Marina for a (nearly!) 18 year old?

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mancteen
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Marina for a (nearly!) 18 year old?

Post by mancteen » Sun Feb 11, 2018 5:43 pm

Hi everyone,
I’m considering buying a Marina from ebay, and want some advice if that’s alright! About me:
I am 18 in March, I have a modern car with a black box that cost £1700 to insure, and I’ve never had a classic or have experience with the mechanics of a car. I have, however, always wanted a 70s car, and have recently fell in love with a Marina on ebay. It’s in good condition, having been used as a daily last year. However, it needs a new bonnet, and will need a new clutch soon.
The things stopping me from bidding on the car are my lack of experience and the difficulty of getting insurance. Oh, and losing money! So my questions are:
Does anyone know of a 17 (or 18) year old getting insurance that isn’t ridiculous for a Marina as a second car?
Could a complete novice replace a clutch at home, and if not how much might it cost at a garage?
And finally, am I insane or should I risk a grand or so on what should be a great new hobby?

Thanks in advance for all your help!

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First-Car as Marina
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Re: Marina for a (nearly!) 18 year old?

Post by First-Car as Marina » Sun Feb 11, 2018 6:28 pm

Hi and welcome :wave:,

I was in the same situation as you but I was 16 at the time and wanted something old and cool but gave up when I couldn't find anything and was going to get a modern car. But then my great uncle had a Marina that was in his garage for 28 years and wanted it gone. I had no experience of mechanics but wanted it and we spent 8 months working on it in the driveway. From welding, engine bits and a clutch replacement to name a few jobs!

I used the car as learner car with my lessons and once I passed my test I used it everyday. Overall I used it for 3.5 years and did 20,000 miles in it. Only stopped when I crashed into a deer last year. It was great fun and apart from in my first year letting me down twice, it never really did after and it went through every MOT first time. It did everything I wanted it to and was great fun.

With insurance, although I only had this car I was using, I think I paid £350 for a provisional then after 3 months when I passed I paid an extra £900 for the rest of the time. The next year was £570 ish then my final year was £364 ish so was definitely cheap over the time I drove it compared to other cars.

With regards to working on it they are really easy especially if you buy a Haynes manual and follow that. They are good ways to get your skills on cars as I knew nothing when I started and have applied my skills to many cars now.

So overall, if someone took me back to relive that part of my life, I wouldn't change it and would still do the same thing. Ignore the haters on fb, etc for the cars, I've never had a problem with them and they always get the attention at the shows and even in public.

All the best :thumbup:,

Alex
My old daily, resprayed by me too ;)
My old daily, resprayed by me too ;)
1976 1.3 DL Coupe - Retired daily after 2.5 years, smashed up, now being fixed (PDA 827R) (Lumpy)
1971 1.3 SDL Saloon - Rotting into the front garden, will resume in 2021 (VGV 616K) (Rusty)
1971 1.3 DL Coupe - MOT'ed and on the road, used as much as possible (REW 5K) (Tigger)
2013 Ford Focus Zetec S - Very economical and a great car in general

mancteen
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Re: Marina for a (nearly!) 18 year old?

Post by mancteen » Sun Feb 11, 2018 7:06 pm

Alex, I was hoping you in particular would respond! Thanks for your reply, it’s very reassuring. Might I ask your insurer - Lancaster has very provisionally quoted me £950.

This is the car I’m thinking of - any thoughts on its value and suitability as a first Marina? I would have to buy it blind and have it transported at about £180 cost too.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Morris-Marin ... 0011.m1850

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lock1506
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Re: Marina for a (nearly!) 18 year old?

Post by lock1506 » Sun Feb 11, 2018 7:18 pm

The car you are looking at is a 1700cc one, you would get cheaper insurance on a 1.3 if you can find one. I think there was a 1.3 coupe on ebay, not sure if it sold or not.

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First-Car as Marina
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Re: Marina for a (nearly!) 18 year old?

Post by First-Car as Marina » Sun Feb 11, 2018 7:52 pm

You know who I am then ;). No worries, happy to help. For my first year I was with Surething and after that year I was with gogirl. To be honest I just went on go compare and then I went straight to the cheapest person on their website and compared the two prices as well as messing around with options like excess, etc.

