I am seriously considering trading in my (vis) coupe for this: ebay
What do you think?[b][/b]

I don’t particularly like the TF, but I have a friend who loves theirs. Any chance you could try a passenger ride in one locally?

Do not do it. MG TF are so un-reliable. The wife had 2. Lemon after Lemon...say no more.

Had a Rover 45 with the same 1.8 K series lump of shite. Would never let that engine darken my door again. 3 HG failures before total failure of engine. Was in class action with MG/Rover then they declared bankruptcy. Ford did a better job with the LandRover Discovery HG but it was never a refined design. Shame as it had potential.

Go home Annie you're drunk!

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo............don't do it.

Drive one first, Annie.
One of my mates bought a Tf. I drove it twice round the block and thought 'why did he buy this'?
The cabin felt cramped, the gear change was vague, and the engine note dull.
The one you like has had seven owners but I couldn't see the mileage.
Take one for a long drive before you take the plunge.

One of my technicians at work had one which he was given for free by a customer because it needed a headgasket. We did the headgasket and he hated it so much he sent it to the scrapyard. They are truly horrible cars.

Go to https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/ and type in Y805 JFT and MG and you'll see it has no current MOT, last MOT was at 79,409 miles. Quite a few issues in the past, worth printing the list out and studying before going to look, it's a long way to go (over 2 hours away)

Given the choice between a free MG TF and doing naked push-ups in a field of nettles, I'd start stripping without hesitation.

Me too. In fact, I'm there already just in case. Nettles? Pah. MG TF,..... One letter missing. WTF.....

Ha ha ha ha! You are all so witty! Thank you for making me see sense. I wondered why they were so cheap. I just was fed up because of a local garage messing me around. They didn't know how to mend a coupe but they wouldn't admit it. I thought I might be better off with a car that idiots can fix. In the 80s I travelled all around Europe for 3 months with my boyfriend in his 1973 MG midget, and I have always wanted one, but they are classics now and cost too much. I thought a TF would be the next best thing. Evidently not!

You must be mad to want that.

Unless I am missing something the ebay link gives an MGF for circa £1500 not a MG TF? The seller is well known for MGF/TF sales and if it has the uprated gasket fitted should not suffer HGF. The gold colour is disgusting though imo.

I have an MGF and I quite like it, it's done 42K miles from new and it is the MKII; it is worth pennies (just like many of our Fiat Coupe's). I have had it for 12 years and it has wanted for nothing bar oil and filter every year and a fan sensor, do about 1200 miles a year. The K series engine which also powers early Elise's is a great engine which loves to be revved.

When the evening sun is out and I fancy a blat around the lanes of Kent it puts a smile on my face. Would I swop it for my Coupe, no but as an occasional driver that costs me £100 to insure a year it is great fun.

Car Magazine circa 1996

Unerringly stable, despite a cornering attitude you can adjust on the throttle, the little MG was one of the few cars able to take Church flat-out without scaring its driver witless. part of the stability is down to the way it soaks up bumps without being jerked off line; there's oversteer, but it's amazingly gradual for a mid-engined car. There's a touch of understeer, too, but the front wheels will still bite if you need to turn harder. As long as you keep on the power, the MG points in the right direction. It's fluid, safe, and much more manageable in the wet than the Elise..........no mid engined car inspires more confidence across all conditions. The MG offers all the larks a small mid-engined car ought to bring without the worries.

Yes things have moved ahead in the twenty years since that was written and the MGF can be quite easily judged as a POS but that would be missing out on a bit of rag top fun for beer money. Those who buy cars purely to make a statement that they are escaping their mundane reality or have issues with their perceived image or feel the only driving pleasure they can achieve is theoretical 0-60 times, the bonnet badge or how much 'power' their engine has, steer well clear.

Sorry - I meant MGF.

i've always wanted one though. If you get the cooland pipes changed to stainless steel ones and get an uprated gasket job , then maybe worth a punt. Have to agree they are nice looking cars, would get one off a mg club member if you did decide to get one. There is a place that changes all the crap original parts and turns them into a decent car. Do rust though.

Years ago I was unfortunate enough to have a Rover 216. Pretty horrible except the 1.6 K-series engine which had good throttle response, nice delivery and revved to 7k. No head gasket issues and never had any other reliability issues despite abusing this £400 car which I intended to bin once it died. Never spent a penny on it.

Also drove a mates mgf back in 98. The amount of traction available off the line astonished me. They're not all bad.

i had three rovers with a 1.6 k series engine, a tomcat and two 416's. Had problems with them all, but the rover 623 gsi was a cracking car with the honda engine !

I had a MK2 MX5 before I bought my most recent coupe and it was brilliant, I actually miss it quite a lot. It was also reliable and cheap to maintain.

This week I've been using my mother-in-law's MK3 MX5, while she is away on holiday. This is also a cracking car. So nice to drive on country roads and having the roof down is great fun.

So if you are looking for a 2 door soft top I'd go and test drive an MX5!

seconded

I second the seconding. I have a mate who works for McLaren flying around the world fixing rich people's 12Cs for them. Needless to say McLaren taught him to drive properly. Going in an MX5 with him is mental - sliding it through turns with precision to the inch!

I would go and try one if mid engined convertible cars are for you then you will know if not then go with the crowd and get a mx5. I have a mg tf 160 very different to a mgf it replaced a citroen c5 everybody told me to keep the citroen with 5 times the mileage of the tf they might be right but the tf has been a lot more fun, but wouldn't want one as a every day driver. Tipped as being a future classic a mid engined British sports car what was they thinking?

Between me, my dad and brother we've had 5 k series engined cars.
1.4 cab. Hg failure
216sli met a wall at speed
216sli Hg failure within 3 months of purchase
MG ZR 1.4 broke engine mounts, car made from cheese. Hit a wall.
Freelander 1.8 - Hg failure, engine replaced, Hg failure after fitting remote stat.

K series pros - revvy, light weight and powerful for their time.

K series cons - sound shit, a few design flaws making them prone to death.

MGF - dogs to work on if they do go wrong, just look where the engine sits.

I'd have one along with a coupe, not instead of.

I had a Rover 25 1.4 and it was a great car, very reliable and surprisingly poky.

They're not a bad car at all, Annie. I personally like the K series engine, but they do require a large degree of mechanical sympathy, and unless you're handy with the tools that can lead to bills. The other thing I'd mention is that the F had hydro-elastic suspension (no springs or dampers). To my best knowledge you cannot buy the spheres anymore, so what you'll find is a number of cars that have been 'pumped' to hide the fact that the spheres are leaking.

If you do want one I'd go for the later TF that had conventional springs, or budget to convert the F.

Would I swap a coupe? No chance.

I will agree we the big muzzie on pretty much every point, but include the revvy engine as a pain in the bum.
The k always felt stressed at revs higher th 3k. Revvy and noisy. Got rid of my k series tomcat because of it.

Big Muzzies comments on the K series are spot on. The most reliable were the 1.1s fitted to late Metros and Rover 100s. The bigger they got the worse thy sounded and felt.

I only think about swapping my Coupe when it breaks down. Sometimes seems like a bit of a money pit. Especially when idiot non-specialist garages mess things up and take weeks over it. I like the idea of a soft top because even quite old ones seem to have very low miles. I have been browsing at MR2s. I'm not keen on the bulbous headlights on the newer ones but older ones are cool. I do like the MX5 and Richard Hammond seems to love them. I also would quite like an old Porsche, a 924 or 944. I expect one of those would be a money pit too though!

944 turbo would be a good investment I suspect.

The later 944 Turbos (250bhp models) are fetching the most and appreciating the most. I know, I made a killing on one last year