Buying an older MX-5. What to look for?

[Greengecko]

Hello guys,

Younger brother is looking to buy an MX-5, budget of about £2,500 and really just a run about car. Looking at autotrader that will get you a 2000 - 2004 model, mk2.

I know rust was a key issue on the mk1, is this still the same on the mk2?
Is there any known issues with the 1.6 or 1.8 variations?
What are cambelt intervals on these?
Is there any other key issues I should be looking for?

Thanks

[routari]

Mk 2.5's were forced to implement a double skin sill that can rust.

If you're after one with an LSD, try to get an earlier one with a Torsen LSD, rather than the more fragile one the swapped to for later models.

There's an MX-5 section of this forum with a stickied buyers guide I think?

[battered]

The search facility will give you loads on this.

[Dalto123]

I had a 2003 MK2.5 1.8 that I sold last year.

Rust is certainly still an issue. Check when you see them that the drainage channels have been cleared as failure to do so can essentially cause them to rust from the inside out.

As others have said, the MX5 section is a good place to go. There are also a few buying guides out there too.

That said in the 18 months and circa 26,000 miles I did in mine, it cost me very little to run so a car needing a cambelt wouldn't worry me too much. Great cars

[JeremyH5]

Read the guides as suggested already. Rust in the body/chassis is the only thing to worry about, anything else can be bought cheaply and bolted on. And I mean anything that bolts on.
Mk 1 and Mk 2 similar with rust on sills and rear wheel arches. Mk 2 has a problem with front chassis rails.
Good luck hunting a good one. It is possible. I got a J reg Mk 1 with no rust for £1500 this year.

[MajorMantra]

Mk2s are worse for rust apparently. And they don't have pop-up headlights!

I've got no connection to the seller, but this could be worth a look: http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/191486/1993...

[Howard-]

The rust situation is worse on the mk2 if anything - the front chassis rails love to rot severely.

That's about the only issue with MX5s. Mechanically they're rock solid.

[LeoZwalf]

Howard- said:

The rust situation is worse on the mk2 if anything - the front chassis rails love to rot severely.

That's about the only issue with MX5s. Mechanically they're rock solid.

If you want to give yourself nightmares, do a Google image search for this: mx5 chassis rails rust



FWIW the MX5 engine is non interference so if the cambelt does let go, the engine is safe.

[Camoradi]

Some useful insight into rust issues here

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

and general advice here

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Phon_E87]

Ooh...
Got a 54 plate MX5 w\81,000 on the clock and 1 owner if you're interested?
PM me if you want for pix and specs and so forth.

[k-ink]

I recently bought the tidiest mk1 I could find. I had to pay good money to get a really mint one. You may be lucky and get one in budget. But then again you may spend a long time looking at that price level.

I didn't even bother looking at the mk2 for various reasons - one of them was the double layer chassis which apparently traps water and causes rust.

[nunpuncher]

Yup, the double layer front chassis legs on the mk2.5 are perfectly designed to rot to st. It's almost impossible to check unless you remove the cover under the car and give one of the chassis legs a good whack. They rust from inside out so by the time you spot rust, the car is scrap.

I believe the Mk2 has a slightly different single skin chassis leg design same as the mk1 which isn't as bad. I found the trouble with the mk2 was that they are just as likely to rust in the sills and arches as the mk1. These are repairs that are relatively easily done on a mk1 even though it's time consuming and therefor expensive if you can't do it yourself. Where as on the mk2 the panels cost more and the inner sills are almost impossible to come by.

In short. They all rust like fk and I wouldn't spend more on one than I was willing to lose when i'm forced to scrap the thing (I had to scrap my last one). The mk2.5 should be avoided in my opinion. Mk1 is the easiest to cope with rust on. Mechanically nothing else to note. Rear brake callipers go, window regulators are a constant pain in the tits, the roofs or the seals shrink and leak but generally the cars are over engineered. Just a shame they dissolve in British weather.

Buy an MR2.

Edited by nunpuncher on Wednesday 10th August 15:34

[k-ink]

I think a vast number of these will end up scrapped over the next five years. The prices for the best remaining examples will really start to shift upwards then.

