Does a rust free mk1 mx5 exist for £1500 ?
Discussion
Yes, but don't expect it to be completely rust free as none of them are! That's a reasonable budget to find a decent car; I paid that for a 76k VR-Ltd a couple of years back in need of some minor TLC and prices have dropped since then.
Keep looking and broaden your search; be prepared to travel a little way for the right car
Keep looking and broaden your search; be prepared to travel a little way for the right car
You can get lucky.
I just purchased an L registered mk1 1.8 V-spec Eunos off an older lady and gent which has no rust.It cost me £999, is taxed till Feb 2014 and has all the import documents, Japanese Eunos manual and history, every single bill they ever spent on it and it has only covered 62k miles.They only ever used it on sunny days and have covered 7000 miles in the last 5 years! It's not 100% mint, but it's an amazing car to find for the 1k price tag.It has one tiny repair in the roof and a small knock on the rear bumper which is hard to see from certain angles, but apart from that, it's one of the best I have seen.
We removed the towing eyes/transportation tie down hoops from the front of it the other day and they came off with ease.Anyone who knows anything about the removal of these will appreciate that they are usually rusted solid even on really clean cars!
I could sell some of the bits off it (including spare wind blocker, stlye bar, wooden Nardi wheel, luggage rack, glass window protector etc) and make several hundred pounds on those alone.The last lot of MOT certs show no advisories at all.
I just purchased an L registered mk1 1.8 V-spec Eunos off an older lady and gent which has no rust.It cost me £999, is taxed till Feb 2014 and has all the import documents, Japanese Eunos manual and history, every single bill they ever spent on it and it has only covered 62k miles.They only ever used it on sunny days and have covered 7000 miles in the last 5 years! It's not 100% mint, but it's an amazing car to find for the 1k price tag.It has one tiny repair in the roof and a small knock on the rear bumper which is hard to see from certain angles, but apart from that, it's one of the best I have seen.
We removed the towing eyes/transportation tie down hoops from the front of it the other day and they came off with ease.Anyone who knows anything about the removal of these will appreciate that they are usually rusted solid even on really clean cars!
I could sell some of the bits off it (including spare wind blocker, stlye bar, wooden Nardi wheel, luggage rack, glass window protector etc) and make several hundred pounds on those alone.The last lot of MOT certs show no advisories at all.
That's exactly what I'm after but most if the mx5's down 'ere are over priced (perceived summer effect ?) or badly described.
I just viewed an S-special imported in '08, described as purely cosmetic rust in the sill (thank god she was not involved in cosmetic surgery !.....no evidence of a UK Campbelt change since import, no receipts for any servicing, although she assured me that she had done some. Covered in bird s
te and a list of advisories that filled the mot sheet !!
I just viewed an S-special imported in '08, described as purely cosmetic rust in the sill (thank god she was not involved in cosmetic surgery !.....no evidence of a UK Campbelt change since import, no receipts for any servicing, although she assured me that she had done some. Covered in bird s
te and a list of advisories that filled the mot sheet !!I found a 1998 UK Mk1 with no rust on it a couple of years ago for £1750 (listed at £2500) and prices have dropped a lot since then. About 18 months ago I got a 1989 Mk1 imported in 2002 which similarly had no rust but a knackered roof and faded red paint for £800.
I did look at about 20 other cars while looking for the above - as already stated, patience is the key. Also you never know when the rust will strike but looking all over the car (under bonnet, wheel arches, where panels are bolted together etc) will give you a good idea of overall rot levels.
I did look at about 20 other cars while looking for the above - as already stated, patience is the key. Also you never know when the rust will strike but looking all over the car (under bonnet, wheel arches, where panels are bolted together etc) will give you a good idea of overall rot levels.
rs4al said:
That's exactly what I'm after but most if the mx5's down 'ere are over priced (perceived summer effect ?) or badly described.
I just viewed an S-special imported in '08, described as purely cosmetic rust in the sill (thank god she was not involved in cosmetic surgery !.....no evidence of a UK Campbelt change since import, no receipts for any servicing, although she assured me that she had done some. Covered in bird ste and a list of advisories that filled the mot sheet !!
