I have owned MX5’s since 1997, a number of NA and NC models. I sold my last NC in 2020 and have missed it ever since. So I’m considering buying a good used soft top ND, not sure yet if it will be a 1.5 or 2.0ltr car. The condition and service history is my main concern.
I’m aware of the usual issues with the ND, i.e. rear hub carrier arm bushes. LCD screen delamination. Hood rubbing hops. Window regulators etc.
My main question are -
Window regulators, is there a general time scale at which the window regulators fail.
Rear hub carrier arm bushes, is there a general time scale at which the bushes fail.
High 1954. I had a 1.5 Icon ND bought second hand at 3 years old and 13500 miles. On the next mot it had an advisory about the rear bushes, so around 18000 miles, so I ignored it. Next mot around 20000 miles, no advisory except for cracking tyres and then on the next mot, advisory on rear bushes and a phone call giving me a price. I then booked it in to Roddisons in Sheffield and drove up there from deepest darkest Essex for Polybushes to be fitted, this is well spoken about on this forum about whether Polybushes should be fitted over the up rated spherical replacements, I completely trusted Paul Roddison as he helped develop them and uses them in his racing car and has customers that have done many miles without an issue, but I’m sure others will come on here poo pooing them. I didn’t have a problem with the hood rubbing but I always opened the hood outside the car as Mazda suggests , but Roadie on the forum does sell wedges that stops the rubbing. I never had a problem with window regulators in the 4 years I owned the car. I actually part exchanged it in January at around 26000 miles on it for a new 2.0l Exclusive Line, so none of the issues put me off. I hope this long winded response helps you.
Chris.
I have a ND recaro for sale that I previously sold in 2019 and have maintained since.
Had rear bushes & window regs done, gearbox oil change annually.
Sold with a warranty
Could add that maybe if you’re one to use a half cover, maybe the window regulator thing might not be ‘as much’ as an issue? Touch wood, mine lives under one and on 6.33 years still fine, as I’d have thought the amount of water in that area (hence time elated, all things being equal) would be a significant factor in their failure? The half cover obviously gives a lot more protection than open season. Again, just a guess.
Yes, those hub bushes seems a lottery, with when, rather than if they go pop (well, maybe until Mazda improved them around (I think) 2022). 18K miles for the poster above ^ is/seems very low (as in poor quality). I’ve mentioned before that out of boredom I’ve looked at many a ND’s number plate, hence MOT history, on autotrader and got no further establishing a pattern. Some got late 20K mile advisories, some got none at 50K. I don’t think I saw 20K milers though. So maybe it’s luck, production line ‘quality’, conditions its driven in, how it’s driven?? Who knows. Maybe too the 50+ K mile, zero hub advisories may have had a ‘hey mate, have a look at this’ told at a service, and got them done BEFORE an MOT picked it up…or maybe their MOT tester was friendly, or simply didn’t pick it up/think it was enough to advise?
Nice reply. With the latest TSBs and improved parts by the time your '73 plate came along, hopefully any window regulator stuff (which you mentioned didn’t happen on your 1.5 anyway) and hub bushing failures won’t happen.
The bushes did make a slight knocking especially driving down my road but when Paul showed them to me they were f***ed. Apart from the knocking gone there was no noticeable difference. Roddisons fitted them while me and the good lady took a walk down to Meadowhall for some retail therapy and I think it was about 4 hours.
The 1.5 we had was a late 2016 and although it had only done 13500 miles it had been abused, it actually wasn’t serviced until I bought it, even though the dealer had given it a “thorough clean “ and did have good paint the dirt and muck underneath the car and places like the door speaker grills was quite bad and the special edition Icon mats were so bad they chucked them and managed to find a new replacement set, I spent the next few weeks giving it a deep clean so maybe that’s why the bushes went after the length of time but the car sat outside and was used as a daily driver until 2021 when I retired, it never had a cover on and the regulators were not a problem.
Yes, if it was used like that, kind of a disposable item (not to knock someone, 99% of people I guess see cars like that), it also probably pounded over speed bumps, sought out potholes and all the other stuff which makes the other 1% cringe. So that may well have contributed to the early bush failings- even for those. Well, we hope anyway!
I bought an 2020 ND R-Sport (which is limited edition with the 1.5 litre engine) just over a year ago from a mazda main dealer. The R-Sport was the version I wanted. They only made 150 and the specification appealed. It had one owner and close to new condition with just over 7,000 miles on the clock, I had to pay up a bit for it, but felt it was worth it, as it was to be a keeper. I’d had an NB and a brand new ND in the past. I use it sparingly as it’s a second car. The car has been faultless apart from the infotainment screen delaminating in the corner (spider cracks) which is a known issue. It was replaced by mazda under warranty. I had the car rust proofed (by themx5restorer.co.uk) as there were early signs of surface rust underneath. I haven’t experienced the hub issue yet, but as has been said it seems to be a bit of a lottery. My advice would be to decide on the version you want and then look out for a well cared for example. I would choose to look out for one at a mazda dealership myself, which will have a warranty. They are fantastic cars to drive and I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun.
Hi MX2000,
Over the years I have always bought my MX5’s from a Mazda dealership because of the 12 month Mazda warranty on their used cars + 12 months free AA breakdown cover.
As you say the price may be a little higher but the peace of mind is worth it as far as I’m concerned. I have an excellent dealership about 25 miles from where I live, over the years my last three MX5’s have been purchased from them.
Technically I think that’s basically the same ‘Mazda’ warranty as the extended one,underwritten by another company. I could be wrong though. It’s just once upon a time when my own ND was coming up for the 3 year date, I asked the service advisor of the ‘worth’ of the extend one, given it’s not manufacturer warranty. He said that’s what they give on approved used ones. This is going back to 2021 though.
