NBR: 2008 MX5

[lihp]

I am looking at part-exing my battered 2009 1.4 Civic Type S.

For a 2008 Mazda MX5 2.0 Sport (hard top, not soft also).

It is very clean, and it drove smoothly, and has full Mazda service history.

The downsides, it is on 80k miles, failed a couple of MOTs with low pads, and a fail for disc wear, and had a few advisories last year for play in ARBs.

I'm going back to have another look at it on Wednesday, the dealer has all bills relating to all the work done to the car, so I intend to look into whether all the advisories were acted on, or have just not been picked up on subsequent MOTs.

Is there anything in particular to look out for. How many miles are these cars good for?
____________________
covent.gardens: lihp is my most favourite member ever

[Rogerborg]

Check very carefully for rotted sills and arches, or signs of repair.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[P.]

[Kickstart]

Hi

I wouldn't worry about most advisorys, and not old ones on disks and the link.

Rear anti roll bar bushes should be easy enough to do.

That is a mk3 so rust shouldn't be a major issue

Doing the rear wheel bearings is a bit of a git, purely down to one bolt mounting the hub that seizes very easily. If you may have to do it then spray with penetrating oil regularly for a week or two before hand.

Katy
____________________
Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[lihp]

[lihp]

[lihp]

[M.C]

[UncleFester]

I take it as a sign the owner / garage is no use. Minor advisories are good bargaining points and usually easy fixes.
____________________
Module 1 and 2 passed - October 2014. Happy owner of a 2017 Z1000SX, ex owner of a YBR125 / CB500 / VFR800.

[lihp]

These are all the advisories, and failures for the life of the car. Every other MOT has been a pass with no advisories. Anything there that stands out to people? To me these all seem fair wear and tear for the miles?


7th March 2017
Fail
75263 miles
Reason(s) for failure
Front Brake pad(s) less than 1.5 mm thick (3.5.1g)
Front brake disc in such a condition that it is seriously weakened (3.5.1i)
Rear Exhaust has a major leak of exhaust gases (7.1.2)
(Passed same day)

8th March 2016
Pass
62901 miles
Advisory notice item(s)
Rear Brake pad(s) wearing thin (3.5.1g)
Rear brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (3.5.1i)
Nearside Rear Anti-roll bar linkage has slight play in a pin/bush (2.4.G.2)
Offside Rear Anti-roll bar linkage has slight play in a pin/bush (2.4.G.2)
Centre Rear Exhaust has a minor leak of exhaust gases (7.1.2)

17th march 2014
Fail
41403 miles
Reason(s) for failure
Front Brake pad(s) less than 1.5 mm thick (3.5.1g)

27th Feb 2013
Pass
36925 miles
Advisory notice item(s)
Front wiper blades slightly smearing screen.
____________________
covent.gardens: lihp is my most favourite member ever

[Kickstart]

[lukamon]

i ran one of these for 4 years up to 100k. (2006 2.0)


i got rid because it had started to go very brown underneath and had just started bubbling on the rear arches.

other than that no problems really, rear shocks needed done and the last mot had a broken front spring, so did shock and springs all round.

only other problem was a partially stuck thermostat which was a £10 fix.

my pick of the range would be the 2.0 option pack. all the options except 17 inch wheels and sport dampers (uncomfotable) and leather seats. you do get the 6 speed 'box with the sport though.

check for wet floors especially behind the seats. this means blocked drains for the roof (leaves ect) and is an easy fix, but if its been like that for a while there will be rust underneath.

i would check for rust and if it looks bad underneath, walk away. i would say age is more important that miles with these, and 2008 is as old now as mine was when i sold due to rust.
____________________
killa wrote: Im an ass man myself

[M.C]

[Kickstart]

[MahatmaAndhi]

I think it depends on the price, really.
If it's from a dealer, you won't know how those 80K miles were accrued. Was it thrashed to pieces or motorway miles?
Still, less than 10K a year isn't too bad. Around average, I'd say. And, if looked after, I'd probably expect to see a good 50K+ more.
____________________
2008 Aprilia Sportcity 250

[groovylee]

[lukamon]

i thrashed the arse off mine and it never really suffered for it

ARB links are definately consumables, the rods are metal but the moving bits are made of plastic so can break relatively easily. mine were never changed but apparantly had "free play" advisorys for 3 years straight.

IMO its a bit of a pisstake they werent made of galvanised steel. fiestas had that figured in 2002
____________________
killa wrote: Im an ass man myself

[lihp]

Stealer wouldn't move from his £6700 price 😂

So I ended up walking away from it. Plenty more to find and certainly much lower mileage for that money.
____________________
covent.gardens: lihp is my most favourite member ever

[ocatoro]

arb links are common on all shapes of mx5 back to 1989... don't worry.


corrosion on these new ones isn't as bad as the mk1 and 2... wouldn't worry.

iirc there's a rattly noise to look out for which is early sign of engine failure.. cant' remember what the cause is now though... but look it up it's well documented
____________________
CBT - 17/09/12 * Theory - 23/10/12 * Mod1 - 05/03/13 * Mod2 - 25/03/13 * BOSH!
Current - None but shed project H100 (first bike )
Past - ER5, '93 ZZR600, '92 CB400 SF, ZZR600 (again), yellow Monster 620, Blackbird - black Monster 620ie - '96 ZZR600

[M.C]

[Fin]

[Kickstart]

[Kickstart]

[UncleFester]

Whilst i have an S2000 ( and did look at MX5) i tend to agree with this. I've had mine for 8 years now and i'd not touch a leggy 2nd hand one with a bargepole, not unless i knew the owner / history.

They are expensive to maintain properly and even more expensive to fix if they have been maintained on a shoestring. As with all performance cars, the number of badly modified ones is increasing and good clean standard ones are rare and therefore expensive.

I would definitely consider one of the run out models with the metal folding roof, in white or that deep red / deep metallic blue and i would increase the budget to about 13k - lovely car for not much money. Remember a new Micra is north of 18k
____________________
Module 1 and 2 passed - October 2014. Happy owner of a 2017 Z1000SX, ex owner of a YBR125 / CB500 / VFR800.