MX-5 Ownership

Tesla

Tesla

Tesla

Soldato
Joined
19 Jan 2003
Posts
17,542
Location
Bristol, UK
Morning chaps,

I have been running some insurance quotes on MX-5. In the summer I will be collecting my 1st years NCB along with turning 19 and hopefully will have the Mondeo insurance money by then too.

I was shocked when I managed to get an insurance quote of just £1200 with the non-fault accident declared. This has made the MX-5 a real option.

I would probably have a total budget of about £4000 so that means around £2500 on the car. I am not scared of one or two little faults. I have seen a show on TV where they fixed up an MX-5 and things like a roof change doesnt actually look hard at all. Serious mechanical faults I would rather avoid though unless it means an ultra bargain!

The car is completely stupid for work and I just couldnt use it for what I do. However if I pay the mx-5 insurance and actual mx-5r outright I can insure another vehicle (maybe the rover!) for about £90 a month. Which is less than I am paying now just to insure the Mondeo.

What can I expect to get for my budget?

What issues should I looks out for on the MX-5?

By the way, my quote was on a UK 1.6.

Many thanks,

Chris
 

cleanbluesky

cleanbluesky

cleanbluesky

Soldato
Joined
2 Nov 2004
Posts
24,654
Perhaps a Mk1 '91-96 1.6 or 1.6S UK model between 60,000 and 100,000 on the clock...

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You might be able to get a low-milage car, which is something to be wary of to check that use is not irregular, which may lead to problems. It can be a weekend or enthusiasts car.


Not sure I would want to spend so much on a car and such a high % of it going into insurance...
 

TC_Overclocker

TC_Overclocker

TC_Overclocker

Associate
Joined
8 Jul 2003
Posts
501
Insurance is usually the sting in the tails with these cars. I bought myself one last year around March time. A lovely example '91 UK 1.6i.

Now there are a lot of things to look out for, a few of these are as follows:

1. Probably the most important is to check the age of the car, try to avoid if possible early examples, mainly early '91 and earlier. This is due to a fault with the engine design, which usually leads to a dead engine in later life. The easiest way to tell is to check the crank pulley on the front of the engine. Just pop the bonnet and check for the amount of slots in the crank pulley. The old engines with the fault only have 4 slots in the crank pulley, whereas the newer better engines have 8 slots.

The four slot 'Often known as the shortnose crank' looks like this:

crank_shortnose.jpg


The eight slot 'Often known as the longnose crank' looks like this:

crank_bignose.jpg


With all that said you can go too new with the engines. In 1996 the 1.6i engines were downgraded from 116bhp to 90bhp as the 1.8i engines were only 130i and people were just buying the cheaper 1.6i's. Insurance groups I believe are the same as well for all the 1.6i's despite the difference in power.

So all in all, in respect to car age, ideal age is between 1992 to be safe and 1995 for a UK 1.6i.

2. Bodywork is always an issue with the older 5's as the rust bug does start to set in. It appears in all the usual places, wheel arches and sills. Sills being the most susceptible to go if the hoods drain holes have shifted. These are tubes that run down either side of the car from the bottom of the hood to the floor, to take away the water that runs down the hood. Now unfortunately these often slip and allow the water to run into the rear wings, which is when the trouble begins. Mazda did build in some additional drainage points along the bottom seam of the sills, but these are often blocked, but can be unplugged with the help of a small screw driver. Also, the drainholes are easily put back in place, but it is a lot of jiggling around with the roof up (unless you do it with the roof off like I did ;) ).

3. One of the main failing points with the older 5's are the rear brake calipers. They have a tendency to seize after all those years and can cause a good headache. I had both of my rear calipers seize on me at seperate times. Now if you feel confident enough, rebuild kits are readily available and I'm told you can rebuild both rear calipers and refit in an afternoon. Now unfortunately I don't trust myself with bleeding brakes, so I took it to my local garage who swapped both rears for me with recon units for £95 a side.

4. Hoods are another failing point of the older MX-5's but are easily replaced. I replaced mine myself with the help of an enthusiasts manual. Took me a good afternoon and the hood and frame are seriously heavy, so a second pair of hands would come in helpful.

That's just my quick roundup of things to avoid and look for from my own experience. My car has had it's issues, but you soon find it worth it when your driving around with the hood down in summer enjoying every mile.

For any further info check out: http://www.miata.net/garage/ . Very concise site giving you all the main faults and fixes for MX-5's
 

Mr_Sukebe

Mr_Sukebe

Mr_Sukebe

Man of Honour
Man of Honour
Joined
23 Dec 2002
Posts
9,998
Location
London
For your budget, a good condition mk2.
Unfortunately good only applies to their mechanicals. The mk2s are notorious for rusting rear sills and chassis rails. When I bought mine, the sills were done. The rails will need doing in a couple of years. Rough cost for the rails is £800.
Exclude the above and you have a highly reliable, characterful and fun car.
 
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