RE: Mazda MX-5 (NB) | Spotted

[BeastieBoy73]

Have had a NA and NB, both great cars, but sadly rust got them in the end. Currently looking for a decent NC (within our budget) but signs of rust on the rear sills/arches are evident on every car I've looked at.

[WhiteBaron]

Both na and nb are great little cars..

https://youtu.be/lV9DzCRARpw

When the rust finally gets it, its ready for the gbs zero kit

[Mark-C]

Currently looking at NBs and NCs as a new toy ... Mrs-C very much prefers the look of the NB but everyone we check out has a scary recent MOT report that's putting me off completely with it's liberal use of the "R" word ...

[cheshire_cat]

I had a mk2 IS with the torsen diff for 4 or 5 years. Great car to enjoy RWD, and so easy to work on yourself. Most of the car comes apart with a 10mm spanner!

I sold it to a friend who shortly after stuffed it through a hedge and wrote it off. Sad ending, but quite glad in a way as I was worried that rust could be an issue over the next year or two and didn’t want any ill-feelings.

[p1stonhead]

I just added an easy as pie Bluetooth connection to my NC. Took ten minutes, looks completely OEM and cost £17 for the bits. These cars are amazing to work on

MX5parts is also an amazing supplier

[The_Nugget]

I had an MX5 NB for 3 years. Loved it. Great to drive, except on the motorway where it was tiresome.
Mine also didn’t have A/C which ironically was the worst thing about it. Boiling in summer and worse with the roof down and the sun beating down on you. Mainly I used to enjoy crisp winter days and hooning about with the roof off. The heaters were like volcanoes!
Utterly useless in the snow though, couldn’t move from a standing start on a slight incline.

[Limpet]

My missus had an NB 1.8 with the Torsen diff back in 2004. Used to love driving it.

Modest power but so much fun, particularly in the wet.

[VSKeith]

How about this instead?

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/9246919

[NDNDNDND]

VSKeith said:

How about this instead?

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/9246919

Have you any idea how rare they are?!!!

That said, it has been for sale for a while...

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-spottedykywt/m...

[munk]

I had a 1.8 NB for around 12 months, cost me £1000 and ran like a top, needed nothing and took a mighty beating. Amazing little car but rusted like nothing else on earth (this is coming from a former Sport Ka owner). Ended up selling it to a pair of young lads who planned to track / drift it. Loved it so much that I bought a low mile NC (in preference to a Porsche Boxster). Would absolutely recommend one to anyone - either buy cheap enough to make it a disposable purchase, or make sure you have a garage to store it in!

[Mr_Sukebe]

Love my 1.8 Arizona.
Sills were done 3 years ago, undersealed 2 years ago and just had the chassis rails done. So I believe that they can be saved, and as they’ve stopped depreciating, that rather offsets the cost to deal with the rust.

[38911]

Same experience as others. Had one, it looked mint from the outside with no visible rust. Loved it, great fun, right up to the point where the MOT tester shook his head and declared the Chassis Rails were rotten and the car was essentially written off.

[mike425]

I bought one of these to build a kit car, paid £400 with 11 months MOT to run on it. The car drove brilliantly, the sills had started to rust but I reckon you would have got another 2 years driving easily out of it.

This one's nice but at that money there are too many other options for me.

[MightyBadger]

I love my nb2 svt sport, 1.8 twin cam with vvt. Its rusty as hell but its been a great year of ownership. So much fun to drive..... MOT time is going to kill me financially but I want to keep it on the road and enjoy it for another year.

[snotrag]

In isolation, and if you've never driven the others, then yes, the Mk2 is a great fun, cheap car. You would need your head screwed on backwards to pay £6k for a Mk2 personally.

A Mk3 is a better car in every measurable way - as a daily, as a track/hooning car, a stiffer and more capable chassis, a lighter yet signifcantly more advanced engine, to modify, in usability.

A Mk1 is a better neo-classic experience in every unquanifiable/un-measurable way - more character, more fun, more retro, more pop pop pop pop up and down headlights.



Note - opinion based on extensive experience and 10's of thousands of miles in each!:

DSCF1803 by simonholehan, on Flickr

RedRoadster1 by simonholehan, on Flickr

Chimney bank pano full size by simonholehan, on Flickr

XSP_1192 by Javelin Trackdays, on Flickr

Edited by snotrag on Thursday 10th September 09:38

[bristolracer]

p1stonhead said:

I just added an easy as pie Bluetooth connection to my NC. Took ten minutes, looks completely OEM and cost £17 for the bits. These cars are amazing to work on

MX5parts is also an amazing supplier

Do you have a link for that please?

