This is an 2005 NC that has succumbed to the often terminal structural rot that has been the end of the road for a lot of earlier NA and NB cars, NC’s going the same way, mind you the earliest ones are 15 years old now.
Only a 50k miles car too.
Were there any Advisories for these issues at the previous MoT (in April 2019)? Or did the car deteriorate significantly over the 17 month period between the MoTs?
Only previous advisory ever was for handbrake efficiency.
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That’s scary, to go from No Advisories to “significantly reducing structural strength” in just over a year. And, as has been mentioned, at only 50k miles.
Garages dont have to put corrosion has a advisory due to the fact corrosion has no time scale it could take years to become a failure if ever.Found this out when bought mine from no advisories to MOT fail on my first MOT. A good garage should tell you about future problems though
So dont buy a car using MOT history like I did…get someone to check underneath.
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And that’s the best piece of advice on the forum today.
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My NB passed MOT with no advisories this month, but just because it passed and had no advisories I asked the garage testing it if there was anything I should know for the future. It’s no Good just getting your MOT and thinking that’s that for another year. We are talking about older cars here and if you want them to last you have to look after them and you don’t have to keep them locked in a garage on rainy days to do this, my car is a daily drive and lives outside all year round.
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How do you keep it looking so bloody nice?
Just looked back on my failure last year it was the same failure notes. Cost me about £200 iirc just one side for me though.Got told the other is going that way.
Just a labour of love, give it a wipe over or wash every few days, give it a polish every couple of weeks.
I never use a jet wash on it or take it to a drive in jet washing site, only a hose on a gentle setting. Remove any bird droppings straight away. Treat any stone chips as soon as I see them and remove any road tar immediately. Clean the hood regularly and keep all drain holes clear. I also clean the Engine bay and WD40 all electrical parts during winter. I clean all the rubber seals around all the windows and lightly grease all hinges and door catches regular and use WD40 on headlight glass every couple of months to stop them misting. There are some mods under the bonnet but none to the engine itself, just serviced regular with quality oils and components. Which I supply to my local small garage that does the work. This car is Twenty years old but drives as good as any modern car and while I’m in it I never want to get out of it. This is my third MX5 the other Two were NCs a 2007 and 2012 models but this is my favourite. And for all you heroes out there who spout on about driving round in winter without a hardtop on, you can’t beat a hardtop for stiffening up the handling when your chucking it through the country lanes. Don’t get me wrong I also love having the roof down as much as possible but I’m not a 40mph driver I’m a sports car driver and an MX5 is a sports car. THATS WHY WE LOVE THEM. So look after to them like you love them and they rarely let you down.
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Very nice. Where did you get the wooden door cappings from?
Found on eBay. Bought secondhand.
When do you put hard top on? Have just bought car and came with hard top but wondering when to use it as love having soft top down.
Put it on whenever you want, and experience the handling characteristics of the car with hard top on
You will be surprised. But make sure your hood is fully dry before putting Roof on for winter otherwise when you put hood up in spring you might have a some rot.
Don’t be bullied by the roof down in winter heroes.
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Cheers.
Those wheel look very nice. My black NB is in really nice condition but has the original alloys and they don’t look anywhere near as pretty as those.
Cheers,
MarkP
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My 97 1.8 NA got through the MoT again on Monday at 126000 miles.
I had to have the sills seen to about 4 years ago and the old school body bashing place doing it let me have a look underneath while it was up on the lift.They said it was nothing like as bad as some of the MX5s they get in, but only a matter of time until more serious rot sets in I suspect.
The MoT station pointed out to me last year that both rear number plate lamp brackets had completely rusted out, so I sorted those out during ‘lockdown’ and also fitted a new cambelt (on age). So another year of MX5 fun without having to find a replacement - better the devil you know, so I was prepared to spend a reasonable amount on it to get it through if necessary.
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