Chris L

OK - we're (Sal and I) are looking for second car. We've decided on a cheap convertable, mainly for the Summer. The most practical thing to go for seems to be an import MX-5 (Eunos). Budget is around £5000.

Has anyone got one at the moment or owned one in the past? What sort of things do we need to look out for? Any ideas on servicing / insurance etc. Any good websites to have a look at?

All the usual questions really. Any help appreciated.

Cheers
Chris

Luke

Great car. make sure you get a hard top to go with it. Great time of year to buy. Mate sold one last month took 700£ less due to market.... Good for you!!

Nico van Steen

Take a look at www.miata.net

Nico van Steen
(ex MX5 turbo owner)
MY99 scooby
EVOVI

Chris L

Thanks Guys - any other websites would be much appreciated.

Cheers
Chris

Sieze

I bought and ran one for 2 years pre scooby. The engines are very strong so usually no problems. The condition of the hood is important as they cost £550 to £750 to replace. My clutch went at 60k (depends how it has been driven. Check the aircon is working on the Eunos as they can sieze up due to lack of use. Absolutely fantastic car which are usually are low milage and very cheap to run. They handle fantastically.

Allan

iTrader: (1)

Hi Chris,
Some sites that may be of interest:
www.mx5oc.co.uk
www.mx5parts.co.uk
www.mossint.co.uk
www.mx5-mazda.co.uk

I’ve used Moss International for spares before with no problems.
We have a J plate 1.6 MX5 which is a superb car, the only problems have been a slight misfire which was due to plug leads, sticking rear callipers, and new clutch at 54K, not bad for a 11 year old car.
Engines are generally trouble free, ours runs as sweet as a new one, check out the link in the previous post to Miata net, a very good site.

Buy one, you won’t be disappointed, I enjoy driving it as much as the Scooby.
Cheers
Allan

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Deposit paid today on a nice little red number, should be picking it up Saturday

Sal

TIM_H

I came that >< close to buying one, but my girlfriend went mental, as it wasn't practical etc.

So I bought a 'practical' car instead.

Check for a rollcage being previously fitted - (in a Eunos) - this one had had one!, giving away some previous Japanese 'action'.

Tim

Allan

iTrader: (1)

Congratulations Sal
This car is good with the roof up but even better with the roof down, for some reason they seem more refined.
Roll on the sunshine.
Allan

carl

1.6 or 1.8? The 1.8 has got more poke, but the supercharger kits are predominantly for the 1.6

ScoobyJawa

Sisters got one I've done a bit of work on

Definately another mention for the misfire caused by H/T leads - one of the most common faults there is. The H/T leads don't last a huge length of time so best to replace them every 30-45k.

Otherwise a fairy solid motor, my sis's is a G plate UK MX-5, one of the first, now has a few problems with rust on the rear number plate lights, nothing too major. Also the early cars are showing up corroded brake calliper problems, expensive to sort........
All in all though it still goes really well and is still a solid motor........

Cheers
Neil

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

This one is a 1.6, totally standard car. The garage had some more modded ones but we wanted something untouched. We got a good deal on the price and the guy is throwing in a new hood as well (he tends to renew the hoods on most of his stock).

We want to put new tyres on and have thought about Toyo's as we were very pleased with them on the last scoob. Anyone got any better ideas for rubber?

I can't wait for the sun to shine Allan, we should have a mini Scoob/Mazda meet!

Sal

McMiata Man

Carl, do you have the super charger?

I nearly got one last year but my wife mumbled something about paying mortgages etc etc

It certainly seems like the safer option as far as engine wear is concerned. My mate has the FM-2 Turbo kit on his 1.8 kicking out about 260 bhp, pretty scary considering he's also lightned the car by about 20%. He blew his first engine though, something about fogeting to fit an upgraded oil pump or something

Have a nice day on Saturday Sal, you won't regret it.

D.

CraigH

Sal,

Can you let me know how you get on and details of the place you got it from?

Wifey wants a 2 seater and I've said these are the best to go for so would be interested in your views.

I can stick on a turbo and kits and I'll be laughing )

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

Sal,

Could you email or post here the details of the garage.

Caroline keeps going on about MGF's, but I think the MX-5 is cheaper and easier to modify!!

Cheers
Andy

RESSE

iTrader: (1)

My wife has run a Eunos for 6 years, and the car will be 10 years old this year.

No problems whatsoever!

Great car, although I do not like red and the Japanese specification rear bumper is very poor quality.

Started in January after 15 days left in the snow and -15 centigrade.

100% recommended

[Edited by Etheridge-Bird - 2/14/2002 12:47:13 PM]

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Craig and Andy - we got ours from Colliers End Cars (sports & prestige specialists) on the A10 north of Ware at Colliers End.(Craig you should know where they are!) Tel: 01920 822660. www.ce-cars.co.uk

They sell freshly imported cars from Japan, mainly Eunos's. They've got loads in stock ranging from about 5K - 8K. A lot of them have got new hoods on, ours is having one fitted at the mo (included in the price ).

Some of the Jap imports will be fitted with Jap spec 'studless' winter tyres, bin them straight away as they are useless in the dry over here and even worse in the wet (so I'm told by a guy from the MX5 owners club). We're having Pirelli P6000's fitted Monday, £197 all in inc balancing etc

I won't really get to take it out for a proper run till late on Monday but I'll report back as soon as I do

Sal

CraigH

Cheers Sal.

You get a warranty with yours?

