Mazda MX5 MK2 Euphonic

[Genty]

Hi guys - I need some help!

I have just sold my astra, which means I now have the cash to search for a MX-5! I have my heart set on a euphonic and have already seen one snapped up from under my nose.

I have seen the euphonic below and the price almost seems too good to be true. Also, there are some things on it which I'm sure don't come as standard and differ from other models.

http://www.liverpoolmotors.co.uk/used-mazda-mx-5-s...

Can you guys let me know what you think?

I am worried about:

- The roll bar. I didn't think these were even available as an option
- The spoiler
- Seems like a really low mileage for the price.

Does anyone else have any other concerns?

Thanks in advance everyone!

Edited by Genty on Wednesday 21st March 23:16

[MX-5 Lazza]

The roll bars are standard and have speakers between the hoops. It's not really a roll bar though as it has no strong mounti g points or rear brace, it's just bolted to the seat belt turrets. The common name for it is a Style Bar.
The spoiler looks like the Mazda option and is nice to have (if you like spoilers).

[hornetrider]

Roll bars are often fitted aftermarket

Spoiler was an option

Looks mint - buy it!

[Genty]

I do quite like the spoiler in fairness. My concern is still that if you compare that euphonic with others, I can't see any others with a silver roll bar thing.

[Steve vRS]

That is a peach.

Might have to look down the back of the sofa when I get home!

Steve

[hornetrider]

The style bars will come off in 5 mins if you don't like them.

[avocado]

Looks good, just check the rear of the sills for rust, very very carefully. Any blisters here and it's totally shot inside.

[Genty]

Just called them - apparently there is a small patch of rust on the rear right wheel arch, which they will 'take care of' before I pick it up. Shud I expect some rust on every mk2.5 I look at?

[Richyvrlimited]

avocado said:

Looks good, just check the rear of the sills for rust, very very carefully. Any blisters here and it's totally shot inside.

The bit to be worried about on a MK2/MK2.5 is inside the engine bay.

Cill rust is easy to fix.

And small blisters means it's starting to go, but will likely last for years before it becomes an MOT fail. Depends how long you intend to keep the car.

[Richyvrlimited]

Genty said:

Just called them - apparently there is a small patch of rust on the rear right wheel arch, which they will 'take care of' before I pick it up. Shud I expect some rust on every mk2.5 I look at?

They won't fix it properly, probably just sand it back and re-paint the problem is they rust from the inside out so the 'fix' won't last long.

And yes I've yet to see a MK2.5 that doesn't have at least some rust on the cills and has never been repaired.

Obviously there will be some, but don't let it put you off buying the car, just budget to get it fixed properly at some point if you intend to keep it for a long time.

[Genty]

To be honest, I think I am only going to keep it for this summer.

[hms]

1.8 04 Euphonics that I have been looking at are all around 4k!
Will have Torsen diff.
Style bar and spoiler later additions. Style bar should be easy to remove.
h

[designforlife]

Richyvrlimited said:

The bit to be worried about on a MK2/MK2.5 is inside the engine bay.

Cill rust is easy to fix.

And small blisters means it's starting to go, but will likely last for years before it becomes an MOT fail. Depends how long you intend to keep the car.

I respectfully disagree, all mk2.5s i've seen including my own are peppered with rust patches inside the bay, but realistically on a 7-10 year old car it will be probably be another 10 years before any of this engine bay rust actually caused an issue.

If you plan on keeping the car a while don't let sill rust totally put you off, £300 a side, and you can probably stagger it. They have to be pretty shot to fail the MOT (look for some pics on nutz)... but you can scrape through MOTs for a year or two before they are a fail, depending on mileage and how studious you are with cleaning the drains and keeping the car dry the sill rusting can be slowed down.

[Richyvrlimited]

designforlife said:

I respectfully disagree, all mk2.5s i've seen including my own are peppered with rust patches inside the bay, but realistically on a 7-10 year old car it will be probably be another 10 years before any of this engine bay rust actually caused an issue.

If you plan on keeping the car a while don't let sill rust totally put you off, £300 a side, and you can probably stagger it. They have to be pretty shot to fail the MOT (look for some pics on nutz)... but you can scrape through MOTs for a year or two before they are a fail, depending on mileage and how studious you are with cleaning the drains and keeping the car dry the sill rusting can be slowed down.

Unfortunately the engine bay is the same as the cills, i.e. they rust from the inside out.

'Junkyarddog' on MX5nutz has some pretty graphic pictures of scrapped MK2's with what looks like small patches of rust in the engine bay, but the reality was that the main structural part of the car was shot.

I'll try to dig out the pictures tonight, if I were you I'd be covering the inside of the subframe mounting points in your engine bay with rust converter and Waxoil/Dinitrol. I need to do mine too...

[designforlife]

whole underside of my car needs waxoiling really, but still haven't gotten around to it.

Had it on the ramps at autolink in the summer and Andy said it wasn't in too bad shape rust wise underneath, car is quite low mileage for its age (2002 with 70k) which helps I guess.

[Steve vRS]

So is a 10 year old Mk2 a worse proposition from a rot point of view than a 15 year old mk.1 - generally speaking or are there so many variables that each car should e assessed on a case by case basis?

What about the now 6-7year old mk3s?

Steve

[designforlife]

Mk2.5s are the worst offenders, and mk2s after that.

AFAIK mk1s were over engineered to a degree, then the cost cutters stepped in for the mk2 onwards.

Considering they are knocking on 20 years old you see an awful lot of mk1s still on the road, but how many 20 year old fords and vauxhalls?

It's down to the individual cars though, there are low rust mk2s and 2.5s out there,or ones that have had sills recently sorted.

[Tiger Tim]

I hate to pimp a car out and I know it's not a for sale thread but I'm seriously considering selling up. I've just put a load of pics in readers cars so have a look.

Rust free...

[snotrag]

Steve vRS said:

So is a 10 year old Mk2 a worse proposition from a rot point of view than a 15 year old mk.1 - generally speaking or are there so many variables that each car should e assessed on a case by case basis?

What about the now 6-7year old mk3s?

Steve

Treat Mk1 and Mk2, Mk2.5 cars as basically the same - they are the same chassis and engineering, and the vast majority of what goes into them is the same, regardless of what people tell you. If you were looking at one of each from underneath on a ramp, you'd have to be a bit of a MX-5 nerd to tell which one was which straight away.
Treat each one individually, basically. There is far more difference between whether a car has been looked after well, than there is between different years, models, JDM or UK cars etc.
Even a late 2004 Mk2.5 sport model is basically a design from the Mid-80's (Which ironically is part of what makes them so great for the keen budget sportscar buyer).

You could also argue perhaps that there's more rusty Mk2's about at the moment purely because the Mk1's are older, and the Rusty ones are in scrapyards. The Mk2 is still modern enough such that a large proportion are still owned by the typical less-than-enthusiastic owners who buy it because its cute - its usually later in life that the cars get really cosseted.

The Mk3 is a completely different beast. It shares nothing other than its spirit, and its side repeaters with the early cars, and is from a different generation. I am not an expert on the Mk3 but generally they seem have retained the basic solidity and reliability of the early car. I believe they are also properly galvanised, and no-doubt came supplied with much more comprehensive warranties than you could ever have hoped to get on a new car in 1989.

In short - check before you buy, is the only thing you can do! Decide which 'type' you want, and then find one you like, easy as that. There's no 'right or wrong' model to buy (Automatics, and late model Uk 16.s excepted maybe!?) , all MX-5s are great cars.

[Disco You]

http://www.mx5-3rdgenerationlimited.com/euphonic.h...

Might be of help