986 or mk3 mx5

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Discussion

Loafers92

Original Poster:

98 posts

63 months

Monday 31st December 2018
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I know, much has been spoken about this topic, but I can't seem to find all the answers I need.


Looking to buy my first sports car (I own a 91 cooper) that can do occasional track days, spirited driving, and of course, daily driving. I want to be able to drive it properly, not babying it.

As such, I've narrowed it down to a 986 2.5 - don't care if it's not that fast, I care more about how much fun it'll be to drive, the sound, and the looks (unpopular I know!) The 986 I've found has 114 000 miles, and it's had a recent service, clutch, and water pump. Haven't been able to see it in person as I'm far away, but I am considering getting a PPI done, and go from there. Any good (and not too expensive ) places that could go to where the car is and do an inspection? Found a place that goes to the garage for around 400 pounds.

I am probably going to be doing maintenance work on it myself, so I don't mind if the car isn't perfect, as long as it's not too complicated to sort.

And that's where the Mx5 comes in! I've been looking at a 2.0 sport with 60 k miles, and have the impression they can go a long way with just simple maintenance and loving care.I found a couple in my budget, one with some holes in the soft top, and another with Ohlins (I take it the owner must drive it enthusiastically).

I'm not averse to spending a bit of money in maintenance, but I would love something that doesn't require constant wallet opening and spannering.

Basically, either tell me I can get away with owning a 986 for little money or just wake me up and politely point me to an mx5 smile



g7jhp

6,959 posts

237 months

Monday 31st December 2018
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What's your budget to buy your car?

And how much do you have for contingency maintenance and repairs?

JayK12

2,321 posts

201 months

Monday 31st December 2018
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Disregard this post if you wish but I would go for a Honda S2000, great engine, reliable, parts available, no expensive to run or maintain, easy to modify or tweak without spending a fortune.

Loafers92

Original Poster:

98 posts

63 months

Monday 31st December 2018
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Budget around 6/7 k, and I can put around 300 pounds a month at a push for a maintenance fund.

I'd love an s2000 too, but for my budget I barely find any, except the occasional one with a ton of miles (which I don't mind as long as I can see it's been well looked after).

g7jhp

6,959 posts

237 months

Monday 31st December 2018
quotequote all
Loafers92 said:
Budget around 6/7 k, and I can put around 300 pounds a month at a push for a maintenance fund.

I'd love an s2000 too, but for my budget I barely find any, except the occasional one with a ton of miles (which I don't mind as long as I can see it's been well looked after).
- 986 Boxster S
- Audi TT Roadster
- MX5 Mk3
- BMW Z4 3.0i Roadster

I'd go for the the MX5 or BMW.

ATM

18,099 posts

218 months

Monday 31st December 2018
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kilarney

483 posts

222 months

Tuesday 1st January 2019
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To actually answer your question. I would get the Mx5 as given the price point your in at and by some margin, it will be far safer from a financial viewpoint and you will likely enjoy it more overall.

Things swing to porsche ownership once you have a lot more to spend in my experience

EGTE

996 posts

181 months

Tuesday 1st January 2019
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MX-5s do rust like hell, though.

Loafers92

Original Poster:

98 posts

63 months

Tuesday 1st January 2019
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Hmm, lots of interesting answers.

I’ll start by saying as much as I’d love a vx220, it’s out of budget and I’m not sure I’m tempted by the parts that can be hard to source (or so I’ve heard). That silver with red top looks very nice though.

I keep on coming back to the s2000, and although some people say it’s not that special, the vast majority says it’s a lot fun, and I am quite fond of it’s looks and, the prospect of having an engine I can rev the nuts off and not feel bad about it (properly looked after of course!) , all this added to a nice chassis makes it an appealing proposition.
Just haven’t found any within budget that I could take a punt on, at first glance.

The boxster is still appealing to me, but it is true that the potential bills are scary, no matter how many “poverty porker” threads I read to try convincing myself it’ll be ok!

The mx5 (in sport trim with the 2 liter) remains appealing, seems easier to find and equally cheap to maintain as the s2000. I hear it’s a fun little thing, provided it has the sorted geo settings and springs, and it does seem like a safe bet.

And the z4, I genuinely love the coupe, but I wonder how it would fair in terms of occasional track work, in terms of handling and consumables. Love the straight 6 howl though and I’m a fan of that cabin when it has the right trim!






Loafers92

Original Poster:

98 posts

63 months

Tuesday 1st January 2019
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
What about the mx5 makes you not a fan? How much am I losing if I’d go for the 986 instead of the S?

JayK12

2,321 posts

201 months

Wednesday 2nd January 2019
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ATM said:
Can believe these are holding there money so well. I have had 2 NA and 1 Turbo's, never lasted with me as I found the engines pretty dull. Still great fun car once you change the fronts to 16's and go wider tyre, and change the GEO as stock is pretty pants.

supersport

4,040 posts

226 months

Wednesday 2nd January 2019
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The MX5 is the safe bet, wonderful little cars, cheap reliable and fun. I never found the MK3 wooden, but I am not a driving god.

The Boxster is a great car, but you have to remember that they weren’t always £6k and can be expensive, but you could find a little gem. Good looking and great sounding, they are a real joy.

I always thought that the Z4 was a bit soft and much more of a hairdressers car than the Boxster ever was.

