Need cheap runaround
Discussion
Hi Everyone
I am just about to change job and lose my company car, so need something cheap to replace it with in the short term. New car will be mostly for runs to the airport (so it needs to start when I get back from a week away...) and a bit of fun for me at weekends.
I had an MX5 na a few years back and loved it, but having a company car and doing 30k a year in it rather spoilt weekend driving.
I'm looking on here and MX5 Nutz (where I got my last one from) but any suggestions for the spec to choose? Budget is about £2k and I have my eye on this one: http://www.mx5nutz.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3...
Thanks for any help, suggestions etc.
I am just about to change job and lose my company car, so need something cheap to replace it with in the short term. New car will be mostly for runs to the airport (so it needs to start when I get back from a week away...) and a bit of fun for me at weekends.
I had an MX5 na a few years back and loved it, but having a company car and doing 30k a year in it rather spoilt weekend driving.
I'm looking on here and MX5 Nutz (where I got my last one from) but any suggestions for the spec to choose? Budget is about £2k and I have my eye on this one: http://www.mx5nutz.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3...
Thanks for any help, suggestions etc.
JTSmith said:
Fantastic, but perhaps a little less neon would suit me better?This is a bit closer to what I was thinking: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2004-Mazda-mx5-MX-5-MK2-...
callahan said:
JTSmith said:
Fantastic, but perhaps a little less neon would suit me better?This is a bit closer to what I was thinking: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2004-Mazda-mx5-MX-5-MK2-...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-MX-5-1-8i-S-/33206...
(In all seriousness though, that black one looks like its in lovely condition! I do wonder though, for £3000 would you not be tempted by the easier to live with mk3?)
JTSmith said:
callahan said:
JTSmith said:
Fantastic, but perhaps a little less neon would suit me better?This is a bit closer to what I was thinking: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2004-Mazda-mx5-MX-5-MK2-...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-MX-5-1-8i-S-/33206...
(In all seriousness though, that black one looks like its in lovely condition! I do wonder though, for £3000 would you not be tempted by the easier to live with mk3?)
I'm not stuck on MK1, 2 or 3 really, but have had a MK1 before so fancy a change. A MK3 might be a bit ropey at that price, I'd have thought?
I don't know if you'll see a Mk3 for that money but if you can, happy days. I have a Mk2 and while it's great fun you will struggle to get one that's had all the work done (ie no longer rotten) so you need to budget for chassis rails and sills. Remember, any Mk 2 is 12 yrs old plus, so they have either had the sills and rails welded or they will need it doing sometime soon. Mine is the latter, but at £700 I don't care. It's for weekend fun and I'll either do the welding as and when or break the thing when it all goes wrong.
Quick search throws up something like this:
https://www.gumtree.com/p/mazda/mazda-mx5-2007-mk3...
83k miles, and looks far from haggered, if anything it looks great!
I've got a Mk2 and love it as its very cheap fun... That said they are followed around by the ever present spectre of ruined sills - IMO if they do eventually rust out, just buy another £700 car with a full MOT :P
If I were thinking of spending slightly more serious money £3000-4000 I would definitely be going for a mk3!
(or a low low miled RX8 - but thats another story)
https://www.gumtree.com/p/mazda/mazda-mx5-2007-mk3...
83k miles, and looks far from haggered, if anything it looks great!
I've got a Mk2 and love it as its very cheap fun... That said they are followed around by the ever present spectre of ruined sills - IMO if they do eventually rust out, just buy another £700 car with a full MOT :P
If I were thinking of spending slightly more serious money £3000-4000 I would definitely be going for a mk3!
(or a low low miled RX8 - but thats another story)
Fair points about the MK3 (and nice example) but I would want the suspension sorted after all the early reports of it not working very well. I'd then be tempted by the folding hard top (for airport car parks) and it would need to be the 2 litre etc etc. Mission and budget creep would take over.
I've always fancied an RX8, I actually got rid of the old MX5 partly because I could never take both kids on journeys. Anyone seen Sophie's Choice? It was a bit like that, but without Nazis.
I would be very, very worried about the usual RX8 stories though and the fuel consumption would be hard to excuse - my 'sensible' car is a C32 AMG, which isn't exactly frugal already.
I've always fancied an RX8, I actually got rid of the old MX5 partly because I could never take both kids on journeys. Anyone seen Sophie's Choice? It was a bit like that, but without Nazis.
I would be very, very worried about the usual RX8 stories though and the fuel consumption would be hard to excuse - my 'sensible' car is a C32 AMG, which isn't exactly frugal already.
