Sports pack Mini

Looking for some advise, we may be purchasing another mini, we've been looking at later mini's around 98, 99 and 2000, sportspack ones, a lot of the ones seem to have rust in some form or another is there any suggestions or ones to steer clear of, or things to look for


Thanks
Steve

It wouldn't be a Mini without rust

Try and find one that's had all the work done and hang on because there might be one or two bargains out there soon.

How much do you fancy spending.....if that's not too rude a question

the Sportspack ones are a pain --difficult and heavy steering with wide turning circle similar to an Artic and if left more than 5 mins the alarm will run the battery down (slight exageration about the battery sometimes it will last a week !!)

thats why the one ive got is a non sportspack. handles better with the 12 inch wheels on, although it still rusts as quick as any other sportspack, the gearbox breaks just as easy as a sportspack because of the really tall diff (good on the motorway though )and gears made of cheese, and the battery goes flat quick because of the alarm.
try and get one without a rusty scuttle panel although you'll be lucky to find one thats rust free (unless you pay me loads of money and i might let you have mine). otherwise its around £1000 for a scuttle panel and repaint thats doing it properly though when i had mine done it ended up costing £2700 because bits of the bulkhead had gone.

Rusty bits gearboxes made of cheese we dont have that much problems with our 79 GT, perhaps we may have to turn to the dark side(BMW) we just want something reiable and a bit more comfy, quite, no oil leaks etc

Steve

they just seem to rust quicker than most. its wierd.
they are much more refined and reliable than older minis, although if you miss the noise theres stuff to be bought to make it loud and a bit quicker. youll probably find its slower accelerating than your GT, because the diff ratio is taller, so it makes the top speed higher and it cruises nice at motorway speeds

Weve found a couple to view, a X reg with 19,000 which the guy has only used twice in the last 5 years, plus a 40th anniversary model which we would have viewed last weekend but the guy was out both have no rust, aledgly,   we shall see, fingers crossed

Good luck with the viewings   hope you manage to find what you're looking for  

It will be nice if you find what you really want and I hope you do. Wood and Pickett had some nice cars for sale but Surrey maybe a little too far but they have them to view on their website. And being an owner of both the other side is not that dark and sometimes it's reassuring to start a journey without having to cross your fingers. The most negative comments are often from those who have never driven a new MINI. Good luck and let us know how you get on.