Ok so the wife wants an MX5 :O

tbz_ck

tbz_ck

tbz_ck

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This is for MX5 owners.

We've been looking around for a replacement for her punto, up to around the £5k mark. At first we were talking Fiesta's etc but I've somehow managed to talk her into the possibility of an MK5! :D

So MX5 owners, I need a few Q's answering.

Firstly whats the model to go for at that price point? Engine size etc?

Whats the fuel economy, tax and insurance like (We are both 35, I have 9+ years no claims and she has 3 years (since she was always on my policy before))

We are not after a fast car, just something stylish and fun with a soft-top :)


Thanks

CK
 
£5k should buy you a nice mk2 1.8, either i or iS. As mentioned the iS is the one to go for, even if you exclude the LSD, you also get a nicer interior. You'll be looking at around year 2000 for that dosh. I think they're group 12, mine cost me £350 per year on insurance (40, living in London at the time).
I seem to remember getting low to mid 30s depending upon how I drove it.

Have to say that I have a lot of fond memories of driving mine.

If you think it sounds a little weedy, get yourself a K&N typhoon. Won't do anything for performance, but made a lovely noise when you gunned it.
 
1.8iS, might even get an early Mk2.5 for that money now.

Mpg i got was erm, rubbish for such a small and light car, over 30mpg was impossible, more like 22 - sub 15.

Important point is fit some good rear tyres, GSD3's are great, otherwise with the LSD you will find yourself sideways in the wet more oftern than not.

Check for rust on the sills and rear arches, soft tops arn't that expensive to replace £350 fitted, however check the condition of the current one.

Not much else goes wrong really!
 
Firestar_3x said:
Check for rust on the sills and rear arches, soft tops arn't that expensive to replace £350 fitted, however check the condition of the current one.
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again the rust in the sills is a biggie, they have a thicker plastic / paint thing on the sills but if theres been a problem with the drainage holes you can get rust from the inside :( look all along the sills but specifically by the back edge of the doors.

Also check that the drainage holes are working, just behind the seatbelt top thing theres a small plastic tray with a deep dip in it, if theres any water in there you might be in trouble, its where the water from the hood collects and drains down out of the car, if it overflows you can end up with all sorts of internal rust problems :( although its easy to fix the drainage, the rust isn't so easy.
 
Firestar_3x said:
1.8iS, might even get an early Mk2.5 for that money now.

Mpg i got was erm, rubbish for such a small and light car, over 30mpg was impossible, more like 22 - sub 15.

Important point is fit some good rear tyres, GSD3's are great, otherwise with the LSD you will find yourself sideways in the wet more oftern than not.

Check for rust on the sills and rear arches, soft tops arn't that expensive to replace £350 fitted, however check the condition of the current one.

Not much else goes wrong really!
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Ok what you have kindly shared is scaring me! Reason being that she will be doing around 15k miles per year. I really wanted something more economical to run. Either that or I sell my LCR and get something more sensible for myself (mmmmmm :( )

Whats wrong with the 1.6 model? Is it that underpowered?
 
The 1.6 Is Pants, To get 22 - 15mpg i was spanking it, which is how the car was driven most of the time (its the only way to drive them) :)


However even driven like a saint you won't see much more than 30mpg, its the nature of this particular engine i'm affraid :(
 
Ok, thanks for the info.

I've seen a really cheap older one for around £1.9k with 88000 on the clock (M reg 1994). Are the older ones as bulletproof and fun as the mk2 and newer?
 
tbz_ck said:
Ok, thanks for the info.

I've seen a really cheap older one for around £1.9k with 88000 on the clock (M reg 1994). Are the older ones as bulletproof and fun as the mk2 and newer?
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supposedly more so, rawer and lighter but with less power & you trade off space and safety (no airbags & abs). There are the same problems with the rust and the rear screens need to be unzipped every time you put the hood down otherwise you get a lovely crease in them (although you can get after market replacement roofs that have a glass screen and don't need unzipping.

there are some arguments on if the 1.8 or 1.6 is better in the late mrk1s, the 1.6 is lighter but obiously down on power... if your not tuneing it might be a better options
 
Basically as Sam has already said, the Mk1 is more fun (or say people who own them say), same price to run as the Mk2 but with less kit, Rear screen is an issue + it also looks totally rubbish.

Depending what age Mk1 you get the 1.8 can have either 130 or 140bhp, if you get a Mk2 it will have 140Bhp and the Mk2.5 will have 146/7 with VVT and 500rpm more on the rev limit.

If you buy a Mk1 1.6 watch out which version you buy, only only had 80bhp?
 
Firestar_3x said:
Mpg i got was erm, rubbish for such a small and light car, over 30mpg was impossible, more like 22 - sub 15.
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Don't be scared by that as it seems a bit low to me or must have been really going some. My mate drives one (a 1.8 ) to a from uni on the motor way and gets over 40mpg and then on normal driving is in the 30s all the time. On the same journey as following me in a 1.8 focus getting 27ish mpg he was still getting nicely over 30 so its clearly better than that. In all honesty really cant see it being an issue especially with the wife at the wheel :)
 
Official combined MPG figure for the 1.8 (Parkers) is 31 - 32mpg, since the car doesn't have a trip computer then i couldn't tell you how much it got on the motorway but i can tell you an average which was 30mpg when driven carefully, this was a combination of country roads and motorways :)
 
/breathes sigh of relief regarding the fuel. I take it thats standard unleaded and it doesn't need Vpower like my LCR (at 120.9p a litre :( )

I'm just going to have to take her out for a test drive and see if she really likes the MX5. For me though, Fiesta or MX5 there really isn't any contest there !! :)
 
At this sort of money I am tempted to get one as a station car! They seem great value at that price. How reliable are they?
 
I have a 95 mk1 1.8. I test drove the mk1 and mk2 and found the mk1 more "raw" to drive. She might not enjoy this though as it was louder and felt harsher over dodgy road surfaces.

From my driving this week I've done about 250miles of mixed country roads, dual carraigeway and stuck in traffic in rush hour. I got 39mpg which I worked out at the pump. So fuel economy can be very respectable if driven sedately :p It will drop significantly though when spanked across the back roads on a regular basis as some of the other posts here prove! It doesn't half do that well though so it's very tempting.

The main thing as already stated is check for rust. As well as this I've just changed the rubber shift boots on my gear lever, the ones in the older cars have fallen to bits and make the gear change feel very mechanical and rough. It doesn't cost much for the parts and didn't take me long at all and now I have a super smooth fluid gear change back! Something to bear in mind if you test drive an older model.

Mk2s are much better at motorway cruising with a 6speed gearbox. My mk1 is almost at 4k revs at 70, so high speed cruising is certainly not economical. But at 75ish I still get low 40s mpg.

Fantastic cars though. I love every journey :)
 
fuel consumption is about the same as most 1.6/1.8 engines do as long as you dont thrash it all the time. Insurance is not going to be a problem or expensive either. General running costs for these cars are very low. Parts are generally cheap. You are not going to get "performance car" running costs.
 
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