Zac's MX5 NB8A (living the dream)

[Zac]

Hi everyone,

I live in Northern NSW so mx5's in decent shape are few and far in between! As some may remember, this week there was a silver nb8b with 167,000kms for sale in Brisbane for $7k that I made a topic about. As I was about to head up to check it out, I got a text saying it was sold. Wasn't happy. I felt like another good one like that wouldn't come up for a long time at that price.

Well, that silver one must have got away for a reason. Today I went down to Coffs Harbour (or 30 minutes inland from CH) and picked up my 2nd car and first mx5! Originally I wasn't keen on green but it has grown on me a lot and suits that old mg/lotus roadster shape feel (british racing green).

The car had 130,000kms, 10 months NSW rego, a retired lady owner since 2007 and plenty of reciepts: gates timing belt at 100k, new brake pads last year, federal 595 tyres (look the part) with plenty of tread left and lots of other goodies. Completely stock and original and though I have looked at about 5-8 mx5's in the last year, every one had something significantly wrong with it or many little things. The ONLY thing wrong with this one was a little bit of clear coat peel on the boot but I shall get it resprayed. It was mechanically amazing, had no leaks, clear light honey colour on the oil cap and no rust underneath. Suspension was all fine and clutch bites hard! Interior Perfect! Plus It had a hardtop! Needless to say I was excited.

Exchanged money for keys and so begins my mx5 journey. I found the car very comfortable on my 4 hour journey home today and surprisingly good on the highway! With a full tank of fuel upon purchase and 350kms later I still have a third of a tank which I am happy with.

Only have one pic atm and am pretty tired but will post more tomorrow. Don't look too happy in the pic, but believe me I was, just a weird split second look.

[luzinit]

Nice pickup, with the hard top too! Welcome to the wonderful World of mx5 ownership!

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

[Zac]

Thanks. Can't wait

[smy0003]

Happy to hear you nabbed a good'un
(In a better colour than sunlight silver as well )

[KevGoat]

Nice one! I always say it's for a reason when I've missed out on what looks like a good deal and usually find something better comes along.

I've seen a few NB's in that green and it's a nice colour. Lends itself to a variety of looks and mods.

Enjoy

[93_Clubman]

The car had 130,000kms, 10 months NSW rego, a retired lady owner since 2007 and plenty of reciepts: gates timing belt at 100k...

Congrats! Ref above, Mazda recommends the water pump is replaced at the same time as the timing belt, ie 100k kms. As this is a recent sale it would be worth enquiring with the previous owner if the water pump was replaced at the same time as the timing belt, or indeed if it has been replaced at all, assuming receipts don't already indicate this.

[Code4]

outstanding.

[bruce]

There's always a reason why things happen the way they do (in your case, something better came along - which happens a lot with cars).

[Zac]

Thanks heaps everyone! Have dríven it around today in familiar surroundings, loving it more and more every second! Here are some pics.

[Zac]

And some more

[hks_kansei]

Not that it probably matters, but the factory in-dash CD player is a pretty uncommon option.

I've never seen one fitted.
Most of them were either left with just the tape deck, or optioned with the 6 disc changer in the boot.




Looks like a good tidy example, and finding one with a matched hardtop is a very good buy.

[Zac]

Yeah I thought that the CD player looked different to the normal NB majority. The sound system was way better than expected. Nice bonus. I was just checking the pile of receipts that came with the car properly and noticed 2 things regarding if the water pump has been replaced:

- there is a service reciept from a mazda dealer in late 2011 at 97,000kms (majority are from independent mech's). It doesn't say what was done but it cost $1250.

- there is a receipt from late 2014 at 114,000kms saying "removed front timing case to check timing belt, has been replaced with gates unit in good condition"

So I would have an educated guess that Mazda replaced the actual timing belt in 2011 from the first reciept but not sure about the waterpump as the mazda dealer receipt only included a subtotal for "parts" but doesn't include what individual parts i.e. waterpump or timing belt were used. Hopefully $1250 would warrant for both on a mx5 but dealers tend to charge higher.

[hks_kansei]

I doubt it was done.

The replace both thing is more a "commonly done" thing rather than a listed item in the service schedule.
I'm pretty sure (from memory, haven't got he service book in front of me) that Mazda say to only inspect the pump, not replace.
And only replace if it's leaking, or he bearing have slop.



I wouldn't be concerned though, just keep an eye on the coolant levels, and if you find its dropping consider budgeting for a pump.

It's actually not that difficult to do, just tedious because you need to remove a lot of unrelated crap to get to it.

[hks_kansei]

Worth noting my original pump was still good after 13 years, and 100,000km.
Only bad parts on it were an outlet was a bit clogged with calcium deposits from the previous owner using sh*t water.

A good flush and it would have cleared (I replaced the pump anyway since I'd already bought a new one)

[Lokiel]

:
Originally I wasn't keen on green but it has grown on me a lot and suits that old mg/lotus roadster shape feel (british racing green).
:

I'm surprised you didn't initially like the car in green, IMO it's the perfect colour for a retro roadster - glad you've changed your mind.