MX5 major MOT fail — what would you do?

Irish_Tom

Irish_Tom

Irish_Tom

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Just had the dreaded call from the garage; my MX5 10th Anniversary Edition needs about £1k of welding to get it through its MOT.

The same garage had to do a little bit of welding a couple of years ago and let's just say they aren't overly concerned with aesthetics. The guy warned me that with what they need to do, it's going to look ****. So, even if I get the structural stuff sorted, I'm going to have to shell out again for a body shop to put it right.

Alternatively, I could find somewhere else to do the work that might be a bit more sympathetic… either way, it's not going to be cheap.

If it were a bog standard Mk2, I would just scrap it, but the fact that it's a 10AE is giving me second thoughts. I'd always planned to hold on to it as a 'future classic' (as naive or misguided as that may be).

The only saving grace is that it's taxed until 1st August and it has an MOT until 20th July, so I don't have to make a decision today. However, just to complicate matters, I'm getting married in a fortnight and then off on honeymoon until the end of August, so I don't have much spare time to sort this out. Not to mention that my fiancé and I both need a car for work…

So my current thinking is, get a second opinion/quote from another garage (I might give MX5 Parts a call and see what they recommend as they're just around the corner).

Depending on the result of that second opinion, I can always SORN it, hire a car until 25th so that the Mrs and I can both get to work and then worry about it when we get back from the honeymoon…

So, Motors, what would you do in this situation?
 
Is money the issue or just time?

Get a quote from another garage/bodyshop that can do it to the standard you want, otherwise you aren't going to be happy long term anyway. If it's a bodyshop they will have hire cars anyway - so providing money isn't the issue, just get it booked in and they can be getting on with it whilst you are away enjoying your honeymoon.
 
Armageus said:
Is money the issue or just time?

Get a quote from another garage/bodyshop that can do it to the standard you want, otherwise you aren't going to be happy long term anyway. If it's a bodyshop they will have hire cars anyway - so providing money isn't the issue, just get it booked in and they can be getting on with it whilst you are away enjoying your honeymoon.
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Good point — the actual cost itself isn't an issue, I'd rather not spend that kind of money right now considering the wedding but I have it if I need it.

It's more a case of whether it's an economical repair — I could just as easily put that money towards a new car when we get back, which is what I would do if it wasn't a 10AE. I just wonder whether I'm over-egging the 'limited edition' status of it and maybe it's not actually that big a deal (and won't be a few years down the line).
 
The problem with rust is as they start tearing into it the extent of the problem can be larger than originally thought with more metal having to be cut out and replaced and costs increase.
 
Indeed, if it requires that much welding done, youd probably be best stripping the whole car down and checking/sorting everything if you want to go down that route.
 
Irish_Tom said:
I just wonder whether I'm over-egging the 'limited edition' status of it and maybe it's not actually that big a deal (and won't be a few years down the line).
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Have you seen the prices of the same model from that era?

If there's any in a better condition, that might allow you to gauge as to whether it is worth spending the money on.

I think you may well be over-egging the "limited edition" status, doesn't necessarily mean the car will be worth something in years to come. Not to mention cars being sold as classic are normally in a very good condition. Yours sounds like it's been exposed to the elements a lot.
 
Shame you're where you are. Lots of cowboys out there patching these things up to look pretty but soon fall apart again. CBS Autos in Nelson Lancashire do it properly. Might me a stretch from Southsea though sadly, but he has a real passion for them and does it honest and right.

It's probably a lost cause however unless you really love the car. Most like this end up being stripped for parts and chassis scrapped if the rot is so bad.
 
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From a quick look at them in general I can't see how it's financially worth it - difference between a potentially rotten one and a "good" sorted one seems to be about a grand asking, your looking at £1k minimum cost by the sounds of things.

That doesn't mean it isn't worth it if you really like the car, but I very much doubt it's going to become any sort of future classic. Plus as above the only classics that actually command good money are the really well kept examples
 
Unless you love the car, I wouldn't go down that road. You'll get deep into it at a vast rate of knots, if you want it done properly. Nothin' wrong with that, mind, but you have to be considerate of the fact that you may well end up spending far in excess of what it's worth.
 
Thanks for all of the replies so far. :)

Good points regarding classics being good condition. My thinking was if I got the rust sorted properly it would restore it back to good condition and hopefully the rust repair would hold — although clearly, the work that was done two years ago didn't last that long.

The joys of living by the sea I guess.

@Lashout_UK you're right — If I was going to get the work done, I'd want it to be done properly and I'd only really go down that route if I thought it was worth it long-term. By the sounds of it, it probably won't be.

I think I'll stick it on eBay and start looking for a replacement.
 
I think that's likely for the best. Whilst rust repairs can be done to a great/very good standard, there's still no guarantee it'll last the length of time you'd be expected.
 
You may be best off eBaying it as the 10th anniversary cars are quite well regarded with the 6 speed 'box so even as spares and repair you should get a few quid for it especially if the interior and stuff is in good condition.

Such a shame as i love MX5's but they just love to rot and by the time you notice it on the surface it can quite often be terminal :(
 
Its a real shame MX5's go this way. Solid otherwise :(

I'd get it looked at again to make sure it isn't going to be much worse than you think then decide. You wouldn't get another for a grand so it might be worth it if its a car you'd have liked to keep for years to come.
 
If mine were a standard car I'd have sold it to a breaker for few hundred quid and bought another.

This was the extent of how much work went into sills/rear arches on mine, and I'm still left with the chassis legs up front to sort next week. Its cost me £400 a side roughly to do without m
http://gallery.baucutt.me
 
I think mk2's, special edition or not, are quite a way from a price hump so you've got to factor in quite a few years of chasing the rot around. Also if you are expecting top money for it in the long term there will be others out there that have had those super anal owners that stripped them down at less than 10 years old and fully treated and rust proofed them so they will never have been repaired. Thankfully my mk1 was owned by just such a person but as a less desirable late model, nothing special etc. I'm under no delusion that it is going to be worth much more than I paid for it anytime soon.
 
Thanks again for all the continued replies.

@sovietspybob & @Jamesyboyjim — other than the rust it's in good nick, still drives well. Such a shame.

@Frozennova is that £400/side with a respray as well or just to treat the rust?

I'm going to take it to a local body shop tomorrow to get a quote. They've have been recommended by MX5 Parts and the MOT garage also spoke favourably of them, so one way or another I should be able to make a decision over the weekend.

I'll keep you posted.
 
That was the repair panels for both plus consumables and paint.

Actually I think it was closer to somewhere between £300 and £350 a side. So if someone is doing a proper job of it then £1000 is a good price as that was a weeks work
 
I will add that the other day I found out that (apparently) if your car fails its MOT, it is no longer considered road worth and is no longer insurable, and last year's MOT is no longer valid. The garage didn't seemed too bothered though, they just advised me to avoid the cameras...
 
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