About to buy - some questions
Discussion
Hi all,
Just been out to see an Euphonic that I liked today. It needs quite a bit done (brakes, service, MOT in a month...) and I've offered a price to reflect this, but had a few more 'serious' questions about the car from current MX-5 owners about rust, engine oil temperature gauge and general driving.
Rust - this had what I'd describe as 'light' rust inside the rear wheel arches. I forgot to take a picture, but it was around this level:
[img]http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af340/Lov...
Anything to be concerned about?
Then there was some rust under the bonnet (these are pics of the actual car) too:
url]
|http://thumbsnap.com/F1lh6AHK[/url]
Next, the engine oil temperature gauage was past half way after a 10 min drive - is this normal? (Apologies for blurry pic - it's the small middle gauge)
Finally, I'm a bit perplexed at this: after 75-80 you have to floor the accelerator pretty much completely for it to pick up speed. On the same road my 98bhp Almera needed much less throttle. At lower speeds the MX was fine picking up speed. Could sluggish high speed acceleration suggest any serious problems?
Cheers
Just been out to see an Euphonic that I liked today. It needs quite a bit done (brakes, service, MOT in a month...) and I've offered a price to reflect this, but had a few more 'serious' questions about the car from current MX-5 owners about rust, engine oil temperature gauge and general driving.
Rust - this had what I'd describe as 'light' rust inside the rear wheel arches. I forgot to take a picture, but it was around this level:
[img]http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af340/Lov...
Anything to be concerned about?
Then there was some rust under the bonnet (these are pics of the actual car) too:
url]
|http://thumbsnap.com/F1lh6AHK[/url]Next, the engine oil temperature gauage was past half way after a 10 min drive - is this normal? (Apologies for blurry pic - it's the small middle gauge)
Finally, I'm a bit perplexed at this: after 75-80 you have to floor the accelerator pretty much completely for it to pick up speed. On the same road my 98bhp Almera needed much less throttle. At lower speeds the MX was fine picking up speed. Could sluggish high speed acceleration suggest any serious problems?
Cheers
The oil gauge is not temperature, it's pressure. And its not really that either, it only registers either zero, or the position yours is at, which tells you that all is well. Only very early Mk 1s had a real oil pressure gauge. Personally I wouldn't worry about the engine bay rust either.
I would suggest the rust is a bit worse than average in the engine bay but not really too bad. Others may disagree with this though. The wheel arch I wouldn't worry too much if you don't mind either putting up with it or fixing it yourself - the killer though is the actual sills so check those carefully for rust.
The gauge you are referring to is an oil pressure gauge. Mine sat exactly where your pic shows for the 10k miles I owned my MX5 i.e. just beyond half way - wouldn't worry about that; it's normal.
What gear were you in at 75-80 mph acceleration? If in 6th the foot down is probably realistic to get it to go some. Or did it have 5 gears as it is a Euphonic?
The gauge you are referring to is an oil pressure gauge. Mine sat exactly where your pic shows for the 10k miles I owned my MX5 i.e. just beyond half way - wouldn't worry about that; it's normal.
What gear were you in at 75-80 mph acceleration? If in 6th the foot down is probably realistic to get it to go some. Or did it have 5 gears as it is a Euphonic?
Edited by TVR MAN on Monday 9th April 22:08
TVR MAN said:
I would suggest the rust is a bit worse than average in the engine bay but not really too bad. Others may disagree with this though. The wheel arch I wouldn't worry too much if you don't mind either putting up with it or fixing it yourself - the killer though is the actual sills so check those carefully for rust.
The gauge you are referring to is an oil pressure gauge. Mine sat exactly where your pic shows for the 10k miles I owned my MX5 i.e. just beyond half way - wouldn't worry about that; it's normal.
What gear were you in at 75-80 mph acceleration? If in 6th the foot down is probably realistic to get it to go some. Or did it have 5 gears as it is a Euphonic?
Thanks for the replies - I guess the rust isn't much of an issue then as I don't recall noticing that the sills were rusty.The gauge you are referring to is an oil pressure gauge. Mine sat exactly where your pic shows for the 10k miles I owned my MX5 i.e. just beyond half way - wouldn't worry about that; it's normal.
What gear were you in at 75-80 mph acceleration? If in 6th the foot down is probably realistic to get it to go some. Or did it have 5 gears as it is a Euphonic?
