I feel at this point I too am a strong enough person to announce that I also used to own a TR7 
i have owned 3 MGF’s and one MX5! In my experience all MGF’s that i owned had problems,the first “F” the head gasket whent,second "F"the wiper linkages and nearly all electrics needed replecing and the 3rd was just scrap! And the 3rd was a 2002 TF!! They are great cars when working well,but like someone has said already on here,you will loose hair worrying even if she is performing great! the constant worry of head gasket failure is always there,your forever checking the temp guage or the water when you open the boot.you even find yourself worrying while you are in the house and feel forced to check the car to see if the level is normal after it has cooled down!
Now i sold my TF a few months ago and got a mk mx5…it feels lighter,more agile and very very reliable…i feel like i could drive anywhere in her…whereas the TF i really worried around a 20mile run!
I joined the MG Forums and they are a nice bunch over there,one thing that really annoys me though is that people say the MG has Soul and thats what the MX5 lacks…This isnt true…I think people think a car has soul when it breaks down all the time as then they can fix it and go onto the next job…i love this but with the MGF or even TF you just find your whole live taken over by worry and no enjoyment of the tinkering youv just done!!
For what it’s worth, I have a copy of Top Gear Magazine from May 2002 in which they did a full road test on the MG TF, the Toyota MR2 and the MX5 Sport.
This was their conclusion: (marks from 5)
MG MR2 MX5
Styling 3 3 4
Performance 3 4 3
Ride/Handling 2 4 3
Accomodation 2 3 4
Costs 3 4 3
(Total 13 18 17)
Overall 2 4 3 < (think this a bit unfair when it had only 1 point less than the MR2)
So they reckoned the MR2 was best with the MX5 a seemingly close second, the MG was worst. Agree or not but the fact that the MR2 doesn’t have any real boot space swings me away from it totally.
A rather surprising opinion on the 2008 MGTF:
http://www.autocar.co.uk/blogs/stillatthewheel/archive/2008/12/05/the-mg-tf-it-s-still-got-it.aspx
Its a bit contrary to most other current road tests. Its a head versus heart sort of thing. The heritage possessed by MG shouldn’t be underestimated; its why Ford spent over £20 million in 2006 buying the Rover brand off BMW, and why, to this day, despite its obviously rich sporting credentials, BMW steadfastly retains ownership of Triumph.
Chinese views about what makes a MG a MG; its mostly in Chinese, but there are fuzzy marketing english slogans, plus the brand video is wierdly in English (its all about freedom, apparently).
http://www.saicmg.com/culture/index.html
MG6 launch video, to the sounds of machine gun fire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4RofbWYk2s
A bit dangerous that, in China.
AT:
Just shows it’s all about opinion, he is obviously an MG fan but has he owned one or an MX5 over a fair period?
I always take these journalist views with a pinch of salt as they have probably only “played” with the car for a couple of hours or so and not owned one themselves.
The only real comparison is to have owned and run both for a fair time and personally what I know about the MG I’m not going to take that risk!
The paradox is that you will read of diametrically opposite opinions over on MG forums.
http://forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.php?t=49109
Meantime, my 4th MX5 (since 1997) has been somewhat of a disappointment; 1.8 engine died after 110k miles, suspension blowing out, premature rusting (and its an import). Not that I’m getting shot of it now any time soon (for a start, it owes too much given the amount of money and time spent on it in the last 12 months), but it reminds me, our cars aren’t as bullet proof as we might suppose; the Mk1s are getting a bit old now, Mk2.5s seem to be alarmingly rotting out prematurely, weak early 1.6 crankshaft, and the Mk3 seems to have more than its fair share of niggles.
I’ve always thought we are too focussed on the MGF; perhaps as a complement, and overlook other cars; the old Z3, Barchetta, all gone now. The S2000 is no more, but that was always a flawed car. Daihatsu Copen? Cheap, ingenious top and supposed to be a fun drive.
AT
Sorry I’ve just got to comment on their MX5 “bad points”
-
- Tail happy handling!!! - Never had a problem with decent tyres but I don’t gun it either
* - Driving position (low clutch pedal, high transmission tunnel, straight legged + reclined) - Isn’t that what a Sports Car supposed to be?
* - Eunos Roadsters are everywhere, these a Japanese Imports and are cheaper to buy (but also cheaper to sell). UK spec MX5s fetch a premium. Yes - but we are in the UK so compare it to a UK car then. That’s not comparing like with like is it?
* - Acres of black plastic inside (uninspiring cabin) - Yes - It’s black but it is certainly not all plastic like most cars are, and it’s cheaply blingable anyway if that’s what you want.
* - Most tuning stuff is US or Japanese, makes getting hold of them tricky / expensive - Is that really true I would say that prices of stuff is comparable with any other car and certainly widely available in the UK.
* - Old geezer in the eBay advert on telly at the moment is driving one!
