George J
Herefordshire member
Not mine, but ...
I now have this model and colour legally on the road as of today!
I bought the car last November, but kept it parked while I ran my Toyota Aygo into the ground. The Aygo was officially scrapped and de-registered yesterday. Scrapping got me £145, which I find remarkable - nice of course, but more than I expected.
I put some petrol in the Mini and fitted a new three year guarantee battery - guaranteed to fail one week after being three years old! I am a real skin-flint. It was the cheapest I could buy, from Halford as it goes.
Anyhow, I drove over to my favourite local car garage to show them my latest vehicle. They have been servicing my various cars since 1979, so there is trust for sure.
Then I did a fifteen mile test run, and the Mini is actually rather nice, though the steering is alarming in its directness after the Aygo, and the exact opposite of my favourite car the Volvo 240 which I ran an example of from 2000 to 2011. That was made in 1989. Steering that car was interesting. You had to move the steering a long way before any perceived change of direction became apparent. The first reaction of the Volvo - long before any obvious actual change of direction was that the car leaned! But it was terribly stable and did not require fussy adjustments to direction ... It understeered for Sweden, or Great Britain or other old national stereo-types. The point was "never to go into a bend too fast."
But the Mini is like my Carlton bike. The steering is electrifyingly responsive. Sneeze and you could be over the hedge!
The engine is good, also the clutch. Brakes rather reticent, just like the Volvo, you have to shove, and the serious braking then kicks in. I like that. Not over-boosted. The clutch is also every bit as weighty as the Volvo. I like that.
I only paid £400 for mine, but it seems likely to be good for a few more years yet!
Best wishes from George