MX5 mk1 Prices on the up
Discussion
There have always been some about at higher prices, your £3k plus very nice low mileage types.
The difference nowadays is not that theres more of those - there just fewer of the dirt cheap but half decent cars.
As the MX-5 has become popular with younger crowd (I hate to be all 'I was here first' but its true), the cheap ones are getting bough, broken, crashed, scrapped, badly modified etc.
In reality, all that's doing is pushing the price up and making the nice ones more desirable.
Embrace the roller paint, skid wheels and TA coilovers!
The difference nowadays is not that theres more of those - there just fewer of the dirt cheap but half decent cars.
As the MX-5 has become popular with younger crowd (I hate to be all 'I was here first' but its true), the cheap ones are getting bough, broken, crashed, scrapped, badly modified etc.
In reality, all that's doing is pushing the price up and making the nice ones more desirable.
Embrace the roller paint, skid wheels and TA coilovers!
There's a high miles NA 1.6 in red up for £2k at a dealer, no offers. Meanwhile there's a better spec black 1.8 NA also at a dealer, with a new roof (and all original, unlike the red car which has a crap spoiler and after-market wheels) for £1750. (ETA: the black car is younger and much lower miles too)
It's a very mixed bag, and some traders are, frankly, taking the piss a bit - as long as punters with cash are there to pay though...
It's a very mixed bag, and some traders are, frankly, taking the piss a bit - as long as punters with cash are there to pay though...
Edited by Actus Reus on Thursday 26th February 18:07
It seems to me that overall prices are still dropping, however, there is a growing gap between cheap s
tters and cared for minters. The minters are rising in price - for a truly immaculate Mk1 with decent paint, no rust whatsoever, lowish mileage, I'd expect to be paying in excess of £3k with the best of them being well over £5k. At the other end of the spectrum, there seem to be more and more sheds going for well under £1k, some under £200.
What seems to be missing is those cars that fit in the gap i.e. the cars that are in decent clean condition, mostly rust free, decent mileage, well serviced but with no claims to be immaculate. The cars that you would expect to sit in the £2k-£3k price sector.
I suspect that part of the reason for some of this has been touched on by Snotrag. The cars are very affordable now and not many buyers are interested in keeping them in good condition (why spend £500 getting rust repaired properly when you can replace the car for the same money?). This means that the cheaper end of the market is going to degrade quickly whereas buyers of more expensive cars are more likely to see it as an investment so will try to keep them in good condition which can only mean an increase in value as more and more get scrapped/fall into the cheap-stter category.
tters and cared for minters. The minters are rising in price - for a truly immaculate Mk1 with decent paint, no rust whatsoever, lowish mileage, I'd expect to be paying in excess of £3k with the best of them being well over £5k. At the other end of the spectrum, there seem to be more and more sheds going for well under £1k, some under £200.What seems to be missing is those cars that fit in the gap i.e. the cars that are in decent clean condition, mostly rust free, decent mileage, well serviced but with no claims to be immaculate. The cars that you would expect to sit in the £2k-£3k price sector.
I suspect that part of the reason for some of this has been touched on by Snotrag. The cars are very affordable now and not many buyers are interested in keeping them in good condition (why spend £500 getting rust repaired properly when you can replace the car for the same money?). This means that the cheaper end of the market is going to degrade quickly whereas buyers of more expensive cars are more likely to see it as an investment so will try to keep them in good condition which can only mean an increase in value as more and more get scrapped/fall into the cheap-s
tter category.The amount being broken at the moment is amazing. Have a look on Facebook it's an endless stream of them. And some of them only have rusty sills. Sooner or later they will start getting short in supply and prices will go up...
I don't really understand those cars at £5k though, that's a lot of repairs to a relatively straight £1k car...
I don't really understand those cars at £5k though, that's a lot of repairs to a relatively straight £1k car...
£200 mx5 please show me them the cheapest ive got one is £250 last year a very rusty Berkeley which I replaced the arches and sill full respray and sold for just under £2k.
Theres certainly a lack of mx5 for sale on say ebay less than 700 when even last year was well over 1k. I do break the odd one or 2 well 7 so far but have saved 4 to go onto new owners, 1 was reborn into a kit car a big market for st mx5s, my mates is being turned into a drift/track car and ive had 3 daily drivers 1 which is no longer around. My old one is owned by a young chap in Cardiff and still have my current vr ltd.
Mk1 prices are creeping up where as mk2 prices are dropping and mk3 and fallen big time 3k for an early mk3 now that the mk4 is just around the corner.
Im happy my new one is mint and will be kept that way so im on to a winner if prices go up and being its a vr ltd not many left be worth even more.
Theres certainly a lack of mx5 for sale on say ebay less than 700 when even last year was well over 1k. I do break the odd one or 2 well 7 so far but have saved 4 to go onto new owners, 1 was reborn into a kit car a big market for s
t mx5s, my mates is being turned into a drift/track car and ive had 3 daily drivers 1 which is no longer around. My old one is owned by a young chap in Cardiff and still have my current vr ltd.Mk1 prices are creeping up where as mk2 prices are dropping and mk3 and fallen big time 3k for an early mk3 now that the mk4 is just around the corner.
