 50 pound fine. Where exactly does your inability to follow through with your obligations have anything to do with me?

He told me 1200, I told him 1150, and we went back and forth for about 20 min. His dad and him tried getting me to 1175, but I told him, that 1150 was my offer and he was more than welcome to relist it, but it was already 50 more than I told my wife I thought I would offer. His dad then tried telling me that he thought it was silly, and that he didnt think I would drive all that way and turn around over 25. His son didnt say anything just stood there for a few min with his hands crossed. Finally I walked over to him, and offered my hand and said thanks for you time. He told me that if he relisted it, it would cost him another 50, and that he would rather get the money, than ebay. Finally he relented, and agreed on the price, but was pretty pissed off. During the negotiations, his dad tried telling me it wasnt hard for me since I was a aircraft mechanic. Right.... because working on my car after work is exactly what I want to do after working 8-16 hour days, doing the same thing on a aircraft. I made the journey home without incident. One thing I did notice was the trunk lid lock, I couldnt get it to lock, so will probably have to source a new one. I brought two 5 gallon tanks of gas with me, since living overseas the price of gas off base is outrageous with the exchange rate. Good thing I did too, the tank was pretty much bone dry. My wife talked it over afterwards, and she said that she thought that was the first time she felt discriminated against. The lady asked her questions basically eluding to the misconception that all military wives are lazy and dont work (mine works full time), the kid told me "why are people always doing this"? (well, if you describe accurately, you probably wouldnt have this problem.) And the dads comments about my job knowledge, oh, and the kid told me your sticking to 1150 pretty hard, I bet thats all you brought! I said, no I brought 1350, expecting a 20 back, but I also expected the car to be in better condition.

Cliff notes: bid on car on ebay. won car. car not as described. offered less money. seller cried. paid for car. drove home.

 

Pictures in gallery

 

Looks a nice standard car, I would be tempted to keep it that way, the simplicity of the basic single speedo dash interior always interests people who are now so used to cars loaded with luxury and gadgets!

 

Honestly, the color didnt impress me at all when I bid on it, but seeing it in person, it really does look nice. I think i`m going to talk to a shop, and see about a respray in the same color. The only debate I have, is I would really like to add a coolant temp and oil pressure guage, along with a radio (speakers I could hide under the rear seat). The only debate, is where to place them, to keep the early look. He put the mirrors on the fenders, sprayed the wheels, and grill center to match, and debadged it. I was also looking at replacing the steering wheel, and shift **** with the mini moutney? versions.

 

Glad that it all worked out in the end for you, man!

 

Good for you that you stuck to your guns. There are too many sellers that don't realize that when a buyer is willing to pay top-dollar for a car that requires no (or very little) work, that knocking a few hundred dollars off of a mis-represented car is NOT an acceptable substitute.

I can't tell you how many sellers don't realize that if a car has rust in the rockers/window frames, it doesn't matter how good the rest of the paint is - if I'm going to have to re-paint the entire car to get a perfectly-matched finish, then it may as well be in primer.

 

very nice........congrates

 

The early 3 dial centre dash pod is an easy fit upgrade to get the coolant and oil guages, (still looks simple & in period) all the fixings are on the bulkhead already and is easily converted back in the future if required. The pod is expensive new with dials (£360?) but are cheap secondhand if you can find one on ebay.

 

Well done! Definitely add the temp and pressure gauges.

 

Good for you! I learned the hard way that you definitely dont always get what was advertised on ebay. My mini was represented as "recent rebuild" "no rust" and "runs good". Well, it ran, but they forgot to mention that it wouldnt STOP! (no brakes!) it also wouldnt restart once you stopped it since the alternator was shot. I very stupidly asked a co-worker to go look at the car prior to my buying it since i am in FL and the car was in boston. His standards were nowhere near what mine were, he was right about one thing though, there was no visible rust, it was all covered in bondo. (as Norm can well attest!) fortunately i am now getting the car back on the right track. thanks to Norm's help. In the future, i will NEVER buy a car off ebay unless I am able to inspect it myself!

 

Here is the new kit from Moss UK but others also sell them and of course they are much cheaper used. (This is also what the retro classic Mini dash layout is based on in the new MINI).
3 Dial Centre Dash

 

It looks like a nice find. I didn't realize that a 1982 Mini City would have the Mk1-looking center cluster w/parcel shelf dash. I love the simplicity, but would opt for the oval 3-gauge conversion, too. Is it old english white? I like the color.

 

You can, you just have to pull out the padded top dash rail - the hole in the center of the firewall is exactly the same through the years...

 

Looks like a beautiful Mini. I like that color.

 

Ouch, £369! I found one on ebay, that I think I`m going to atleast bid on. I`ll probably ask my neighbor if his buddy who is a hardcore mini guy if he has one for sale, if not get this one, and switch out the two guages with a retro looking set from summit racing, that way I have the sending units. I was looking at the car last night, and a few things I cant figure out. One, it appears he removed the rear window defrost from the window . Two, whats the switch all the way to the left in the center three switches, I`m guessing rear fog, or defrost? Second, the two pull out *****, I know the one on the left is choke. The one one on the right appears to be stuck all the way in. What is it?

 

Oh that was something else that the kid told me was that it has 45k miles on it. Unfortunately and I pointed this out to him, he doesnt have any service history to back it up. (Brits are REALLY big on cars with full service history).

 

Yes, worth bidding on that dash, they come up quite often for about that price on ebay and at shows, normally more if they have Cooper or S speedos which read above the basic 90mph, ie. 100, 120 or 130mph.
The rocker switch to the left is to test the brake fluid level warning light bulb if the Mini has dual circuit brakes. Look close and it should have a picture of a brake pedal on it I think? The brake master cylinder cap has a wire attached to it under the bonnet (sorry hood) for this to work.
The pull out **** operates a water valve on the cylinder head and so controls the flow of hot water to the heater. In practice its normally hot or cold with little adjustment in between! If its stuck the valve or cable have seized up, easy job to replace either.

 

On the heater control and valve... when it works properly (valve ok), you will find that the IN position is heat; OUT position is no heat. Just the opposite of what you'd expect.

 

The best way to buy a Mini while stationed in England is find a local club and become a active member. Go with the club to the Mini shows and events. There they can help sort out a fantastic Mini. Plus a club can help work on your Mini for FREE. That is what clubs do over there.

BTW -Are you stationed at Lakenheath or Mildenhal?

Cheers,

Ash

 

I`m at Mildenhall, about to be unemployed though . They are retiring all of our helicopters (the MH-53), so I`m waiting to see if I`m going to Nellis next to work on the 60's, or if my cross training paperwork is going through for paralegal.

 

I know your pain my AF brother. My options for cross-training were Security Forces or F16 avionics, so I bailed. Makes sure to find yourself a local Mini club, so they can help wipe the Mini into shape before PCS‘ing.