Buying a mini

[fastmaxxcooper]

when i graduate from high school im going to england for a month or so and i was wondering if it would be worth it to buy a mini from europe and ship it to the US or if it would be better to get one from the US. i am not looking for a bmw mini but a rover or austin mini that was 1980 or after. also are there any places in the US to buy mini parts and upgrades cheaply.

[ugly kid jon]

all I know is that bringing a car from Europe will cost an arm and a leg. Emissions and safety standards importation taxes, shipping costs, there's so much red tape that its a nightmare. Its a hell of a lot esier to find one here, less headaches.

[Funkynassau]

I am a founding member of the British Saloon Car Club of Canada, I maintain the website for the club and I am the editor of the newsletter, The Oily Rag. We have about 80 members with Minis (503 members in all) and many of them have imported Minis and other Brit cars into Canada. It costs about $1500 - $2000 to send one over here, by the time you pay the shipping fee and taxes, duty etc. You have to decide if you can afford that or not.

You might find one in England that's a better deal than you'd get here body-wise as they dont have snow and salt on the roads to deal with like we do here in Ontario, so where you live is also a consideration. If you get a good southern car or western Canada car you can get one in nice shape. Or you find one that's stored in the winter and hopefully is pretty rust free.

There are lots of Minis out there once you get looking around. We have two at present, a 79 Mini sedan and a 65 Mini panel van we found in Saskatchewan.
Funkynassau