lozgti

I want a cheap convertible as a spare car.Seen rather a few MX5's for between £1700-£2000.

Very tempted but are they guaranteed to be trouble at this price? I've got this idea that MX5's are rock solid engine/build wise.Far safer than some alternatives out there?

I'm asking on a scooby forum because a few of you seem to have one and there is some decent genuine car knowledge here

ShyTot

I sold a 12 year old one in 2003 for £3000 which was in mint condition.
I sold it to a friend, who recently sold it to her mother.
Whilst I had it VERY little went wrong.

They have afew known problem areas, especially the early ones (from memory): -
Approx 1-2% of Pre 1992 models broke their crankshafts shortly after Cam belt change.
Clutch slave cylinder squeaks for afew years and the packs up all together.
Handbrake mechanism on the rear calipers can sieze up over time.
Early models have a very small drain hole in the sils, and can fill the sills up with water, which sloshes around.
The hood starts to tear slowly upwards from the hinge, over the years (it doesn't leak though), and will need replacing after maybe 10+ years.
The HT leads last 8 years and no more. Change them straight away if the car is much older than this. It will start and run much better on new ones.

Bullet proof car would say.

RAF1

iTrader: (5)

A good alternative would be a Toyota MR2 T-bar - you can get a uk car about a K/L reg for under 2k easily.....

Raf

delcbr

mines is 16 yr old rust free never been welded....yet and owned for 1 year.
my 1st mot it failed on 1 rear shock thats it!!!
its so much fun to drive that when i went to test drive a clio 172 cup i decided id have more fun with the 5 and best of all it cost me 500 notes as its a cat d insurance write off.the early 1.6 which i have 115bhp engine (later had 90bhp) is quite nippy. you cant go wrong just dont expect your m8's to approve.

ScoobyJawa

seized calipers are another common fault, but on the whole should be pretty bulletproof

RussBoy

I agree with most of all thats been said: avoid pre 92 cars ideally because of crankshaft bodge problem (it's nothing to do with the change of a cam belt but is actually the 'key' which was bodged in an attempt to fix an acknowledged fault on the early cars), hoods can leak if old as they shrink and also drain channels often get blocked, rear calipers can stick, No1 HT lead can 'arc' (tell tale sign is the black residue), electric window motors can go but it's normally buggered cables, and Clutch clylinders can go at normally around 70k miles.

That said, I'm, on my 4th and I drove my current one all the way from the UK to Malaga and it's been here 2 years now. Always starts first time, is very nippy, looks the nuts, is easy to mod, cheap to repair, cheap to insure and is "the best British car that the UK never built" (to quote Clarkson!)


R

richs2891

Tempting to buy one at that price, and use as a donor for Westfield 1600
Westfield Sportscars

richard

The Trooper 1815

iTrader: (31)

MX5parts, MX-5 Parts and Accessories for the Mazda MX-5 and Eunos Roadster

All cheap as chips and a great service too

Allan

iTrader: (1)

As above, pre 91 had a short nose crank which I think is identified by having 4slots in the pulley.

Wear is useally caused by incorrect insertion of the woodruff key. If the car has been properly maintained by people who know of the danger, then it should be fine.

Allan

CrisPDuk

One of my neighbours paid just over £1k for his G plate 1.6 nearly 2 years ago, mechanically it has never missed a beat, he left it outside all last winter, unstarted for 4 months, and apart from a flat battery it was fine, bone dry inside. Bodily it wasn't the best (battered, rather than rusty), but since he's retired, and has plenty of time to tart about with that sort of thing it didn't matter.

MrsD's is a 120k mile old M plate, it came with a full service history and is still as tight as drum, the gearbox is sweeter than her brand new Ka's was. We have put a new roof on it, and it needed new wing and door after some dozy bint in a people carrier didn't see it but apart from that it's been 40mpg, fun filled, fault free motoring all the way

T4molie

My Mrs has a 1990 G PLater with 73k km on the clock.... she's had it approx 5 years and it's never missed a beat

A couple of things to watch out for..... someone above mentioned about the hoods shrinking (which it does) but they don't leak. The wing mirrors can shear off after age (common problem I'm told) And can also confirm that the No 1 HT lead can "arc"... all easy to replace

Depending on my mood I'd have to say that for fun factor it's just as much fun as my 05 STi

Andy

MarkCSC

You could always turn an old MX5 into one of these


Retroforza : Home of the Italian Sports car

Moonloops

Ha! what a joke they are. The coupe looked OK until you see that the door entry is completely at odds with the rest of the design.

RussBoy

Actually just brought mind out of a 2 month hibernation this week. It had driven across 5 countries in 3 continents on 3 different sets of plates in last 2 years so figured it would like a rest. Still started first time and other than a thick layer of dust which you'll see on the car it was otherwise perfect!

Moonloops

Cool, my MR2 has 3 years of dust..

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

A car that hibernates, that must be inconvenient !