- Yes well, I am an old Geezer anyway 
- Tail happy handling!!! - Never had a problem with decent tyres but I don’t gun it either
You are best addressing these points over there. Most of these are subjective, just like the majority of points stated over here, not objective.
Given that the author has put it as a plus and a negative, he’s probably right, as a general point about rwd cars; matter of physics. The MGF will have less of a tendancy to do this, due to the weight of the engine, but when it does, like all mid-engined cars, it will do so suddenly. Rover managed to tame that tendancy to a certain extent.
Again, depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for an out and out sports car, don’t look to the MX5, at least a standard model. The transmission tunnel height is enough a height issue that when Mazda released its tuned edition, the M2-1001, it deleted the centre console entirely. I can tell you, subjectively, it makes for a nicer driving experience.
My old M2-1002:
I don’t think a discussion about MGFs versus MX5s should exclude |Roadsters. I hope we are not going to get in a discussion that imports are not proper MX5s. This was a discussion done and dusted 10 years ago. MGFs were also reimported from Japan.
Last time I looked at my Mk1, it was pretty much 100% black plastic (the factory bits anyhow).
The former is a generally true statement; the availability of after market MX5 bits in the UK I would say is now worse (in terms of suppliers) than it was 5 years ago, given the numbers of specialists that have gone to the wall (eg 5Hive, Donutz, the old SFT, Ka Yu etc). Most of which is available is imported from Japan and the US, and is subject to pricing fluctuations. MX5parts has pretty much a monopoly. For obvious reasons, nothing for the MGF comes from the US. Over on Miata.net, there is a long list of US suppliers of all sorts of parts. Over on Minkara.carview.co.jp, you can get a taste of what is available in Japan.
I thought the comments on the MG forum (well that reply) were generally fair, and to be taken tongue in cheek.
How did TG score the MR2 a 3 for accommodation,did it have a boot rack and a tow bar and trailer
Accommodation for people perhaps? More room in the cabin?
Autocar gave the Elise higher marks for practicality than the MR2, based entirely on having a boot. Journalists often just write what they need to to get an article finished. It’s not a science.
Sorry 2002,must have been the previous MR2?
Presume the gaudy looking MG5 is the ‘Show’ car?why do Manufacturers produce these in such awful colours(ok each to their own) but I bet s/hand value less than a good solid colour.Moved something that looked a bit like the 5 but was badged as a Rover from shed to shed on the Longbridge site in a covered truck,must be several years ago,can’t remember when MG/Rover went pop but well before that.Can’t remember exactly what it looked like,seemed similar to all the other mid sized cars(eg Toyota)so didn’t take much notice.After the Chinese took over picked up a mint Austin 7,museum standard MGTA,and a bit non- standard looking MGBorC GT which I think were just some of the cars they bought for their Museum in China.
Used to move the 1st SV around/photo shoots/motor shows/think TG /5th Gearetc also took it to the Cannes Film Festival!!.Used to take stuff down to Turin and bring near complete cars back from Modena.Happy Days!!
Apparently all sorts of odd stuff at one time in Longbridge. There was a battered Kia Pride on Iranian plates knocking around, running a K-series. One of MG’s wheezes towards the end to get some investment; producing engines for the Iranian CKD market (some Kias are made in Iran). Rather dangerous, because I don’t think Iran has still paid their bills to Hillman for the Hunter kits. And a fully built up MGTF coupe sitting in the factory.
The car show was in China; I think they like different colours over there. Funny thing is, Chinese built MGTFs are all running 2004 front ends, but the UK built ones have a new nose.
I did the great debate before I bought my '5. My contenders were MGTF, MX5, S2k, MR2r.
MGTF - Didn’t get a look in. I heard about the reliability problems and, having just spent £750 repairing a Golf after a pricey Cat failure, I didn’t want to go down the same path again.
S2k - Would have won to be honest if it weren’t for the high insurance and my perception of the handling woes I read of. My medium term plan was to have the '5 for a while to learn about RWD and roadster ownership in general before buying an S2k…more of this later.
MR2r - It came down to this and the MX5. Similar prices, similar performance, similar insurance. NOT similar boot space! Practicallity swung it for me…on a choice between roadsters! I do travel up and down the country a lot and when I do I’m normally on leave for a week plus so need a lot of kit! 90L boot for MR2r v. 150 for the MX5…
MX5 - I won’t sing it’s praises as if we didn’t know about it’s good points we’d not be here! The only thing I will say is that my plan to ‘upgrade’ to the S2k for more power have been brushed away by supercharging plans!
That was my thinking anyway. All of this was to my brother’s displeasure…he wanted me to get the MR2r or S2k. He understood the reasons behind not getting the S2k but still maintains I should have got the MR2r and cannot understand my storage needs! HOWEVER he also keeps telling me of my MX5 “it’s not my kind of car but damn I love driving it!” Says it all really! 
