I've joined the club (MX-5 content)

[Garlick]

Please welcome (via the power of a crap camera on an iPhone3) my 'new' MX-5



The details are as follows.

1997 P UK 1.8is
93,000 miles
3 owners
FSH, the most recent being charged at just under £400 carried out at a Mazda main dealer
MOT to July 2013
Newly installed headunit
4 x new Dunlops
New stainless exhaust
Huge history file along with original owners wallet & handbooks

Bought for £600

Needs a bit of attention on the sills (not too bad) and it's going to the body shop next week at a very reasonable sum

Could do with a new hood (have a good condition used one being fitted for £150)

All in all it will stand me at SOTW budget when finished and will be used my me and the mrs to bomb about it.

I welcome myself to the MX-5 fold

[Garlick]

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

"They all do that, Sir"

Congrats

Indeed. Fortunately I was able to get the bodyshop quote before negotiations took place.

[Garlick]

TheDoggingFather said:

I thought the 'little lady' already had a '5? Or am I well out of date?

We sold it about 6 months ago. Wasn't in the market for another until this presented itself at a price that was too good to ignore.

[Garlick]

I'll take it to the next PHSS at MBW if anyone fancies a look at it.

[Garlick]

Shaw Tarse said:

Does Chris Harris approve of your choice?

As you may have seen on Twitter, absolutely not!

[Garlick]

It has glass now, and I really want to keep that.

The one I have been offered at £150 fitted has glass too

[Garlick]

Absolutely. Once I've restored the sills I'll be doing all I can to protect them

[Garlick]

new_bloke said:

A good thing I found for clearing drain holes was a length of net curtain wire. It was a bit thicker guage than wire, nice and flexible and had no nasty sharp edges...

Thanks

FreeLitres said:

I'm interested to hear how the experience compares to the Chim.

I know it's not as fast or loud, but does the little MX-5 deliver 80% of the enjoyment? 95%?

I'll be writing about this car as part of my regular fleet updates, so I'll try and make some comparisons

RichTBiscuit said:

Hope your sills are indeed not too bad - mine looked similar and cost £800 quid to have all the rot cut out of both sides and new metal professionally welded in to OE spec

I hope so too, but the previous owner kindly let me drive it to a local bodyshop for a poke around/ quote before I negotiated on the car. As the shop owner has seen it, I hope it should come in as quoted(ish)

[Garlick]

Waxed it today, paint came up well.

[Garlick]

Lexus will go

Love it dearly but need to save on running costs due to impending house move.

[Garlick]

vrsmxtb said:

How the dickens did you get that so cheap?? Looks in great condition.

I was very lucky

[Garlick]

Indeed. While mine sticks out a bit, it is within the rear bumper which would mean a hole were I to remove it.

Rust will be sorted for circa £300, and should be done by this time next week

[Garlick]

Right then, less than a week of ownership and I've just dropped it with the bodyshop for the sills to be sorted.



Hopefully the replacement roof will be on within two weeks...

[Garlick]

Thing is, most (non enthusiast) owners probably don't know about the rust issues. I wonder how many will crumble away and become uneconomical to repair?

[Garlick]

SpeckledJim said:

Wouldn't losing the TVR result in more money realised and a better-balanced subsequent fleet? Or is that not a go-er in emotional terms?

Not ready for that yet! Besides, this little Mazda is rather good fun.

How long I can resist another automatic barge is another matter

[Garlick]

Hope so, depends when it returns from the bodyshop