Is a campbelt a Brighton thing I just viewed an S-special imported in '08, described as purely cosmetic rust in the sill (thank god she was not involved in cosmetic surgery !.....no evidence of a UK Campbelt change since import, no receipts for any servicing, although she assured me that she had done some. Covered in bird s
te and a list of advisories that filled the mot sheet !!
rs4al said:
Seen a few tatty cars that are too expensive to fix and buy, is there any chance I could get a mk1 within a £1500 budget without galactic miles ?
I'm on the south coast nr Brighton and I'm not a hairdresser...
Well you could always buy mine, 94 s special, rust free, 60k miles, pm me if interested.I'm on the south coast nr Brighton and I'm not a hairdresser...
If you want one "totally" rust free... its going to be difficult to find. I looked for a long time and looked at many that claimed they had no rust... but they all had to some to a degree...
I did look at one which was as new, but he wanted £5k for it. In the end I bought the one below last November for £1000. This had a couple of patches of rust on the bottom of the sills, it was just crunchy but I knew what would be underneath so I cut the sills off and welded some new ones on.
Should be good for a few years now as I have rust proofed it!
I did look at one which was as new, but he wanted £5k for it. In the end I bought the one below last November for £1000. This had a couple of patches of rust on the bottom of the sills, it was just crunchy but I knew what would be underneath so I cut the sills off and welded some new ones on.
Should be good for a few years now as I have rust proofed it!
I'd suggest buying one that's already been repaired - there's 2 types of mx-5, those that have had the sills done, and those that need the sills done
I paid £1500 for mine, sills looked great from the outside. 6 months later, they started crumbling - tehre's no way I'd have known prior to buying as even looking through the rear arch bung hole the inside looks pretty good, but the very bottom corner inside of the sills where any water/moisture gathers is hard to inspect.
I paid £1500 for mine, sills looked great from the outside. 6 months later, they started crumbling - tehre's no way I'd have known prior to buying as even looking through the rear arch bung hole the inside looks pretty good, but the very bottom corner inside of the sills where any water/moisture gathers is hard to inspect.
yellowbentines said:
I'd suggest buying one that's already been repaired - there's 2 types of mx-5, those that have had the sills done, and those that need the sills done
I paid £1500 for mine, sills looked great from the outside. 6 months later, they started crumbling - tehre's no way I'd have known prior to buying as even looking through the rear arch bung hole the inside looks pretty good, but the very bottom corner inside of the sills where any water/moisture gathers is hard to inspect.
The problem with a repaired one is its difficult to know how well its been repaired... Its never going to last if someone has chiseled off the old sill, left all the rust underneath and just tacked one back on...I paid £1500 for mine, sills looked great from the outside. 6 months later, they started crumbling - tehre's no way I'd have known prior to buying as even looking through the rear arch bung hole the inside looks pretty good, but the very bottom corner inside of the sills where any water/moisture gathers is hard to inspect.
One of the reasons I went for a slightly rusty one and repaired it.
My brother also bought an MX5 after seeing mine. he dropped lucky and after searching for a week found a nice 1993 1.6 that had done 80k miles and was very good rust wise. We used a borescope to look inside the sills and it was very good!
Borescopes are great and you can get ones quite cheap now. Mine plugs into the laptop and is 3 meters long with just a 10mm camera on the end.
you will be amazed what you start t0 inspect!
There are 5 types of MX5:
1 - those with no rust (they do exist), those with hidden rust
2 - those with hidden rust or visible rust that doesn't need sorting yet
3 - those with visible rust that will fail MoT
4 - those with the sills welded but a cheap job has been done and the rust will be back in 6 months to a year
5 - those with a good (expensive) job done to remove all the rust, weld on new sections and rust-proof everything inside and out
Out of those the best is of course 1 or 5. 2 & 3 are fine if you know what you are getting. 4 is a right PITA, especially if you thought you were getting a 5.