Edited by TVR MAN on Monday 9th April 22:08
Only a 5-gear box in the Euphonic. I tried in 5th and 4th and both felt quite sluggish.
Those of you that track your MX-5's - do they sit happily at speeds at and above 90-100mph or do you have to stay on full throttle?
Centre gauge is a synthesised oil pressure gauge and doesn't really tell you anything useful, do t worry about that.
Looks like theres an engine fault light on though maybe?
Was that lit while you were driving?
It's relative, but there's not a whole lot of shove in top at those speeds. If you wanted acceleration then it's 4th or even 3rd gear you want - its no TDi!
Only you can judge it though, so perhaps you need to drive another one.
Rust - the photo looks ok, but it's the sill underneath there you should check also. A car in that condition would be well in line for a weekend spent doing a through rust proofing though to stop it in its tracks.
Engine bay looks pretty filthy in there with quite a bit of superficial rusty bits and bobs. I would want that all cleaned up and sorted - that would suggest to me a car that's had no more than the basic maintenance - no enthusiastic DIY tinkerer.
However that's another weekends little project to have it all cleaned up and looking great - adding value, making it easier to spot any leaks etc and familiarising with where everything is.
Fact is, rust is just about the one and only bugbear with these cars.
If the rest is good and you like the car, then go for it but remember - there's tonnes of them available so quite easy to familiarise yourself with a few more maybe drive a couple, then you'll be better able to judge what's right and wrong.
Looks like theres an engine fault light on though maybe?
Was that lit while you were driving?
It's relative, but there's not a whole lot of shove in top at those speeds. If you wanted acceleration then it's 4th or even 3rd gear you want - its no TDi!
Only you can judge it though, so perhaps you need to drive another one.
Rust - the photo looks ok, but it's the sill underneath there you should check also. A car in that condition would be well in line for a weekend spent doing a through rust proofing though to stop it in its tracks.
Engine bay looks pretty filthy in there with quite a bit of superficial rusty bits and bobs. I would want that all cleaned up and sorted - that would suggest to me a car that's had no more than the basic maintenance - no enthusiastic DIY tinkerer.
However that's another weekends little project to have it all cleaned up and looking great - adding value, making it easier to spot any leaks etc and familiarising with where everything is.
Fact is, rust is just about the one and only bugbear with these cars.
If the rest is good and you like the car, then go for it but remember - there's tonnes of them available so quite easy to familiarise yourself with a few more maybe drive a couple, then you'll be better able to judge what's right and wrong.
Edited by snotrag on Monday 9th April 22:32
Aizle said:
snotrag, the handbrake and battery lights are also on, this would suggest just electrics (I hope!).
Your no doubt right, it's just on a small phone screen I'm just seeing 3 blurred ights - I can't remember off hand which is where so just wondered! If OP notice oil pressure then actually I'm sure they would have noticed a fault light while actually driving. No worries about the lights guys - pic was taken on start up so they went out a few seconds after the photo was taken. Even I can spot problems that are so obvious a dash light has to come on!
I'll have a good look at the sills again before committing to buy. As long as the rust in the engine bay isn't a roblem I'm happy to live with it. I'm not great with mechanics but a Haynes guide and PH will help whenever I get some time to have a proper tinker and tidy up.
I'll have a good look at the sills again before committing to buy. As long as the rust in the engine bay isn't a roblem I'm happy to live with it. I'm not great with mechanics but a Haynes guide and PH will help whenever I get some time to have a proper tinker and tidy up.
You say it needs a service, change all filters, sparks, coolant, fluids and it should feel better. I service mine every 6k to be honest even if its just an oil change.
Worth noting the Euphonic has heavy wheels compared to most other mx5s so that might affect acceleration somewhat. If this is a 1.8 (like mine) then I can confirm they go north of 100 with ease and suprisingly smoothly
Worth noting the Euphonic has heavy wheels compared to most other mx5s so that might affect acceleration somewhat. If this is a 1.8 (like mine) then I can confirm they go north of 100 with ease and suprisingly smoothly
Update - I've had a look at the MOT history and the last one had an advisory for 'surface corrosion on brake discs'. Incidentally I did point out when driving the car that the brakes seemed weaker than other MX-5's I've driven.
Roughly what would I be looking at to repair/replace these (assume the worst - i.e. all 4 need changing)?
Roughly what would I be looking at to repair/replace these (assume the worst - i.e. all 4 need changing)?
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