For Sale MX5 NA - Work in progress !

[Sigmund Fraud]

Short version :

MX5 1.6, 112K miles, MoT end October 2015, new price of £800 (hard top included!).

Long version :

Right... I've had this old beast for a little bit over three years now. I rarely keep cars for more than a year, so it's no surprise that I am beginning to get bored of it. I rarely drive it, and I can't be arsed to work on it either. So it's up for sale.

It's a 1997, UK-market MX5. It has around 112K miles, and I'm the third owner.

The car was purchased from Tunbridge Wells Mazda by the first owner, a mobile hairdresser called Kylie (this may not be entirely true). There's plenty of stamps in the service book, which suggest that the first owner did look after the car. It was only sold on in 2011 after it failed its MoT due to rust. Second owner was a chap in Telford who buys and sells MX5s for a bit of extra cash. He had the offside sill welded to a reasonable standard, kept the car for a couple of months and sold it to yours truly.

The car has done around 10K miles during my ownership. It's had the usual oil changes, fresh coolant, a new cambelt, four new discs and pads and a new set of tyres.

Body-wise, it hasn't had any welding apart from the offside sill end and AFAIK it doesn't need any. It's far from concours : front wing edges are rusty, there's plenty of small scratches and dings and the paint desperately needs to be introduced to a claybar and some G3.

Interior is good, the driver's seat has some bolster wear but is much better than your average MX5. The steering wheel has been replaced with a Eunos one, as the original had clearly been used as a chewing toy by a very large and very angry dog.

Engine always starts first turn of the key and doesn't use any oil or coolant. It's the low-fat 1600, which the DRIFT_YO crowd feel isn't powerful enough but I found perfectly acceptable (all MX5s are slow in a straight line either way).

The car has been exceptionally reliable. I've used it for commuting on numerous occasions when it was the only car in my fleet (of 6) that was in working condition !

Bad points are as follows :

1. Suspension is currently a mis-match of aftermarket coilovers at the front and OEM ones at the rear. I had replaced the fronts in haste for the MoT and promised myself I would do the rears "that weekend". Naturally, this didn't happen. The car still handles fine, so I'll leave this job for the new owner !
2. As is usual for MX5s, the rear calipers are fucked. They scraped through the last MoT but the handbrake is shite again so they realy need to be replaced. I've bought two new calipers, but they're still in the shed. One more job that I shall leave for the new owner.

The car is in North Hants, near Andover.

[PiperCub]

I'd try ebay mate, my old Eunos which looked like hell (but was mechanically v.good) went for over £800 and that was last autumn. Your's looks way better than mine did and has less miles on it too.

[Sigmund Fraud]

Yeah, they have been creeping up in price over the last few years, but I don't expect that I'll be able to retire to the Costa del Sol after selling this one...

 

Agreed that it would sell for more on ebay, but it's likely that it would take 2-3 attempts before a genuine buyer wins it.

[Sigmund Fraud]

Weekend bump for this unique* classic* !

[Bear]

This is pretty much what my parents SHOULD have bought instead of an MGF. Tempted. I'd want the hardtop; shall have a conversation with them.

[Vince70]

It looks like a really straight MX5 for the money and the MK1 seems to going up in in price as decent straight mk1s seem to be getting a rare site..

 

Also that's the latest mk1 MX5 I've seen on a R plate so it also needs to go on this thread.

http://autoshite.com/topic/5996-late-registration-madness/

[Bear]

I'm sure I remember the Monza as a run out edition.

 

I also half-remember some last Mk1s as having six-speed boxes and LSD, but I cannot remember why I think that as I've never seen one.

[New POD]

 

This is ours (Now on a Private J reg plate)  also a POVERTY spec Monza.  90 bhp.  The great thing about the hard top is that it will have the wiring for the rear window, which means that if you upgrade the soft top with a mk2 spec glass rear window you can have a heated rear window in a soft top.

 

I see this has Early Daisies, which I prefer over the standard ones on ours. 

 

I'd love to buy another, just for the hell. 

 

They are brilliant.

