Clean, Sub-80k Mk2 for -£1600??
Discussion
Hi all,
I've been scouring ebay, autotrader, PH classifieds, gumtree and some of the mx-5 enthusiast forums but have had little luck so far.
The advert below came up - after a phone call to find out more about the car I took the four hour round trip yesterday to see it. It had covered 86,000 miles, not 79,000 as stated on the advert and didn't have FSH either, but a patchy one. There was a little bubbling on the wheel arches and bonnet but felt solid to drive and clean and honest aside from these issues. Before coming to see it we'd agreed £1350 but I didn't put down the deposit due to not having a good feeling about it because the dealer had lied about the details on the car!
Is it possible to find a MK-2 MX-5 that is clean (i.e. little to no rust)and with some service history, with less than 80,000 miles and for £1600 or less?
http://www.mdirekt.co.uk/used-cars/mazda-mx-5-1-6i...
I've been scouring ebay, autotrader, PH classifieds, gumtree and some of the mx-5 enthusiast forums but have had little luck so far.
The advert below came up - after a phone call to find out more about the car I took the four hour round trip yesterday to see it. It had covered 86,000 miles, not 79,000 as stated on the advert and didn't have FSH either, but a patchy one. There was a little bubbling on the wheel arches and bonnet but felt solid to drive and clean and honest aside from these issues. Before coming to see it we'd agreed £1350 but I didn't put down the deposit due to not having a good feeling about it because the dealer had lied about the details on the car!
Is it possible to find a MK-2 MX-5 that is clean (i.e. little to no rust)and with some service history, with less than 80,000 miles and for £1600 or less?
http://www.mdirekt.co.uk/used-cars/mazda-mx-5-1-6i...
Edited by ktm301p on Wednesday 1st January 14:12
Approach the MK2 with extreme caution.
Rusty sills and arches are the least of your problems and can be easily rectified for around £350 per side.
Chassis rails/legs at the front are a different matter and will see the car written off quite easily. More and more MK2 are suffering from this issue. By the time its spotted, it's normally too late.
Rusty sills and arches are the least of your problems and can be easily rectified for around £350 per side.
Chassis rails/legs at the front are a different matter and will see the car written off quite easily. More and more MK2 are suffering from this issue. By the time its spotted, it's normally too late.
I don't really know why people are writing cars off for chassis rails, I have repaired 3 now with seriously rotten rails, it's bad no doubt about it, an absolutely shocking error of design, but the problems there and not going away, I naturally expect all MK2 and 2.5 models to need chassis rails when looking at them even when they appear not to a sharp blow with a hammer will usually knock a hole in the rail somewhere. It's a problem that will strike all cars at some point, not a problem that strikes the friday afternoon cars.
Repair is getting easier and easier with several pre formed repair panels now available.
The sills and wings of course also go, I prefer to repair chassis rails though as there is less work, once the welding and protection is done the jobs over, with arches and sills you still have to prep and paint the area. I think because it's crept up on people the chassis legs have ended up becoming this massive deal that they aren't really.
However back on track to the OP your going about this all wrong, why on earth are you fixated on 80K? It just does not matter, I've got 3 MX5s here at the moment, one's a low mileage car and a bit of a pig. One of the others is my own Mk2 1.8IS which I am reshelling and it is a peach of a car (the reshell is a long story) it's got 130k on it and drives like a new car. You need to buy a MK2 on condition and as with all MX5s spec, I'd much rather have a high mileage IS model than a low mileage boggo model, the LSD and other toys make the car. Then of course there are all the special models the 10AE, RS, Sport etc.
Get your budget set and go and look at cars in that budget, look for ones that have been looked after which will mean rust repairs and servicing, the engines in these cars go on forever seriously stop worrying about mileage, if anything 80k is the worst time to buy an MX5 as chances are the previous owners might not have got round to the cambelt yet due to it being a safe engine the urgency is removed, the hood will probably be original and cracked, the rust will possibly just be starting to come through rather than having come through ages ago and dealt with and bushes etc. Will be at the end of their life rather than having gone past it and been changed.
Repair is getting easier and easier with several pre formed repair panels now available.
The sills and wings of course also go, I prefer to repair chassis rails though as there is less work, once the welding and protection is done the jobs over, with arches and sills you still have to prep and paint the area. I think because it's crept up on people the chassis legs have ended up becoming this massive deal that they aren't really.
However back on track to the OP your going about this all wrong, why on earth are you fixated on 80K? It just does not matter, I've got 3 MX5s here at the moment, one's a low mileage car and a bit of a pig. One of the others is my own Mk2 1.8IS which I am reshelling and it is a peach of a car (the reshell is a long story) it's got 130k on it and drives like a new car. You need to buy a MK2 on condition and as with all MX5s spec, I'd much rather have a high mileage IS model than a low mileage boggo model, the LSD and other toys make the car. Then of course there are all the special models the 10AE, RS, Sport etc.
