Viewing a car later today, bad points explained please.
Discussion
Going to look an an Eunos tonight (5 minutes drive).
He's got the run down of good and bad points on show. A few bad points that I wouldn't mind some more information on if you would.
On the bad points list:
1. Clutch Thrust Bearing squeal.
2. "Takes 5-10 seconds for oil pressure to rise when car is stood for a period of time" he also said it's a "common MX5 trait to do with oil draining to the sump".
I can't find much on this searching the internet. I can only think of overfilling the oil maybe?
So if you could give me some background on this and points on what to look for when viewing(in a hour), that would be fantastic.
David
He's got the run down of good and bad points on show. A few bad points that I wouldn't mind some more information on if you would.
On the bad points list:
1. Clutch Thrust Bearing squeal.
2. "Takes 5-10 seconds for oil pressure to rise when car is stood for a period of time" he also said it's a "common MX5 trait to do with oil draining to the sump".
I can't find much on this searching the internet. I can only think of overfilling the oil maybe?
So if you could give me some background on this and points on what to look for when viewing(in a hour), that would be fantastic.
David
1. clutch change isn't the end of the world in terms of cost but i'd factor in £250-£300.
2. They do rattle slightly when cold, hydraulic lifter rattle (pressure should be a good 3 bar plus when warm.
things to look for:
HLR?: rattle from the engine on startup should go after a few moments.
Sills: tend to block their drain holes in the front wings and rust,
Overheating: rads, aftermarket rad caps, and stats all weak points.
Knackered hoods: £250 for a new one, but still apain.
2. They do rattle slightly when cold, hydraulic lifter rattle (pressure should be a good 3 bar plus when warm.
things to look for:
HLR?: rattle from the engine on startup should go after a few moments.
Sills: tend to block their drain holes in the front wings and rust,
Overheating: rads, aftermarket rad caps, and stats all weak points.
Knackered hoods: £250 for a new one, but still apain.
The oil pressure gauge on an MX5 changes with the revs so don't be surprised
Lift the carpet by the seatbelts (best done with the roof up) which is where the drainage holes are, can be a lot of corrossion around there and I believe it's a big job to repair.
The fuel gauge is flaky in quite a few MX5's and while it's an easy job to replace the pump and electrics it's nearly £400 for the unit!
Other than that it's the usual car stuff - check the sills for rust and the engine for oil leaks, if it's an import it's worth asking about underseal
Hope it's a good one and you have lots of fun with it!
Lift the carpet by the seatbelts (best done with the roof up) which is where the drainage holes are, can be a lot of corrossion around there and I believe it's a big job to repair.
The fuel gauge is flaky in quite a few MX5's and while it's an easy job to replace the pump and electrics it's nearly £400 for the unit!
Other than that it's the usual car stuff - check the sills for rust and the engine for oil leaks, if it's an import it's worth asking about underseal
Hope it's a good one and you have lots of fun with it!
Went to view it today. The girlfriend took it for a drive and quite liked it.
The oil pressure started maxed out and as the car got up to temperature, the oil pressure dropped to mid gauge.
Upon start up and first setting off for our short run, the engine sounded tappety to me. Once back with a warmed up car, we popped the bonnet to have a look inside it's heart. I can't remember if the engine still sounded tappety (dumb me!) but I checked the dip stick - filled to the MAX mark (too much!?) and also looked under the oil cap. There was a little mayo (oil + water) showing under the cap but I think this is down to condensation and the engine not getting up to temps to get rid of it. The dip stick was clean.
We found the electric windows slow in operation, but this seems to come with any old car. Is there an easy fix for this, or is it the motor getting on a bit?
The car is up for £1075 which is the bottom end of what Eunos' go for. It had AC, electric Windows, we think cloth seats but it was dark and wasn't a huge worry at the time. The passenger seat seat belt reel didn't seem to take up the slack very well which wasn't brilliant as I was sat in it!
The sills looked good inside and out. I didn't pull back the carpets though as mentioned above, I will next time. It had 'chrome' mirrors which were showing the white plastic through.
The front bumper had also had taken a hit once upon a time and had fibreglass spide cracks and the white stress marks/ plastic was showing through.
The front and back corners also seemed to have rub marks and be showing the white plastic through the paint work.
The boot was also fading in spots. Is this an expensive fix to have resprayed?
The front left arch had what looked like red painted over rust showing through.
