In the first two years of the ND I used it a ‘bit’ in the dry salt, but not totally fresh stuff, and not the rain, nor that wet salt road-look which you see in an extended cold snap, which never dries on the roads. Nor any commuting. I also would hose underneath regularly. As in very regularly. Ours was a 2 car family then. Last four years totally nothing, unless I’d booked a service or something (typically late April) and it ended up raining. I haven’t had underseal done.
So hardly a hard life, esp compared to the up! gti which has 30K more miles, used in all weathers. Ditto the Mrs’ MINI Cooper. Which is nuts how good it looks underneath, now just under 30K miles, all weathers. I haven’t had underseal done on the up! gti nor MINI, which don’t need to, as compared to a babied ND, they look mint! As mentioned, the up! gti nor MINI aren’t undersealed, which have far more miles in far more weathers, so the question might be, ref undersealing the ND, is why should I have to lol
Could be that European car makers protect the undercarriages better? Just guessing.
Yeah I don’t think the Japanese/South Korean ones are because over in their home countries salt is not an issue. Good to hear about the Mini Cooper. Is it reliable? How many years you had it? I have heard reliability is not great with those.
I was thinking of that car because with the soft-top version you can get the handling of the MX5 combined with the usability of, say, an Aygo/hatchback plus the open-air feel. A very good combination! Also there is a large aftermarket tuning for it.
Touch wood, the MINI Cooper is 3 3/4 years old, had it since new and just touching 30K miles, and hasn’t missed a beat. Totally nothing. Touches wood again! The F56 iteration (2014/5 onwards) are generally fine. I do get it serviced annually, despite MINI’s service schedule being 2years/18K miles. I reckon that’s just for PCP heads, knowing they probably got just one service before it’s ‘handed back’. In fact, the service advisors think I’m from another planet getting an oil change annually, and when I’ve asked (on a few occassions) has ANYONE ever come in and asked for an oil/filter change done annually,i.e,before the 2years/18K miles, they’ve said no one! Sad but true.
You mentioned the MINI handling, it might be FWD and the purists all start throwing a tizzy, but it 's insane how flat it stays in corners. Miles flatter than the ND.
2 year servicing?
Is that true?
That’s great price-wise I suppose. Still seems odd engine oil and engine oil filter change every two years…some say the interval should be actually shortened to 6 months. But I do think 6 months is extreme.
Why is the MINI hated so much? I know two people who panned it. I don’t like to get into arguments with them so left them be, lol.
Take a look at my engine whine thread. Seems like I have some major issue.
I’m surprised the recommended interval is 2 years/18k miles. Disregarding the mileage limit, the 2 year limit just doesn’t sit well with me. From what I have heard/read, oil gets old and looses its properties, so you should change it generally every year. Unless they have some special oil that can sit for 2 years but I find this doubtful.
As for the 18k, again from what I’ve read/heard, as you use the oil it gradually looses its properties. So same as above.
I change the oil frequently on my cars, and will do so in the future (1 year max, but usually change after 7-8k miles which comes to just under a year). For me this is just a piece of mind, sure costs money but doing the servicing myself saves me a bit so it is really not that bad.
That is EXACTLY my thinking too, and your annual/7/8K miles intervals are exactly what it gets as well!
I still got o MINI though, so costs a bit, but not really that much more than Mazda.
The Mini might be a good handling car, but it can’t handle like a MX5 because its FWD.
Salt is used in parts of Japan; never buy a used ex-Sapparo car, because it will be rotted (and the factories often offer a “winter package”). But there isn’t that much interest in older cars beyond 5 or 7 years old. Shaken (MOT) rapidly rack up the older the car is, with a 7 year old car facing typically £1500 to get a pass. So the owners get rid, and its exported as a used car. When a car gets to 10 years old, that Shaken test is every year.
So there is no interest in making a car last longer than 7 years old.
The thing that kills MX5s is not rust from the outside; chip a wing to the metal, and 40 years ago, that wing would be holed within a couple of years. Now, new primers mean such rust is limited.
Rust from the inside kills a MX5 in most cases, like most convertibles. In a tin top, water drains off the roof. In a convertible, its actually directed to internal drains, through a complex structure, necessary, because there is no roof. Convertibles have built in rust traps.
Less salt is used in Japan than the UK, so the result is the undersides are much cleaner. But they still get rotton sills, but without the warning bubbling. A hole justs appears.
Yeah, an old rusted NA in Japan.
But some NCs in Japan look familar
ND quarter light rot in Japan, easily fixed
An area not usually remarked on
Because Mazda do not do much to protect them, UK dumps tons of salt on the road when there is ice about and possibly worse in the winter months there is loads of humdity in the UK air which manifests as condensation on cold metal and rarely properly dries out in cavities, so unless you keep your car in a garage with a dehumidifier on it will probably rust from the inside out without you even moving it.
Is it that extreme? If a car has been stood outside without driving in the rain and salt/grit conditions it will just simply corrode into a rust bucket? I can’t see that stood process imparting that much corrosion.
And what do you mean by inside out? Is there an internal section that is hard to reach that needs looking into?
Thanks.
When I was at skool can’t remember primary of infant, maybe both, we did an experiment with three jam jars all three had a brand new shiney 4’’ nail in two were also half full of water and on one of those with the water there was a lid. A week later there was no corrosion on the nail simply exposed to the air, some corrosion on the nail in the jar with lid and most corrosion on the nail in the jar with no lid.
If you get regular condensation on the car when parked outside you will also get condensation in the cills and other cavities at the same time. If those cavities and cills do not dry properly they become rusty very quickly and as we see regularly on this forum after 10, 15 or 20 years these cars either need major restorative work or get broken for parts and or scrapped.
This is not an issue in drier countries like Australia for example.
lol I doubt it is that extreme, more a case of probable internet hysterics and gurus. Just like one’s 5 year old tyres will blow out by the end of the street, or a 1K mile per year car not having an oil change right bang on schedule will soon see the engine on the side of the M4 etc
I wonder just how many forum users genuinely don’t ever use their car on salted roads or wet roads, yet see their non garaged car start getting holes in it like a used dart board. Ans = probably none.
Get a nice half cover too 
What will be ending a 0 year MX5 in 20 years won’t be rust.
Today’s 25 year old MX5 has to meet emissions standards of 25 years ago, 1999. In 2044, that same car will still only need to meet 1999 standards. In 2044, a 2024 MX5 still has to meet 2024 emissions standards, which will be that much harder/expensive without access to factory service tools to diagnose an inherantly more complicated emissions control system. And in 2044, a 20 year old MX5 won’t be worth as much as a 45 year old MX5, judging from classic car trends, even if the later version is the better car, technically. Add on a thinner aftermarket (a lot more NA/NBs sold than later versions.
Whatever direction cars take (at the moment, petrol cars have a limited future), what happens when the last ND is out of warranty, viz main dealers. If there is a succeeding NE model (I still think more likely than not, or Mazda uses the Miata MX5 brand like Ford has with Mustang, Capri), its a LOT less likely to share any technical continum of the NA to NB, NB to NC and NC to ND.
Will there be any petrol stations though in 20 years? Doubt it.
Maybe buy a lottery ticket if you think you can look two decades into the future and state with even 1% certainty stuff like what will be occurring on a microscope scale, such as access to factory service diagnostic tools.
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