Mx5 MK2 buying advice

[Tnotpr]

Hi everyone!

Long time wanter and hopefully new mx5 owner very soon!

I’ve been reading up on mx5’s for a while and scanning these forms. I wanted to know if I could get some help on this little beauty I went to see yesterday? It’s a 1999 MK2.
I know rust is the biggest killer and I think this one looks very good, what do you think? Am I missing anything or is there anything I should worrie about?
Thanks in advance

Edited by Tnotpr on Saturday 11th September 14:32

[Tnotpr]

[Tnotpr]

[Tnotpr]

[Tnotpr]

[iguana]

The major point of concern on an nb is the front chassis rails, retarded build idea different to the na, it rots for fun, if its terrible you can see through wheel arch, but really you need to jack up & look, undertrays can hide it v well.

[Sbloxxy]

As mentioned, its the front chassis rails that are the big issue. Then its sills and inner rear wheel arches. Power steering pipes can corrode and fail too and this is much more common on Mk2/Mk2.5 that it is on Mk1s.

Contrary to the norm, the earliest Mk2s were built to a better standard with the later MK2.5s being pretty disastrous. Buyers are often more attracted to the later cars as they often have a better spec with more toys but that pales into insignificance when the body falls apart around you. That said if you can find a decent solid Sport or SVT along with bigger brakes, six speed 'box, lots of extra chassis bracing and an lsd, it can be excellent to drive. In fact any well set up Mk2 1.8 (avoid the underpowered 1.6 which has less power than the earlier Mk1 1.6) is generally a better car to drive than the Mk1 - which is everyone's favourite at the moment.