Bargain Supercharged MX5?

[Legend83]

Anyone know this car?

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/969185.htm

£17k spent on it!!! Does not disclose the reason for selling though....

...if not a lemon, then surely an absolute bargain belter! Almost tempted to trade in the Dakar for this.

[Munter]

So whys it for sale then? If I'd spent that on a car I'd want to make the most of it for a good few years.

It just seems cheap, but it might be realistic to get a quick sale if the seller is desperate for cash I suppose.

[Risotto]

Modded cars never sell for anything like the cost of the mods.

Unless you particularly want to do the work yourself, it always makes more sense to let someone else pay for the mods and buy the result.

When you think that a good 1.8 MX-5 is worth, what, £2k then there's a limit to how much of a premium you can charge for a supercharged car.

[A2Z]

As a comparison, there is a supercharged Merlot for sale at Paul Sheard Autos for £6750.

[OllieWinchester]

This car came up in a thread about FI 5's recently, someone on here knows the seller. If I'd spent anywhere near that kind of money on a '5, or any car for that matter, it would be a keeper. It was on ebay recently, obviously didn't get where he needed it to be price wise.

[paul99]

Interesting car that. It would be a good project, it looks like its got a built engine and with the Motec ECU would be capable of BIG power with a decent turbo setup. It's total overkill for a JRSC M45 kit.

17k sounds a hell of a lot though, unless the engine work and tuning cost £1000's!

[Wilburo]

The advert provides a breakdown of the costing, though it doesn't reach 17k - perhaps this doesn't include labour to add the below...

Oh and it's running 188 bhp - isn't Lazza at 240!?

===

• Jackson Racing supercharger - £1.5k (see pictures)
• Jackson Racing Intercooler - £1k
• MOTEC engine management system - £3.5k
• Koni Sports ride kit - £800
• IL Stainless exhaust - £300
• Complete professional respray in May 2007 - £2.5k

Once the engine rebuild was complete, the car was then sent to Owen Developments for the following work to be completed (total cost £3.5k):

• Installation of MOTEC engine management system and remap
• Optimisation of performance during rolling road session

[chris7676]

Shame they both suffer in the colour and styling departments. Not the cheapest either.

[MX-5 Lazza]

Mine is currently running 228bhp (at last dyno run) though it should be about 240bhp if I ever get the fuelling properly sorted out.

That sounds like about the right price for that car to be honest. You won't get much more for a Mk1 whatever you do to it. I doubt I'd get any more than that for my car now. You don't make mods like that with the intention of seeing any of that money back.

[Wilburo]

So, does this mean Lazza spent £17k...?

I suppose if you love the car and want to keep it - and Lazza has clearly had his hand up the car's chuff a few times, so knows it inside out...

[hornetrider]

probably including the purchase price of the car in that 17k. And all servicing, tyres, etc etc

[tybo]

I bought my car as it is, but it cost one of the previous owners £11k to get it there.

[MX-5 Lazza]

I've spent about £11k (after buying the car, also £11k back in 2004) - and it's hard to see where it's all gone! I'd have a hard job justifying all that cost based on the parts on the car.

[Google [bot]]

I've got a very similar spec MX5 to that. Paul99 is probably right that the Motec is a bit of overkill, and they're a bit of a bh to get running right - that being said mine's a bit sick atm. Another consideration, with a setup like that you could swap over to turbo if you got bored for serious power. I've considered this, but for the cost. Oh and the fact I'm sick to bloody death of the thing.

The sound though of that supercharger really is something to behold...

[hogfisch]

Hi all,

This is my friend's car (Tim) and I helped put the advert together for him. The car is certainly not a lemon and to be honest, I think Tim is mad to be selling the car (don't even ask what he has just bought to replace it [Pug 206 cc!]). The car cost £2,500 when Tim bought it back in 2006 and the bills including purchase price of the car does indeed total over £17,000.

