As I move on with my research, one issue I’ve come up against is balancing the mileage and age of a car - Around 6k on Autotrader right now will buy get you a 2007 Mk3 with 62k on the clock, or a 2008 Mk3 with 89k on the clock. (There may have been other issues affecting price, but let’s start out simple!)
There does seem to be a common theme that low mileage but older cars are valued more highly than a newer car of similar or slightly higher mileage. While mileage is obviously a sign of how much wear a car’s gone through, I wouldn’t expect it to be the all-powerful deciding factor - especially given how sturdy modern cars are in general, and MX-5s in particular.
So, am I missing something obvious here? Should I be jumping over the 2007 car with 40k on the clock? Should I be completely ignoring the 2010 car with over 100k, even though it ticks every other theoretical box and is practically begging for an in-person inspection?
I reckon it’s all in the mind.
Personally wouldn’t even look at, say, a 2012 car with 80k on it, even though common sense tells me it’s probably just gone up and down a motorway with little wear on most bits.
I would jump all over a 2005 2.5 1.8 sport with 30k even though I know it’s tootled to the shops never having warmed up properly.
All in the mind, a 2010 with 100k would be fine if the price is right and you don’t do a lot of miles, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to give it away at 10 years old and 150k.
Mileage or age?
The blunt answer, frankly, is neither.
Condition, condition, condition & proofs of care /servicing, (plus a thorough chassis inspection these days) is everything.
Every time.
Ask any mechanic worth his/her onions.
They will say with proper servicing, modern mills romp well past 100k miles and beyond.
You can kill any mill in less than 50k if careless.
Our 2002 Sport mill, with 94k on, is as tight as duck’s bum still…thanks to pukka servicing in my care over the last 11 years.
Ok…it was Triggers Broom metal wise until it’s rebuild…but that’s a 15 years old 5 for you.
Condition is a good point, and one I’ve been working on for the last day or so - I currently have a 30-odd point in-person checklist to run through running the full gamut from headlights to exhaust and hopefully everything in between!
My intention is to run the car I buy for as long as it holds together, so resale value isn’t a major concern… But I do want ‘as long as…’ to be a long, long time!
I may be overthinking things, and I’m at least two months away from actually buying, but I see two cars at 2008/22k and 2010/29k priced the same… and I have no idea how to judge which one is more worth my investing time to go see, assuming only one.
Apologies for rambling… Are there any significant mileage or age-related issues with mk3s I should be particularly aware of?
I believe…earlier Mk3’s 1800 cc versions gave bearing & ring issues if the oil was not kept up to the mark.
I think…Mazda toughened things up later.
There are threads…but for me the best reference would be Paul Roddison who races the blighters.
Buying this time around was the first time I came across the “Wisebuyer’s Guides”. The below link shows the details for the car I ended up buying:
http://www.wisebuyers.co.uk/index.jsp?guide=prices&page=used_cars&no=3&make=Mazda&model=MX-5+%282005-09%29&vip=24360&yearplate=2006%2F06&mileage=94&x=42&y=4
Using these guide prices as a starting point I was then able to work out whether I felt the car was over- or under-priced based on it’s condition. As it happens mine was over-priced and while I did knock the price down I ended up paying more than I knew I should just because I really like the colour. Insane, I know, but it’s that kind of process you need to go through. What is important is what a given car is worth to you. Would you feel more comfortable with a newer car; does it have additional features that the older car doesn’t? Of perhaps you prefer the idea of an older car that has been well looked over and will more quickly become a modern classic.
I don’t think there is a wrong answer, and no ‘golden rule’. Just buy the car you want - even if your final decision is driven entirely by your heart (as mine was) rather than your head.
I would go for a MK3.5 or Mk3.75 due to the internal changes to the engine and gearbox.
I would tend to go for a car that has lived well into southern Englandshire as the southern cars in most instances drive over less salty roads.
I would stay away from cars that lived in Nothern Englandshire or up here above the border.
If you are keeping it for a lot of years, I would go for say an up to 4 years old and less than 20,000 miles as they are about for not a lot more than than a higher mileage car.
In saying that my 8 year old, 40,000 mile Impreza is throwing codes for Catalyst problems but it passed it’s MOT last week and has just done 1,000 miles this week.
My 10 year old Impreza 85,000 miles, I got rid of 2 years ago, never had that problem but the rear diff was getting a bit rumbly and there were issues with the headlight leveling and the rear panels at the wheel arches were getting rusty.
I’m starting to hear of 100k mile cars getting timing chains replaced. So low age and low miles for me but that is just an opinion and you also have to look at how much money you can afford to spend on the car.
If everything stacks up and you like it, buy it.
You could take forever comparing cars too much.
My 2.5 had 67k fully serviced and looked good (kept going back to it every time i looked for something else. Always a good sign in my opinion!) It had the normal rusty sills but i was prepared to deal with that as everything else was so good.
Love it. The best thing i have done in years was buying my 5.
Good luck. Your heart and head will tell you which one to go for.
Mileage for me. Harder to find older cars with a low mileage, and no rust, considering how poor Mazda’s are undersealed. They exist, I got one after looking at numerous cars over a large price range, from 2006 - 2013 models. I’ve no regrets at all, but they are harder to find but do exist.
Thank you all, that’s helpful.
I know that the ‘perfect’ car exists out there somewhere, but my time for searching is likely to be limited to a a few Saturdays this spring/summer - not the best time to be looking at convertibles, I know!
I know there may have to be compromises - I want a 3.5, I want a hard top, and I want a hard top… Can I get all 3? And in one of the colours I want? And in decent working order? Well, I’ll find out - Some compromises may have to be made, but if I’m driving around in a 2007 1.8 soft top in silver, well, that may be too many of them!