newbie- MGTF or what?

[Orphius]

Hi guys, great website.
Dead keen to get a 2 seat bit of fun for the weekends. I have about £2000 to spend. Would you recommend a MGTF or saving a lot more for an MR2 or MX5? I have read around and think I know what I'm letting myself in for with HGF's (i used to have a Rover 214 which went through 2 HG's in 2.5 years!- I swore never again with Rover!)
Therefore I want convincing that a MG is for me!
Thanks for advice in advance!

[na]

there are two or three guys on here that can fix K series HGF properly so that it wont be a problem again

I read and found out only this week that F/TF are very tyre sensitive

as for marque and model you'd have to try both to see which you like and suits you

look at and test drive as many good examples of each as you can including some well out of your buying budget to see how good the cars should be and that you may need to adjust your budget or expectations – it usually works out less expensive to buy a good but higher priced example than a poor lower priced example

[Orphius]

Thanks for that. Makes sense- although I appologise in advance to any members with mgfs out of my budget that I test drive! Would anyone suggest what a "typical" budget should be for a MGTF 135 no more the 70k on clock?

[5paul5]

Why save a lot more ? you can get a very decent mx5 for that budget.

[Orphius]

I wasn't majorly impressed by a MX5 1.8 Eunos I borrowed for a week that was in the similar age bracket of what I can afford. I did however take a 1.6 MGTF out for a quick spin and it seemed more fun. Hence rethinking my previous attitude to Rover MG & carefully having a look at what I can afford. Are there any other marques that I may not have thought about?

[na]

Orphius said:

Thanks for that. Makes sense

it is - and if I'd have followed my own advice when buying "classics"/old cars I'd be ten of £000s better off now and I tens

Orphius said:

- although I appologise in advance to any members with mgfs out of my budget that I test drive!

don't as you might buy the car realising it's worth the extra or they might drop the price nearer to your budget

I put good examples as you can get many bad examples at higher and much higher prices too

also allow in your budget some money to service, maintain and repair your new purchase - as well as the insurance, RFL, regular servicing, petrol and all the usual pleasures of car ownership

Orphius said:

Would anyone suggest what a "typical" budget should be for a MGTF 135 no more the 70k on clock?

that's not something I'd know but other here will and there are MGF websites and forums

I'm not a big fan of low mileage cars as they can bring as many problems from being used not enough/infrequently/short journeys if you buy a low mileage car don't expect it to be necessarily less expesive to own and run

do a lot of research, cross checking any information you get - it's a buyers market so take your time and if you're not sure or happy about something then walk away there are plenty of Fs for sale less very good ones in any particular budget

good luck

Edited by na on Sunday 4th March 15:48

[Orphius]

Again thank you for the advice. What would you suggest would be a low mileage MGTF? What would you class as a good mileage? I'm just sorting out a few niggles with my current car, an Astra SXI with 113k on the clock and this is starting to show its 11 years!

[chris watton]

If you buy one, make sure that on of the first things you do is buy a new expansion tank cap and replace the old one. This is (apparently) a known issue - I found out about it when this £5 cap failed, and caused £1100 worth of repair work...

ETA - I remember part exing my first Trophy 160 for a TF 160, and hated it - was a lot softer than the F Trophy, even with the sports pack I ordered with the car. The Trophy 160 was the pinnacle of the MG sportscars (I have had all top variants) - I had as much fun in those than the Tamora.

Edited by chris watton on Sunday 4th March 13:23

[na]

Orphius said:

Again thank you for the advice. What would you suggest would be a low mileage MGTF? What would you class as a good mileage? I'm just sorting out a few niggles with my current car, an Astra SXI with 113k on the clock and this is starting to show its 11 years!

sorry I got my formatting confused with my last post

it's not just the mileage it's the type of milage - regular very short journys to work say of less than say 15 miles isn't good for any car

long motorway journys are a lot less stressfull on the car (unless it's a maximum speed screamer all the way foot never lifted) less stress on brakes, gears, clutch, suspension

you also need to see how the overall mileage was done, perhaps early years very high mileage and later years very low or ant combination inbetween

also a low milage car of say 3,000 miles a year that does a regular annual trip of 1,500 -2,000 miles may suggest peroids of inactivity and short sunny day rides but you'd have to ask to make sure

also servicing is very important, low mileage cars tend to have skips in their servicing because they do low mileage time dependant servicing aspects are overlooked, somethings can potentially deteriarte just as badly when stationary

very infrequent use can introduce problems for the next owner better that a car has regular use

the mileage effect also depends on the driver(s), some drive in a very harsh way which will increased wear and tear others have bad habits that wear out certain components more quickly

so a lot of variables with mileage and some low mileage cars are very well looked after

so it's all about condition of car rather than just a mileage figure

as it's very quiet for F owners here try the other F/TF sites and forums (bear in mind there was an original 1950s MG TF)

[Orphius]

Summers coming and I'm getting impatient to buy my first mg. Are there any merits to buying an MGF over waiting longer and saving more for a MGTF?

[chris watton]

Orphius said:

Summers coming and I'm getting impatient to buy my first mg. Are there any merits to buying an MGF over waiting longer and saving more for a MGTF?

This looks very reasonable for the price. HG and water pump done, and it seems very presentable.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3757869.htm

Or this low mileage VVC version:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3705787.htm

Edited by chris watton on Friday 23 March 21:21

[Orphius]

Cheers Chris,
Does anyone have an opinion on the handling of the f against the tf? I have heard that the stiffer suspension of the tf is better- is this necessarly so?

[Eunos]

Orphius said:

Does anyone have an opinion on the handling of the f against the tf? I have heard that the stiffer suspension of the tf is better- is this necessarly so?

Well a stiffer car will generally handle better, but a well set up standard F is a good steer. The only real differences between them that you can feel to drive is just that the TF is set up quite a bit more firmly, but it'll crash over bumps like crazy that an F would just glide over which is the trade off. They're pretty much the exact same car underneath. The only thing that gives the TF a slight advantage is the revised rear suspension geometry but unless the car was driven on the limit I doubt anybody would realise the difference.

I will say though that a non Trophy-spec F is set up a bit soft in standard trim as sports cars go IMO. Just make sure the suspension height is okay, get a 4-wheel alignment, have her running on decent tyres and she'll be a great car. If you were to have a few hundred quid spare, throw on a set of GAZ dampers, polybush the front & rear ARB's and the rear outer track control arms and it would transform the car. A lot of the handling problems of the F come from people running the suspension far too low and fitting them with chinese ditchfinder tyres. 99% of the TF upgrades are easily retrofittable to an F as well