Hi there,
I hope this is the most appropriate place for this sort of query.
I am a new member from Bristol on the hunt for an NB. Having recently viewed my first candidate, I already find myself falling in love with it – against my more rational side that would be more comfortable after viewing a few more. I was hoping someone here might be able to better gauge its quality, especially its rust level.
Along with probably most prospective MX-5 buyers, rust is my greatest concern. And despite my extensive research, I don’t feel my inexperienced eyes are quite qualified to scrutinise the dealer’s claims.
The car is advertised at £2,995, and although not much is known about its history maintenance-wise, the dealer claims it is fantastic condition for its age. From what I can see, it does indeed seem good: although it has clearly had welding work done on the rear sills, I cannot see any bubbling in the usual rust spots (barring a bit below the A-pillar on the nearside).
My understanding is that finding a rust-free specimen at a reasonable price is on par with pots of gold under rainbows, so some rot must be expected. However, I don’t know how much is too much – and I don’t know the layout underneath well enough to assess what is tolerable and what isn’t.
I feel like it looks alright, but I would feel much more comfortable if someone with more experience thought it to be congruent with the dealer’s claims. While the car ticks so many boxes for me, I don’t want any nasty surprises down the line.
While there, I managed to snap these photos (attached). I hope it is enough to get a sense of things – I couldn’t see what I was photographing as the glare from the sun was atrocious.
Apologies for the long-winded query. I am a young buyer, so this is a huge purchase for me and I really don’t have much experience. I desperately want to avoid mistakes – but it is also very exciting and I can’t wait to get on the road with the top down.
Many thanks for any advice!
Emil
