Against all advice, I bought an ultra low mileage car...

Hoof_Hearted

As the title suggests, I now own a 2007 MX5 with 4,500 miles on the clock. It's basically a brand new car (cost £18,900 plus £255 for parking sensors) for a quarter of the price. It even has the folding metal roof. Everything checks out and I am convinced it is 100% genuine.

It has a few early services -- up to 2011 -- at which time the elderly owner fell ill and it was garaged but still MOT'd each year by his son.

Now, I will have it serviced shortly but my question is what additional checks/work would you ask the garage to do? I am pretty sure this model has a cam chain, so a belt is not a problem. Anything else?

pulliptears

New tyres as I imagine it will have the ones from the factory on it.

FWIW I had a 99 Clio for many years that I bought with about 15k on the clock. It was a brilliant little car that never really gave me any trouble.

AdrianC

Get the brakes checked over thoroughly, and the fluid changed. It's been used annually, and taken fully up to temperature each time, so not as if it's been sat totally unused. I don't think you'll have much problem with it - but I hope it wasn't a significant amount more than a similarly tidy one with "normal" use behind it.

neilmcl

As above, check the dates of the tyres with a view to changing them.

arcon5

A full service should cover everything really. A proper service will include everything from brake fluid check to coolant protection check etc

motorguy

Hoof_Hearted wrote: »

As the title suggests, I now own a 2007 MX5 with 4,500 miles on the clock. It's basically a brand new car (cost £18,900 plus £255 for parking sensors) for a quarter of the price. It even has the folding metal roof. Everything checks out and I am convinced it is 100% genuine.

It has a few early services -- up to 2011 -- at which time the elderly owner fell ill and it was garaged but still MOT'd each year by his son.

Now, I will have it serviced shortly but my question is what additional checks/work would you ask the garage to do? I am pretty sure this model has a cam chain, so a belt is not a problem. Anything else?

Get it confirmed!

I dont know much about the mk3s but i know the mk1s and mk2s were belt driven.

If its belt driven and hasnt been done it would be long overdue a change based on age.

AdrianC

arcon5 wrote: »

A full service should cover everything really. A proper service will include everything from brake fluid check to coolant protection check etc

Yes, it should. But...

gilbert_and_sullivan

Agree with AdrianC, brakes are the biggy, they need a thorugh service from someone competent including lubing up with the correct brake grease.
The only other is if the car was used in winter and didn't see enough wet summer days to wash the salt off before it could do its thing.
So get that competent chap who does the brakes proper like to have a good poke nose at the chassis, subframes, brake pipes and such like, might need a good wash down under followed by some selective application of rust proofing waxes.

Other than the obvious other checks andnew lubricants, enjoy your as new car at a fraction of the price.

Hoof_Hearted

Thanks for the advice, everyone. They tyres look perfect but I'll get them checked. Annoyingly, this car doesn't have a spare or space saver.

I have checked and the MK3 does have a cam chain, so good news there.

AdrianC

Hoof_Hearted wrote: »

They tyres look perfect but I'll get them checked.

The check takes seconds, and is dead easy. On the sidewall of each tyre, probably near to the wheel rim, there will be a series of alphanumeric codes, usually preceded by DOT. Maybe just on one side, there will be a four-digit number, quite possibly in a sort of oval. The first two digits are the week number of manufacture, the second two are the year. So 2307 will be a tyre made in week 23, 2007.

Ten year old tyres are a liability. They'll be cracking, they'll be hard, and both grip and ride will be affected badly.

force_ten

www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible

have a look at that site and scroll down info on tyres older than six years old

you can bet your life that there are millions of tyres well past six years old still in daily use, but it now seems that tyres have a six year shelf life, they will be printing best before dates on them next