All the way through the car having this work done, most people (myself included) questioned Tim's sanity in sinking so much money into a 1990 MX5. Picture the scene - Tim is a 60 year old accountant who should really be considering his retirement vehicle, not putting together a bonkers 2 seater sports car. However, Tim was insistant that he wanted to do this and to be fair, the result is pretty bloody good. If he was keeping it, the next stage would be to put on a larger flywheel pulley to get the power over 200bhp. To be honest, for the cost and effort required, I'm surprised he never actually did it.

Anyway, Tim has now decided to sell the car. He is pretty realistic in what the market value of the car is, regardless of the insurance value and the total spend. I believe someone from Pistonheads came to look at the car today, put in an offer and they were only a few hundred quid apart from having a deal.

In short, is the car worth £17k? Not a chance (so many seriously quick cars to choose from at this money). Is the car cheap at £5.5k? I should bloody say so!

Edited by hogfisch on Sunday 5th April 21:54

[Legend83]

hogfisch said:

Hi all,

This is my friend's car (Tim) and I helped put the advert together for him. The car is certainly not a lemon and to be honest, I think Tim is mad to be selling the car (don't even ask what he has just bought to replace it [Pug 206 cc!]). The car cost £2,500 when Tim bought it back in 2006 and the bills including purchase price of the car does indeed total over £17,000.

All the way through the car having this work done, most people (myself included) questioned Tim's sanity in sinking so much money into a 1990 MX5. Picture the scene - Tim is a 60 year old accountant who should really be considering his retirement vehicle, not putting together a bonkers 2 seater sports car. However, Tim was insistant that he wanted to do this and to be fair, the result is pretty bloody good. If he was keeping it, the next stage would be to put on a larger flywheel pulley to get the power over 200bhp. To be honest, for the cost and effort required, I'm surprised he never actually did it.

Anyway, Tim has now decided to sell the car. He is pretty realistic in what the market value of the car is, regardless of the insurance value and the total spend. I believe someone from Pistonheads came to look at the car today, put in an offer and they were only a few hundred quid apart from having a deal.

In short, is the car worth £17k? Not a chance (so many seriously quick cars to choose from at this money). Is the car cheap at £5.5k? I should bloody say so!

Edited by hogfisch on Sunday 5th April 21:54

Cheers for the info! Hope it goes to a worthy buyer.

[phlap]

A2Z said:

As a comparison, there is a supercharged Merlot for sale at Paul Sheard Autos for £6750.

Hi all, Im not a regular visitor to this part of the forum.

I went to look at this one yesterday with a pal who is very tempted. He had a standard Eunos and regretted selling it a few years ago.

Apart from the alloys and subtle lowering this one looks almost standard which is a big part of the appeal.
Although the standard of work looked to be of a high standard resulting in a very enjoyable car, it does seem rather pricey for what is a still 13 year old Mk1 MX5.

What are the views of more experienced forumites?

Edited by phlap on Sunday 26th April 17:53

[hornetrider]

That Merlot is far too expensive. 5k max?

[Combover]

phlap said:

A2Z said:

As a comparison, there is a supercharged Merlot for sale at Paul Sheard Autos for £6750.

Hi all, Im not a regular visitor to this part of the forum.

I went to look at this one yesterday with a pal who is very tempted. He had a standard Eunos and regretted selling it a few years ago.

Apart from the alloys and subtle lowering this one looks almost standard which is a big part of the appeal.
Although the standard of work looked to be of a high standard resulting in a very enjoyable car, it does seem rather pricey for what is a still 13 year old Mk1 MX5.

What are the views of more experienced forumites?

Met the chap who built it. He wanted the best that he could get at the time. I've been to see it and think it's worth it.

Try building one for less!

[OnlyMX5ives]

If that merlot was worth what they are asking....

Then why despite being widely advertised (been on Nutz, here and is been in the A Trader for maybe 6 months) is it still for sale ?

Could you built one for less - with used parts (which they now are) Yes.

But as always that isn't the point... could you build a std MX5 for £1200 ?

Edited by OnlyMX5ives on Tuesday 28th April 09:07