Couple of cars to view after Christmas

[Neil_Ireland]

Hi all,

New here and in the market for an NB mx5

I'm going to view both of these cars after Christmas.

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cf ... 1200613175

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cf ... 0200583414

Does anyone know either of the cars in question?
Would the cheaper (blue car) have a lsd as standard?

Thanks,
Neil.

[Paschal]

Nice cars, appear to be good value too

[Neil_Ireland]

The cheaper blue one is a jap import, don't really want to go down that route so it's ruled out

[leamyj]

The cheaper blue one is a jap import, don't really want to go down that route so it's ruled out

Why not?? unless your insurance company is gonna ride you bareback, there's no reason not to

[Neil_Ireland]

The cheaper blue one is a jap import, don't really want to go down that route so it's ruled out

Why not?? unless your insurance company is gonna ride you bareback, there's no reason not to

Insurance is slightly more expensive, there is no alarm or immobiliser fitted to imports either which puts me off. Harder to verify history of an import too.

[charged_rs]

The cheaper blue one is a jap import, don't really want to go down that route so it's ruled out

Why not?? unless your insurance company is gonna ride you bareback, there's no reason not to

Insurance is slightly more expensive, there is no alarm or immobiliser fitted to imports either which puts me off. Harder to verify history of an import too.

lol
jap imports will generally be in better condition that the uk equiv in terms of rust etc. I refuse to work on uk cars cos it take twice as long to do some jobs due to siezed nuts and bolts, or bolts heads simply breaking apart
higher spec , ac , e/ aerial etc etc

built in factory immob only cause problems.
buy the car based on condition, not history.

[Neil_Ireland]

Why the lol?

I haven't been looking at UK cars, Irish ones shouldn't have the rust or seized bolts problems.
I'm putting off imports because their history in Japan can be suspect and difficult to verify. Any
Any jap import i've seen had zero history after it was imported.

[charged_rs]

Why the lol?

I haven't been looking at UK cars, Irish ones shouldn't have the rust or seized bolts problems.
I'm putting off imports because their history in Japan can be suspect and difficult to verify. Any
Any jap import i've seen had zero history after it was imported.

ireland is part of the uk , isnt it ?
why wouldnt irish cars not suffer from rust ?

mk2's are more prone to rust as mazda used a thinner metal and cheaper production methods from late 95 onwards and then again for the mk2's from 98 onwards due to fords involvement with mazda and their cost cutting that resulted.
mk2.5's like you have posted suffer from chassis leg rot quite badly as well as the usual places

what causes rust is the copious ammounts of salt put down on the roads in the uk

if you are lucky enough to live in a remote part of ireland where the leprechauns come out with blow torches to defrost your roads then buy an irish car.
good luck finding a rust free irish or uk car

jap imports are the way forward

in all the time i have worked on these cars , the uk ones are the worst to maintain. Even cars i have broken with history(uK) are a complete bugger to pull apart , even then most of the body work isnt resalaeable despite the fab history that comes with them.

after breaking a handful of uk cars with folders full of history i made a decision to only do Japanese imports.


if you are so determined to get a car with history then goodluck and i hope you find one in good condition to match the history

history on these cars means very little really unless you are one of those anorak types ( read as anally retentive)and like collecting receipts. Condition at the time of purchase is everything.

[Neil_Ireland]

Southern Ireland is not part of the uk.
Salt was not really used on the roads until more recently so cars are less prone to rust.

Thanks for the info on the changes, I was not aware of that. As I said earlier I looked at a mk2
Rs import, nice car but I was not 100% happy with it. I'll go and view the blue one I linked to
so I can compare the condition.

[andrewmag122]

there nice cars and the price isnt to bad

[leamyj]

I'll go and view the blue one I linked to
so I can compare the condition.

Always a good idea

[franksm]

Best advice was up there somewhere ^

Go and see lots of cars, drive them, get a feel for them. Buy based on how good they are rather than history. I'd say 99.999% of cars imported from Japan will have had a mileage haircut, but a good proportion of those from the UK will do too. And you can't prove Irish cars have genuine mileage either judging by the amount of cars out there with 'lost' history...

Ask about when the timing belt was done (a blank look from the vendor would be a worry) and check the quality of the tyres (four tyres the same points to a car that's been looked after; four tyres of different makes would point to skimping on servicing and doing things to a budget).

So best buy with your eyes open. Now's a good time to buy, convertibles are depreciated in Winter.

[galwaytt]

lol indeed. Given that all 5's are made in Japan - then they are all imports.

As an owner of a (shock) Jap import that never saw the UK, I can vouch for the fact that the quality of the NA is apparent when you take it apart.

I would give zero for a factory-fit alarm system. Actually, I might even subtract money. If it gives grief - good luck with finding anyone who can fix it.

Insurance extra on a Jap import '5 ? News to me. There again, it only cost me half-a-peanut to insure it from Dec to March, recently........

And as for UK mileage......now there, there's a LOL worth writing down. And, at the ages you're looking at: what difference does mileage make ? Buy on condition - all else is, well, pointless.

[Neil_Ireland]

So today I went to look at the blue Jap import car.

It's in overall good condition for it's age, drives well with no rattles, bumps or grinds.
NCT report was in the car, all looked good. Minium brake imbalance percentages, side slip figures and emissions were spot on.

It's an RS model with a 6 speed box and 7.5k rpm redline. It has a bose hifi and speakers although it's a jap import radio so wouldn't pick up our stations, cd didn't work. Aircon seems to work fine, nice and cold. Engine idles perfectly and revs smoothly all through the rev range. ABS works fine.
Thought it might be pulling to the left slightly but I think that was more down to the camber of the road.
I had a look under the car and the chassis rails are fine with no damage. The wishbones have some light corrosion on them. Bilstein OE dampers fitted. The chassis looks to be in good condition.
It was imported into Ireland in 2006 and had one Irish owner since then.

Now for the bad bits

I would be a bit concerned about the hood. Where the glass window is bonded in the glass is starting to come away, rest of the hood looks fine from what I could see. I couldn't get a look at the rain rail to check the condition.

Back bumper has been filled previously and a section of filler has fallen out, so I think it would need a new bumper to be repaired correctly.

Marked on this pic the hood and bumper damage.


It has a normal wet cell battery.

All 4 wheels need a refurb, there is corrosion/bubbling under the paint and some kerbing. Has fulda tyres fitted which were all decent.

One of the chassis cross braces in front of the diff looks like it was cought on something and pulled/bent out of shape.

No receipts or history with the car.

It's in far better condition then the last one I looked at bar the hood and bumper.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for the advice so far everyone

[leamyj]

Hoods are always gonna get some class of damage, easily replaced if not repairable. Depending on the asking, I wouldn't be to concerned about the few "bad" points you've highlighted.All repairable, the bumper would be the most awkward if you decide to replace it.

John