MX-5 for 'er indoors. What to look out for?

[andy400]

Hi all. Have very little knowledge of the MX-5, but considering it as a low-cost option for a cool car for the wife who will soon be giving up her company car.

How are they for reliability? Looking at cars up to about 10 years old, 50-80k miles, what problems should I be considering for cars of this age? Which engine is the best bet (she doesn't need big power, just a soft top and fun!) ?.

Any advice or info gratefully received.

[pete]

Definitely not a comprehensive list, but some things that we've had to sort with my other half's '94 1.8i:

• Rust! This one surprised me, but they're not as well rust proofed as they might be, especially around the rear arches. Problem spots are the sills rusting from the inside out; rear arch lips; and under the stainless kick plates inside the doors. Be prepared to have a good poke about before you buy one, and the eventuality of some minor welding at some point.

• Soft top replacement: £200-£350 plus labour, depending if you want a glass rear window. If you do, a "mk2" type hood doesn't require you to unzip the window before folding it.

• Rail rail: stops water dripping into the boot from the edges of the roof. Should be replaced or repaired at the same time as the hood, as it the original will be cracked and perished. It's completely invisible when installed, so hard to tell if someone has cut corners unless it's a rainy day!

• Cam cover gasket: ours leaked a small but annoying amount of oil on to the manifold, making the car smell like a classic sports car

• Front springs: a front passenger side spring broke at about 115k miles.

• Suspension alignment: they are very sensitive to alignment, so be prepared to get it done as soon as you buy one. Most cars seem to sit slightly low on the driver's side front corner, which is apparently due to wear in some of the suspension bushes, but not otherwise a problem.

• Tyres: mismatched tyres will have a massive effect on the handling. We had ours returned from an accident repair with odd rear tyres and it wouldn't even drive in a straight line (cue much panic about chassis damage, alignment, etc). Replacing the mismatched tyre transformed the car to a paragon of handling virtue.

• Headlamps are rubbish, like guttering candles, and even worse on imports than UK cars. You can improve them with new un-corroded reflectors, brighter bulbs, and beefier wiring, or you can eat more carrots

Otherwise go for it - I can't believe what a massive bargain the mk1 MX5 is these days.

Pete

[Munter]

Had mine from ~40000 to 99000 miles so far.

It's broken down (didn't get me home) once.

Parts that have needed replacing:
HT leads
Rear Calipers
Clutch Slave Cylinder
Hood (still needs doing)
Now at 99000 miles I think it needs new shock boots (dust cover things), and possibly new shocks.
The drivers seat side is just starting to wear.

Now given it's 10 years old and used every day as a commuter I dont think thats too bad.

[pmanson]

Our K reg Mk1 1.6 is on 171k and still going strong!

Rust is a bit of a problem on the rear arches, engines seem very strong but do need servicing to keep them in fine fettle!

[MX-5 Lazza]

• Rust! Yes this can be a problem on older cars but it's not difficult to spot if you know where to look.

• Soft top replacement: There are a few places where you can get replacements for £250 fitted but I don't have 1st hand experience of them.

• Rail rail: Should only be a problem if someone has had the hood replaced and they broke the old rain-rail.

• Cam cover gasket: A very cheap thing to fix. It can make the car look & smell bad but that's a good thing. Use it to drive the price down knowing that it'll only cost the price of a gasket to fix it!

• Front springs: Same as any car. The older the car is the more wear & tar they will have. Shocks are supposed to last about 54,000 miles but generally last way longer than that (100,000 sometimes).

• Suspension alignment: Yes. This is a job everyone should get done regularly (every 10k miles/2 years in my opinion). Should cost about £100.

• Tyres: Fit some good performance tyres. Goodyear F1 or Toyo T1R are the most popular.

• Headlamps: I liked the headlights in my old Mk1. Maybe they were better on later models (mine was a '98 Berkeley). Driving around with pop-ups is also mega-fun - like driving an arcade-game

[andy400]

Thanks guys, much appreciated!