Mazda Mx5 - What Do You Know About Them?

[Guest salty_monk]

I have a loose idea to buy an old MX5 to enjoy the sunshine out here.....

 

Before you start - yes it's a hair dresser's car Meant to be fun to drive though.

 

Anyone have any idea if there are particular trouble points with any year models??

 

Only thing I've picked up from practical classics is that the bushes can be replaced to freshen up the ride & other than that they are just reliable workhorses....

 

Any thoughts??

 

I also like the Honda Del Sol's but they are much rarer, I think the newest of them are 1990 too... Anyone know about them?

 

Dan

[Nigel Rogers]

Hi,

 

I know a couple of people who've had MX5's. The only major problems were boot release failure, which is a nightmare to sort as you have to drill through the bodywork to hit the release catch just right to get it open again. The rear windows in the soft top are a weak spot. They also don't seem to like worn tyres, the handling changes unbelievably just with a new set of tyres.

 

I think there is an MX5 forum if you have a search on't interweb

 

Cheers

Nige

[Guest paul091085]

"Before you start - yes it's a hair dresser's car "

 

I thought that, but after having a drive of my mum and dads eunos, i was surprisingly impressed.

 

Not sure wat age car your looking at, but as a result of liking my mum and dads i then went and bought a 'J' reg eunos roadster 1.6 a couple of months back, as it was going cheap and i was plannin on selling the hood. It was one of the v-spec ones with the leather seats and nice trim. Was great fun, handling was good, was quite quick if you use the right foot hard enough. Didnt seem to get going till about 4000 rpm, but can carry on reving till 7000 .

 

The back window on mine seems fine, just got to make sure u unzip it each time before folding the roof down.

 

Don't know whether it was just my car, but did tend to get the odd leak around the tops of the doors if there is a really heavy downpoor. They are also very easy to get sideways without meaning too and has caught me out on several occasions in the rain.

 

Also worth checking the air-con if its the older ones like mine as i went to get the aircon re gassed and the guy sed they now use a new system and cannot re gas the system installed on my car.

 

Also, check the heating system, the radiators can somtimes get blocked and cause the car to overheat when traveling at speed on the motorway. Tried flushing mine through, but no luck, replaced the radiator and problem solved.

 

Hope some of that helps

[Joel]

Before you start - yes it's a hair dresser's car

 

I wouldn't say so. I always thought they were fairly respectable and manly compared to MGF's, TT's, etc

[Guest macca]

I wouldn't say so. I always thought they were fairly respectable and manly compared to MGF's, TT's, etc

 

Dan

 

My mate at work has an MX5. Its a great track car and is very quick (supercharged ) The LSD makes it very hairy in the wet. He is also involved with a company that imports the tuning parts from the states. I'll PM you his mail address if you have any more questions. We give him some stick about the hairdresser thing, but he just laughs...

 

Macca

[Guest salty_monk]

I have a friend out here who races them too..... Very popular series in the US.

 

Have emailed your mate Macca, thanks.

 

I'm looking at an early 90's model, anyone know when belts etc need changing on these?

 

Also anyone know how they cope with high mileage?

 

Not too worried about the rain issue & leaks - I haven't seen any yet this year!!

 

Seems I can get one with around 80k - 120k in reasonable nick for 1500-2000 ££.... waiting for some to come up local.

 

MR2's are almost non-existent out here so the Mazda seems to be the way to go.

 

Dan

[Guest red7]

My wife has an MX5 1800 mk1 and loves it. I've replaced the rear springs which appear to be a weak spot. Easy job so nothing to worry about. A great little car.

[Guest Andy Hamilton]

I've got a MkI Eunos roadster on a K plate (93) 1.6, and it is the nuts! watch for rust around the front of the rear wheel arches (sill area). I saw a few that had gone at this point before I got this one. The Eunos's are great as they come with AC aswell, handy on those wet muggy days.

 

Recently got a set of trackrod ends as the rubbers have gone on the current ones, I think they were £20... good value.

Only problem I know of on all Eunos's is the quality of the interior. It tends to fall apart compared with the MX-5 as the plastics appear a little less expensive. But it is one of the best things I have bought.

 

Do it!

[Guest red7]

No matter how hard I try. I still love my Hood 10 times more than the MX5. No big grin after a run in the Mazda. Sorry.

[Guest etiestephens]

No matter how hard I try. I still love my Hood 10 times more than the MX5. No big grin after a run in the Mazda. Sorry.

 

from what ive heard they are pretty good whealer dealers did a good episode on one have a look

 

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_quer...ler+dealers+mx5

[Guest salty_monk]

Will take a look thanks. Not so many probs with rust out here but I will check carefully, thanks for the heads up.

 

All the cars out here have AC, it was standard it seems.

 

Dan

[Guest red7]

An interesting thing I've found about my 1.8 is that the engine pitch tells you to change up at about 3,500 rpm but if you keep on building the rev's the engine get's a second wind and starts accelerating again toward 6,500rpm. I can only imagine this flat spot is designed into the engines characteristics for (fuel consumption) or (hairdresser life preservation) purposes.haha. Anybody any thoughts on this?

[Guest salty_monk]

Will take a look thanks. Not so many probs with rust out here but I will check carefully, thanks for the heads up.

 

All the cars out here have AC, it was standard it seems.

 

Dan

[Guest Drewsus]

Go on you know you want to! I'll even give you the price of a hire car for a week or so! Just so I can hack it round the grand caynon! That will pay for new rear tyres so the handling is ok and I don't go off the edge! I'll even pratice driving left hooker before I come out!

 

Go on you know it makes sense hairdresser boy. It will help my cause of getting the misses to buy one of them instead of an cough MGF cough

 

You only have 2 and a half months ish.

 

Drew

 

P.s Going to look round for rear shocks for you car as they are fecked! Then I will unbury it from the garage.

[Grim]

Anybody any thoughts on this?

 

Most manufacturers map it like this to a greater or lesser extent to try and improve cruising speed mpg