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Hey, looking to buy MX5 NB series 2 in a few months.
What common faults should I be looking for?
I am mechanic by trade so know all the usual, But is there anything in particular I should look out for?
Thanks in advance.

I'm new to the forum btw.

Do a search of the forum to find numerous threads detailing pre-purchase inspections.


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Clutch shudder is a pretty common one on these.

If the top of the radiator has turned brown it time for a new one, but it's not all that expensive.

Carefully check condition of soft top as original ones on this series would be getting on, looking at around 600 for the top and 600 for fitment, can be done yourself with a friend and patience.

Chris refers to the dodgey "enviro-clutch" in the NB8B (2001) which I was not aware of when I purchased.
Not a big issue as it turns out, but disconcerting if you are not aware of it.

chrisearl88 wrote:Clutch shudder is a pretty common one on these.

If the top of the radiator has turned brown it time for a new one, but it's not all that expensive.

Carefully check condition of soft top as original ones on this series would be getting on, looking at around 600 for the top and 600 for fitment, can be done yourself with a friend and patience.

Thanks for that, I'll prob be putting alloy rad in pretty quick though. It won't remain stock for long.
How hard is soft top to fit, one man job or need two people?

Btw, EMILY_MX5
I had a look at your car build. That green polish you used can cause swirls.
After you bought it I was not happy with the guy that sold it to you. If you wanna fix up any swirl marks etc and detail your car, let me know. I remember your paintwork and know exactly how to bring it up. I have been doing detailing for a while, and use all the best stuff available. Just let me know if you wanna know what you need, I'm happy to help you if you like. Your only up the road from me anyway.

Hey man it worked really well, but I sold that car over a year ago haha


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Ah right, thought you may have kept it as a second car. Well, offer still stands.

Not much really goes wrong with MX5's.

Besides the common radiator problem or poorly maintained soft-tops, buy one, drive it, maintain it routinely and enjoy it!

IF something does go wrong, you're in luck, they are piss easy to work on and fix/maintain.

MrRevhead wrote:Not much really goes wrong with MX5's.

Besides the common radiator problem or poorly maintained soft-tops, buy one, drive it, maintain it routinely and enjoy it!

IF something does go wrong, you're in luck, they are piss easy to work on and fix/maintain.

Yeah, from my research they seem a very reliable car. And as I work in spare parts, maintenance and good parts are easy to come by. Hello top of the line for half price!!

Check the power windows. Some are slow to the point of ridiculousness.
But again, not a deal breaker as it's a pretty cheap fix.
Probably a good idea to check the condition of the soft top latches, they wear out and are a few hundred bucks a set.
But yeah, the important stuff is pretty solid.


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What's the fix for power windows?

Clean the switch or lube the rails.

Just buy one, you won't be disappointed.

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MrRevhead wrote:
Just buy one

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Yep

Changing the soft top is a bit of a pain. You will need a 2nd person but not for the whole time, just for fitment on the new top to the frame and stretching it up taught. Removing the old one is not to bad if you just cut it up. All up it took me and a friend around 10 hours over two days but we had plenty of beer breaks in between, I'm sure I'd knock it out in 6 if i had to do it again.

Other thing to consider if its a daily is if the top needs stretching. After fitting i couldn't get my roof to close to had sit it in the sun for around a week with weights on it to help stretch the vinyl. I bought a pretty cheap top so not sure if other have also had this issue, but once i managed to get it closed I left it that way for around a week driving around and parking in the sun to let the top take shape. If its raining and the top can't close you may have problems and will have the car off the road for some time.

There are some guides on the internet to show you hows it done with pics, google is your friend.