MX5 buyers guide?

Hxc

Hxc

Hxc

Soldato
Joined
29 Oct 2004
Posts
12,501
Location
London
After finding that I can insure an MX5 for a reasonable amount, I am pretty certainly going to be buying one for my last summer at home.

For insurance reasons it'll have to be a 1.6, and my budget will stretch to a MK1 only!

Just wondering if there's anything I should be looking out for, and how much is a fair price to pay for one? I don't want a mint condition example, I'd like something that'll last me till october with reletively little fuss and doesn't look like a total scrapper (I can deal with spots of rust on the arches, I drive a mini for gods sake!).

Cheers folks. :cool:
 
Look no further than here :).

Rust is the main thing you should be looking for on MK1s, especially non-imported ones. When you buy definitely consider de-tango'ing the exterior as it makes a big difference.


Oh, and welcome to the club ;).

EDIT: Beaten by a minute :(
 
My basic thinking was that I could get a decent one for £1500, with anything less being a bonus? Should be able to get at least a grand for the mini despite needing a new A panel and some rust as it's got 12months mot and is solid as a rock mechanically.
 
Hxc said:
My basic thinking was that I could get a decent one for £1500, with anything less being a bonus? Should be able to get at least a grand for the mini despite needing a new A panel and some rust as it's got 12months mot and is solid as a rock mechanically.
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£1500 will get you a nice MK1, maybe even a special edition one as seen here :).
 
If I can spend less and get something solid, I am well up for it. Special editions don't bother me much... would quite like something with black wheels mind. ehe.
 
Hxc said:
If I can spend less and get something solid, I am well up for it. Special editions don't bother me much... would quite like something with black wheels mind. ehe.
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If you wanted a little project you could always buy one cheaper that needs work and fix it up :). MX-5 parts are cheap and you wont struggle to find a scrap yard or somewhere breaking one.

For parts you can't beat MX-5 Parts or Autolink.

EDIT: With regards to insurance I found that there wasn't much of a difference between a 1.6 and a 1.8. Being a young male driver (21) in a terrible post code I would've thought the same would apply to you? Who have you tried for insurance? Take a look here for a list of insurers known to be competitive with MX-5s :).
 
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Meatball said:
EDIT: With regards to insurance I found that there wasn't much of a difference between a 1.6 and a 1.8. Being a young male driver (21) in a terrible post code I would've thought the same would apply to you? Who have you tried for insurance?
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I'm 19, Bell (who I am with at present) are quoting me £920 fully comp. I am going to try a couple of classic companys tommorrow and see if they can do better. A 1.8 puts that up about £20 now I check, that's nice to know!

rob, problem with that car is the short MOT which I don't really want to have to deal with, and the fact it's an import whacking up the insurance price (might not be a problem with classic insurance)
 
Hxc said:
I'm 19, Bell (who I am with at present) are quoting me £920 fully comp. I am going to try a couple of classic companys tommorrow and see if they can do better. A 1.8 puts that up about £20 now I check, that's nice to know!

rob, problem with that car is the short MOT which I don't really want to have to deal with, and the fact it's an import whacking up the insurance price (might not be a problem with classic insurance)
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Good to know. Remember that later 1.6 UK model MX-5's are only 90bhp vs. 115bhp. All Eunos 1.6 are 115bhp with the 1.8 clocking in at 130bhp :).
 
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Specialist performance insurers will like-for-like the imports with UK models. Aon do limited mileage classic policies on the MX5, I think the max is 5k.

Some people have bought some bargain projects recently with just a bit of rot to sort. £400-900 would be a project. £1-1500k would get you a solid tidy car.

Can't wait to get mine back on the road :)
 
Dup said:
Specialist performance insurers will like-for-like the imports with UK models. Aon do limited mileage classic policies on the MX5, I think the max is 5k.

Some people have bought some bargain projects recently with just a bit of rot to sort. £400-900 would be a project. £1-1500k would get you a solid tidy car.

Can't wait to get mine back on the road :)
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5k is by far and away enough for my usage, will give them a ring tommorrow. If they can get it down to around my current mini price I would be laughing. Cheers.
 
Get one with boost
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:o
 
Seen one with test till jan next year with a broken handbrake and some peeling laquer... gonna ask my step dad if we could do anything about the paint at home and the handbrake can't be that big a fix! Has just had cambelt/waterpump/rad done too. Under a grand...

Should really sell my car first!
 
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