Q: I have seen and want to buy a 1981 Austin Maxi. It comes with all its paperwork from all MOTs services etc. It has a reasonably low mileage for its age and is in brilliant condition, again for its age. I was just wondering if anyone had experience with these cars and could tell me if I am likely to have a lot of problems with it. Whether the parts are easy to come buy, cheap etc? In case anything should go wrong. I want one of these cars because they have so much more character than the modern cars and I know that they aren't as reliable but I would appreciate any advice or expertise that would help me out and help me decide whether to buy this car or not. I think they are great looking cars!! Thanks for your input = )
A: Nothing to be ahamed of Arthur, I've had two, a Mk1 and Mk2. The Mk1 had quite a lot of niggly running problems and if my memory is right it was prone to exhaust problems with the transverse engine. The Mk2 was a better car because BL had sorted a lot of the early mistakes. My Mk2 used to eat CV joints which you can hear 'clicking' on full lock and the front suspension Hydragas displacers failed. Both were expensive to fix in 1982. Another common fault was gearbox failure when apparently a nut would spin off inside the gearbox. Critics at the time said the engines were only good for 40,000 miles but I never reached that mileage. A lot of the running parts eg. plugs, points etc. were the same as those on the Allegro. The Maxi was a good innovative car for it's time being the first 5 speed, 5 door hatch. Both mine were reliable and particularly suitable for me at the time as I could carry the stuff I needed for my job and still use it as a family car. It should be a 'classic' but I don't think it will ever achieve the same status as say the Mini, Spitfire or Moggy Minor. Before you buy check the subframes and sills. I used to use a small magnet wrapped in cloth to search out the sneaky bits of filler and brown paper, the sills are not particularly strong. Most british cars built before 1986 were prone to fairly extensive rot within a few years partly because there was little or no protection and partly because the steel they were built with was already rusty because of poor storage conditions. For spares you would be better doing a Yahoo search or checking E-bay as I suspect some parts will be very difficult to find now. Good luck and enjoy it if you buy it..