It wasn’t that lng ago that your budget would have bought a top quality 944 S2 which is a brilliant option and a practical useable everyday car. And easily self maintained, still a thought though.....

tr7v8

7,186 posts

227 months

Wednesday 2nd January 2019
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OK I have had both. The 986 was an early high spec 3.2S, was a great car to tour in as it was comfy with lots of luggage space & effortless performance, saw a GPS 140MPH in Germany 2 up. But it was all a bit too easy, far too fast to have fun in, I suspect a 2.5 might be better in this respect. It also felt pretty lardy, I even tried tracking it which wasn't great. Despite buying well & servicing at my local OPC being £200 or so, it cost me a fortune in various bits & wasn't too reliable. Overall MPG for it (Tip) was 24MPG.
The Boxster was chopped for a 2010 Mk3.5 PRHT MX5. The MX5 is great, easy to drive, more than fast enough to be fun, agile & handles well. After over 3 years of ownership where it has cost £200 for a service & MOT once a year at my local indie it has thrown an EML. Which looks like an EGR fault, I think this is the wife using it to commute in when her Eunos is playing up, the commute is 3-4 miles each way. It still drives perfectly so it'll get looked at sometime. My only complaint is the lack of space, touring needs careful planning with the limited space. Overall MPG manual was 33

jakesmith

9,461 posts

170 months

Wednesday 2nd January 2019
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I've had a few Boxsters and the 2.5 is not the slow car it is made out to be, it gets up to 120-130 fast enough for the UK so I wouldn't worry about that. It is revvy and fun to thrash. £6/7k is a decent budget for anything from a 2.5 986 to an early leggy 987 2.7 which is a much more modern and refined experience with a triple insulated hood and glass rear screen

Early 986 with plastic window is a repair waiting to happen and visibility isn't great out of them in the winter, no heater, If you really want the 986 I would go post 2002 face lift. Unfortunately they all have a slight risk of engine failure up to 2009, which is expensive to sort, think in the £10k range! So another way to look at it would be buy a great car for £4k and be prepared to sell it for parts if this happens.

If you are mechanical they are apparently easy cars to work on with many parts bolt on/off, especially if you have access to a lift and are au fait with removing corroded studs that plague the exhaust flanges / brackets. Bit of heat & persuasion gets them free

The MX5's are renowned for rust and that is not so easy to work on unless you have body shop skills. You will get a newer car for your money. I have no idea what they are like but think their engines might just be too lacking for daily use - that's subjective though

Z4 3.0si 265BHP is a stonking choice - considered to be an all time great engine - they suffer from rear springs snapping but that is a cheap fix, and the roof motor is in a stupid place where it continually gets wet in rain (but can be DIY relocated to a different place). Apart from the M, they came with run flats which are meant to be pretty nasty. Also the Geo can apparently be improved and adding a front strut brace helps the handling apparantly. But apart from that they are cheap to own / run, different league to a Boxster that's for sure and without the engine risk

If you love the idea of owning and driving a Porsche then try one and if you like it go for it, but they are not amazingly reliable at 20 years old and do cost good money to run over the other choices you mention


jakesmith

9,461 posts

170 months

Wednesday 2nd January 2019
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
Visibility out the back in the winter and at night is not great with a plastic window vs. heated glass
Surely no sane person would buy a petrol car these days without it being at least Euro 4. Punative legislation coming.

jakesmith

9,461 posts

170 months

Wednesday 2nd January 2019
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
... what have the Romans ever done for us!?

So as long as you are going to park in a garage, and don't mind jumping out of the car each & every time you want to quickly open the roof halfway through the cycle, and of course you don't mind driving a car that will soon be legislated off the roads anyway, why would you pay probably under £1k more for a newer, more powerful variant without any of these concerns.

jakesmith

9,461 posts

170 months

Wednesday 2nd January 2019
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
What about if you're on a short journey or already on the move on a busy road, and think 'hello, sun's just come out, I'd like to open the roof'.
The thought might come to you after you've departed but you're already on the move.
With a One touch SmartTop relay you can do it as you drive along up to about 30MPH which means you don't have to stop the car for the 'Boxster Chop'. With a plastic roof and the bizzare 'Boxster Chop' procedure you either have to pull over specially to open the roof, or do it at lights, looking like a pillock, and risking the lights changing and you holding up traffic and looking like a double pillock if you could imagine such a thing?

Lovely car in this pic BTW. Were you with a friend for the day or out alone? I can only see one helmet biglaugh (just a bit of fun there pal no hard feelings!)




Edited by jakesmith on Wednesday 2nd January 14:51


Edited by jakesmith on Wednesday 2nd January 14:52

jakesmith

9,461 posts

170 months

Wednesday 2nd January 2019
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Please can you prove the existence of the third friend and their presence that day. Thanks.

jakesmith

9,461 posts

170 months

Wednesday 2nd January 2019
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
987 you say?
What happened to the 986 you'd recently got after musing on reverting to a more analogue vehicle on countless threads for some time?

You must have got it recently, maybe the sun hasn't come out yet in the GBC (Greater Bath Conurbation). The one touch 30MPH roof sans-chop greatly increases the usability of the soft top whether you are going to admit it or not my very nice pal!

Edited by jakesmith on Wednesday 2nd January 17:09

jakesmith

9,461 posts

170 months

Wednesday 2nd January 2019
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
Very nice post, and thanks for your uncompromisingly charming candor.
Well in response I'd have to say, it's not a subjective preference whatsoever, that would be for something that can vary from person to person based on factors that are unique to them, like preference for a colour for example
It is quantifiably quite a lot less hassle to operate a non plastic-windowed Boxster and the fact that it didn't bother you doesn't change that fact I'm afraid to say, you are also projecting a single subjective data point onto a situation and calling it a 'fact'.
The glass window was a massive improvement and the 'Boxster Chop' was widely derided at the time as a ridiculous inconvenience and embarrassment to have to perform on such a premium vehicle.

And also - forgot to say - best wishes to you at this festive time and a happy new year!