[nunpuncher]

Mk1s have certainly started to go up in value but prices can only go so far before the money buys something much better. I mean anyone who choses one over a 6 cylinder z4 or a 2.5 boxster which both only sit a couple of grand higher in price is mad. One of the main reasons for the MX5 being the answer to everything was it's cheap purchase price. I've had 4 of them and never paid more than £1k for one. I don't get spending thousands on one as i firmly believe there is no such thing as a non rusty mk1, mk2 or mk2.5. I've even seen quite a few rusty mk3's. The number of times i've heard mx5 owners say "it's only a bit of surface rust"..... there's just no such thing as surface rust on an MX5. It comes from the inside.

[JeremyH5]

nunpuncher said:

there's just no such thing as surface rust on an MX5. It comes from the inside.

Buy a borescope and look before you go looking at cars. I did. Mine is rust free. I can see that it is inside.

[AmiableChimp]

nunpuncher said:

Mk1s have certainly started to go up in value but prices can only go so far before the money buys something much better. I mean anyone who choses one over a 6 cylinder z4 or a 2.5 boxster which both only sit a couple of grand higher in price is mad. One of the main reasons for the MX5 being the answer to everything was it's cheap purchase price. I've had 4 of them and never paid more than £1k for one. I don't get spending thousands on one as i firmly believe there is no such thing as a non rusty mk1, mk2 or mk2.5. I've even seen quite a few rusty mk3's. The number of times i've heard mx5 owners say "it's only a bit of surface rust"..... there's just no such thing as surface rust on an MX5. It comes from the inside.

I spent a fair bit more on my Eunos, but it only came into the UK a year past February and has no rust, i've seen borescope pics inside the sills to verify.

I've since had it fully Dinitrolled to try and keep it that way as long as possible.

I try not to think about what i've spent as I know I wouldn't get it back if I decided to sell...

[feef]

LeoZwalf said:

Howard- said:

The rust situation is worse on the mk2 if anything - the front chassis rails love to rot severely.

That's about the only issue with MX5s. Mechanically they're rock solid.

If you want to give yourself nightmares, do a Google image search for this: mx5 chassis rails rust



FWIW the MX5 engine is non interference so if the cambelt does let go, the engine is safe.

I'm doing my front chassis arms ATM

[k-ink]

nunpuncher said:

Mk1s have certainly started to go up in value but prices can only go so far before the money buys something much better. I mean anyone who choses one over a 6 cylinder z4 or a 2.5 boxster which both only sit a couple of grand higher in price is mad. One of the main reasons for the MX5 being the answer to everything was it's cheap purchase price. I've had 4 of them and never paid more than £1k for one. I don't get spending thousands on one as i firmly believe there is no such thing as a non rusty mk1, mk2 or mk2.5. I've even seen quite a few rusty mk3's. The number of times i've heard mx5 owners say "it's only a bit of surface rust"..... there's just no such thing as surface rust on an MX5. It comes from the inside.

I am clearly mad. I wouldn't want either of those alternatives. Neither are as much fun. Also the Porsche can suffer a £6000 engine failure. The Z4 suffers from £2500 electric steering failure, before you even get onto the mechanics. Both are overly complex fat German barges and come with the sort of reliability and costs associated with them.


Good mk1s ARE rare. Which is why the good ones are not cheap any more. They will only get more rare as time passes by as well. They are going the way of mk1 Escorts.


ps

A tidy example recently sold:

http://www.mx5city.com/1997-mk1-18-uk-spec

Edited by k-ink on Wednesday 10th August 17:58

[battered]

feef said:

I'm doing my front chassis arms ATM

Can you do much on the front rails with the engine in situ? I'm talking about the bit around the roll bar mounting that gets a bit frilly over time.

[battered]

k-ink said:

I think a vast number of these will end up scrapped over the next five years. The prices for the best remaining examples will really start to shift upwards then.

For the first part of your post, you are absolutely right. The second, less so. Sure the prices will rise but there's a lot of competition. I was sniffing round 2CVs but once the price went north of £2k there is better fun to be had. I had a great one 10 years ago, cost me loose change, but if the ship has now sailed I'll get another.