Civic viewer agreed to buy it for a good price, left a deposit, and I got to keep my wheels and steering wheels too.
Once the V5 gets back it's going.
I bought the MX-5, too:
collection was open and shut, drive to Notts, drive back, so there's little to tell.
The power output is a bit of a mystery as some sources say the auto 1.6 has different cams for higher torque and lower compression, quoting 100bhp. Various online car checking sites claim 120bhp though, and 120 feels like the right figure as it feels faster than the Civic - considering it's 70kg heavier than the Civic (which has about 120 as well) it'd make sense if it made better power (also twincam vs SOHC). Mazda is much more fun to drive too, firmer, more planted, easier to chuck about, more comfortable, better build quality etc. It's an absolutely lovely thing and I've got a lot for my £950. There's nothing untoward and aside a couple of small jobs (crank sensor leaking oil, brake pads, tracking etc) it's good to go. Runs faultlessly, and is probably the best four-cylinder engine and gearbox combo I've driven, it's really smooth and punchy. Even my best running D-Series doesn't come close.
By a lot for my money, I mean:
- mph gauge faces already installed, but the odometer/trip is still in km (oh well)
- no rust, the rear arches and sill ends are as they came from the factory
- adjustable coilovers
- a roll hoop
- Jackson Racing HT leads
- a decent looking cone filter (not fitted, won't be fitting)
- original alloys on fucked tyres
- MX-3 15x6 wheels on Chinese tyres (fitted, will remove as I still have my Panasports with RainExperts on to use in the interim, Civic buyer didn't want them)
- the hood was replaced two years ago, and has a heated glass rear screen!
- a Bluetooth head unit
- working aircon!
Most MX-5s at this price point are bog standard or very close to it, and often in poor condition. This one is a good'un though.
It's had a respray at some point, and not a very good one, as the body sides up to the swage line have textured paint, like they were done in stonechip then painted over gloss. It looks fine there, it's just odd. The paint is smooth and shiny, and looks good if not scrutinised heavily, but close up it has some issues. I'm choosing to ignore these as they're all minor things. There is some overspray on the door seals though that I'll be cleaning up.
Drove home with the roof down natch, it's great fun. Not nearly as bad as I expected a roadster to be. It's an absolute pleasure to drive, and after this I simply can't go back to Hondas, it's a revelation. Also, with the roof up it's perfectly civilised and it's less cramped than I thought. It can be a bit dark with the roof up as everything inside is black, but that's nothing. Visibility is good too. I don't have a single bad thing to say about it, it's an absolute hoot to drive.
The seats are squishier than they look and very comfortable, unlike the Prelude I had.
The front grille has one of those wanky stainless things in there with some LEDs on it that I'm not sure work. That's getting binned right away. The dash also had some push-fit red piping along the centre, that I immediately pulled out as it looked shit. The white gauge faces aren't too offensive though, and I can't be fucked messing in the cluster so they can stay. The standard ones are black anyway so the white breaks it up a bit.
I like it a lot. Seller was a great guy, very easy to deal with. We looked the car over, took it for a test drive, secretly looked it over a bit more, came back and made an offer, which was aforementioned £950. In the ebay ad it said if it sold for the asking price the original wheels were included, I said, in light of the work it needs I'd want the wheels as well (I eventually want to powdercoat and fit them back), and he accepted if I drove away there an then - I was intending to anyway.
I drove it back from Notts by taking A-roads to Mansfield, the M1 to Worksop then the A57 to Glossop, messed about in the peaks for a bit as I was having too much fun, then rolled on home. It was completely faultless.
Best car I've bought for a while, between this and the T5 I'm very well sorted now.
