I bought a June 1999 NB in metallic British Racing green in 2018 and love it to bits. It is a very original one owner car with a mileage of a tad under 40k. I had a new cam belt fitted when I bought it together with a replacement water pump. The car has all the right documentation including the original purchase receipt and all (or most) past MOT certificates and evidence of a full service history. It’s in very good all-round condition and has just passed its MOT. The space-saver spare wheel has never been on the road! The nearside rear wheel arch needs a repair to tidy it up and the bodywork has a few minor scratches in places. The chassis rails appear solid although the nearside one is showing early signs of ‘bubbling’ as are the bottom of both front wings although the still appear quite solid. Both seats would benefit from recovering.
I am happy to spend some money on the car to bring it back to a really good standard. Is anyone able to give me a guide price-range of what the car might be worth so I don’t overspend?
Personally, I would say that to buy an NB would cost in the region £1000 to £2000, but that depends on spec, condition, time of year etc. Tackling any rust, in particular on the sills and chassis rails, is going to be a cheaper fix if it’s sorted out sooner rather than later.
Every so often I have to remedy the rust on my (t)rusty NB and I don’t care that I spent nearly what the car is worth, I know I’m never getting rid and spending even £1k to keep her on the road is cheaper than spending £20+k on buying a new one!
Perhaps in time you will also feel that you can never part with your MX5 and so the resale value becomes a bit irrelevant!
I think If you buy a car and thinking about how much you are going to get when its time to resell then your car is more if an economic investment.
I don’t really look all my cars this way. I have cars that i use because of practicality and cars that i enjoy.
I have decided that my five is a car that i truly enjoy and as such it will stay with me for a long long time so i don’t really care chucking money into it. I will never get it back but it makes me happy. So in my mind its worth every single penny i spend on it
I bought my 2000 NB in green for just £3000 as it needed new tyres. It has similar mileage to yours. I have continued to spend on it as it is largely sorted and is the perfect spec for me. As I have no plans to sell it my continued investment is still way less than the cost of a new car. I drive news cars for a living but at the end of the day enjoy driving my “real” car home.
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