I recently bought one and all the critical areas you hear about are covered in plastics! You can hardly expect the owner to allow you to start taking it to bits. In this case my strategy of looking at the owner rather than the car paid off, but it’still a bit iffy?
My local MX specialist garage goes to look at them for good stock and had been to see this car but couldn’t get the price he wanted apparently.
Not a trace of rust in the boot or the engine bay did it for me but it not like looking directly at the prone areas is it?
Same with most modern cars. The general crustiness of the underside should give you an indication, though.
Hi,
It would be a very rare NC that didn’t have some evidence of rust. The engine bay isn’t usually one of them. The top of the boot lid around the number plate lights is a favourite spot. You really need to get underneath to check out the cills where they meet the rear wheel arches. Also front and back chassis and suspension members can be bad.
They’re great wee cars, fun to drive and mechanically well built and reliable but do have a reputation for rust.
Dave
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We will have them out for a proper look and get some Waxoil in there. That area has only some slight discolouration but no bubbling.
Crawl under the back, look above the exhaust back box hangers, and pay close attention to the last 12 inches of chassis. Mine looked ok, but I scraped some under seal off to investigate some staining, and ended up chasing it for about 6 inches.
Luckily I got it in time and it was only surface rust.
There are two chassis bungs in that area which will also allow you to get a wax oil pipe in there.
And apparently, under the rear wheel arches where they join the sills, behind the wheel arch liner. But mine were ok.
The inner plastic sill protector just pulls off, where again, you can get a wax oil probe in.
And one last thing, invest in a cheap endoscope from eBay, one which attaches to your phone. Will cost you about £7, and will let you get where you can’t see.
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Favourite rust traps are behind the rear wheel arch liners, near or around that fixing point (the hole) near the bottom. Also immediately under that part where wheel arch meets the sill. These pics below of mine are pretty good with just very slight beginnings of surface rust, it had been fully undersealed previously. Always good to check and top up any underseal treatments previously carried out.
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Got the car properly off the ground now so good to go to check out the sills. Someone mentioned removing the rear bumper as there was possible rust under there?
Not my NC but shows how they can go. This below behind the rear bumper and the crash bar removed. Behind the crash bar brackets…
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Thanks for that. Obviously worth a look-see. I’ve got a month at least before putting the car on the road.
My bonnet as it has some light bubbling on a small section near the edge. Also something similar on underside with a white deposit (?) Odd as the rest of the paint is flawless. Just put two and two together and checked with a magnet…… it’s aluminum, just like the TT. Doh!
Can be a problem with lacquer peel on the front edge of the bonnets. Also if you’ve not already noticed around the number plate lights under the boot lid. They can corrode, not as bad if it’s a soft top as it’s an aluminium lid, the PRHT’s are steel though.
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When the cars were new, there were a few cases of bad paint - some people got early paint loss around the badge on the nose (which is plastic).
This is kind of depressing. A previously undersealed car needing…more inspections and undersealing. The whole point of the MX-5 was that it was supposed to be affordable, instead it has a body inspection regime akin to an old ship…
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I don’t know how old those cars in the photos are, but we run MX-5s for far longer than normal. The first NCs are almost 20 years old and most other 20-year old cars have long been scrapped.
A properly undersealed car (from factory) should last a good few years. That’s not the Mazda MX-5 I’m afraid, they miss bits, vital bits and corrosion sets in.
Said it before, my SEAT daily has spent the last (10 years in March) in the open since new, driven through winter too and it has minimal rust specks around it’s suspension parts the chassis it’s perfectly protected with a thick layer of factory sealant.
I’m reluctant to look at other Mazda models to buy as a daily in fear of them suffering in the same way as the MX-5, do they?
No reason to think Mazda have singled out the MX5 for lack of underseal, it must be across the range. Such a crazy weak spot to consciously continue with. And so easily dealt with at the factory. Have Mazda ever been directly challenged on this point? I’d love to see what their official position is on it.
My guess is that their biggest markets, which won’t be northern Europe, don’t really care about rust because they are drier or don’t use salt on the roads. JDM cars don’t normally get used for long enough to show rust.
Second that.
My runabout is a 12-plate Suzuki, 90,000 on the clock, made in Hungary for the European market. Just a few bits of surface rust and kept outside since I bought it in 2018.
That second case of bumper rot looks horrible. Three clean bolts then one looking very ill. Presume plenty of strength in this area but well worth a check.
Looked up above the silencer as suggested. No serious rot but well worth dropping the silencer to get some powered wire wheels in there.
Just finished the two front braces. Quite sound but got the surface rust off, treated, then some straight to metal Hammerite. Oddly the third brace nearest the rear of the car still pristine. Could have been replaced I supposed.