How afraid should I be of high-mileage?
Discussion
Hello,
I've been looking for an MX5 for a while and quite like the Mk2 Limited Edition Sport (2000) that they did. One has come up for sale from a trader near me but it has done 126,000 miles. It's up for £3k not including that hardtop that the car was originally sold with.
What should I be wary of at this kind of mileage, and what should I look for if I go and view it?
It is easy enough to spot rust on the arches and sills, or might it be hiding itself away unseen?
Personally I think the price sounds a bit steep, or am I just being tight?
Many thanks.
I've been looking for an MX5 for a while and quite like the Mk2 Limited Edition Sport (2000) that they did. One has come up for sale from a trader near me but it has done 126,000 miles. It's up for £3k not including that hardtop that the car was originally sold with.
What should I be wary of at this kind of mileage, and what should I look for if I go and view it?
It is easy enough to spot rust on the arches and sills, or might it be hiding itself away unseen?
Personally I think the price sounds a bit steep, or am I just being tight?
Many thanks.
That does sound pretty steep in terms of price. Would be closer to reasonable with the hardtop thrown in.
I've heard nothing but praise in terms of reliability of the engines. Also, i did see a mk2 sport on Autotrader the other week with 240,000 miles on with the original engine, so maybe 125,000 is early days still!?
I've heard nothing but praise in terms of reliability of the engines. Also, i did see a mk2 sport on Autotrader the other week with 240,000 miles on with the original engine, so maybe 125,000 is early days still!?
idge said:
That does sound pretty steep in terms of price. Would be closer to reasonable with the hardtop thrown in.
Yep, my view as well. £2500 sounds fair to me as is.
I wouldn't worry about the mileage, they seem bulletproof little engines (mine's an '03 on 76k miles, me having added just under 10k in 9 months ish). Mine has been used in hard in my ownership including an airfield day.
Oh and do it Rich!
Thanks for the replies (and encouragement). I had a brief look at it this afternoon and didn't fancy it, plus there was zero service record.
Bulletproof they may be, but i'm not mechanically-minded enough to be able to tell mutton from lamb, so i'd need to at least know it had had an oil change now and then.
Cheers.
Bulletproof they may be, but i'm not mechanically-minded enough to be able to tell mutton from lamb, so i'd need to at least know it had had an oil change now and then.
Cheers.
Edited by RDE on Monday 20th September 18:33
RDE said:
Hello,
I've been looking for an MX5 for a while and quite like the Mk2 Limited Edition Sport (2000) that they did. One has come up for sale from a trader near me but it has done 126,000 miles. It's up for £3k not including that hardtop that the car was originally sold with.
What should I be wary of at this kind of mileage, and what should I look for if I go and view it?
It is easy enough to spot rust on the arches and sills, or might it be hiding itself away unseen?
Personally I think the price sounds a bit steep, or am I just being tight?
Many thanks.
Price is high for miles and no history, the trader is working on the fact of it being an Ltd edition sports? most of it will just be a badge and a few Cosmo changes anyway, as for the miles I would not worry as long as there is some kind of history, I would personally walk away unless he will drop the price right down so you can sort her out with the servicing and what nots, I would personally offer £2200 for that reason, remember winter is here now and it's a summer car really, so he will want to get rid quick.I've been looking for an MX5 for a while and quite like the Mk2 Limited Edition Sport (2000) that they did. One has come up for sale from a trader near me but it has done 126,000 miles. It's up for £3k not including that hardtop that the car was originally sold with.
What should I be wary of at this kind of mileage, and what should I look for if I go and view it?
It is easy enough to spot rust on the arches and sills, or might it be hiding itself away unseen?
Personally I think the price sounds a bit steep, or am I just being tight?
Many thanks.
But saying that it is a buyers market and there are plenty of good examples out there for the right prices.
Regards
Wayne
Edited by Mazdamender on Tuesday 21st September 12:45
Re the high mileage "issue", I've read about cars that had a turbo fitted at around 100,000 miles and went on to run another 100,000 miles without issue. So, buy on condition and how it runs rather than mileage.
