First car - MX5 Eunos - Thoughts?

RoyMi6

RoyMi6

RoyMi6

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Always taken a keen interest in cars but never really done anything about it.

Had the opportunity to learn to drive when I was 17 but never made the most of my parents offer when my first 5 lessons I had been bought all ended up with a different instructor due to various timing conflicts etc.

Finally got my licence when I was 25 after 10 lessons over 2 months. Remembered everything I'd been taught before and to this day I genuinely think my G25 and LFS helped :)

Since then I've just been a named driver on my parents car for the last year and a bit. Annoyingly this means, at the age of 26, I'm stuck with annoyingly high insurance costs.

Despite my G25 (Logitech G25 Steering Wheel) upbringing I consider myself to be a safe and considerate driver and don't really have that hunger for speed or suffer from impatience like a lot of my friends do.

All that considered I've manage to reduce my monthly outgoings and I'm considering spending roughly £2000 on a MX5. Specifically a 1.6L Eunos.

Reasons I'm looking at the Eunos are:
- Cheap to buy, can find good ones sub 2.5K
- Cheap to run
- Cheap to maintain
- Easy to find parts
- Potentially things that go wrong can be fixed by myself for a bit of learning
- Fun to drive. Lame as it sounds they get rave reviews on Top Gear
- Looking at the Enuos specifically as the Japanese are meant to have far stricter MOT's etc so lived longer in good nick
- Meant to hold their value relatively well

I've done my research on here and on other forums (this link seems to come up often http://www.mx5oc.co.uk/forum/forums/t/425.aspx) so I know what I'm looking for when I'm buying but does this seem like a reasonable car to start with? Rear wheel drive cars are meant to have the potential to be "scary" but on a 1.6L thing like this is it really that bad?

Saying that, as stupid as it might sound, I personally think I have a much better understanding of the attributes of a RWD car over that of mum :)

Insurance doesn't appear to be an issue as it's going to be about £1000 for 12 months (only been driving a year remember) which I can afford. This high price is another reason I want to get a car sooner rather than later so I can get my NCB under my belt.

Oh yeah, on insurance people have told me that it's common place to only mention the parts that effect performance - i.e. suspension upgrades etc but not things like a modified front splitter. What exactly happens if you have an accident if you've done this? I was under the impression it would be void surely...

TL;DR - Looking to get a Mazda MX5 Eunos 1.6L. First time buyer and only held licence for a year but mid twenties. Sensible choice? Fun to be had or wondering where to pre-order tickets for RoyMi6's funeral?
 
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G25 is a console/pc steering wheel.

Mx-5 for your first car sounds like a good idea to me. :)

If you get a good one with good tyres you shouldn't end up in a ditch backwards if you drive sensibly as you should in any RWD car. Sounds like you know what you're talking about so I'd go for it.

I would ask for insurance companies for quotes with and without potential modifications, you might find that it won't change much with non-performance related modifications unless it drastically changes the looks.

Is the Eunos the import? Might be cheaper to get a UK car.
 
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My mate has a mk1 1.6 ive had a drive and it was good fun! i wouldnt forsee anycreal difficulties as a first car. they arent too powerful so its not going to chuck you into a ditch unless you drive like a pleb.

deffo get one with power steering. check for signs of leaks in the footwells. my mates amwas leaking but under the carpet so difficult to spot but thats where the ecu was located and it was playibg a bit of havoc in the wet.

His exhaust just snapped too but he got a new oe type one for 70 from ebay plus 30 fitted. have a couple of spare hundred tucked away for things like rust, brakes, exhausts remember these are old cars!
 
Just to clarify Logitech G25 Steering Wheel - Sorry, used to posting in the gaming forums! :)

Double sorry if you're trying to be funny! No idea if a G25 is a car or not :D
 
I hate to be pedantic but there's no such thing as a Mazda MX5 Eunos.

I did find that insurance was a little more on the Eunos Roadster compared to the Mazda MX5, try it for yourself by running some quotes using the plates of some 2nd hand ones on PH/ebay. :)
 
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you'll be fine - they aren't powerful enough to be a real thread, just watch out in the dry. Might be worth pushing for a mk2 which you should be able to do your budget as they are a bit safer with airbags and the like...
 
You might want to delete the competetor link.

I see no problem with having an old Mx5 as a first car. In fact I think it's actually a very good choice in pretty much all respects.
 
Don't want to be a killjoy but amazon are a competitor, should probably remove the link before a mod sees.
 
Cheers pcoltrane, ng92 - added to help explain confusion but removed to not get banned :)

Wasn't expecting such a quick response but cheers guys. Doesn't seem like I have much option... sounds like you're telling me I MUST buy one!