I would say it's worth £1000 ish for me personally, maybe £1200 at a stretch just because it's a decent car and the prices are going up, so you wouldn't really lose out to be honest when reselling if you wanted to resell. I haven't had much experience on the 1.7 o-series but the rest is the same as my cars and it's easy to work on either way. I'd say it's a good first Marina and I don't think the hole in the boot is an MOT fail, so that's one thing not to worry about. To be honest, although it's a 1.7, you may be surprised that insurance could be cheap for it, not saying it is but it might be, if not for the first year it could be the second. If you use MOT history and type in it's reg that'll give you an idea of its condition through the years.
1976 1.3 DL Coupe - Retired daily after 2.5 years, smashed up, now being fixed (PDA 827R) (Lumpy)
1971 1.3 SDL Saloon - Rotting into the front garden, will resume in 2021 (VGV 616K) (Rusty)
1971 1.3 DL Coupe - MOT'ed and on the road, used as much as possible (REW 5K) (Tigger)
2013 Ford Focus Zetec S - Very economical and a great car in general

mancteen
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Re: Marina for a (nearly!) 18 year old?

Post by mancteen » Mon Feb 12, 2018 6:57 pm

Thanks for your reply lock1506, the car is a 1.7, I would imagine a 1.3 would be cheaper. I do want a 4 door, however, and think I’ve fallen in love with this one! The comparison sites didn’t give me any quotes for the Marina below £10,000, so I think I’d have to use a classic insurer.
First car, that MOT history check is really helpful. The car’s failed a few MOTs, but the issues seem to have been sorted out. It’s interesting going through the history of all the cars I know!
Any other thoughts on the car itself?

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lock1506
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Re: Marina for a (nearly!) 18 year old?

Post by lock1506 » Mon Feb 12, 2018 7:06 pm

I do think its a good enough car and solid in all the right places, it should be an easy enough project for you to do and marina's are easy cars to learn on.

david painter
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Re: Marina for a (nearly!) 18 year old?

Post by david painter » Mon Feb 12, 2018 7:30 pm

See my post on the ebay thread. Lots of mechanical stuff shared with other BL stuff of the era. Simple as they come to work on. 1.3 easier than 1.7 personally I like the O series engine much better than the B series it replaced but even that a good engine.
Dsve

mancteen
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Re: Marina for a (nearly!) 18 year old?

Post by mancteen » Mon Feb 12, 2018 8:06 pm

Thanks lock and David, both posts are very helpful


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JoshWard
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Re: Marina for a (nearly!) 18 year old?

Post by JoshWard » Wed Feb 14, 2018 7:06 am

Insurance and tax will both be more expensive for a 1.7 than a 1.3. My first car was a 1.8 back in 2011, I was fortunate enough to get classic insurance in my first year as Footman James did a scheme for young classic drivers, sadly they then stopped that and I had trouble insuring it the next year for a reasomable price- a 1.3 wouldn't have been a problem.

Adrian Flux were usually competitive for me when I was under 25 as well (most classic insurers won't cover people under 25).

I have a bonnet here in the right colour if you do go for it. Bear in mind how thick the filler is on that bonnet suggests the acccident damage wasn't repaired that well- the filler looks just as thick on the wings....

Having been there and done it myself as a young driver with a non tax exempt 1.8, I'd personally be on the lookout for a tax exempt 1.3! The 1.3s drive better, not that much difference in performance, and you won't be throwing a lot of cash away on insurance and tax as you would with a 1.7 or 1.8.
Club archivist/chief anorak
1936 Ford Model Y- On loan from the CCLP
1967 Triumph Herald
1971 1.3 DL Coupe (VRU362J)
1971 1.3 SDL Coupe (JGC240K)
1971 1.3 SDL Saloon (OVW292K)
1971 1.8 SDL Coupe (MCU274K)
1980 Ital 1.3 HL (NPB34W)

mancteen
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Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2018 5:36 pm

Re: Marina for a (nearly!) 18 year old?

Post by mancteen » Wed Feb 14, 2018 5:40 pm

Thanks Josh, that’s really helpful advice. Adrian Flux have yet to ring me back, they took my details and said that they’d contact the underwriters, so we’ll see how that goes. I may just have to wait for a 1.3 - and of course, not having to pay £240 tax is a big incentive to buy a car that’s a few years older.
I must say, however, that I’d been intending to repair the bonnet with more filler! 😂😂

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