Its a guy in Berwick upon Tweed that sells MX5’s. He seems to have some good ones based on his descriptions and photos, they also seem to sell fairly quickly.
Has anyone on here had any dealings with him or heard of anyone having a car from him? I have tried calling several times on both his numbers but its always his answer machine. I have left two messages too.
I have just bought a car from Steve today (first time I have met him). Pick it up next week. I am the third person at my work to have bought one from him and he was highly recommended. Nice guy and has an obviously huge knowledge. Keep trying if you are having trouble getting hold of him it will be worth it. I had a bit of trouble getting hold of him to as he is very busy. He has several new cars coming in over the next few days.
How I ended up buying an MX5 when I set out looking for an older people carrier I am still not sure !!!
Oh where about is the Garage? I’m often in Berwick and will take a look the next time I’m there (mid Sept).
AFAIK he doesn’t have business premises just trades from home although I recently noticed a glossy new website.
A work colleague bought a V spec from him last year from a Pistonheads classified which has proved sound and although has needed bits and bobs done was ok at the price. I think he posts on Nutz so try searching on there for more info.
I was intending on getting a 5 from him but after about 4 or five unreturned calls and messages left i gave up. Got one from Supercarclassics where i have had one from before. Was happy with the last car i got from them so went back. This ones not perfect but the last one had only been imported for a week whereas my new one has been in the UK for 6 years. Last one was MK2 but got a MK1 this time.
Yea he works from home for now. I had difficulty getting a hold of him but persevered (and I am not the most patient of people lol). He does travel a lot buying and I believe that a lot of his cars are sold as soon as he gets them, as he has people waiting for specific cars.
Nice genuine guy. If you are coming down this way give me a shout and I can pop over and try and see him (less than a mile away), if you cant get a hold of him, and arrange something.
I’ve recentley been in contact with Steve Bloxham from Goodwood Sportscars, and he seems to me like a genuine guy. He goes out of his way to be honest about the condition of his cars, even sending close up photos of any specific areas of the body. Unfortunately he’s in Northumberland and I’m in Surrey so it’s a tad too far for me to travel. He now has a good website, and he has returned all my calls within a day or two.
I have spoken with steve a few times, i have bought a hard top from him that was exactly as described, every time i cannot find a nicer bloke to talk to about cars between two petrol heads.
He advertises on piston heads and mx5 nuts, his adverts are as the car is, no messing or hiding anything but as already stated what is usually found on his website has already sold or usually sells in days, that’s what you’ll find from an honest and relaible trader, his site is his house, he lives just south of berwick in a small village and you probably won’t find a better person to buy an mx5/eunos/miata or any other specialist sportscar from.
Max.
I feel that I have to share my experience of dealing with Steve Bloxham at Goodwood Sports Cars.
I purchased a Mk3 2.0 Sport MX5 from Steve in July. In the advert the car was described as “An exceptional car in superb condition”. After speaking to Steve on the phone & placing a £200 refundable deposit, I travelled to Berwick-Upon-Tweed & Steve collected me from the station. He came across as very friendly and knowledgeable about MX5’s and, having satisfied myself with the condition of the car, and after Steve confirmed a number of details, I purchased it. As part of the deal Steve said he would send me a replacement fold-up wind break (as the factory fitted one was broken) and a set of floor mats. He explained that his business partner, Anthony from AK Automotive, would have both available from having race prepared other Mk3’s. Both items were detailed on the purchase receipt.
I checked with Steve and he confirmed that the car had just been given a full service (including oil, filters and plugs being changed). I had also noticed that there was the sign of water corrosion / rust in the passenger footwell (on the screws on the bottom of the air blower). As this is a well-documented problem with the Mk3’s with water leaking through perished windscreen cowl grommets I pointed it out to Steve and, following a phone call to his business partner, he confirmed that the grommets had been checked & that they were fine.
I was very happy with the car, but within 300 miles it developed a misfire and a problem with the clutch. Eventually the misfire (identified as a faulty connection to one of the coil-packs) and the clutch were repaired, but in the process of diagnosis it became apparent that none of the servicing described had taken place. The plugs had not been changed (in fact, the ones fitted looked in such poor condition, with badly corroded electrodes, that my local garage was amazed the car was running so well), the air filter was old, and it appears that the last oil change was done six months earlier by the previous owner. In fact, apart from a good valet (and a re-MOT test at my request) there appears to have been little else done to the car by Steve. Also, following the first heavy downpour, water started leaking into the passenger footwell. Upon checking, both windscreen cowl grommets were badly deteriorated. This was a cheap & easy fix, however it is particularly frustrating as Steve had assured me that they had been checked.
Communication throughout the problems with the car have been very poor, both via phone and email. It was only following the threat of court action that the costs of the warranty repairs were finally settled. Three months on and I am still awaiting the car mats.
Steve tried blaming the lack of servicing and the cowl grommets on his ‘unreliable’ business partner, Anthony. Even if this is the case, I bought the car from Steve and, not only is it his responsibility to ensure that the information that he is giving me is correct, but it is also his reputation and integrity at stake. I am not unrealistic and would not expect a 10 year old car not to have any issues at all. It is how these issues are dealt with that is important, but crucially it’s about honesty. Don’t tell me that something has been done if it hasn’t.
