Hi all mx5 advice please?

[Jimmy2531]

Hi everyone just wondered if anyone on here could give me some advice. My daily driver is knackered with gearbox issues so ive decided to get an mx5 for a while. Basically I've only got around £2000 to play with and I can't go higher than a 1.6 for insurance reasons and preferably with no more than 75000 on the clock. Can I get a half decent one with that kind of budget and is there any issues that I should look out for getting one of that age?

Thanks in advance
James

[skeeterm5]

Autotrader.co.uk is your friend here.

I found 8 with 100 miles of where I live which meet your criteria.

As with all used cars, at this level buy on condition not age and ge the best you can.

S

[Loopyleesa]

I've top a MK2.5 S-VT one for sale soon, but a bit more than what you have got, but it is the best model out there

[LukeBird]

Don't rule out a 1.8 for insurance reasons, when I bought my MX-5 (at 22, so not a great age for insurance!) there was barely any difference in cost between a 1.6 and a 1.8.
Check out the MX-5 forum on here, there's plenty of threads in there that will tell you all you need to know.

[garrykiller]

hey

try autolinkuk they are in swanmore they always have a selection of 5's for sale. its where i got mine. (call them though as they dont always update their website with cars for sale.)

also check out mx5nutz.com the forums are brilliant and always have some good 5's for sale.

hope this helps.

[Jimmy2531]

Cheers for the advice everyone, I've had a nose round online and now have a few test drives booked.
thank you
james

[Jimmy2531]

And lukebird I'm 22 at the minute and the insurance difference between a 1.6 and 1.8 is around £200-£300 a year. wish i could afford a 1.8 though

[garrykiller]

Jimmy2531 said:

And lukebird I'm 22 at the minute and the insurance difference between a 1.6 and 1.8 is around £200-£300 a year. wish i could afford a 1.8 though

get a mk1 1.6 imported eunos. not lacking on power 115bhp over the uks mx5 mk1 whis is only 97bhp. thats what i did and found no difference in insurance and you get better extras on the import.

[Dave_ITR]

As said above, don't rule out the 1.8 for insurance reasons as sometimes there isn't much difference. With a 2K budget you could even get a straight car for less than that & put the remainder towards insurance.

On another note, I have a 1.8 S special (import) in Laguna Blue at 80,000 miles which I could be parting with, let me know if you want any details.

[LukeBird]

Jimmy2531 said:

And lukebird I'm 22 at the minute and the insurance difference between a 1.6 and 1.8 is around £200-£300 a year. wish i could afford a 1.8 though

Fair enough.

garrykiller said:

get a mk1 1.6 imported eunos. not lacking on power 115bhp over the uks mx5 mk1 whis is only 97bhp. thats what i did and found no difference in insurance and you get better extras on the import.

Not all UK Mk1 1.6s were the low power, as I recall they were only low-power post '94. UK cars prior to then (or whatever the date was!) were the full 115bhp.

[the mini mole]

Is it really that bad? I have a Mk2 1.8S that I've had about a year and its no more than the Polo it replaced.
Edit to add that I'm 21.