If you're buying without service history than how it runs and the condition of the engine bay are all important. Check the colour of all the fluids to see if they're manky or have been relatively recently changed.
If you're buying without service history than how it runs and the condition of the engine bay are all important. Check the colour of all the fluids to see if they're manky or have been relatively recently changed.
heebeegeetee said:
Mine's done 95,000 miles, 40,000 of them supercharged, and is still on the original clutch. 
The mileage of the car in the OP wouldn't bother me, but the lack of service history would. I'd keep looking.
Your two statements seem opposed to me - on the one hand you say that you can supercharge relatively high mileage engines with no problems, which seems to imply that the engines are strong, but on the other that a standard engine with no service history would make you walk, which seems to imply that the engines are particularly sensitive to being looked after properly.The mileage of the car in the OP wouldn't bother me, but the lack of service history would. I'd keep looking.
In my opinion if the car looks, sounds and runs well then no service history even at that mileage isn't that much of an issue. I would of course give it a full service as soon as I bought it though, just to be sure and it would be a different story if it looked like no-one had opened the bonnet in several years.
I think that any engine that is neglected on servicing will suffer, yes they are bulletproof but i would still pick one thats got a history so you at least have an idea on what you are dealing with.
However if i happened to find a REALLY cheap one that had no history and ran sweet when inspected i think that would be worth a punt but have your eyes open that it might cause a few unexepected problems later... But thats fine if you are buying at a cheap price in the first place and budget for some possible work later
However if i happened to find a REALLY cheap one that had no history and ran sweet when inspected i think that would be worth a punt but have your eyes open that it might cause a few unexepected problems later... But thats fine if you are buying at a cheap price in the first place and budget for some possible work later
Edited by J-Tuner on Tuesday 21st September 13:02
bolf said:
mines a 4.0 v8 , 205,000 miles , but serviced without fail by BMW , still runs perfect , uses no oil and no water and only 10hp down on bmw figures , gets driven very hard!
Its all about the maintenance.
Don't get me wrong, there are some cars that I wouldn't even consider without a full service history. Its all about the maintenance.
It just strikes me that on a very unstressed, non-interference, Japanese engine like the ones in the MX-5, the service history isn't the be all and end all, IF the car stands up to a thorough examination and test drive.
Not to mention that you can pick up low mileage, second-hand, replacement engines for around £500 if the very worst does happen.
Edited by youngsyr on Tuesday 21st September 13:08
youngsyr said:
bolf said:
mines a 4.0 v8 , 205,000 miles , but serviced without fail by BMW , still runs perfect , uses no oil and no water and only 10hp down on bmw figures , gets driven very hard!
Its all about the maintenance.
Don't get me wrong, there are some cars that I wouldn't even consider without a full service history. Its all about the maintenance.
It just strikes me that on a very unstressed, non-interference, Japanese engine like the ones in the MX-5, the service history isn't the be all and end all, IF the car stands up to a thorough examination and test drive.
Not to mention that you can pick up low mileage, second-hand, replacement engines for around £500 if the very worst does happen.
heebeegeetee said:
I agree, but i'd prefer a car that's had it's oil changed over one that hasn't. If the oil has been/is changed then I'm sure the car will sail on to 200,000 no probs, but i'm not so sure if the oil is x years old.
There's a difference between preferring a car that's had its oil changed regularly and walking away from an otherwise decent car with no service history though.Generally you can get a good idea of whether a car has been reasonably well maintained without needing a service history. Similarly you can tell if the oil has been recently changed, or perhaps even was just changed by the dealer in the week before you view it.
youngsyr said:
or perhaps even was just changed by the dealer in the week before you view it.
You can indeed. And without history that's all you can tell.What I'm saying is, the car isn't that cheap. At that price the OP may find a car with history, so why buy one without? If a car has no service history then it is devalued and has to sell at a lower price than a car with history. That is market forces at work which we all understand. It's also not the same as walking away from the car.
But if the car hasn't got a service history then the chances are that the car hasn't been looked after. Or maybe the dealer/seller has been extremely careless in losing the service history, so knock him down on the price or walk away from him.
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