Mint vs Modified?
Discussion
Looking for your thoughts here..
Would you be tempted to buy an MX5/Eunos that has already been modified or look for a good clean example, and do the modifications yourself?
There seems to be a few cars with Coilovers, Side mounted plate, splitter, LSD, Alloys, strut brace, and exhaust already done to the car, which are modifications I would probably do..
It would probably save me a bit of money over finding a mint car and then modifying it, but I guess I could run the risk of buying a car that has been driven quite hard..?
Would you be tempted to buy an MX5/Eunos that has already been modified or look for a good clean example, and do the modifications yourself?
There seems to be a few cars with Coilovers, Side mounted plate, splitter, LSD, Alloys, strut brace, and exhaust already done to the car, which are modifications I would probably do..
It would probably save me a bit of money over finding a mint car and then modifying it, but I guess I could run the risk of buying a car that has been driven quite hard..?
You'll have to treat each car on its own merits.
You could buy one from someone like me. Mines modified, and does get driven as it should.
It also has no service book.
But conversely, my car is looked after. I've a massive chunk of receipts. I know every single little feature, or snippet of info. Its polished. It has no rust - because I look after it. The underside is looked after as well as the top. Things are fixed before they become an issue, preventative maintenance is done. it has spot on matching tyres all round, fully rebuilt brakes, the geometry is re-aligned every 6 months etc etc...
I re-iterate - buy on conditon, on what you see in front of you and what you sense from the seller.
You could buy one from someone like me. Mines modified, and does get driven as it should.
It also has no service book.
But conversely, my car is looked after. I've a massive chunk of receipts. I know every single little feature, or snippet of info. Its polished. It has no rust - because I look after it. The underside is looked after as well as the top. Things are fixed before they become an issue, preventative maintenance is done. it has spot on matching tyres all round, fully rebuilt brakes, the geometry is re-aligned every 6 months etc etc...
I re-iterate - buy on conditon, on what you see in front of you and what you sense from the seller.
what snotrag said really.. I bought mine completely unmodified an from a non enthusiast an so it hadn't been looked after very well.. coolant was a horridly rusty colour,underneath hadn't been undersealed, clutch started slipping a few eeks after i got it. oil had been changed, but he guy didn't know what oil it was.. ended up having to fix alot of problems and have spent quite a bit of money on getting it perfect. If you do buy an enthusiasts car it will have been looked after, just make sure they've done a proper job.. not been hooning it from cold and bodging!
As said before my car hadn't been driven quickly at all, but after being driven properly the car has just got faster and faster and revs alot more smoothly.. Remember driving a car slowly all the time just chokes the engine up with carbon..
If buying an mx5 again i probably would have bought one which had been owned by an enthusiast, just make sure it hasn't been modified by a numpty, massive 17" wheels and "slammed" etc :rollseyes:
As said before my car hadn't been driven quickly at all, but after being driven properly the car has just got faster and faster and revs alot more smoothly.. Remember driving a car slowly all the time just chokes the engine up with carbon..
If buying an mx5 again i probably would have bought one which had been owned by an enthusiast, just make sure it hasn't been modified by a numpty, massive 17" wheels and "slammed" etc :rollseyes:
Mine has been heavily modified, slammed (now lifted up again to a more reasonable height), 17" wheels etc. and I don't have all the receipts. I do have some of them somewhere but not sure where. It doesn't get "serviced", I just do whatever work it needs when I feel it needs it. I used the best service items (oil, parts etc.) but as I don't horde receipts I have no proof of that or the frequency of such things as oil changes. I thrash it on track and "exercise" it well on the road wherever it's possible/appropriate. I had the SC professionally fitted (P5) but have fitted many other upgrades myself. The Adaptronic was fitted & tuned professionally but I've gone on and changed things there myself too. Again there is little to show that the fitting & tuning is of a good standard as I haven't kept receipts for this either.
I don't plan to sell this car. I guess it's possible for someone to offer me enough for me to sell it but it would have to be a stupid amount that the car just isn't worth so that's very unlikely. That's why I've never really worried about collecting receipts.
The only reason I say all this is because there are plenty of other modified cars out there that have been treated in a similar way. Just because there isn't a box filled with every receipt for every item ever fitted to the car and full service histories doesn't mean it hasn't been well treated. Equally a car with a full service history and stacks of receipts might well have been mistreated (take hire cars and company cars as an example).
In my mind, a car having FSH only means it's been maintained once a year, it doesn't mean anything is done mid-year if it's needed.
Best to buy on condition. Use your eyes and you head. Look it over properly. Test drive it slowly and quickly to make sure it sounds and feels right. Talk to the owner about his experience with it and try to work out how he maintains it.
I don't plan to sell this car. I guess it's possible for someone to offer me enough for me to sell it but it would have to be a stupid amount that the car just isn't worth so that's very unlikely. That's why I've never really worried about collecting receipts.
The only reason I say all this is because there are plenty of other modified cars out there that have been treated in a similar way. Just because there isn't a box filled with every receipt for every item ever fitted to the car and full service histories doesn't mean it hasn't been well treated. Equally a car with a full service history and stacks of receipts might well have been mistreated (take hire cars and company cars as an example).
In my mind, a car having FSH only means it's been maintained once a year, it doesn't mean anything is done mid-year if it's needed.
Best to buy on condition. Use your eyes and you head. Look it over properly. Test drive it slowly and quickly to make sure it sounds and feels right. Talk to the owner about his experience with it and try to work out how he maintains it.
Buy modified, will save you an awful lot of money in the long run as modifications do not hold their value at all. If the owner has money and cares enough to modify the car then you can be damn sure he has looked after the basics as well.
(obviously as long as the mods are smart ones)
(obviously as long as the mods are smart ones)
Willie Dee said:
Buy modified, will save you an awful lot of money in the long run as modifications do not hold their value at all. If the owner has money and cares enough to modify the car then you can be damn sure he has looked after the basics as well.
(obviously as long as the mods are smart ones)
I saw one car that claimed to have a set of £700 coilovers fitted, to a car worth about £1500. Coilovers, Hard Top, Alloys, Roll Bar, LSD would all be quite expensive to put in separately and some cheap cars have them already fitted.. (obviously as long as the mods are smart ones)
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