So after probably 4-6 months of looking at Mx5s I ended up buying this one.
It’s on 67k and fsh.
Had been undersealed before so fingers crossed for rust, sills looked okay, some rust right on the very edge where the spot welds are but no bubbling underneath.
Chassis rails were covered in underseal, peeled some away and the rails looked okay, no bits falling off when I poked around 
Nice surprise was it has Meister R Zeta suspension all round and copes well with road humps.
It looks very nice. Enjoy. 
Very nice 
great find !! enjoy 
What a beauty 
Have fun and enjoy your little red roadster
You must be eurphoric over your new purchase
Very nice looking car, glad you found what you were after. Enjoy!
Lovely looking car that, great find!
It hasn’t gone too well, all the underseal has covered up holes in the rear sills, I bought it from a trade seller so will be asking for some money back as I’m still within my 30 days period. Hopefully they are diplomatic about the situation as the mechanic I took it too said the car otherwise is faultless.
Do check the front chassis rails too, many have rusted there and need repair sections welding in.
Thanks, will do. The front rails are covered in underseal also.
I’m happy to get it repaired with or without the seller, as long as the job is good.
Hope it was cheap enough…and not “Sold as seen”.
“Underseal” (cough) is the Work of the Devil.
Done properly for a job to last a couple of seasons (with luck)…around £300 / £450 per side largely dependent on where you go and who you talk to.
Get the thing ramped in the air, drop the engine tray (good fun with seized stuff) and have the chassis rails thoroughly assessed before you commit to any other expense especially around the ARB mounting brackets for starters. Check the floorpans also…they are double skin as are the chassis rails…which is the problem. And…the bottom of the front wings.
Like so many other rusted examples, it really looked good…
Good luck.
It was sold as “rust free” from a classic car dealer.
Now they are ignoring my phone calls and saying it’s normal for a 16 year old mx5 (via text) but the law states that you have 30 days after purchase to raise any defects with the trade seller and if the issues mean the car is unroadworthy then you can return the vehicle or get refunded for the work needed.
Could be a real pain.
Yup. Afraid so.
Which is why I was curious as to what their claims of condition were.
I’m inclined to have a go at the 30days tbh, and get your hard earned wonga back.
It may mean…a deep rot assessment by an indy to back up it’s so-claimed roadworthy state EG…has any rot gotten near the seatbelt anchorages which is a favourite MOT fail. 
I suppose you checked it’s MOT history online before buying?
Yes I checked the history before buying it, there was no history of any body work issues, corrosion, rust etc
The seller got back to me after I sent them “Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 goods you supply must be fit for purpose” letter via email and he offered to buy the car back for £2000, which I did not agree to as it cost me £2400, rather cheeky but based on his reviews it seems to be their favorite tactic.
They are claiming that the car is fine because it has a valid MOT but I also notified that them that the MOT is valid at the moment it passes, you could get pulled by traffic police 1 minute later and they can find an issue.
The guy just seems like he does not want to take responsibility, considering his garage is classic Minis and MG that probably amount to 200k, I would have thought 2400 for his own negligence wouldn’t be much of an issue.
Oh dear.
Hobson’s Choice.
Sink circa £900.00 tops into the bum rot & use it, or take the 2k. Differential of circa £500.00.
Or take his 2k, add £600/ £900-ish to it, and an hunt for a decent relatively rot free example.
They are out there still for that kind of wedge.
Either way…drop the engine tray and get into the chassis rails properly first. That’s the deal maker or breaker really. Best I can say really.
I did some investigating and found fiberglass! Some over spray underneath as well, the fibreglass smelt quite strong, so guessing it might have been done recently and considering the dealer has a bodyshop on site I would only but guess.
The seam part that snapped off was all fiberglass and found chickenwire kind of material inside the sills.
Front archers I think are just rust that has been sprayed over. You can get your fingers underneath and peel it back.
Dealer says they will refund me in full but until I have the cash I wont know.
As for chassis legs, they were crumbling with just my hands prodding about the place but not sure how serious.
That’s an awful story. Hope you get the cash back, then at least you learned plenty for the next one…
I’m sorry about this but frankly…when you look at the MOTs…the breadcrumb trail suggest it was patched up to flip. It’s the way it works I’m afraid.
Caveat flippin’ Emptor…as usual.
I think I will try an MK3 2.0 but thanks for the offer.