[Sigmund Fraud]

"Poverty" ? I prefer to use the term "lightweight"

 

All late NAs had the rear window wiring, which is indeed a very useful thing. The standard soft plastic rear window is shite, it's probably the reason why the mirrors are so bloody huge !

 

I also prefer the daisies to the Monza-spec Speedline Alesios, especially considering that they're equally light and strong.

 

Agreed that they're brilliant little cars, which is why I've kept mine so long... It's time for change, though. I need (even) more hopeless, unreliable old heaps in my life !

[Bear]

I need (even) more hopeless, unreliable old heaps in my life !

 

As you SURE you don't want 97% of an MGF?

 

(3% of it might fall off soon).

[Sigmund Fraud]

MGFs look nice and have a brilliant engine, but even I am not masochistic enough to own one !

[Bear]

Having had both MGFs and MX5s before, I broke a simple rule with the MGF. "Don't buy an MGF".

 

Oh, they are a better road car than the MX5. They're more comfortable, have a much larger boot, vastly better economy, obviously amazing ride quality. I used to believe they were slightly better for rust resistance, but the flipside of that is that they are now so old that they're going to rust regardless, the subframes are BL-era engineering, and they're worth so little and have a complex enough body that unlike the MX5 quick-fix that any MX5 specialist is used to buzzing into the sills, the MGF gets bodged for pennies.

 

And when they go wrong they are absolutely hideous to work on, worse than an X1/9. Fasteners made of cheese, minimal access to components.

 

So despite being arguably the superior car, as all anyone wants an MGF or MX5 for is hilarious topless summer fun driving on a budget, the MX5 always, ALWAYS wins.

Of course, I will deny all of this when I have to sell this MGF.

[Sigmund Fraud]

Well, you do lose a bit (OK, OK, a lot !) of comfort and refinement with an MX5, but the wonderfully balanced handling more than makes up for it !

 

I'd better stop praising the thing now, otherwise I'll end up keeping it !

[Sigmund Fraud]

One month later, and this exclusive* automobile has yet to find a new owner. I've driven it to work a few times, but it's mostly been sitting on my drive and getting covered in bird poo.

 

Time for a PRICE DROP : shitters' price is now £800 including the OEM hard top.

 

Please form an orderly queue etc.

[Sigmund Fraud]

Right... Two weeks test left on this old heap, and I honestly can't be arsed to do anything with it. It's probably done under 100 miles in the last 6 weeks...

 

Price dropped to £600, which is truly bargainous !

[Christine]

You're gonna kick yourself in  5 years time...

[Jim Bell]

Hnnnnnnnnnnng.

[Christine]

Lupo roffle..... 

[Sigmund Fraud]

You're gonna kick yourself in  5 years time...

 

Won't be the first time... Buy expensive, sell cheap is the AS way !

[Sigmund Fraud]

Bloody hell, I can't believe nobody wants this !

 

Nine days' worth of test left, I'm not dropping the price any more but the more masochistic amongst you can have it for £450 without the hard top.

 

Otherwise I'll have to spend ACTUAL TIME fixing the bloody thing and will sell it for £££* with 12 months' test.

 

 

Edited to add : I will consider swapping for something interesting or, at least, something not truly horrid.

[Bear]

Wants, yes. Has bought FAR too many cars this year and has nothing interesting available to swap.

[Sigmund Fraud]

 

No longer for sale, as MoT-related work has began !

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[purplebargeken]

So you are going to keep it? 

[Sigmund Fraud]

No, Ken. It's getting used so little (under 1500 miles over the past year) that I can no longer justify keeping it. It will get MoT, tarted up with a claybar and some Autoglym polish, and re-advertised.

​

[Jim Bell]

I think it will fly with a fresh ticket and a clean up (just not on here!)

[Taff]

I'm not convinced that this whole "sports-car-with-engine-upfront" shenanigins will ever really take off

[Sigmund Fraud]

I'm not convinced that this whole "sports-car-with-engine-upfront" shenanigins will ever really take off

 

Absolutely ! In the dystopian world of AS,  true* sportscars come with mid-mounted front Metro subframes !

[Taff]

I'm actually glad you are sorting it, at £450 it was worryingly close to my threshold! Luckily I got distracted by an Alfa on egay that went over budget.

 

 

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