Im happy my new one is mint and will be kept that way so im on to a winner if prices go up and being its a vr ltd not many left be worth even more.
You can still find cheap ones around. I got mine late December for £450, needs a bit of work doing but nothing too major. It was modified but I'm currently setting about putting it back to a relatively standard state and tidying everything up.
My only criteria when buying the car were Mk1, no rust and solid roof and I got all 3.
My only criteria when buying the car were Mk1, no rust and solid roof and I got all 3.
Kieranv said:
You can still find cheap ones around. I got mine late December for £450, needs a bit of work doing but nothing too major. It was modified but I'm currently setting about putting it back to a relatively standard state and tidying everything up.
My only criteria when buying the car were Mk1, no rust and solid roof and I got all 3.
Agreed picked up a mk1 before xmas for £500 with hardtop, loud ehauxst, ta technics coilovers, alloys sold all them for £700 chucked the car in for an mot quick service then sold the car for £700 just after new year.My only criteria when buying the car were Mk1, no rust and solid roof and I got all 3.
But finding a good cheap mx5 is getting harder still a few cheap s
ts ones that aren't worth saving.Cheap bargains are still there. I was very lucky just before Christmas having gone to view my first potential buy, a nice shiny mariner blue 1.6 mk1, only because it was close by. It seemed too cheap to be any good at the eBay price of £800, but as it superficially looked good I crossed my fingers and bought it. Since then I've crawled all over the car giving it a full service and under seal, and it's an absolute gem, rust free, and good for many more years.
I'm hoping they do keep climbing! I've just had new rear arches and a complete respray on mine. Plus, it's completely standard with 87k and stacks of history. It's also getting a new roof next month. The only downside is that it's a boggo spec UK model 1.8.
Still, I'm slowly going to get it mechanically perfect and in a few years time, hope it's worth more than the £900 I payed for it 18 months ago.
Still, I'm slowly going to get it mechanically perfect and in a few years time, hope it's worth more than the £900 I payed for it 18 months ago.
Rickyy said:
I'm hoping they do keep climbing!
As an owner of any classic or soon to be classic, this is what we all say, but I've recently changed my mind. If MX5's were not so cheap at the moment I have to admit I probably wouldn't have ended up owning one, and now that I do I think it's fantastic. Also, entering my twilight years, I can't stop laughing at some of the awful dogs that I used to drive when I was young that now command £20,000+ values. Rubbish like MGC's, grotty old non-Cosworth Escorts, and old bog standard mini's were nothing special back then, and on today's faster roads up against today's faster cars owning them must be hard work.
johneast4444 said:
...I can't stop laughing at some of the awful dogs that I used to drive when I was young that now command £20,000+ values. Rubbish like MGC's, grotty old non-Cosworth Escorts, and old bog standard mini's...
A neighbour of mine sold a clean but nothing special Vauxhall Chevette Hatch last year for a touch over £5k!
I spent £1600 on a MK2.5 2003 Sport with a mazdaspeed bodykit and hard top in January. As soon as I got the bodykit of to rustproof i found an impressive/depressing amount of rot which is all being sorted by the MX5 restorer I will be getting it back in a day or so and once Ive done some bits, it will be a great daily driver that has had the great deppreciator dealt with! So if after a few years of use I have to sell it. (due to needing to get on property ladder) it sounds like the market for a sorted one should be pretty good. Just hoping the nice weather holds till ive got it back and ready to go! Im new to MX's but the more I learn the bigger the community seems to be. Currently theres plenty to go round but that will eventually dwindle as people choose to scrap rather than sort rust!
Edited by charlie84rum on Monday 2nd March 16:38
MX-5 Lazza said:
Late Mk1 1.8i did have PAS. I had a Berkeley which was basically a 1.8i with different trim and it also had PAS.
Mines a '97 1.8i also so the last of the mk1s. Mines only got PAS too. The only thing I fancied extra was retrofitted central locking 
I have spent some serious money on mine and not planning on flogging but it's nice to hear the values are beginning to go up.
Edited by J-Tuner on Monday 2nd March 20:33
If you look at the over polished examples from the MX5 owners club, then condition and spec is all. Find a good one. a really good one, and someone who doesn't need to sell it, and you might be looking at £3K to £5K, but find a low spec one, that's going to need rear arches and sills, and the seats are shagged, and sub £1K is easy.
I liken them to the Spitfire/GT6 which bottomed out at £300 in 1985, when a good one was £1500. Now a good one can be had for £3K.
So I figure that in 30 years an MX5 might be worth 3 times what it is now.
Not the investment it might be.
I liken them to the Spitfire/GT6 which bottomed out at £300 in 1985, when a good one was £1500. Now a good one can be had for £3K.
So I figure that in 30 years an MX5 might be worth 3 times what it is now.
Not the investment it might be.
Paddy_N_Murphy said:
Bizarre - especially the Glass rear screen- That can't be original.
The original roof was vinyl with a zip in/out rear screen that had to be unzipped before you could fold the roof. When it eventually cracked up, we had a mk2-pattern roof fitted, which can fold with the window in place, and does without the zip.
Pete
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