MX5 for £2000

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Tesla

Tesla

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Joined
19 Jan 2003
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Location
Bristol, UK
Hi,

With a budget of £2000 or thereabouts what sort of MX5 could you expect or want to obtain? Would you spend less and then have some spare for minor mod's or improvements? Is more money required for a well-cared example?

I know a little about MX5's but primarily from the threads and meets on this forum.

It appears prices on older cars are heavily dictated by condition as opposed to age. The age doesn't concern me anyway, well not before condition would so this seems logical.

If you were not in a rush to buy, had around £2k, what would you hope to end up with?

I've spotted an N-reg 1.8 Mk1 (no special extras but I believe things like leather are cheap and easy to obtain?). It's been well maintained and recently had a cambelt and water pump change. It's up for £1800. Is this top end for an old Mk1 or about right? I've no idea on condition of sills and arches.

TIA.
 
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Check the skills. my mate has a 1996mk1/1.6 that was resrpayed and 'looked after' by a supposed enthusiast . anyway as my mate was washing the car he put his finger right through the sill. Couldn't see it easily from the outside but its rotten.

also check for water leaks in the passenger footwell..right were the ecu is lol. other faults my mates had to sort:

Exhaust snapped replacement from ebay £89.
Rear passenger shock blown. required new boots, stops and shockers - not cheap.

Oh yea get one with PAS.
 
I've got a 1998 mk2 1.8 (110k on the clock) with a 3 month old mohair hood on it. Condition is mostly good inside and out, a few little bodywork blemishes as you'd expect from a car of this age. Due for a service around now but had £500 of service work from MX5 specialist Carl at CBS Autos last May so it runs perfectly.

I'll be looking for £1,995 when it goes up for sale in November. Not sure if that's any help for you as a barometer of what you could expect for your money?
 
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£2000 should easily get you a nice mk1. I'd be looking for a late'ish 1.8 for that money.

Although as you say, buy based on condition and not age.

£1100 got me a rust free but slightly tatty (import, N reg) mk1 1.8 for example.
 
I raise you my mk2 1999 T reg 1.8 S in black. 92000 miles, 12 months MOT, new camblelt and waterpump this year, new tyes, larini exhaust, limited slip diff, hood replaced by previous owner.

It's on autotrader now listed for 2650 but looking for 2400-2500 if interested!
 
How's insurance on a Roadster?

I understand almost all of them are better spec'd than UK models?
 
joewm18 said:
I raise you my mk2 1999 T reg 1.8 S in black. 92000 miles, 12 months MOT, new camblelt and waterpump this year, new tyes, larini exhaust, limited slip diff, hood replaced by previous owner.

It's on autotrader now listed for 2650 but looking for 2400-2500 if interested!
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Found it, looks a nice example! Not sure the budget allows for £2.4k though. Do you think your price is realistic? There are cheaper examples 3-4 years younger with lower mileage? (Didn't mean this harshly but trying to get an idea of the market).

Does yours suffer any of the rust issues?

EDIT - What's your budget for a larger car and what sort of things do you have in mind?
 
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I pay £500 Fully Comp for my Eunos 1.8. Unlimited mileage. 28y/o 7-8 years ncb (i think).

Through Footman James with MX5Nutz membership. They're quite good when it comes to mods too.
 
£2k should get you a mk2 1.8 with the 140bhp engine, beware early mk2 1.8 cars as they often had left over mk1 130bhp engines.

£2.5ishk should definitely get you a 1.8s, which is the one you want, DRZ is the man you want to talk to I think because he just sorted himself out with a very good deal on an MX5.

Definitely be purchasing on condition over mileage, some cars are going strong at 250k mileage in the states, I wouldn't blink at one with 100k on it and that kind of thing means you can get a very good deal in that most people are a bit concerned at that kind of mileage.
 
I paid £2700 for my 1999 1.8iS with 39,000 miles on the clock, absolutely no rust whatsoever and a fantastic good-as-new-condition hood, leather interior (which had cracked badly), ABS but no AC and a boot rack back at the start of the summer.

I'd looked at a few MX-5s (maybe 10? dunno) whilst I was looking for an S2000 as I had half an eye on them anyway. None of them were in as good condition as this one is. So many of them had rusting sills or had clearly had the sills replaced (visible, so a poor job IMO) or rusting arches. One that I looked at was more money, double the miles and had rust on the sills and rear arches and was making a strange noise from the gearbox.

Buy on condition and condition alone, get a rust free example with a good hood and that doesn't leak. Seal kits are VERY VERY expensive (£150-250 a side, depending on where the leaks are), Hoods aren't exactly cheap either. I'd listen out for anything obviously knackered mechanically and budget the usual for any consumable issues that might come up but there is a thriving community and there is basically nothing on these cars that you can't fix on the driveway.
 
I would agree mine is priced towards the higher end of the scale but I think this reflects its condition which is very good for the age. It's been up for almost a week now and I've had no interest so far so I may be dropping it somewhat, I'd like to think this may be to due to the time of year as we approach winter though!

Rust wise, there is 1 rear arch with very minor rust bubbling starting to appear which would need some attention in the future. I'm sure the sooner it is looked at the cheaper it would be to rectify, but again it is very minor at this stage. My local garage man said it was the most rust free 5 he had seen when up on the ramps for it's last major service which is nice to know. I've owned the car for just over a year and I saw a fair few when looking to buy it.

Hood is excellent as are the sills and the cabin is water tight. In Sutton, Surrey area if you are anywhere nearby and fancy a look at all.

As for a new car, I'll be looking at getting my mitts on a Leon Cupra (probably non R). Seems to tick all of the boxes for me and I like the idea of an engine with a turbo which I've not previously had.
 
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As said base your purchase on condition rather than age. Generally Japanese imports are better spec'd than the UK equivalents but they usually cost more to insure.

I always think the MK1 has more character than the MK2/MK2.5 but that's down to personal opinion. See here for the definitive MK1 buyers guide.

If you're looking to buy I'd look on the MX-5 OC and MX-5 Nutz classifieds sections :).
 
This is the perfect time to purchase one, the worst time is approaching summer, for obvious reasons. I think DRZ paid about correct price but a lot of owners seem to think he got an absolute bargain, probably trying to keep their value up (shooting myself in the foot here)

I got a new hood as good as OEM back in the day from Jack Smith in Swansea for £150, its supposedly gone up a little bit since he has gotten so popular but that's worth keeping in mind if you find a mint one bar the rood.
 
Getting myself an mk2 1.8i S tomorrow. :D

Obviously you don't want any serious mechanical problems, like with any car..but the first thing I checked on all of them was the bodywork, particularly rust of course.

I can buy a mechanical part and have a go myself if its not too much of a complex thing, but I can't really do bodywork myself...so that was my main focus.
 
Clarkson said:
Getting myself an mk2 1.8i S tomorrow. :D

Obviously you don't want any serious mechanical problems, like with any car..but the first thing I checked on all of them was the bodywork, particularly rust of course.

I can buy a mechanical part and have a go myself if its not too much of a complex thing, but I can't really do bodywork myself...so that was my main focus.
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I'll keep an eye out for your new car thread. :D
 
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