Hi Everyone
I have written a review about owning an MX5 MK1 - any thoughts?
http://usedcarguru.tumblr.com/
1996 - 2016 A Review of the MX5 MK1 ‘a car that was long on the top but a bit too short on the sides’
I remember it clearly – a cold sunny day in March. I was nervously waiting outside a prestigious looking detached house in Wallington South London. I had come to buy my very first sports car – less than 3 years after passing my test I should say.
I had previously had a Vw Polo 1992 model but needless to say after 21,000 miles, a couple of small knocks and being over 22 years old it had gotten a little bit long in the tooth and a bit worse for wear. I wanted something faster, cooler, retro yet fun, enter the age of the MK1 MX5
Like many cars that came before it the MX5 is described as being a ‘car that changed motoring history’ and since its production in late 1988 well over half a million of the MK1′s been sold. Motorists fell in love with its sharp steering and its short shift gearstick. I was after the earlier more sporty type complete with its vinyl hood and pop-up 80s style headlights and after a few months of searching I came across the perfect one or so I thought… It really was a difficult search bearing in mind I was a penniless university student living on a budget – I had to avoid those with the 1.8 engine – as these would surely use more petrol and be more expensive to insure – as well as avoid any ‘import’ models as the insurance difference in these was well over double the price of a UK spec car. If this wasn’t enough – I had to keep an eye out for one that had not been messed with or had serious mechanical or bodywork issues and also had a decent hood with a glass heated rear window! Quite a feat when you consider they’ve been out of production for twenty years now.
Hence my nervous excitement when I arrived to see the car I would buy P540BPF a 1996 1.6 litre UK spec original black Mazda MX5 with 110,600 miles on the odometer, 4 previous owners and a quarter of a tank of petrol. When I offered the lady hairdresser £1,000 she jumped at it and the car was mine! Just like that I had handed over the money without having even given a thought for test driving it. Sure there was some rust here and there on the drivers side sill and yes the rear bumper was a bit cracked and the paint on the wheels were flaking but it was a good deal right?
Wrong. I made the greatest error you can make when buying a car – without having test driven it I was unaware that its 1 years MOT with no advisories was pointless. The car’s suspension was completely ruined and was bouncing all over the place, the clutch made a loud mechanical noise when accelerating above 40mph and the steering wheel was all cracked and worn down not to mention the stains it left on the drive from the oil leak it had.
So what it’s like to drive?
Perhaps most importantly and the biggest reason why anyone would buy an MX5 is because of the way it drives. Its not overly cluttered like its rivals - the BMW Z3 & MG ZR - instead the MX5 appears more austere inside and underneath - simply engineered & designed the get the most out of straightforward mechanics. Initially I was disappointed by the acceleration – every die-hard fan of the MK1 always said to not go for the de-tuned 1.6 90bhp model and it is true, it does lack power. BUT it is extremely fun to drive around and being so low down made the handling feel very very precise. It was a cool car to own – everyone I knew admired it – friends were envious. Quite frankly nothing has been more fun than to play my aerosmith’s crazy loudly with the roof down while cruising on country roads. It really was a great fun drive and it became substantially better when I fitted a K&N Induction kit in January – it gave the engine a throatier sound and it pulled so much better with much more torque – even though it was about £100 I would recommend this to anyone with a 90bhp MK1 MX5 looking to add a little bit more power.
What it’s like to live with?
I always loved the look of the MK1 and in the summer the car is an absolute treat. I on many occasions had people nodding and smiling wherever I went with other fellow MX5 MK1 owners popping up their lights as we passed. It was a fantastic car to own and nothing ever quite matched it. The hood is manual so it is very easy to pop up and put down so no electronics to worry about here. It was simple motoring. The interior was very basic however, a sea of black plastic awaits you standard cloth seats, manual windows, no power steering. What’s more it had very little room inside with an equally small boot space. This meant that longer journeys became tiring to drive in the low seating position made motorway driving quite dangerous and frankly uncomfortable – the wing mirrors felt too far forward for a good visibility. It was impractical to own and only having one other seat did lose its novelty fairly quickly. Unfortunately it would only average about 44 miles to the gallon and that’s with me being very careful on acceleration. The tank could just about take £40 worth of petrol. This meant with my 88 mile roundtrip to work every day that by Wednesday evening I was left with about a quarter of a tank. It was this poor economy that led me to replace it with a diesel golf in May 2016
Maintenance
Everyone always raves wax-lyrical about how ‘solid’ the MK1 mx5 is especially the engine. Maybe it was the particular car that I had purchased but it needed quite a lot of remedial work throughout my ownership. My thoughts are that since it was only covering about 2k a year prior to my ownership and being a second vehicle money was never being spent on its maintenance. Top Tip always look out for this when purchasing a second-hand car.
I have easily spent 2K in repairs over the course of the year. I wanted the car to be in good working order along with having that sports car feel. I quickly set about fitting a retro Momo leather steering wheel, & spent £600 on 4 shock absorbers & a new clutch and slave cylinder. Then I spent £130 on new old stock refurbished Mazda minilite ‘prosport’ alloys, £55 on a new rear bumper skin, £80 on new heater hoses & a rocker cover gasket. So I was in for a shock when after about 8,000 miles of driving I needed 4 new brake pads and disks costing over £250 at 118k. At 124k the MX5 developed an overheating issue as the cooling fan would not cut in – que a new radiator & dashboard cooling fan switch the car was back on the road for 1 week only to have the master cylinder fail the following week costing approximately £400 to repair in total. Just when I thought everything was okay the oil leak returned and the clutch began to slip again under acceleration, the rot had set in on both sills and they both required re-plating. After having carried out all of this work I decided to sell up.
I had covered 23,000 miles in 14 Months; it was in May 2016 I decided to park up the car and only use it for the weekends.
Overall
It was expensive to run, expensive to maintain, and impractical and uncomfortable for extended regular use. BUT it was by far the most fun I have ever had on 4 wheels! It had the most street-cred –the glossy black paintwork along with amazing handling and good acceleration made it a magnet. I had many enjoyable moments in the Mazda and while it lacked power steering, ABS and other features it never felt that it was dangerous to drive and you always felt cool in it. It just had that nostalgic 90s feeling of fun. I finally had to give in and I sold it with 132,000 on the clock in October 2016. I would recommend that whoever is looking for an MX5 to find one at a much better price than I did – I would recommend paying more on an import model or finding a cheap scruffy little runabout as opposed to spending 1k on a banger.