1 - those with no rust (they do exist), those with hidden rust
2 - those with hidden rust or visible rust that doesn't need sorting yet
3 - those with visible rust that will fail MoT
4 - those with the sills welded but a cheap job has been done and the rust will be back in 6 months to a year
5 - those with a good (expensive) job done to remove all the rust, weld on new sections and rust-proof everything inside and out
Out of those the best is of course 1 or 5. 2 & 3 are fine if you know what you are getting. 4 is a right PITA, especially if you thought you were getting a 5.
MX-5 Lazza said:
There are 5 types of MX5:
1 - those with no rust (they do exist), those with hidden rust
2 - those with hidden rust or visible rust that doesn't need sorting yet
3 - those with visible rust that will fail MoT
4 - those with the sills welded but a cheap job has been done and the rust will be back in 6 months to a year
5 - those with a good (expensive) job done to remove all the rust, weld on new sections and rust-proof everything inside and out
Out of those the best is of course 1 or 5. 2 & 3 are fine if you know what you are getting. 4 is a right PITA, especially if you thought you were getting a 5.
I would agree with that. A mate of mine bought a 1991 UK car a few years ago that on the surface looked a really nice... It was bright red and had one of the best paint finishes I had ever seen on a car, deep shiny paint!1 - those with no rust (they do exist), those with hidden rust
2 - those with hidden rust or visible rust that doesn't need sorting yet
3 - those with visible rust that will fail MoT
4 - those with the sills welded but a cheap job has been done and the rust will be back in 6 months to a year
5 - those with a good (expensive) job done to remove all the rust, weld on new sections and rust-proof everything inside and out
Out of those the best is of course 1 or 5. 2 & 3 are fine if you know what you are getting. 4 is a right PITA, especially if you thought you were getting a 5.
He paid a lot for the car, but after 12 months blisters started on the arches and the sills. He took it into the painters and asked them to sort it but when they sanded it down it was ALL filler. I went with him to see the car and he agreed to let them cut the sills off. I cant tell you how bad it was! they had not put new sills on, they had just filled the old ones with glass mat and filler! The guy who did it was really good as all the profiles were perfect! It cost mega money to sort.
MX-5 Lazza said:
There are 5 types of MX5:
1 - those with no rust (they do exist), those with hidden rust
2 - those with hidden rust or visible rust that doesn't need sorting yet
3 - those with visible rust that will fail MoT
4 - those with the sills welded but a cheap job has been done and the rust will be back in 6 months to a year
5 - those with a good (expensive) job done to remove all the rust, weld on new sections and rust-proof everything inside and out
Out of those the best is of course 1 or 5. 2 & 3 are fine if you know what you are getting. 4 is a right PITA, especially if you thought you were getting a 5.
There is one on mx5nutz where the mx5restorer has done the sills, but I reckon it will go at the weekend and I'm working :-(1 - those with no rust (they do exist), those with hidden rust
2 - those with hidden rust or visible rust that doesn't need sorting yet
3 - those with visible rust that will fail MoT
4 - those with the sills welded but a cheap job has been done and the rust will be back in 6 months to a year
5 - those with a good (expensive) job done to remove all the rust, weld on new sections and rust-proof everything inside and out
Out of those the best is of course 1 or 5. 2 & 3 are fine if you know what you are getting. 4 is a right PITA, especially if you thought you were getting a 5.
I dont mind buying a reasonably rusty one but at a price so I can get the sills done, the one in portslade (currently in PH ads) was too unloved to risk it unfortunately.
Nothing to do with me and on the assumption that this is a ltd edition colour and not a respray, I would be going to look at this if I didn't have mine..
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1998-MAZDA-MX5-EUNOS-ROA...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1998-MAZDA-MX5-EUNOS-ROA...
Digby said:
Nothing to do with me and on the assumption that this is a ltd edition colour and not a respray, I would be going to look at this if I didn't have mine..
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1998-MAZDA-MX5-EUNOS-ROA...
CONVERTIBLE-TWO-TONE-BLUE-GREEN-/181138345151?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item2a2cafccbf
Just bought it ! Collect Monday. Rust free too :-)http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1998-MAZDA-MX5-EUNOS-ROA...
CONVERTIBLE-TWO-TONE-BLUE-GREEN-/181138345151?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item2a2cafccbf
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