Appreciate the advice about looking at MK2's Siliconslave. Hadn't considered that. Newer version so better luck to be in good nick as well. Might make it an easier to sell the idea to the GF as well.

Apologies MikeHunt79 - There seemed to be loads of ones titled like that on piston heads. Sorry for falling into the same trap. It's the kinda thing I pull people up on as well :)

sigma - yeah, Eunos is the import. Seems if you list all the mods of some of the cars I was looking at almost none return any quotes. Got a friend to tell me which one's he'd list and it didn't make a major difference - so things like suspension and exhaust but not front splitter or wider wheel arches.

The Running Man - Yeah, signs of leaking roof and points to look for rust I think I've got covered. Just need to see one in person. And yeah, cheap parts is a def bonus with this type of car.
 
RoyMi6 said:
Apologies MikeHunt79 - There seemed to be loads of ones titled like that on piston heads. Sorry for falling into the same trap. It's the kinda thing I pull people up on as well :)
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No problem, I'm actually looking to buy one for myself at some point and I've found I'm leaning more towards getting a UK car because the insurance quotes seem to be significantly less than the imports, despite the cars themselves being pretty much identical.

The older ones do also seem to suffer from rust around te rear arches, but if you get a well looked after one you should be ok. :)
 
I'm 21 and bought a uk mk1 mx5 as my (almost) first car (had an old honda civic but only for 3 months a couple of years ago and since then not driven).

I've had the car for almost a year now and I love the thing. It's ridiculously good fun.

A few things to watch out for:

Rusty sills - try and get a car with these already sorted, as if they aren't rusty yet, they are likely to become rusty in the future.

Get a uk car - My insurance was over £400 cheaper with a uk car than an import despite them being pretty much identical in almost every way.

Look for a decent service history - I was a bit of an idiot with mine and bought one without any history at all. It had a build thread on mx5nutz which satisfied me, but it seems this doesn't count for much as the head gasket went after owning it for 3 months and a number of other problems were found (mainly missing bolts, gaskets - just stuff that should have been there that wasn't).

Still, even with the problems I've had with it, it's been a great car and in total to fix issues and including the cost of the car, has only cost me just over £2000.


Just remember to do as it says in the owners manual and take it to the red line once a journey when warmed up to "clear the engine" a bit ;)
 
I think it would make a good first car, as said it's not powerful enough to cause a problem, driving in a way to get it uncontrollably out of shape would cause issues in both rwd and fwd :p

It's also less likely that you'll get bored in about 3 minutes and change car which might bring costs down a bit...

On the insurance/mods bit, technically all mods should be declared, performance and aesthetic, and any difference could in theory get your insurance company ****ed off (they're bound to honour third party payments however they can attempt to get that cost back off you), I'd just try to get one as close to stock as usual, or one where the mods don't affect insurance too much.
 
Doesn't the Eunos come with an LSD and the UK Mk1 doesn't? (could be wrong). If so, fitting one to a UK car would probably cost more than the extra insurance...
 
Lots of threads in here and on MX5 Nutz.

Try a UK car quote as well.

LSD came on a significant percentage of Jap cars but can cheaply be retrofitted.

The 1.6 VLSD is rubbish at 20 years old, the 1.8 one is better and can again be retrofitted.
 
I do like the mk2 mx5. Wouldn't mind one myself once I pass, but will probably have to get something else for a year before I could afford one. Glad to hear they are suitable for newer drivers though.
 
RoyMi6 said:
sigma - yeah, Eunos is the import. Seems if you list all the mods of some of the cars I was looking at almost none return any quotes. Got a friend to tell me which one's he'd list and it didn't make a major difference - so things like suspension and exhaust but not front splitter or wider wheel arches.
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Which companies have you tried quotes with?

HIC, Adrian Flux, I think Liverpool Victoria do too, even Admiral have started covering modifications too now there are more companies out there too, pretty sure there are a few lists of insures floating about somewhere.

LOL @ Tich's sig!
 
I've just done Go Compare really :)

Yeah, Admiral seems to be OK with the suspension, exhaust and tire changes and continually gives me the best quotes. Thinking they must be geared up towards newer drivers.

Take it by LSD you're talking about a Limited Split Diff? From a bit of basic knowledge and some Wikipedia I assume this is something I want?
 
Never really got into the tuning of cars in games. Without being able to practically apply it in the real world and physically experience the difference I've never really taken it in.

Other thing is when playing online I'd just race stock. I'd much rather give myself a harder race and win with a bit of skill than fart about with 0.01 degree changes to the camber of my tyres. It's a game after all :)

EDIT: I know how a diff works and with a little bit of reading I see that the LSD is designed to overcome the problems that regular diffs have when one wheel looses all traction. So applying this to an rear wheel drive car I can see how desirable this would be. I'll add it to my list of things to check!
 
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