What I find particularly frustrating is that I researched the company prior to buying. There are a number of positive reviews on both this and other forums, but not much in the way of negative ones. I have since heard anecdotally of negative reviews of Goodwood Sports Cars being removed on other forums and I have now experienced this at first hand. I disagree with this ‘policy’ as it gives a totally false impression to buyers.
In summary, apart from the initial good impression when buying the car I have been thoroughly disappointed with the service that I received from Goodwood Sports Cars and would definitely not recommend them to anyone else.
It’s often hard to find bad reviews on the internet. Most business owners who find a bad review will do whatever they can, including the threat of court action to have the offending review removed. I once left a bad review of a mobile phone company on trustpilot. I was then inundated with four letter emails threatening my life because the business owner ‘knew where I lived’ Trustpilot also contacted me refusing the post the review. I appealed their decision, with supporting evidence to prove the review was accurate and finally the review was published. And I’m still alive. People don’t like bad reviews and forums don’t like to post them.
I’m afraid this posting came about 4 weeks too late.
I have recently submitted an article to “Soft top Hardtop” regarding my experience of buying a fresh import. There is so much material that this first part just covers the period from paying the deposit up until collecting the car. … which actually looked rather good. Assuming this gets published, part two will start with the drive home! …. and finish hopefully with an amicable conclusion.
As there is on going action the dealer is simply referred to as “the dealer”
Steve here from Goodwood Sportscars.
As ever with these kind of matters, there are always two sides to a story.
With regard to ‘ScotMX5’ (real name Craig Trott) who seems to be leaving bad reviews everywhere and under different names (why?), he says that he ‘would definitely not recommend us to anyone else’. Unfortunately I have to tell any other car dealers out there that I would definitely not recommend that they sell Craig a car at any cost as he was an unreasonable nightmare.
The car he bought was driving perfectly when we had it (I know as I covered quite a few miles in it). It was unfortunate that the clutch failed shortly after collection and it developed a misfire. Cars do daft things like that when you least want them to. However, Craig missed out a few crucial points in his story. He forget to mention that he spent a good hour going over the car with a fine toothcomb before buying and still declared it all good.
There was no mention either of our offer to take the car back and repair it at our own expense (of course), an offer that was refused. He didn’t mention that we agreed to send a replacement clutch kit, along with an amount of money to cover various items that the seller claimed needing doing. He also didn’t mention that we reluctantly agreed for his local garage to carry out the work as to minimise inconvenience to him despite the fact that a short chat with the garage gave us no confidence whatsoever. We had no evidence that any of this work actually needed carrying out - in fact we’re certain that much of it didn’t . We felt as though we got thoroughly messed about by this customer.
Its never good having unhappy customers but we always try and help if we can. It can be difficult when the customer tries it on though.
I’m going to side with the ScotMX5, if the line is old oil doesn’t need changing, an old air filter doesn’t need changing, old sparkplugs don’t need changing because the car “was driving perfectly” (the non-preventative approach to car maintenance, which serves many Corsa owners quite well). This is the line I’d expect from a typical backstreet garage, not a specialist dealer with prices to match. You are charging premium prices, so people have every right to expect a premium product. I usually expect the dealer to carry out, at the very least, an oil-filter service. Maybe I’m strange in expecting that. Nothing in his post suggests unreasonableness.
Of course you will already have evidence if 6 month old oil had been changed, aka motor factors receipt for 5l of the golden stuff.
Pretty sure money talks, and no one will refuse greenbacks when it comes to it, so a scheme to get him blacklisted by every car dealer in the country is doomed.
You are entitled of course allowed to post your own version of events, and allow others to make judgement.
I too bought a car from here, in fairness they did recover & return it with a new windscreen, hood and replacement engine.
I renewed the suspension and brakes as well as spending days removing the rust from underneath.
Not an experience I would recommend or repeat.
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That’s a dealers short way of saying he didn’t want it.
Before I got into the mk3’s, I bought an early 1.6 Eunos off Steve. Red of course i rang Steve, he answered straight away, the car was listed on eBay with a very detailed description and many hi-res photos. He answered all the questions I asked, so off I went with the intention of buying and driving it home. A test drive later, an offer was accepted and I drove it home
Now, the car wasn’t one of the higher priced fresh imports, it was a car of a friend which he had known for some time, every panel needed work, the mismatched seats were cream leather which was well past its sell by date, most things were tatty to say the least. It did have a fresh test though. However, I was over the moon as it was exactly as described, warts and all, the main rust concern areas were fine. I traded up latterly to my current mk3 and ironically, a farmers son, a neighbour of ours, bought it from the dealer and 2 years on is still really happy with it. I see him when walking the dog over his fields and we always have a chat about it. I’ve had several mk1’s from many different sources, all have needed work over time, some of it sooner than later
The experience with the Goodwood car was good. I do understand if top money has been paid, that expectations may be higher than mine were when I made my purchase? Just my experience of Goodwood.
Barrie
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