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April 2025
I think 2025 is something like my 20th year of selling Mazda MX5s and while prices have changed, buyer requirements are basically the same: most buyers want an honest description of the car in question, want to know that its been checked over and prepared carefully and that they can then simply enjoy the MX5 experience without the usual hassle that can be associated with running an old classic. When I'm preparing a car for sale, I have a system that works well for me now and is based on me driving literally thousands of MX5s over the years. It means I can spot a good car quickly and then work out whats needed to make sure it drives as a good MX5 should. Sounds easy but I promise you it isn't as most of it is based on sheer experience of these cars. One of the issues that I'm seeing these days is simply down to the age of the cars: the earliest Mk1 MX5s can be 35 years old and we're seeing certain things simply wear or fail out due to old age - electrics for example. Its all fixable though and its most pretty simple too but spotting this stuff is now an important part of the car preparation process.
The way I work has changed over the years, mainly as a result of the high work levels. I used to bring all cars back to my place in Berwick where they were prepared for sale but these days, I find it more time efficient to have the cars prepared at another location in conjunction with a few well chosen specialists who know the cars inside out. They take care of all the stuff I just don't want to do (the bigger jobs such as replacing clutches, suspension rebuilds, paintwork etc). The cars are probably about 90% ready by the time they get here and I can carry out final checks, take care of the smaller jobs and fine details ensuring the cars drive as they should and are up to my standard. Its a system that works very well but it means that different cars may be in two or three different locations so I would urge you to call before you visit. It also means that I am increasingly having to plan much further ahead as I buy cars that may not be available for sale for 6 or 8 weeks.
I think we're in for a strong year (again) and at one point, I sold out of cars in January. Its definitely becoming harder to source good Mk1 models these days and values for good cars are still going up. I always say that in my world, selling cars is the easy bit - its finding good ones thats difficult.
With work being a bit full-on, I had less time to get involved in hill climbs and sprints last year and only got to compete in one event, the sprint meeting at Kames in July, which was great fun. This year I have already signed up to compete at Kames again in April and will hopefully get to enter quite a few more as the year goes on. Over the last year or so, I also attended plenty of 'Cars and Coffee' type events which have been terrific fun and has meant I've had the chance to meet all sorts of new friends and see some superb cars. I think I've already attended at least four of these so far this year and intend to do more. You can read about my previous attempts at motorsport by clicking on 'My Hillclimb Exploits' on this website.
As ever, I'm still using Facebook to give regular and quick news updates so please check out my pages on there: there are links on the 'Links' page here.
Steve
I think 2025 is something like my 20th year of selling Mazda MX5s and while prices have changed, buyer requirements are basically the same: most buyers want an honest description of the car in question, want to know that its been checked over and prepared carefully and that they can then simply enjoy the MX5 experience without the usual hassle that can be associated with running an old classic. When I'm preparing a car for sale, I have a system that works well for me now and is based on me driving literally thousands of MX5s over the years. It means I can spot a good car quickly and then work out whats needed to make sure it drives as a good MX5 should. Sounds easy but I promise you it isn't as most of it is based on sheer experience of these cars. One of the issues that I'm seeing these days is simply down to the age of the cars: the earliest Mk1 MX5s can be 35 years old and we're seeing certain things simply wear or fail out due to old age - electrics for example. Its all fixable though and its most pretty simple too but spotting this stuff is now an important part of the car preparation process.
The way I work has changed over the years, mainly as a result of the high work levels. I used to bring all cars back to my place in Berwick where they were prepared for sale but these days, I find it more time efficient to have the cars prepared at another location in conjunction with a few well chosen specialists who know the cars inside out. They take care of all the stuff I just don't want to do (the bigger jobs such as replacing clutches, suspension rebuilds, paintwork etc). The cars are probably about 90% ready by the time they get here and I can carry out final checks, take care of the smaller jobs and fine details ensuring the cars drive as they should and are up to my standard. Its a system that works very well but it means that different cars may be in two or three different locations so I would urge you to call before you visit. It also means that I am increasingly having to plan much further ahead as I buy cars that may not be available for sale for 6 or 8 weeks.
I think we're in for a strong year (again) and at one point, I sold out of cars in January. Its definitely becoming harder to source good Mk1 models these days and values for good cars are still going up. I always say that in my world, selling cars is the easy bit - its finding good ones thats difficult.
With work being a bit full-on, I had less time to get involved in hill climbs and sprints last year and only got to compete in one event, the sprint meeting at Kames in July, which was great fun. This year I have already signed up to compete at Kames again in April and will hopefully get to enter quite a few more as the year goes on. Over the last year or so, I also attended plenty of 'Cars and Coffee' type events which have been terrific fun and has meant I've had the chance to meet all sorts of new friends and see some superb cars. I think I've already attended at least four of these so far this year and intend to do more. You can read about my previous attempts at motorsport by clicking on 'My Hillclimb Exploits' on this website.
As ever, I'm still using Facebook to give regular and quick news updates so please check out my pages on there: there are links on the 'Links' page here.
Steve