MX5 Ownership costs

[Fruitcake]

Legend83 said:

There were no major noises,

It went 'vroom' surely?

[Legend83]

Indeed it did. Mongoose stainless fitted 4 months ago :smile:

[GHW]

Legend83 said:

slight surface bubbling at bottom of wheel arches

I believe the rust down there (if its on the sills just in front of the rear arches) usually works its way from the inside out - so if you can see bubbles, it usually means the rust has made its way through the panel and there's some welding that needs doing..

However.. only a couple of hundred pounds should sort it out, so it's nothing massive to worry about!

[Legend83]

That is what I thought but having a good look and feel behind the arch it seemed solid. It looked like surface rust where some stone chips had cut into the rust proofing.

[MX-5 Lazza]

That's not rust protection, it's stone-chip protection. It usually only chips when the paint is loose due to rust behind it.
If it's just the bit right at the end of the sill in the rear wheel arch it can be repaired easily and isn't an MOT issue but rust on the main part of the sill can be an MOT failure and is a pain to repair (old sill has to be cut off and a new one welded in place).

[Legend83]

To confirm, it is just small bubbling on the corner of the arch so not on the main sill.