Steve Perriam

My sisters decided she wants to buy one of these.

either uk or the eunos not too bothered.

she has seen 1 today which without even driving she wants to buy today ! i think she likes the colour

generally what do you look for on one of these ?

good points / things to watch out for ? engine size make much difference to insurance / desirability......she's been told the Jap ones are quicker than the Uk ones so a 1.6 Jap will feel almost as quick as a UK 1.8 ???

she'll be getting an older one as looking to spend about 5k only.

the one she's seen is i believe a 1.6 eunos 1993 with about 50k miles. from a specialist in mx5's down here in devon,

going price for this car ?

so how quickly can you lot help me with some info for her before she signs the paperwork !

UK spec i assume is probably a bit lower than a Jap car ? Air Con / Elec Windows etc ?

Did they ever do any updates to them during the early / mid 90's making one a better buy than another like with the Scooby MY listings ?

Must do a google for a MX5 website next.........

thanks

ShyTot

www.miatanet.com

I had a UK 1991 MX5 for 11 years, sold it about 1 year ago.
Fabulous car!
It was an early 1.6 uk model with 115 BHP.
When they introduced the 1.8 to the UK the 1.6 model was detuned to somewhere around the 100BHP area (don't remember exactly)

It is a pretty bullet proof car, but there are several known faults / problems over the long term: -
Some pre 1992(ish) models suffered crankshaft failure at or around the cam belt change (60000 miles). This is suspected to be due to incorrect fitting of the crankshaft pulley locating pin (can't remember the name) - but it happened to 1-2% of all these cars. After 1992 the crankshaft was strengthened.

The HT leads last 6 years and no more. Power surging and misfiring / bad starts are almost certainly due to this on old cars.

The clutch slave cylinder is prone to fail on old cars. This is not very expensive to replace.

Watch for rust on the sills on the early models, they are starting to rust now. This may cost £300 or so to fix

The hood will start to tear from the hinges up after afew (7-8) years and also on the creases above the door window. This can be replaced at a hood replacement firm for anything between £300 and £600 depending on quality.

I hope I haven't put you off there, the MX5 is a very tough and reliable car, bear in mind that I had mine for 12 years.
I bought mine for £9000, kept it for 11 years and sold it to a friend in mint condition for £3500. She still has it.

Steve Perriam

thanks a lot for this info ShyTot.

she knows she wants one its just finding the best possible for 5k.

reckon it will be an import as the specs are better.

thanks for the info on wot to look out for....i did say make sure you check the hood well.

any more info out there gratefully appreciated.

Scoobybert

Try www.mx5oc.co.uk


Also check out this month's evo magazine. They have a buyers guide which admittedly is focused on the newer MX5 but will have some sound advice and contacts.

Steve Perriam

cheers scoobybert, found the oc site and have seen the evo article.....bit lacking in info on the mx5, esp imports.

they've probably done one previously on mx5 if i could find all my old evo;s !

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

I've got a '91 H plate Eunos Roadster. Mine was fresh off of the ship when I got it and still had the Japanese winter tyres on (wierd deeply treaded things) which are absolutely lethal on our wet and greasy roads so the first thing I had to do was change all four, I was recommended Pirelli P9000's as a good tyre for the standard Roadster wheels.

The hood was also a bit manky so I insisted on a new one before I bought it. The dealer fitted a nice new vinyl hood which subsequently shrunk and now lets in water where it doesn't cover the top window seal so beware of cheap replacement hoods! Having said that I'm told that it's extremely rare for hoods to leak.

Other than that it's been as good as gold, I don't look after it at all and thrash it to within an inch of it's life and it still works (touch wood ), although the gearbox is a little noisy now

One thing I would definitely recommend is a windblocker, I've got the Oris Windstop which I was told was the best and cost about £145 from Moss about 2 or three years ago. It's essential if you've got hair, especially long hair I can drive around at 70 in mine without my hair tied back and without it blowing all over the place, it's fantastic. It's easy to fit too as it uses a couple of holes and bolts that are already in the car.

I posted a thread on here just before I got mine and got loads of good replies but it doesn't show up in a search although quite a few other threads did One thing I was told over and over again was how strong the engines are on these cars

Sal

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Meant to also add that the Eunos comes with A/C and electric windows as standard which is nice.

Unfortunately it also costs more to insure and, a lot of insurers don't want to know as it's a Japanese import. I insure mine through Schofields who are also Subaru Insured and who also happened to get really good deals on import Eunos's at the time

Scooby-Doo

I purchased an import 6 months ago for my mum. I paid £4k for a 94 1.8 Eunos Vspec auto with 60k on the clock. It had a new roof and all the vspec limited edition gear. Shop around as there are many over priced but now is a good time of year to buy them. The car also had a comprehensive history and the all important deregistration document from Japan to confirm is wasn't stolen. It has recently had a full service and cambelt for peace of mind and runs and drives like a dream. Parts are very cheap and I was an anti MX5 person before I bought and drove this one.

