Morris Minor Owners Club

I bought a classic vehicle about 2 years ago from a dealer, I drove it only half a mile down the road and the engine packed up. The dealer came out and changed the condenser, the coil, the points, the petrol pump and it still didn't run. He towed it back and gave me a refund. That would not happen with a private sale.
Saying that I bought my Morris Minor privately and have driven it a few thousand miles without problems.

Evidently there are pros and cons to both. Dealers have costs involved and need to earn a living, there is nothing wrong with that. Some dealers are more conscientious and thorough than others.

I’ve had experience of buying a used car with falsified service history, from what appeared a reputable dealer on the face of things. I later learned they were (are) involved in organised crime.

I went private with the Moggy because the car offered was (and still is) in outstanding condition. I couldn’t have afforded it if it had been on a forecourt. I’ve ended up becoming friends with the seller too. A more honest and nicer chap you couldn’t meet.

We bought our Morris Traveller privately, something neither of us had ever done before, but we hadn't seen anything else that matched the excellent condition of this one. We were somewhat nervous given we had little idea what we should be looking for and the sum of money involved although it turned out we needn't have been. We were reassured that the seller was keen that we were going to keep and look after the car (he had just finished a bare metal restore) i.e. he wasn't just trying to make a fast buck. Before we picked it up he changed two of the tyres, went to an auto-jumble to find a 1098 speedo and swapped it out, moved the seat forward for us (Jayne has short legs) and had it MOT'ed even though it wasn't due. When we picked it up he gave us a box full of spares along with the various paints he had used. He had even made up a bottle of touch up paint.

That was over 10 years ago. Other than the 'to be expected' issues (the fuel pump packed up after a few weeks for example - the first time I had to do any work on it) the car has exceeded all our expectations. We have stayed in touch with the seller and his lovely family ever since and often meet up at shows. He came to see the Traveller on one of the stands at the Classic Car Show in 2018 and was hopefully satisfied that we were looking after it for him.

I suspect we were particularly lucky going private but on the other hand there was the MX5 we bought from a used car dealer not that far from us.....

So... is that attached picture the traveller or the MX-5?

After all, it wouldn't be the first mx-5 based traveller:
https://www.morrisminorowners.co.uk/vie ... 38#p110438

Chief wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 3:41 pm So... is that attached picture the traveller or the MX-5?

After all, it wouldn't be the first mx-5 based traveller:
https://www.morrisminorowners.co.uk/vie ... 38#p110438

LOL. I hadn't seen that before. Mind you if the MX5 had looked like that I would have been more forgiving.