[p1stonhead]

bristolracer said:

p1stonhead said:

I just added an easy as pie Bluetooth connection to my NC. Took ten minutes, looks completely OEM and cost £17 for the bits. These cars are amazing to work on

MX5parts is also an amazing supplier

Do you have a link for that please?

This clicks in the spare port on the back of the radio and works via the media button;

Eidoct AUX Input Female Jack 3.5mm Audio Adapter Cable Compatible for iPod iPhone 4 4S 5 5S MP3 to Mazda 2 3 5 6 RX8 MX-5 Car Player https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07MXC9B9W/ref=cm_sw_r...

I drilled a hole (6mm drill bit needed) on the left of the 12v socket for this female end. It’s got a screw cap so it can fix through the plastic and secure. Looks very OEM. As I understand it, the facelift NC actually has this 3.5mm port anyway so skip this step if you do!



You can buy the above cable with a male end, but I thought this was a better solution because I connected this to the female port;

Bluetooth 5.0 Receiver, MaedHawk Bluetooth Aux Adapter/Portable Wireless Audio Car Kit (A2DP, Built in Microphone, Dual Link) with 3.5mm Jack for Home Music Streaming Stereo,Headphones,Speakers https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B086VZQG55/ref=cm_sw_r...

It’s tiny so doesn’t intrude in the cabin at all. This then allows you to use Bluetooth through the media button instead.



Very simple. Took me ten minutes.

Radio is simple as anything to remove. 5 screws. Lots of videos on YouTube.

Edited by p1stonhead on Thursday 10th September 10:23

[bristolracer]

p1stonhead said:

This clicks in the spare port on the back of the radio and works via the media button;

Eidoct AUX Input Female Jack 3.5mm Audio Adapter Cable Compatible for iPod iPhone 4 4S 5 5S MP3 to Mazda 2 3 5 6 RX8 MX-5 Car Player https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07MXC9B9W/ref=cm_sw_r...

I drilled a hole (6mm drill bit needed) on the left of the 12v socket for this female end. It’s got a screw cap so it can fix through the plastic and secure. Looks very OEM. As I understand it, the facelift NC actually has this 3.5mm port anyway so skip this step if you do!



You can buy the above cable with a male end, but I thought this was a better solution because I connected this to the female port;

Bluetooth 5.0 Receiver, MaedHawk Bluetooth Aux Adapter/Portable Wireless Audio Car Kit (A2DP, Built in Microphone, Dual Link) with 3.5mm Jack for Home Music Streaming Stereo,Headphones,Speakers https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B086VZQG55/ref=cm_sw_r...

It’s tiny so doesn’t intrude in the cabin at all. This then allows you to use Bluetooth through the media button instead.



Very simple. Took me ten minutes.

Radio is simple as anything to remove. 5 screws. Lots of videos on YouTube.

Edited by p1stonhead on Thursday 10th September 10:23

Excellent, thankyou for that

[MightyBadger]

snotrag said:

In isolation, and if you've never driven the others, then yes, the Mk2 is a great fun, cheap car. You would need your head screwed on backwards to pay £6k for a Mk2 personally.

A Mk3 is a better car in every measurable way - as a daily, as a track/hooning car, a stiffer and more capable chassis, a lighter yet signifcantly more advanced engine, to modify, in usability.

A Mk1 is a better neo-classic experience in every unquanifiable/un-measurable way - more character, more fun, more retro, more pop pop pop pop up and down headlights.



Note - opinion based on extensive experience and 10's of thousands of miles in each!:

DSCF1803 by simonholehan, on Flickr

RedRoadster1 by simonholehan, on Flickr

Chimney bank pano full size by simonholehan, on Flickr

XSP_1192 by Javelin Trackdays, on Flickr

Edited by snotrag on Thursday 10th September 09:38

Tried a few ncs when buying my nb, preferred the way the nb felt when driving and also the looks.

[Marcus Eastwood]

Tried searching for one of these but rust was just a killer. Ended up going for mk3 MR2 instead. Brilliant car and they don’t rust like anything like the MX5.