Just joined the forum as I’m having trouble finding the right car to buy. Today was a low point - travelled 40 miles to a dealer to test drive a 56 plate 2.0 sport, only to be told on arrival that it had just been sold. Didn’t even get to see it, as I had to phone them to ask for directions as I couldn’t find the place. Not best pleased.
Anyway, I’m looking to spend up to around £4k, and ideally want a 2.0. Owned a 2.7 Boxster previously, which I found a bit of a handful, and expensive to maintain. Curious about the lower power of the mk3 1.8l compared to the mk2 (124 vs 146 BHP). 124 seems a bit feeble for a 1.8, but maybe it’s more usable/better torque?
I recently sold a 1 owner 40,000 57 plate car, the new owner loves it that much he’s bringing it back to me for a newer one lol…so it will be for sale as a 2 owner car very soon…
I was looking for a 2006 2.0 sport but ended up last November buying a 57 plate 2.0 Icon with 57k on it for £4500
From what I’ve heard, the 6 speed box is a bit unnecessary and the 2.0 is certainly torquey enough to manage with 5 gears. The Icon bits and bobs like leather, aircon, ,mohair hood kickplates etc are nice and I’ve since added fog lights and upgraded to Bilsteins because one of my front springs broke at the “pigtail”.
Warning - once you’ve got one, you WILL spend money on modding/improving it!
Not knowing what part of the country you live in this may not help but i’ve just this afternoon been given first refusal on a 2005 LE.
I’ve not seen the car yet but might have a look at it tomorrow, even though i already have the car of my dreams and won’t be getting rid just yet.
The 2nd post “Rodders” he’s in Sheffield, give him a call he might just have the car for you. I bought mine from him, recommended. Roddisons, Shepcote lane👍
I got my 56 plate 1.8 mk3 from Sheffield last year, plenty of torque without the speed getting away from you, cost me £3,700. I use a free app called vehical smart, it let’s you view the mot history and allows you to check the cars registered details, all you need is the licence plate.
Don’t forget to check the vehicles previous MOT history via the gov.uk website.
It might give you an early warning about any possible problems or future issues, we did and managed to avoid having a test drive on a vehicle that would have had some major problems in the future had we bought the vehicle.
Welcome to the forum from another Sheffield based MX5 owner.
Good luck finding “ the one “.
It is out there, you just need to find it !!
Hi, I have had a mk3 1.8 icon 57 plate for just over a year now. Good history/all mots and has got 67000 on the clock. I put a new set of Yokohoma Advan on shortly after buying it as the previous set had been on so long they were cracking even though plenty of tread left. The car really had not been driven that much apart from the odd sunny weekend, which I find a bit odd, these cars were made for driving after all!
I have had the car lowered 30mm with new springs lovely condition in Copper red and while I love the drive/handling I am starting to think about selling it very soon for a bigger coupe as not getting any younger.
As of today, I’m officially an MX-5 owner. Silver '09 plate 2.0 sport with 39,000 miles on the clock. Will post some photos at the weekend if the weather is kind.