Would be an excuse to pop down and have a nice Chinese if it's still there

carl

McMiata Man -- I don't actually have an MX-5. My dad has one (not supercharged) but we had a go in a supercharged one at a Bookatrack event. With the blower (I think they add about 30-40 bhp) it's about as much power as the stock suspension/brakes will handle, and it makes a nice whistling noise.

These sorts of things are discussed on the MX-5 mailing list, see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mx5/

Chris L

Craig

Yes - the car comes with a warranty (3 or 6 months - can't remember) you can extend it if you want. To be honest, we don't expect to be doing really high mileage, but we will give it a blast for a couple of months to make sure that there are no major problems.

The guys at CE Cars are OK (ask to speak to Tom) - all they do now are MX-5s and they've been around for years - which is normally quite a good sign for a car dealer

Thanks for all the comments - much appreciated.

Chris

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Craig - it's got 6 months warranty as standard with more available to buy if required

I think the Chinese is now Thai

Sal

ptholt

I ran a eunos roadster last year and although i'd akways thought they were total hairdresser cars etc, i found it a very entertaining little car and was quite sad to see it go, didnt cost a penny and i never lost a penny on it, cant say that about many cars!

Nothing ever went wrong, had hks exhaust and induction kit on mine (tee hee - made bugger all difference but gotta be done)

a few things i would point out tho.

1. make sure the electric windows work, i was told they just needed greasing etc, but this is cobblers, its actually a plastic toothed thing and is quite expensive to fix (bout £120 per side).
2. make sure the plastic dash surround around the radio is not damaged. due to sunshine it gets hard and cracks VERY easily, but the damn poxy piece of plastic costs about £120 - i went through two in one year, came broke, replaced it, then broke another removing stereo!! doh


You can remove the towing eyes from the front 'grille' and it looks much nicer, its only four bolts - i've also got some of the eunos fog lights that fit in there if you want them chris

I've also got a front grille from miata.net sitting in the garage if you want that, also have a wind shield tho the whereabouts eludes me at the mo, would recommend this if you have long hair as air billows between the two seats.

for another cheap mod you can buy a start button honda 2000 styley, mine had one and its was great, wouldnt start on key, turn ignition on and press button
Also if it hasnt got them you can put small speakers in the headrests as its a bugger to here when the roofs down.

have fun, there great little cars thoroughly recommend them.

edited to say, when you get your new hood make sure you undo it correctly, specially when its been v hot or v cold as you can crack it (its only plastic).
basically unzip the screen and lie it flat on the scuttle BEFORE you undo anything else (failure to do this will mean bending the screen and possibly breaking/crackin/creasin it), once you've done that undo the roof latches.

[Edited by ptholt - 2/17/2002 11:40:09 PM]

[Edited by ptholt - 2/17/2002 11:46:23 PM]

Allan

iTrader: (1)

ptholt,
Good info there about the rear screen, they do split very easily if you clean them when it's cold, as I found out to my expense...grrrr.

I never undo the screen without first cracking the roof latches to release the tension on the zip, this will avoid any problems with the zip jamming or breaking.
I do the same in reverse when putting the hood up.
Allan

ptholt

thats interesting alan, thats different to how i was informed at miata.net

I was told to do screen first, as undoing roof latches means you do take tension fromzip, but can start bending the rear screen which when cold or brittle from heat can lead to nasty creases/cracking etc.

Allan

iTrader: (1)

I can't remember where I got that method from, in practice it seems to work OK, it's certainly easier to do/undo the zip, either way take care of that screen it's costly to replace.
Cheers
Allan

McMiata Man

A few "edits" to make to above posts

Electric windows can be fixed by buying Manual kits (£28 per side) and replacing the mechanics. This will only be of use if the motor is still working.

Three bolts in each "tie-down hook" not four. Please note these are TIE-DOWN HOOKS, which are for securing the car during transit, on boats etc, and should not be towed with.

I've never had a problem with the area round the stereo, our car is 10 years old. Are you parking it next to a microwave??

I would agree with the undoing the latches before unzipping. It's not like you're pulling the roof back, just releiving the strain a little. I've known of people bursting zips if they don't do this.
I don't care anyway, I fitted a glass rear window

The biggest expense for me has been two rear calipers at 110 pounds each still, not too bad for a ten year old car

Dave.

ptholt

that was it, tie down hooks

but that dash surround was a biiaaatch

the guy i bought it from chipped it removing his stereo, then when i changed it it fell to bits!
then i split it removing a radio (grrrr) and again the thing fell to bits in my hands when i was removing it from the dash.

Must be our warmer climes down here on the costa del south coast

Chris L

Pete

Thanks for the posts . This car has got some little fog lights fitted, but one bulb isn't workiing (and they are a dodgy yellow colour), so I have a look at them and see whether it is just a blown bulb or something more serious. If it is, then I would be interested in your fogs. New grill might be interesting - I'll ask Sal. We would be very interested if you have got one of the wind deflectors knocking about somewhere Drop me a line if you find it!!

Cheers

Chris

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Wind deflector - YES PLEASE I'm going to buy one this week so if you can have a look please Pete as I'd rather give the cash to a scoobynetter than someone else

Thanks for all the above tips, I found a really useful bit of info re putting the hood down and up on this site including
some piccies

Looks like a cheap solution so I thought I'd try it

Sal

McMiata Man

eh? Is he talking about folding the roof down without unzipping the window at all???

What a spangle!!

It may stop scratches but you end up (very quickly) with a lovely ripple along the middle of your window, or even worse, a crack if you do it when cold.

The only convertible window I've seen that you can fold is on a TVR Chimera where the plastic window is very thin and flexible, like you get on tents