Perhaps the front end is being sourced from the original UK/European parts suppliers for UK-built cars, rather than being shipped from China as part of the knock-down kits?
Perhaps, and probably likely. But pure speculation; if you had a 2004 MG and crashed, you’d expect to get a 2004 front. Xpower (owned by JCB) now provides a spare parts support for MG-Rover built MGs (confusing) in the UK. They may own the rights to the 2004 bumper in the UK, as a result of buying a bunch of drawings during the great 2005 firesale.
It all got a bit confusing; NAC got the drawings to the MG ZT, but Saic got the rights (but not the drawings nor name) to build the Rover 75. Within a year, SAIC had reverse engineered the Rover, which appeared as the Roewe 750, complete with a new rear end, and V8 style front. NAC meanwhile started churning out ZTs. then NAC got taken over by SAIC, who are now making reverse engineered Rover 75s, and MG-ZTs made using original tooling and drawings…
Supposedly, over there, they inherited several hundred Ford Cobra V8s and transmissions, all lying in a big pile, and not wanted.
Mustang V8’s tuned by SHM (Shaun Highland Motors) most returned to shm
My local garage was involved. They now race a chinese MGTFand have a chinese MGTF demonstrator, they are a bit better for ditching all the hydrolastic
Dont know if the original poster of this thread is still interested, but when deciding what convertible / sports car I wanted I took several things into consideration:
Styling
Insurance premiums
Reliability and repair costs + readiness of spares
Overall Price
And the main factor - the quality of the drive!
I looked at and drove the following before deciding on my five:
MGF 1.8VVC (didnt drive, will explain)
MR2 mk2
MR2 mk1
The MGF I looked at was parked up next to an MX5 - it had obviously been sitting for a wee while, it was early spring and I kid yee not, there was actually a small amount of mould on the carpet - this shows you how badly they let water in and what would probably happen if you were to leave it standing for any period of time. I asked the guy to fire it up and she took at least 3 attempts to get going, the engine sounded rough as old boots, the electric windows were very slow to wind up and down and the air con didnt work. To be honest, everything about it turned me off apart from the badge. Next to it was a red MX5, for £500 more, which had more mile on the clock (90k i think) just for comparison I asked if I could have a poke around - the guy got the keys and I started her up, first time no fuss whatsoever, everything electric worked, and it didnt feel like it was going to fall apart.
I tested a few mk2 MR2’s - one with the 3sfe engine (the 120bhp one, basicly a detuned camry, yuck) and that was horrible, and then 3 with the 3sge engine (170 bhp) which was a lot more responsive and much much quicker. It has to be said, every drive I had I enjoyed, they all stuck to the road like they were riding on super glue, and the straight line speed was impressive. The mechanics seemed pretty good, but most of the cars all had small niggles in my price bracket (1.5k) such as leaky roof seals, new tyres needed somewhere, out of tax, short MOT’s, etc. They also felt more of a cruisers car that could go round a corner fast, than a light car that would just dance around the corners with elegance. Also, the mk2 went through several “phases” - most with suspension / running gear upgrades, these stopped the car from ditch finding supposedly
I drove 1 mk1 MR2, and that was the closest thing I have found to a 5’ so far - the 1.6 engine is nice and punchy and a tad quicker than the 5. The example I drove had been tinkered with, and the suspension setup was incredible, the guy lived near a fantastic little road to drive down and this car really did put a huge grin on my face, everything was right about it, apart from it was an import, had no service history because of this, and was a tin top. Apart from that, it was a cracker of a car, however, they are very very prone to rust, repair costs are high and parts dont come by so easy.
Insurance costs for the three (im 19 with 3 years no claims - I had a moped before anyone asks)
MGF - £1100
Mk2 MR2 - £1400
Mk1 MR2 - £900
In comparison the above, my 5 looks better, handles more nimbly than all of the above except maybe the mk1 MR2, doesnt leak, doesnt break and always no matter what the weather makes me think “God this car is just so good” And then to top it all off, its pretty cheap to service and the insurance cost me £750 for a year… There is a reason the MX5 is in the top10 on almost every good car list going
Apologies for taking this thread somewhat off topic, but I had always wondered if NCB earned on a scooter/motorbike policy could be transferred to a car policy. My daughter turns 16 in March and I had been considering getting her a scooter to commute to the 6th form college next year.
Hi Niggle 
The long and short answer is, some companies will do it and some wont. Morethan, unfortunately wont (my insurance would have been £500!!!) however, churchill (who I am currently insured with) do - in my mind its definately worth it just to have that first year of no claims to your name. That and scooters can be quite fun I also found they helped me get a lot of road experience and made me much more confident getting into my car for my first driving lesson.
Thanks for the reply. I have been insured with the RBS Insurance group of companies for many, many years now and it is encouraging to hear that they can provide sensible quotes for young drivers under the right circumstances.