I’m obviously wrong, but I thought we got a discount of some sort with MX5 parts, as I’ve just ordered some chrome bling for the Mk3 and noticed a discount code box on the online form, so I rung them up to ask about it and was told I am not entitled to any discount as MX5 parts already contribute to the club and there wouldn’t be a club without them.
That told me, and the chrome bling isn’t cheap either.
Only discounts are when they are offered, which could be holiday periods like bank holidays, Easter or black Friday deals etc…
Apart from those it’s discounts given at rallies when they are in attendance.
Autolink give around 5% discount all the time (with a code) but they don’t do much, if any chrome bling.
Ok Thanks, I didn’t know how it worked, just assumed we got a members discount which a lot of places offer, not that I’m into too much bling, but a few items of chrome just helps to cover some of the black plastic.
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To be fair, the MX5 Owners Club existed before MX5parts, aka Scimitar International. MX5parts might be a significant contributor, but far and away, the major source of income for the club is the membership. And it was the membership who rejected Mazda Car Limited’s offer all those years ago, a decision that directly affected (improved) the development of MX5parts; business.
I suppose the real reason MX5parts does not offer a regular MX5OC members discount is that they feel they don’t need to.
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Mx5 parts are a double edge sword. On the one hand they do sell a lot of parts and often offer an oem or good pattern equivalent.
On the other there are bits for NAs you just can’t get, NB and NC owners will get here soon enough and, mx5 parts are not exactly running out to get the parts made that I can see. If they can’t buy it wholesale they just post up not available. What are you supposed to do then - scrap the car?
Well no what you do is hawk around the usual suspects, then eBay and then if push comes to shove have it imported from one of the US Miata specialists - which I’ve done and the parts were top quality albeit the postage is a bit pricy. But mx5 parts is a very commercial enterprise and does not appear to waste time supporting cars as they age with remaking hard to find bits. Being a very commercial enterprise discounts are not high on their priority list.
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That’s quite a bold statement… yes they support the club so fair enough on the discount, not sure I would agree with the statement there would not be a club without them. If they didn’t exist then IL Motorsport would likely increase their market presence in the UK, a fair amount of MX-5 Parts stock seems to be sourced through them.
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I joined the club thinking that members would be allowed a discount from various organisations including parts suppliers and insurers etc.
Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be the case. I received the same, rather terse reply on asking if a discount applied from this particular supplier.
As far as the “Club Insurance Scheme” advertised on page 8 of this month’s club magazine is concerned, I’ve posted before how from personal experience, it seems that the “ scheme” has no benefit to club members. Insurance is available from other companies at far less expensive prices (I’ve tried all three companies in the magazine for quotes in the past).
In my case (maximum no claims and limited mileage) I went with one of them when I first bought my MX-5 because in the past I’d used them for a kit car. However, I was subsequently offered a 34% “negative discount” from one of them on renewal, despite not having made a claim. I then obtained insurance from another mainstream company for 55% of my original quote from the previous year.
It seems to me that these companies receive benefits from being associated with our club but members don’t.
Shop around is the answer!
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And it was the membership who rejected Mazda Car Limited’s offer all those years ago,
Oooh… now I’m intrigued! So what was that all about?
I suppose about 20 years ago (or more, might have been 1999). It was at a formative stage in the history of the club, when it transitioned from being run by a group of enthusiast founders to what yiou have today, with an elected body, articles of constitution etc. At the time, I suppose financially, the club was facing some choices, as it grew. Mazda Cars Limited (note, this was the concessionaire at the time, not actually Mazda) came up with an offer that was financially attractive. They would take on the costs of producing STHT (back then, I think it had only just moved to being printed in colour, with many pages), and provide the club with a monthly grant. In return, MCL wanted a bar on Eunos Roadster owners from joining the club (existing members would be allowed to renew), the magazine had to follow a corporate line on grey imports (Eunos Roadsters were all bad, likely stolen by the Yakuza). Advertising from sources that were competitive to Mazda was not to be allowed. At the time, MX5parts, Moss and Shing Fung/SFT/Ka Yu were offering genuine Mazda parts, but not from Mazda Europe. MX5parts initially were getting surplus/overstock parts from a source in the US. SFT had a source in Japan (I remember when they ordered a huge quantity of track rod ends, only to find they had gotten S-Spec parts, not standard parts). Moss, at the time, was independant of its American parent, but were getting a few bits from California. Nowadays, MX5parts has some sort of arrangement with Mazda Europe, SFT has withered since it was sold to David Manners, who seem to have taken no interest whatsoever, Moss, despite a bit of a revival, is a shadow of its former self.
The offer was put to the membership, and I think about 85% rejected it, putting the club on a path of being more independant of Mazda, and more self sufficient. At that point, the original committee sttod down, and a new one elected.
It proved a wise move. About the same time, the Miata Club of America was going through changes. The MCA was founded before the Miata was launched. In truth, it was an umbrella organisation, uniting Miata clubs across the US and Canada. The MX5OC was an affiliate I think. Membership included a subscription to Miata magazine, which was an actual magazine, not a club mag. Norman Garrett, who was a packaging engineer on the original Miata project at Mazda, kind of owned the club. Well, he went and cashed in, and sold the MCA to Mazda USA (undisclosed amount etc etc). This included the Miata magazine mailing list… Miata magazine was toast overnight, as they no longer had anyone subscribing. Mazda wanted to offer free membership to all new Miata owners, renewable after the first 12 months. Less than a third bothered to renew, and Mazda then just shut the MCA down, concluding it was no longer viable (presumably as part of a gigantic marketing exercise for Miata owners to go and buy new Mazdas).
Mazda Europe tried building a European MX5 Community, and built a forum-type website, that was multilingual. Not sure that ever came to anything.
Mazda might choose to stop selling the MX5 tomorrow (that remains a possibility). But there will always be a MX5OC for the forseable. In my opinion, the events of the last 24 months underpin the decision that was taken two decades ago. I think if the club had been subsidised by Mazda, there might have been problems. In my opinion.
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For some routine mechanical parts that you can’t get here, especially certain pattern or recon parts, Rock Auto (US) is worth a look at, There are things like remanufactured air flow meters that you can’t really get here, and the shipped prices are reasonable.
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I think Mazda are great. They offer a good range of really nice to drive cars to this day.
That said as the owner of an original U.K. car I can say without any doubt whatsoever that if they had spent even a few pence on grease and wax for MX5s in the factory or used less cheesy bolts I’d not have spent the last few years grinding out or drilling every sodding fitting near the exterior or underneath that car.
No wonder people buy Eunos - at least they can catch it while still fairly rust free. If I get a second it will be a blue eunos with the red leather interior.
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“If I get a second it will be a blue eunos with the red leather interior”
A unicorn.
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Which is why I haven’t got a second one yet🤔
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I also notice that less and less stock is available when you phone up .(. re The MXparts mention on here ) “Sorry out of stock ! Etc, They want ‘ YOU ‘ to order the parts Rather than MX5 Parts having to hold the stock themselves, Can’t blame them. This Country has a major crisis coming, Perhaps this is the signs that their belt or purse strings have to be tightened. Just as the rest of us , … Just my opinion here…. Ps. On another note, The North Thames Retyred meeting is taking place on the15 th June at the Woodman pub Stanford Rivers,Essex It is now well represented. But if anyone in the N Thames area MX5 club want to drop by you are welcome There is a huge Garden and large car park areas …… best regards Ray Hill. Essex.
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