Reading this post makes me feel like a very lucky boy or just an eagle eye possibly!
Who would have thought it under that!
Who would have thought it under that!
I suspected /hoped for it to a degree remember if you read back… 
And that’s was with no mot history to check! There’s a lot of rust and rotten out there. Everyone I’ve viewed since have been a nightmare!
So here is the MOT record for the new on I’m looking at.
In previous years it has had sills as an advisory, then that disappeared indiciating they’ve been repaired at some point.
Here is a link to the only other photos I could manage of the lockup find. The passenger side of the car was right up against the wall. Photos probably aren’t the most informative, so sorry for that!
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ls5ZxElmGIG4Mao13fs3sCWmZgu_9E6l?usp=sharing
Yup.
It’s a minefield out there. We are dealing with multiple-owned old cars like anything else.
I know how you feel. I’m just hoping I can find one to get me through to the winter then I can put some money into properly fixing and future proofing any rusted areas.
I’ve seen worse, which is the best I can say really.
Anything is restorable with suitable wads of folding stuff and time.
Like mine was…
Crikey that cars been around the world. I suppose the other issue apart from the corrosion is the soundness of the engine and the general wear and tear mechanically.
That MOT history is telling me, daily driver and of considerable daily mileage. Scrapes through each MOT but still needs lots of work doing for the next one. I reckon the engine could cause problems unless it’s been changed, still high even if Kms.
You would be buying a good deal of fettling there to do there just to keep it roadworthy, I’d walk on this one too, £900👎
1 Like
Ahh, but it’s so rare to even see them come up for this much!
If it gets me to Decemember I can worry it about it then, at least I have it for the summer (this is my thinking…)
At least it has a ticket, and has had some work every year to just about keep it up to road worthy standard.
When I go to view it I’ll upload some pictures again.
Thanks for the insights though. I’m just trying to bag a MK1 for an unrealistic budget really, so there will have to be compromises somewhere 
We all know the drive for smile is priceless!
Good luck
Anthony
2 Likes
Also, I may be able to haggle him down from the £900. It was just an estimate he gave me since he spent £800 to get it through the last MOT… not sure that bodes too well though
Your call really on the second one, plenty of good advice on here, ask again if unsure if you’re going for a second look.
The first one you posted up, looked at the MOT history in full up to 2013, that’s certainly an eye opener, since 2009 it’s had full corrosion in many areas (failed) then, slight corrosion (advisory) in the next year’s MOT then back to full corrosion issues again (fail) within 1-2 years. Just looks dodgy the way it shows on the history.
1 Like
Hello all. I have resumed my quest and took a chance on the neighbour, whose MX-5 sits dormant. They want around £750 for it. It is extremely tatty. It has had bodged looking sill repairs. It has not been well maintained or loved. It has scraped through every MOT. It has 220,000 miles on the clock. It has rust… everywhere. These are all the warning signs! BUT it is cheap, the arches actually feel relatively solid (for now) and I should be able to get it for less than £750. It will be fun for the summer, then I can move it on to someone willing to do the repairs perhaps?
Here are the pics… oh God the rust looks worse than it did in person: Dropbox - MX-5 Pics - Simplify your life
Thoughts?
£650.00 overpriced.
Spares value better than as a whole.
In fact, you’d be doing THEM a favour taking it away for the price of a beer.
I’m being serious…
1 Like
True story!
1 Like
Buy it.
It has a bit of ticket on it.
1 Like
John:
11.35.
Given Mk1s have little in the way of modern passive safety from new, the issue I have with your latest car Jack is stuff like photo Nos. 1336 & 1337 which begs the question of impact safety. No way of knowing how much metal is actually left in there. I’ll leave it at that…but there’s more…
First off, I appreciate all your responses.
It’s far from being the most desirable mark 1, but there will always be compromises with this budget. Having said that, hopefully that compromise isn’t my life! It’s annoying. The owners are a very well-off couple who have done everything the as cheap as possible it seems. I’m in two minds. This is the most convenient and ideal opportunity to at least own my first mx5… it’s cheap, readily available, got a few months of MOT and recently had new breaks and battery. However, I don’t want it to put me off mx5s forever if everything goes wrong!
I think I’ll buy it, try and get them down to £500. Worst case scenario I can sell it in a month or two for potentially double that and have enjoyed it for a couple of warm months. Can save up a bit more in the meantime and put any extra money into a better example to care for over the winter.
3 Likes