Good luck

David

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Good point about cambelts, they need changing at about 60k. Mine needed doing about 10k ago but I still haven't had it done...

They're good fun to drive, it's like sitting in a rollerskate

stevencotton

Pull the floor carpets back in the footwells and check there isn't a whole load of rust under there, sometimes the drainage holes (just behind the seatbelt mounts) can fill up with muck and the water will overflow, under the seat and into the well.

There are also drainage holes under each sill, two in front of the door and two behind I think. These were widened in the later cars (it was done as part of the service) so make sure those aren't blocked, or even painted over on an older one.

You can pour a jug of water on the back of the roof and it should all flow out quickly under the car.

Jamescsti

Both my dad and my sister have MX5's one is an Import (my dad's) my sisters is a UK Spec one. the only problems we have had is the standard battery is too small really so can be a problem, it sits in a cage in the boot so to fit a bigger one you need to modify the cage etc.
Obviously check condition of the roof as it cost's around £400 to replace.
Jap mx5's are more powerful a jap 1.6 is 120bhp as apposed to a uk one which I think is around 100bhp maybe a bit less.
I don't know how old your sister is but my sister could not get insurance on an import as under 25.

Steve Perriam

cheers one and all.

found out she bought that one yesterday !

talk about an easy mark for a salesman ! i could say its cos she's a woman

she liked the colour ! good god i thought she had more sense !

i'll get her to do some quick checks of what you've all said.

not got a clue if she's thought of the insurance.....even i forgot to say that yesterday when she phoned me up just having seen it ! I went through a load of other things with her....whether or not she asked about them i dont currently know ! But she's over 30 so hopefully wont be too bad ?

so she is now the owner or will be on sat of a 93 1.6 eunos with 51k on the clock.

its got no radio but they are supposedly putting in some sort of radio / cassette. surely it had one as standard when new ? but maybe a jap spec one which would not work in the uk ?

its only just come over from japan so she will be the first uk owner.

interesting about the tyres Sal i'll make sure she checks !

that sounds a good price David - is it cheaper being an Auto ???

cheers for your help

BlkKnight

I too had an MX5 - 94 1.8iS for 6 years, only problems I had were self inflicted.

It's fun in snow / ice / wet if you want it to be.

Ubber reliable.

Mine had the rust spots on the sills - cost £180 to fix.

Replacement hoods can be got from www.autohoods.co.uk - bad site but good / cheap product.

Watch for cracking water hoses near manufold by bulkhead.

Apparently the engine coolant system should be properly flushed every couple of years to prevent sludge build up.

I was 28 my insurance was about £380. (1 accident - 4 yrs ago)

Cider boy

If she was an easy touch on the salesman then at least get her to ask for a CD player!! I know it may be a bit late now - but does anybody actually use Tapes these days?!!?!

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

The Japanese radios only work up to a certain frequency and are no good for this country. Mine had some really nice Japanese Alpine kit in it which I took out as it wasn't the removable panel type and I didn't want the hood getting damaged so that scumbag could nick my ICE. I've never got around to replacing it so I've just got a nice big hole where the stereo should be, I use it as a bin/storage facility

The first mod she should do is to remove the centre piece off of the steering wheel (it just lifts off) to reveal the nice Momo centre piece, best thing about it is it's free

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

There is also a 'Flash to Pass' diode you can buy which does just what it says on the tin. The headlights don't automatically pop up when you flash main beam unless you put the diode on. Don't ask me how to do it though, a very kind scoobynetter sent mine to me free of charge when I first got the car but I can't find the post that told me how to do it It involved a soldering iron and that is all I can remember

Note to self: Do a Google search...

stevencotton

This one Sal Lots of other good info on that site too.

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Fantastic, cheers Steve, you're a star That's a nice little job for Bob to do at the weekend

THE M25 FLYER

My wife got an Eunos roadster earlier in the year and its been excellent (1991 1600auto for £2050 c/w air con,power steering,leccy windows and overdrive gearbox.
The MX5 owners club do an insurance scheme with a company called Aon which at the time i took out a policy with them were around £200 cheaper than any one else i tryed,the only stipulation is you have to be a MX5 OC member (£30 per year).

Neil Burgess

I have a UK spec one - I know that a dealers parts dept won't touch the imports, even though they can't tell the difference :S www.mx5parts.co.uk are good.

They are famous for their reliability, oh but don't drive into the back of one cos it will cost you a lot of money (as someone found out after hittimg me recently).

Lots of rear wheel drive fun

Oh yes - earlier 1.6's are missing some of the chassis strenghtening bars that the 1.8 has.

Scooby-Doo

MX5parts etc are very good for everything you would ever need.

Neil : The two official Mazda dealers near me service and sell imports along side the UK spec.

Steve Perriam

Do Mazda dealers usually service imports ?

or is it down to the individual dealership ?

cost differences ??