All in it seemed okay but shabby around the edges. Cheaper than what we had thought, but due to being so close to home we went and had a look, although a dark viewing.
She is now deciding if she wants a shabby cheap car which you could spend a bit on to do up, but I think it'd cost quite a bit.... Or if she wants to spend a few hundred more and get a better specced/ better condition car.
The oil pressure started maxed out and as the car got up to temperature, the oil pressure dropped to mid gauge.
Upon start up and first setting off for our short run, the engine sounded tappety to me. Once back with a warmed up car, we popped the bonnet to have a look inside it's heart. I can't remember if the engine still sounded tappety (dumb me!) but I checked the dip stick - filled to the MAX mark (too much!?) and also looked under the oil cap. There was a little mayo (oil + water) showing under the cap but I think this is down to condensation and the engine not getting up to temps to get rid of it. The dip stick was clean.
We found the electric windows slow in operation, but this seems to come with any old car. Is there an easy fix for this, or is it the motor getting on a bit?
The car is up for £1075 which is the bottom end of what Eunos' go for. It had AC, electric Windows, we think cloth seats but it was dark and wasn't a huge worry at the time. The passenger seat seat belt reel didn't seem to take up the slack very well which wasn't brilliant as I was sat in it!
The sills looked good inside and out. I didn't pull back the carpets though as mentioned above, I will next time. It had 'chrome' mirrors which were showing the white plastic through.
The front bumper had also had taken a hit once upon a time and had fibreglass spide cracks and the white stress marks/ plastic was showing through.
The front and back corners also seemed to have rub marks and be showing the white plastic through the paint work.
The boot was also fading in spots. Is this an expensive fix to have resprayed?
The front left arch had what looked like red painted over rust showing through.
All in it seemed okay but shabby around the edges. Cheaper than what we had thought, but due to being so close to home we went and had a look, although a dark viewing.
She is now deciding if she wants a shabby cheap car which you could spend a bit on to do up, but I think it'd cost quite a bit.... Or if she wants to spend a few hundred more and get a better specced/ better condition car.
OnlyMX5ives said:
You can't make a tatty car good for the price of a good car IME
(at least not if you can't do the work yourself)
That.(at least not if you can't do the work yourself)
Again - oil brimmed to the top along with Mayo is something that would get me thinking.
You didnt happen to spot a top-up bottle of oil in the boot and a pop bottle full of coolant aswell?
Seriously - I think if you added another 5-800 pounds onto that (I know its a lot when were talking cars this cheap) then your well into the realms of genuinely tidy cars.
From what you've described, I'd walk away. Unless it's more like £700-£800 then it's not cheap in my book.
There are genuinely tidy examples available for around £1500. Might need to be patient but thet are about! Just keep checking the usual places, there's a silver one near me, low mileage, looks pretty tidy, and the seller wants £1500 for it......
There are genuinely tidy examples available for around £1500. Might need to be patient but thet are about! Just keep checking the usual places, there's a silver one near me, low mileage, looks pretty tidy, and the seller wants £1500 for it......
You might have a look at www.mx5parts.com if you want to get a feel for costs of parts, but I think the other comments sound right - you can buy a really nice one for £2000 and if you need to do all the jobs you've listed then it does need to be cheaper than a grand!
We've rung up and said that we're not interested to the above one.
But...onwards and upwards.
We're off to see this one tomorrow - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1990-MAZDA-MX5-SILVER-EUNOS-...
Mark on the bonnet. Anyone know a ballpark figure to get the bonnet resprayed?
But...onwards and upwards.
We're off to see this one tomorrow - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1990-MAZDA-MX5-SILVER-EUNOS-...
Mark on the bonnet. Anyone know a ballpark figure to get the bonnet resprayed?
She's put a deposit down on the above ebay linked advert.
The paint is a bit shabby in places but the engine sounded very smooth, a hell of a lot smoother then the first viewing I posted about.
£900 is the total. It's a lower miler, the mileage mentioned is in Kilometres, not miles.
The roof looks in very good nick and I don't think it's that old. Sills look rust free too.
Let's hope it's a good runner. Picking it up next Tuesday.
The paint is a bit shabby in places but the engine sounded very smooth, a hell of a lot smoother then the first viewing I posted about.
£900 is the total. It's a lower miler, the mileage mentioned is in Kilometres, not miles.
The roof looks in very good nick and I don't think it's that old. Sills look rust free too.
Let's hope it's a good runner. Picking it up next Tuesday.
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