Another beginner :oops: with too many questions

[Bop]

Hello everybody,

I absolutely adore mini at the moment, I would buy 1 today max. tomorrow but I've never owned a car in Ireland and this brings up a couple of question s.

I'm 27, hold Full EU licence for the last 7 years, have no penalty points, used to drive a company car here in Ireland for about 2 years(3 years ago), now only renting a car from time to time.

I have practically very blurred ideas about what lies ahead. Could you please tell me how much(approximately) would be the notoriously high insurance if I'd buy the 0.99 version and what else would I need to pay for?

Also would it be a good idea to buy a car somewhere else and bring it here or would VRT be too high?

I don't know if this website can be trusted(don't trust it now) but they have cheap & nice looking cars sometimes:

http://www.tradecarview.com/used_car/ja ... /12159435/

Many thanks for your suggestions.

Bop

[Billy]

Bop,

Welcome to the forum.

As regards insurance, you really need to contact some insurance companies yourself as everyone is different.

Right now, late 90s Minis are far far cheaper in Ireland than they are in the UK. The Jap sites are supposedly very trustworthy but you can't beat viewing the car yourself before you commit to buy. Bear in mind that the newest Mini is 12 years old and just like any 12-year-old car, it will not be perfect. Added to the age, Minis ALWAYS suffered from rust dur to poor treatment from the factory so be very careful.

Billy

[Bop]

Thanks Billy.

I'm trying to deal with the insurance companies online as it's not a pleasant thing to do(I mean their tricks, then calling another one telling them youve got a better deal from the other company and so on) but eventually I would have to face them personally .

How is actually possible they are cheaper here than in UK? I mean UK should have more of them as the country which produces Mini so for other countries they should be rarer therefore more expensive no?

1 advertisement says 1000cc is it possible or does it mean 998cc for example? if it's 1000 would it be already rated as a different class?

Many thanks

[Billy]

A late 90s Cooper could go for as much as STG£6-7k while here about €4k is tops. The money isn't in Ireland right now.

A Mini 1000 has a 998cc engine.

[mgb1978]

Also be aware that the 998cc version was discontinued around 1991.
This means that only 1275cc versions were available after this date.
Some insurance companies (mainly Liberty, formerly Quinn-Direct) won't insure you on a main car that is more than 20 years old.
Although for some reason the 1994 "Mini 35" is rated the same as a basic 1,000cc car, even though it is 1275cc.

[Bop]

Thanks for your replies mgb1978 & Billy,

That is an interesting fact about Mini 35, but is even the road tax lower or does it apply only to insurance?

[Buddy]

just be very aware when you are buying that you but as best condition as you can,check everything!! speaking from (a very expensive) history of buying a uk car you may have to spend a lot of money fixing things down the line ...