Fuel consumption is waaaaay down the list of things you need to worry about them... The engine blowing up is more of a concern (and it WILL happen, bang on 60k miles)
That said I bought my RX8 cheap, drove it like it was stolen for 6 month, then it blew up... All in a £1000 loss, but it was mighty fun in the process! And frankly, it cost less per month than a Dacia Sandero... So not much of a loss IMO!!! Just buy it knowing a) it will blow up and b) it will be a total pain in the ass if you dont manage to start it first time
That said I bought my RX8 cheap, drove it like it was stolen for 6 month, then it blew up... All in a £1000 loss, but it was mighty fun in the process! And frankly, it cost less per month than a Dacia Sandero... So not much of a loss IMO!!! Just buy it knowing a) it will blow up and b) it will be a total pain in the ass if you dont manage to start it first time
JTSmith said:
Fuel consumption is waaaaay down the list of things you need to worry about them... The engine blowing up is more of a concern (and it WILL happen, bang on 60k miles)
That said I bought my RX8 cheap, drove it like it was stolen for 6 month, then it blew up... All in a £1000 loss, but it was mighty fun in the process! And frankly, it cost less per month than a Dacia Sandero... So not much of a loss IMO!!! Just buy it knowing a) it will blow up and b) it will be a total pain in the ass if you dont manage to start it first time
Such a shame really, because it's such a great car in most ways, they should at least have had a version with a 'normal' engine in it at some point. For me, relying on it to start after a week sat in an airport car park is a pre-requisite, so that's a deal breaker for me.That said I bought my RX8 cheap, drove it like it was stolen for 6 month, then it blew up... All in a £1000 loss, but it was mighty fun in the process! And frankly, it cost less per month than a Dacia Sandero... So not much of a loss IMO!!! Just buy it knowing a) it will blow up and b) it will be a total pain in the ass if you dont manage to start it first time
MX5, MR2, maybe Celica?
callahan said:
JTSmith said:
Fuel consumption is waaaaay down the list of things you need to worry about them... The engine blowing up is more of a concern (and it WILL happen, bang on 60k miles)
That said I bought my RX8 cheap, drove it like it was stolen for 6 month, then it blew up... All in a £1000 loss, but it was mighty fun in the process! And frankly, it cost less per month than a Dacia Sandero... So not much of a loss IMO!!! Just buy it knowing a) it will blow up and b) it will be a total pain in the ass if you dont manage to start it first time
Such a shame really, because it's such a great car in most ways, they should at least have had a version with a 'normal' engine in it at some point. For me, relying on it to start after a week sat in an airport car park is a pre-requisite, so that's a deal breaker for me.That said I bought my RX8 cheap, drove it like it was stolen for 6 month, then it blew up... All in a £1000 loss, but it was mighty fun in the process! And frankly, it cost less per month than a Dacia Sandero... So not much of a loss IMO!!! Just buy it knowing a) it will blow up and b) it will be a total pain in the ass if you dont manage to start it first time
MX5, MR2, maybe Celica?
Hmmmmm what year MR2 are we talking? I know the Mk1s for example, make MX5 rust issues look petty by comparison haha
JTSmith said:
Yeaaaah they don't like sitting very much either, so thats the RX8 straight out the window haha (and actually I find my Mk2 more fun to drive than the RX8 was anyway, so its not a huge loss!)
Hmmmmm what year MR2 are we talking? I know the Mk1s for example, make MX5 rust issues look petty by comparison haha
I'd be looking at a MK3 probably, but at my budget an MX5 is likely to be a better buy, purely because there are so many to choose from.Hmmmmm what year MR2 are we talking? I know the Mk1s for example, make MX5 rust issues look petty by comparison haha
This one looks absolutely perfect in every way: http://www.mx5oc.co.uk/forum/yaf_postst99530_Mazda...
In every way except the gearbox. Why is that in there?
callahan said:
JTSmith said:
Yeaaaah they don't like sitting very much either, so thats the RX8 straight out the window haha (and actually I find my Mk2 more fun to drive than the RX8 was anyway, so its not a huge loss!)
Hmmmmm what year MR2 are we talking? I know the Mk1s for example, make MX5 rust issues look petty by comparison haha
I'd be looking at a MK3 probably, but at my budget an MX5 is likely to be a better buy, purely because there are so many to choose from.Hmmmmm what year MR2 are we talking? I know the Mk1s for example, make MX5 rust issues look petty by comparison haha
This one looks absolutely perfect in every way: http://www.mx5oc.co.uk/forum/yaf_postst99530_Mazda...
In every way except the gearbox. Why is that in there?
BRG and tan interior - so spot on
JTSmith said:
callahan said:
JTSmith said:
Yeaaaah they don't like sitting very much either, so thats the RX8 straight out the window haha (and actually I find my Mk2 more fun to drive than the RX8 was anyway, so its not a huge loss!)
Hmmmmm what year MR2 are we talking? I know the Mk1s for example, make MX5 rust issues look petty by comparison haha
I'd be looking at a MK3 probably, but at my budget an MX5 is likely to be a better buy, purely because there are so many to choose from.Hmmmmm what year MR2 are we talking? I know the Mk1s for example, make MX5 rust issues look petty by comparison haha
This one looks absolutely perfect in every way: http://www.mx5oc.co.uk/forum/yaf_postst99530_Mazda...
In every way except the gearbox. Why is that in there?
BRG and tan interior - so spot on
Gassing Station | Mazda MX5/Roadster/Miata | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff