Irish Mini Owners Club

Anybody out there who has no garage?
Personally I have gotten fed up with trying work on a car in our weather. I am currently floating the idea of setting up a co-op. It would work as follows:

1. A group of like minded people get together.
2. We find a suitable premises, with space enough to park our cars, and big enough to be able to work indoors. Everybody would have a bay, and an area to store tools, etc.
3. Everyone pays a subscription to cover lighting, insurance etc., and any money left in the kitty is used to buy tools that you would not use very often or are expensive, such as pullers or a compressor.
4. There would be rules regarding the amount of cars one could have,no running a business from the premises, and a fair system would be put in place to ensure everybody got equal access to the place.
5. It would be open to all makes of classic cars, (larger vehicles depends on size of premises)

Anybody interested? Contact Tony or Stephen at 086171 4819 / 0851204304 or Email at Keot@eircom.net
P.S. Apologies to Tony with the Elf who replied to my original letter in Irish Vintage for the delay in getting back to you!

yea, interested right enough. would be dependent on price, location, facilities, access times etc.

Having made some enquiries, anywhere inside the M50 seems to be a nonstarter, unless we find a philanthropic developer!
It would have to be somewhere in the county of Dublin for reasonable access, and of course security both physical and tenure would be an issue.
I will be making enquiries regarding legal issues, as a properly constituted co-op would be subject to rules, no doubt.
It has been done before, in England, if anybody has any ideas or input I would be glad to hear it!

Hi

I think it's a great idea but there are hurdles to jump with cost, access and location. For stangers to enter into joint contracts and leases and whatnot may also be an issue. I certainly don't want to get caught with other people's share of the debts.

That said, it might be brilliant, and I am on the verge of striking out on my own to find garage space in Dunboyne for the Elf before the winter sets in.

Tony/Ali

Have been a part of something like this for the last few years and there are quite a few pros and cons.

Ultimately, my belief is it works best with as few people as possible. That's just my experience though!

Very difficult to find a suitable premises too at a reasonable rate but it can be done!

Happy to offer any advice needed.

Thanks to everyone for the input
I will keep you all posted with any progress

IIRC some of the guys from octane/kit cars have done something similar.

Well intrested in this as i have 3 minis need to store at least 1 of them and maybe restore 1 intrested either way

Just looking at some places on Daft to get some idea what the costs may be.

There's a 2,000 sq ft place in Leixlip for €695 a month. My guess you'd put 15-20 minis in there.

Anyone got any similar possibles.

Tony

I used Colpe Storage near Drogheda to refresh my mini recently, they have different size units and a reasonable security set up.

Yeah I'd be interested in this also

I've found a couple of places that might suit, I will be following up today and tomorrow. Will let ye know what I find out.

Getting exciteing now

I was looking at a unit of 2000 square feet today, in Garristown Co. Dublin. It is available for 200 p.month. It is on the main street, with ample parking around.
It is approx. 30 mins drive from where I live in Donaghmede.
It is on Property.ie. I have emailed the agent regarding lease, etc.
Any opinions?
I can arrange viewing if enough people are interested.

That's insanely cheap!

A unit like that would normally go for around €1200 a month in more central Dublin.

N

Cheap it is....
The leasor (or whatever you call them) has been in touch and I hope to get out next Wednesday.
There is electricity afaik, .
Anyhow I'll let ye all know.
If anybody sees or hears of anything else don't hesitate to let me know

Has anyone considered any insurance issues i.e. in the event of the lock-up being broken into, equipment/cars nicked, if there's a fire caused by the lad parked next to you etc. If one of the lads forgets to lock up and stuff gets nicked, who's to blame?

Communal storage can be fine if it's just storage but when work is ongoing, there's great potential for cars getting scratched/dented etc.

Sounds great cost-wise, but it's just too far out for us.
I guess we'll keep looking nearer to home and if we find something we think might be good for several people we will definitely post here.
Ali (& Tony!)

any up date on this lads