Hello from Essex, Discovery Mode Activated

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Morning team. Apologies for the ramble.

Thought I’d introduce myself, I’m Rob from Chelmsford, Essex. Joined the forum a couple of days ago.

Been a petrol head even before I could drive, many, many years ago. As soon as I could drive, my first car was a Ford Escort Mk2 RS2000. That lasted a couple of weeks before it was stolen . Since then, the one’s that stand out are another RS2000, a Cavalier SRi, Astra GTE, BMW 540i, M3 and now on an RS4. I’m sure there’s more. I also ride motorbikes.

I’m planning on retiring in a couple of years’ time, hence the decision to take things a little slower and get myself a smallish sports car so that SWMBO and myself can go out for relaxed drives out and spend some quality time together. Been looking at the MGB v8 ( a classic or an RV8 ), but also the MX-5, hence me taking a peek here. Slightly gone off the MG as I’m not that good at spannering, as don’t want something that is high maintenance. Also, the MX-5 should be a bit better on the wallet.

So what have I learnt so far on here?

It’s actually refreshing coming back to a forum, as most groups are now on FB. I detest the latter, very toxic, with people taking the pea, full of spammers and the general negativity. This is actually a nice place to visit, with everyone helping each other out.

I’ve learnt that we have the NA, NB, NC and ND, I’ll probably be looking at the NC, seems good value for money. Within the NC, I’ve seen people refer to a v1, v1.5, v2, v3? As far as I can tell, there was a face lift around 2012, with a new front bumper.

Then I came across the term PRHT, which I think is the variant with the folding hard top. I will be going for the folding hard top variant.

So, when looking for a car, I’ve learnt that we need to look out for rust.

I do have a couple of questions:

Parking sensors – were these ever an option on the car?

Would anyone know if 2 cabin sized suit cases fit in the boot?

I’ve taken a shine to this one, seems good value for money?
Mazda MX-5 2.0 I ROADSTER SPORT TECH NAV 2d 158 BHP @ £9,490. Hopefully the URL works:

That’s it for now, stay safe and remember, “before you die, make sure you live”.

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Hey Rob,

Welcome to the forum. :+1:

I’ve got a 1.8 NC1 and the owners before had parking sensors installed.

You can buy them from here.

https://www.mx5parts.co.uk/reversing-sensor-models-p-2790.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=googleshopping&utm_campaign=googlebase&gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwyNSoBhA9EiwA5aYlb787aFQ-n7olXr5O48En_n1KL07db0Xur3wOkzYEM0MDlXZmBgJ9uBoCL90QAvD_BwE

Hope that helps. :+1:

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I thought there was a like button, can’t seem to find it now. But #like :slight_smile:

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Found it.

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Welcome along! In terms of the NC model line-up, this will come in handy:

Most referred to as NC, NC2 and NC3 in terms of model development and the facelifts. The one you have your eye on is an NC3 and is quite a late model on a '15 plate.

Best of luck with your search :+1:

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It looks good Rob.

My budget was pretty small but I ended up doing a lot to the car already which has been a bit costly tbh.

So depending on the condition of the one you have your eye on it could be good?

I’d go see it in person.

I did that and ended up driving away in mine. :smile:

:blush::+1:

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The one on your radar should have rear parking sensors (but I can’t see them on the pics)
I pack my clothes in a suit hanger and put it behind my seat. There are bespoke boot bags but soft packing and square bags is the secret. I can get a couple of fold up chairs in the boot too.

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Spot on. Soft bags for the win!

A few thoughts on luggage here: Luggage advice - #2 by sautah

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Welcome Rob and Mrs Rob :handshake:

From NB 1.8 Icon Owner in the West Mids but used to work/live in Romford and then Tiptree

Suitcases…me finks that part of the change in design from the NB to the NC was Boot Size. Having said that me and a Cocker Spaniel lived out of my NB for several weeks whilst touring the UK and that was without a Boot Rack so surprising how much you can get into a small space if you’re good at packing

The most important thing as you have identified with the MX-5 is corrosion

Got mine in 2007 and she has suffered badly from this but still best car I’ve had

Envy you that RS2000…went shopping and ended up with a Triumph Spitfire instead

Good Hunting for an MX-5 :smile:

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The RS2000’s are silly money now.

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Yep…can imagine. Actually saw a Capri recently and nearly stalked the guy to chin wag.

Sadly the Spit went to ‘rust heaven’ pretty quickly BUT in my experience work on corrosion has come on leaps n bounds since then re your interest in the MX-5 :clap:

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On that example you’ve found, just remember to take a good look underneath as well.

Might be all shiny on top, but is it rusty on the bottom? :wink: I can see from the MOT results that there are some advisories for subframe corrosion, front and rear so just take a good look. Worth budgeting to get the underside treated once you’ve bought any example, to include removing any old underseal so you have a solid base to work from. Then you can enjoy for many years to come!

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Would anyone know of a MX-5 specialist in the Essex area that I could use to look over a car for me. Thanks for reminding me to look at the past MOTs, there’s me getting all excited and not thinking with my head.

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Welcome Rob!
I too only joined recently. Went to the National Rally. Saw loads of cars and decided the NC2 PRHT was the one for me. Found a good example (I hope :crossed_fingers:) which is being delivered on Monday. I’ve owned a lot of cars over the years. Also had a Cav GSi V6 which was great. Looking forward to weekends driving with the wind in my hair - well, scalp to be fair :wink:

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Hi Rob, yes 2 cabin suitcases do fit in the boot, with one stacked on top of the other. You just have to make sure that you don’t over pack them and make them bulge. We use these when we travel around Europe, so that we don’t have to keep taking all the bags out at every stop. One for the first half of the journey, then swap them over half way through, then use the space around the outside for other items. It works for us.

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Not far from you bud, 2.0 nc3 PRHT, Done some mods on it. Had mk1 eunos when i was younger. Like you had some silly fast cars previously. This is my go to work car and have a Q7 also

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Found this, overview of the NCs:

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Yep, linked to that above! :wink:

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Parking sensors were never a factory option on any NC.

Many dealers will have fitted them when first supplied. They are quite inexpensive - mine were acting up when I bought my car, and it was cheaper to remove the existing system and completely replace it than to try to get it repaired. The cost (including 4 colour-coded sensors) was £160, and the company did it on my own driveway.

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Morning Rob, welcome to the group.

I’m a fairly infrequent visitor here, mostly drifting in via one of the digest emails, and I had a chuckle at various points in your introduction; Cavalier SRi, motorbikes, mild confusion over the various model designations, aversion to spannering and FB. Sounds like me all over! This is a great community and you’ll get plenty of answers, not to mention buckets of inspiration. To add my tuppence worth:

  • My ND is fitted with rear parking sensors as well as a camera, presumably because of the compromised rear visibility with the top up. Not sure if that equipment is standard on that model or just the Sport Tech variant, but I’ve found it useful. Maybe the Sport Tech you’re looking at is the same?

  • Two cabin-style cases do fit in the boot, and you can get a bit more stuff around them too as long as it’s squishy, but when things get tight you’ll hate packing and re-packing the boot each time in order to get at something that’s in one of the bigger cases. We just completed a 2.5 week 3,000 mile trip through Spain and France, stopping at a different place each night, and it wasn’t so much the limited size of the boot that was the problem, as the awkwardness introduced by taking too much stuff. Next time we’ll pack less and use smaller cases.

Right, enough rambling. Good luck with whatever you decide to do, I’m sure you’ll have a blast. :+1:t2:

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