I'm middle aged, over weight and balding.......

[Del Lardo]

......so a Mazda MX-5 seems like a good idea


I sold my Elise today, 5000 miles in 2.5 years is a complete waste and it's best that I don't work out the £/mile. I took a 1998 mk2 Mazda MX-5 1.8iS in part exchange and whilst it's certainly no Elise I'm impressed with the turn in, the nicely weighted steering and the gear change is the best I've ever experienced. Not a fan of the engine note though in all fairness I am comparing a standard car to an Elise with sports induction and exhaust but the LSD does seem to work on roundabouts






Off to buy some stick on aluminium tat for the interior and some 145 rear tyres so I can go sideways everywhere!

[vix]

Boo

[Zirax]

Damn, I may have made you an offer on that! Not joking either My hunt is still ongoing, there are FAR too many sheds out there.

Any plans for this one? Surprised you didn't get one with FI + some suspension work. Its still tempting to get an old mx5 and rag the living daylights out of it for the summer. Alas I won't get all my stuff in one

[Del Lardo]

Originally Posted by vix

Boo

Making the decision to sell was pretty easy as the weather was awful and the car was in the garage having yet more expensive work completed. Sticking with the decision once I got it back was rather more difficult as it was running perfectly but it's just too valuable an asset to only use it properly a few days a month and for a 10 minute drive to football twice a week.

Originally Posted by Zirax

Damn, I may have made you an offer on that! Not joking either My hunt is still ongoing, there are FAR too many sheds out there.

Any plans for this one? Surprised you didn't get one with FI + some suspension work. Its still tempting to get an old mx5 and rag the living daylights out of it for the summer. Alas I won't get all my stuff in one

Poo, if I'd known I would have happily given you first refusal. I had planned to advertise it and wasn't planning on getting another car (I only really need my Megane) but I mentioned that I was thinking of selling on a Lotus forum and was contacted by another member who wanted an Elise and had his MX-5 up for sale. Worked out to be an easy deal for both of us and I avoided the hassle of dealing with the idiots that come with selling a specialist sports car. I effectively gave him £2k for the car and that's with a hardtop (worth £400) so I can justify using it as a fun run around and if I get bored I think I can flip it on a sunny summers weekend (if we get any) for £2500-3000.

The important parts of the body, the sills and rear arches are rust free from what I can tell. There's a rust bubble on the boot lid next to the badge which I'm not surprised to see as from what I've read they are the worst bits, there's also a tiny bit of rust (couple of mm) on the drivers door where a bit of paint has been chipped, bit annoyed that I didn't spot that yesterday but hopefully shouldn't be a problem.

[Jonny69]

Will's one was ace. I'll put money on the future decision to sell this MX5 being harder than the decision to sell your Elise...

Don't talk to me about chips in paint. 5 years in my garage having bikes dragged down the side of it or me knocking a box into it, something heavy and spiky falling over or whatever; my Anglia is looking a bit worse for wear. I'm going to have to buy a new mask and mix up some 2K, then get busy with a brush

[Del Lardo]

Originally Posted by Jonny69

Will's one was ace. I'll put money on the future decision to sell this MX5 being harder than the decision to sell your Elise...

Will's had the rather distinct advantage of a turbo

[Del Lardo]

Handed the car over to the valleter at work yesterday and it's come up very nicely for a 14 year old car, still some light scratching that needs sorting but he's offered to do a machine polish next time I drop it in for a wash so hopefully it can get sorted.








Obviously now utterly filthy again but the spending on tat has begun, stick on graphite for the dash that I think is going to be sent back as last time I checked graphite wasn't shiny plastic and a wind deflector which will be staying so Miss DL to keep her hair tidy


Can't really see from the photos but the drivers side front wheel is badly pitted, the rest are fine so trying to decide what to do about it, I can buy a new one for £100 and being quoted £75 for a refurb which sounds a bit pricey?

[Will]

I miss mine