Get your budget set and go and look at cars in that budget, look for ones that have been looked after which will mean rust repairs and servicing, the engines in these cars go on forever seriously stop worrying about mileage, if anything 80k is the worst time to buy an MX5 as chances are the previous owners might not have got round to the cambelt yet due to it being a safe engine the urgency is removed, the hood will probably be original and cracked, the rust will possibly just be starting to come through rather than having come through ages ago and dealt with and bushes etc. Will be at the end of their life rather than having gone past it and been changed.
As above, mileage isn't important on these cars. In fact as we are talking about cars that are 9 to 15 years old I'd rather have one that's done 10k miles a year, been properly exercised and regularly serviced than one that's been a garage queen doing a couple of thousand miles each year and not being used properly. Service records I wouldn't care about either. I've seen plenty of MX5s with dealer service histories that are nails and others that have been home serviced so with no records that are peaches. My own 01 is a good example as I've done all the servicing myself since I bought it in 04 and don't have any real records to show for it. A quick listen to the engine and drive around the block will show up any lack of servicing.
wildoliver said:
However back on track to the OP your going about this all wrong, why on earth are you fixated on 80K? It just does not matter, I've got 3 MX5s here at the moment, one's a low mileage car and a bit of a pig. One of the others is my own Mk2 1.8IS which I am reshelling and it is a peach of a car (the reshell is a long story) it's got 130k on it and drives like a new car. You need to buy a MK2 on condition and as with all MX5s spec, I'd much rather have a high mileage IS model than a low mileage boggo model, the LSD and other toys make the car. Then of course there are all the special models the 10AE, RS, Sport etc.
Get your budget set and go and look at cars in that budget, look for ones that have been looked after which will mean rust repairs and servicing, the engines in these cars go on forever seriously stop worrying about mileage, if anything 80k is the worst time to buy an MX5 as chances are the previous owners might not have got round to the cambelt yet due to it being a safe engine the urgency is removed, the hood will probably be original and cracked, the rust will possibly just be starting to come through rather than having come through ages ago and dealt with and bushes etc. Will be at the end of their life rather than having gone past it and been changed.
Hi, thanks for the advice. Get your budget set and go and look at cars in that budget, look for ones that have been looked after which will mean rust repairs and servicing, the engines in these cars go on forever seriously stop worrying about mileage, if anything 80k is the worst time to buy an MX5 as chances are the previous owners might not have got round to the cambelt yet due to it being a safe engine the urgency is removed, the hood will probably be original and cracked, the rust will possibly just be starting to come through rather than having come through ages ago and dealt with and bushes etc. Will be at the end of their life rather than having gone past it and been changed.
The reason I was chasing a sub 80k mile example was because I thought it would be easier for resale if I can keep it below 100k. But thank you, I'll go on looking with a more relaxed view on mileage and focusing purely on condition.
The chassis rails appeared clean on this MX-5 when I looked the other day. It also had a decent hood, with no signs or smells of damp in the interior. Also, it had the cambelt changed 15k miles ago. So it may actually be a good deal at £1350?
My budget is £1600 by the way.
Yesterday I took the plunge and bought my first MX-5!
I went for a '98 1.8i S in racing green. It's covered 83,120 miles and as suggested, I went for it based on condition and spec. This one is completely standard but includes desirable features such as leather seats and electric windows.
It was almost completely rust free - there is roughly a 5mm area of bubbling on drivers side rear wheel arch. But after a thorough look underneath, the sills and chassis was clean.
There was also a full service history with the car showing it had recently had all pads and discs replaced, a new cambelt fitted, replacing the clutch slave cylinder and rectifying a idling issue.
The car drives really well, no knocks, whines, or worrying noises when changing gear. However, I do suspect it will need a new battery where it has been stood for a while and the wheels to be realigned as it pulls very slightly to the right. Also the drivers side window only comes down halfway, so I need to sort that out ideally.
I'll put some pictures up when it stops raining cats and dogs outside.
Thanks again to all your advice, I will be back on this forum asking questions and contributing where I can, I'm sure!
I went for a '98 1.8i S in racing green. It's covered 83,120 miles and as suggested, I went for it based on condition and spec. This one is completely standard but includes desirable features such as leather seats and electric windows.
It was almost completely rust free - there is roughly a 5mm area of bubbling on drivers side rear wheel arch. But after a thorough look underneath, the sills and chassis was clean.
There was also a full service history with the car showing it had recently had all pads and discs replaced, a new cambelt fitted, replacing the clutch slave cylinder and rectifying a idling issue.
The car drives really well, no knocks, whines, or worrying noises when changing gear. However, I do suspect it will need a new battery where it has been stood for a while and the wheels to be realigned as it pulls very slightly to the right. Also the drivers side window only comes down halfway, so I need to sort that out ideally.
I'll put some pictures up when it stops raining cats and dogs outside.
Thanks again to all your advice, I will be back on this forum asking questions and contributing where I can, I'm sure!
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