Wanted, Loved and Cherishef MX5...How hard can that be?

It’s not just Mx5s that suffer from this problem. A few months ago I was in the market for a replacement “ordinary “ car. Something a couple of years old with a low mileage. I lost count of the number of vehicles I looked at on dealer forecourts with damage. One 2 year old Mazda 3 had a cracked front spoiler. When I pointed this out to the salesman he actually said “ well what do you expect? It is 2 yrs old”

The days where people treasured their cars are long gone. They are so cheap to buy now on PCPs that owners don’t care. They are now disposable items on par with a fridge or a TV. 

Dealers will also tell you how spotless their cars are even though the salesman you are speaking to on the phone hasn’t even seen the car. 

Fortunately I came across a Honda CRV with 4K on it, described by the salesman as spotless. He was right, They do exist if you are patient.

Responded to wrong post.

Setting yourself up here Roger. Stone chip and kerbing were on mine when I bought it as the second owner so I’m blame free.

I believe you have had yours since new so what’s your excuse?

  

Essex potholed tracks masquerading as roads! Both from the same incident; two very large trucks going in opposite directions on a narrow road, both hard over to slowly pass each other, me about 15 metres behind one. The oncoming truck’s front o/s wheel flicked up a piece of debris from a pothole which hit my bonnet, the one on my side broke a chunk from the edge of the road with his rear n/s wheels; country road with no kerbing just soft verges rapidly turning into trenches by such encounters; the chunk grazed my front n/s wheel.  Lucky it didn’t hit the front sensors and set off the DHS bonnet system!

My Badly made comment comes after a selection of Vauxhalls, a nissan and a toyota yaris. The yaris lasted 200,000 miles with just the usual consumables & an exhaust. The vauxhalls despite being 7 years old & 81000 miles have had just consumables and remain under warranty. The Nissan was 11 years old when I replaced it and didnt miss a beat. None of these cars had any care other than servicing. The Yaris went through 2 17 year olds as their first car before a ditch ended it at 14 years old

 

Now imagine driving an MX5 for 80000 miles through 7 winters with just a yearly service. No regular oil checks, no fiddling in the garage to sort something. Just get in, drive, get out and repeat.

 

The oil level would have dropped too low, possibly lunching the engine

The drain holes would be blocked.

The sills would be full of salty water & probably already shot

At least one of the sensors whose only purpose it seems is to say when the sensor is broken, would say it’s broken

Three of the four wheels would be pointing in the wrong direction

The drop links would be knackered

The fuse box would be full of water

The paintwork would be utterly shot as would the alloys

 

I love my MX5 and if well looked after can be a very reliable form of transport but it does take some looking after. It’s not built for winter or rain. It’s built as a summer toy and that shows because finding a 4 year old one that is not in some way cosmetically or mechanically unacceptable is hard to find

Well the deal has been done, I am soon to be the owner of a 2015 2.0l Sport Nav in Soul Red, FMSH and 11900miles on the clock bought from a Mazda dealer which they had come in as a trade in.  

There are a couple of scuffs on the body but nothing that serious that if they can’t sort out I can probably do myself with a bit of effort. One of the alloys has some kerbing, but that seems to be expected and the leather seats and interior are in very good condition, but most of all it drives like a dream 

I think I can safely say all your comments did help me in making my decision, because as someone did say I wanted a new car for used money and when I am paying nearly £10k below new price then realistically I cannot expect that.

Again thank you all for your comments and I hope to see some of you at some of the OC events! 

Now where is that MX5Parts catalogue!

Well done!  Enjoy your new car and have fun, fun, fun!!

Congrats on the new car. 

I was talking to a dealer this week about a 2017 RF with 27500 on the clock. I thought a little high, but as i will only be driving 3-4k a year it will even out in a few years. Anyway, the assistant told me it was immaculate and sent pics. He offered a video presentation to be emailed. it arrived that afternoon. Car looked fab. His commentary said it was in great shape but as he went around the car it showed some damage. On chatting he said they will touch up with a colour pen and it should be ok. Then asked me for a deposit. The call ended quickly!

I’ve recently started looking at buying a MK3.75 (I had a Mk2 a few years ago), and this thread rang a strong bell.

For most cars (and my experience has been mostly BMW and Porsche, as well as Lexus and Toyota), there is a hierarchy of purchasing options:

  1. Main Dealer - most expensive, but cars will have been prepared to a very high standard, will have their history verified, and will come with a very good 12-month warranty.

  2. Traders - anything from “under the arches” to well respected specialists. The cars have normally had the minimum necessary spent on them to make them saleable, and will be priced below main dealers.

  3. Private - the wild west! Everything from unloved basket cases to cherished and loved, with prices which range from “just want to get rid of it” to wildly overoptimistic. Asking price is frequently no indication of condition!

I’ve been really surprised at the MX-5 market: Trader prices are often higher than Main Dealers (and many Private asking prices are higher again…) However, the standard of some of the cars presented by Main Dealers are very poor, and product knowledge seems non existent. I can understand a Private or Trade seller not knowing the difference between (say) “Black”, “Jet Black” and “Brilliant Black”, but I would expect a Mazda Main Dealer to be correct on both colours and specification.

With BMW, I’d be happy to agree to buy a car over the phone, unseen, from a Main Dealer knowing the standard that it would be prepped to. It seems that I could not do that with an MX-5, and would need to do a thorough inspection before agreeing to a sale.

Take the car below, for example - it would be unthinkable for any BMW Dealer to advertise a car with a driver’s seat bolster in that condition. They would either repair it before advertising it, or sell it within the trade. And I believe that the colour on a 2013 Venture should be “Stormy Blue”, but it’s advertised as “Deep Crystal Blue Metallic”. Sigh.

https://www.mazdausedcarlocator.co.uk/used-cars/10253062-mazda-mx-5-2-0i-venture-edition-2dr/