Subframes don’t give problems. I gave you a link for an early UK with average rusting, so I hope you haven’t taken from that NAs only rust on the subframe and floor, and ignored everything else. Where did you hear that one. There are loads of threads on the forum about rust. You will spend a lot more time poking at rust on a UK spec car than import, but that’s your preference.
In the end, you are looking to buy a 25-30 year old car for banger money. Its an old car now. To ram home that point, I came across an ad for a Rover 825 Coupe, utter bargain for £750, as it looked mint. But its newer than my NA. And it looked ancient. Rust is always far worse than it looks. Don’t buy a rusty car and hope it turns out for the best. And these cars are a monocoque; the body is the chassis…
No one really knows how long these repairs will last. 5 years maybe. But then something else might erupt to kill the car before then. I’m chasing down rusting on the leading edges of both front sills now. But the car now owes me nothing, so I don’t mind.
Imports are essentially rust free when they touch down in the UK. So comparing a 1995 UK car to a 1995 import registered in 2005 is like comparing a 1995 and a 2005 car. Which one do you think is going to be rustier?
200k kms is nothing by the way, on a 26 year old car.
These cars aren’t going to get any cheaper, even the cheap ones.
If you can’t afford to buy a good car to start off with, then buy one with a full ticket as cheap as possible. Don’t even bother looking for rust pre-purchase, and relax. Drive it for 10 months. It might turn out that you hate MX5s, and can move on. But you have 10 months to prioritise according to your budget. Those ugly plated slls. They might be ok for 2-3 years… Meanwhile the leaky roof might be a higher priority. Would you want to just repair the sills, or do a full respray at the same time. What are the mechanics like?
Buy it. Take a chance. Its basically the same model as mind, a Phase 2 1,8 S-Limited in Montego Blue (a dark blue flip colour, that turns green when the sun catches it. Will have the lightened flywheel and T2 4.3 Torsen diff (so quicker 0-60 than a UK car). Basically a RS-Limited in drag. Cheapie budget roof
Had a ton of welding done in May. Probably needs more, but the cost is predictable, even if what was done has to be redone. Imported about the same time as mine, so probably as rusty/no more rusty than mine. Imported Seat wear is common on this model. Mirror is an easy fix using a bolt and some washers. Interesting cars in the background. Maybe he can do a deal on getting the repairs finished.