View of this car..

[BertBert]

...seen this in the classifieds...
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1230015.htm
Clearly it's at a premium for being a low mileage, limited edition etc.

I'm interested and happy to pay a premium for a really nice low mile mk1, but is it just waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too expensive?

Thanks
Bert

[snotrag]

It seems like a lot of money. People do pay that much for low mile tidy examples from dealers (dandycars springs to mind of course, lets not get into that debate again) but then you would be paying for a comprehensive warranty and all the usual dealer stuff.


Personally I think its crazy money because -

-MX5s do not fall apart after doing more than 30k miles
-I dont think some of the Special editions (particularly this one) are that special - the plastic wood is truly awful.#
- just look at what you could buy for the money otherwise.

For that amount you could be buying a seriously, seriously sorted machine off somewhere like mx5nutz that has been properly, and comprehensively modifed to turn it from a 'soft-roadster' into a serious, fun, rather fast sprots car.


I guess - some people are not bothered by that though (although if you did just want something to pottle about in soaking up rays you'd be much better off in a little MGB or an old Merc something).

ETA - jsut to back my point up - after 30 seconds in the classifieds, does that one look particularly good value when compared to this one, for instance...

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1326012.htm

See what I mean?

Edited by snotrag on Monday 2nd November 18:26

[Matt UK]

BertBert said:

is it just waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too expensive?

IMO, yes.

And it's still sitting on 4x4 suspension settings

[BertBert]

Matt UK said:

And it's still sitting on 4x4 suspension settings

Are you saying the ride height is too high? I'd expect it to be at factory settings though?

Thanks
Bert

[Munter]

BertBert said:

Matt UK said:

And it's still sitting on 4x4 suspension settings

Are you saying the ride height is too high? I'd expect it to be at factory settings though?

Thanks
Bert

Yes the later MK1s had quite a high setting out of the factory for some reason. Personally I never had a problem with that. Just means you don't need to worry about speed bumps as much, but the handling is still excellent.

[BertBert]

So all I need to do is knock 1k off the price!

I can't see a deal happening, but we'll see how we get on.

Bert

[buccal]

Easy to see why its been for sale for 33 days

[Matt UK]

Munter said:

BertBert said:

Matt UK said:

And it's still sitting on 4x4 suspension settings

Are you saying the ride height is too high? I'd expect it to be at factory settings though?

Thanks
Bert

Yes the later MK1s had quite a high setting out of the factory for some reason. Personally I never had a problem with that. Just means you don't need to worry about speed bumps as much, but the handling is still excellent.

Mine was like that when I got it and it still handled well, but I'm using mine on track more than road now. I found the original set up could be found wanting at times on track and could get a bit floaty - but that's like pretty much any road-based set up when taken on track.

Edited by Matt UK on Tuesday 3rd November 22:13

[Gizmo!]

Munter said:

BertBert said:

Matt UK said:

And it's still sitting on 4x4 suspension settings

Are you saying the ride height is too high? I'd expect it to be at factory settings though?

Thanks
Bert

Yes the later MK1s had quite a high setting out of the factory for some reason. Personally I never had a problem with that. Just means you don't need to worry about speed bumps as much, but the handling is still excellent.

Mine rides noticeably high too (UK '96 model).
Doesn't bother me except when I try and take photos of it!

[hornetrider]

The seats look gack don't they. Like old man's sofas or something, yuk.

[BertBert]

I'm off to see it in the flesh this evening.
Bert

[bluetone]

Happy hunting and I hope you get a good price. Personally I would want to know quite a bit about the history and whether the car has been unused for X years or has just been very lightly continuously; cars left standing for ages can develop problems as a result..

[hornetrider]

BertBert said:

I'm off to see it in the flesh this evening.
Bert

In the dark?!

[BertBert]

hornetrider said:

BertBert said:

I'm off to see it in the flesh this evening.
Bert

In the dark?!

In a garage!

I went to look to see if it was worth thinking about seriously. The Dakar limited edition is actually not bad at all, very livable-with. The seats are much better in the flesh than in the pics. It looks like it has just been used very lightly with no specific periods of lay-up. It is in very good condition indeed (almost timewarp original with nothing changed) with the only obvious flaw being the "wood" trim which is looking a bit past its best (which was never going to be good!). The owner (nice chap) is super-fastidious. So all in all I'd say great car, but I think I'm not going to pay the premium for what it is.

Bert

[NiceCupOfTea]

They look like cheap seat covers!

Low miles on a '5 is not a good thing IMHO. My '94 had about 40k miles on it when I bought it a couple of years ago. Had quite a few running problems and needed a damn good service, a couple of oil changes, and a new set of HLAs until it was running as Mazda intended. Trouble is, these low miles cars often get serviced to mileage, not intervals. Mine went nearly 4 years without a service at one stage (thanks to it only doing 8k miles in that time).

I wouldn't be paying anything near that for a Mk.1 unless it was a forced induction car with some choice mods.


For my money, if you want a track hack, a cheap 2nd car, or a car to modify, a cheap Mk.1 is the order of the day. If you want one to drive every day then a Mk.2 is a much better solution. My dad is selling his low mileage (but not too low ) Mk.2 in classic BRG/tan for less than £3k - it's a far better car than my Mk.1 Eunos with rock hard Bilstein suspension.

[johnnyboy666]

Sounds like too much money. As far as I am concerned a mk1 goes from £1000 for a ropey one all the way up to £3000 for a mint one. Mine was up for £3000, paid about 2700 for it with 46,000 full service history and a UK car in immaculate condition. Maybe this would be a bit more due to milage but anything more than £3500 and it's just not worth it.

[yellowbentines]

NiceCupOfTea said:

My dad is selling his low mileage (but not too low ) Mk.2 in classic BRG/tan for less than £3k

Where, is it advertised yet? Sounds like my ideal colour and trim combination and I'm thinking about taking the plunge into MX ownership, would be interested in more details! (Sorry for the thread hijack OP)

[BertBert]

No probs on the hijack! It looks like I'm not going to be able to get back into MX5 driving as it was predicated on changing my wife's Z3 for one.

And seemingly that's not gonna work. She doesn't really want a convertible and we really need to get a car insurable to be driven by offspring.

Looks like it's gonna be a mini one :-(

Bert

[Munter]

BertBert said:

Looks like it's gonna be a mini one :-(

Well that's not so bad. I mean if you can live with the speedo in the middle of the car. I just find that too annoying myself.

[BertBert]

Munter said:

BertBert said:

Looks like it's gonna be a mini one :-(

Well that's not so bad. I mean if you can live with the speedo in the middle of the car. I just find that too annoying myself.

yep, I agree, ok to drive. Probably able to cope with the speedo thing too!

Bert