MX5 Restorations - Ilkeston

Alan D.

Wouldn't take my MX5 to anyone else - and MX5-Restorations is a 50 minute drive from my house! Steve and Alex are MX-5 lovers themselves, as honest as the day is long, have a super work ethic and clearly highly value doing the job right for the customer. Full clean, greasing and underseal done (see photos) - superb job! Bonnet and front bumper respray to remove stone chips - colour match and paint quality also superb. Wheel alignment and front/side air dams and diffuser fitted. Took my MX back today to have the suspension bolts checked after running in the changes, plus another wheel alignment check, and not charged a penny.
Whether you are an expert yourself, or a mechanical novice like me, you will be treated with respect, receive honest reliable advice and can be confident in their work.

graham R.

Very good guys and very knowledgeable with the MX-5.
Did my timing belt, water pump and seals/gaskets very efficiently.

I don’t trust garages easily but I am more than happy to give repeat business.

Prices reasonable in my opinion and customer service is great.

David R.

My brother, who had a BBR uprated Mazda MX-5, used SPA for his servicing and spoke highly of them. They don't only do MX-5s, they also service other motors, so after I'd bought my personal best ever car - an Octavia VRS on a 66 plate - I wanted it to be in tip top order for continental camping trips and long runs generally, whenever that finally happens. The car had 75,000 on it when I got her, so I decided to have a full service and a new timing belt and water pump done at SPA (even though it isn't mandated to be changed at 80k on the MkIII Octavia, I wanted a baseline for my own peace of mind). A Gates replacement timing belt kit was fitted, obviously including a new water pump.

300 miles after the timing belt change, we were coming off the M1 and the engine shut down with the engine warning light lit. The car was recovered to SPA and the chaps assessed it and rang me to tell me the news. The new water pump had failed, causing a catastrophic top end failure requiring a full rebuild. It was a long list of problems. When I eventually built up the courage to ask what it was going to cost me, Steve said, 'Well I haven't charged you for that new rear interior light yet, so about £45.'.

Long story short, the engine came out, they had the whole thing rebuilt and I was charged £0 as it was a new part that had failed. Now, whilst there was coverage to the garage for the parts, a lot of the labour cost was not covered so it cost them a pretty penny in labour time. Had they said to me I needed to pay X amount towards it, I'd have probably accepted it and counted myself fortunate. But these two are as honest as the day is long and it never seemed to enter their minds; their only concern was that the first time I'd used their services I'd been let down.

Because of the issue with the previous timing kit that had caused the initial failure, after the engine had been rebuilt they asked me to visit again in 100 and then 300 miles to ensure all was well.

26 miles later - 43 miles after the rebuild in total when you include their test drive - I heard a faint, anomalous noise deep in the engine and rang the garage. Steve asked me to bring it straight to them as I was only 6 miles away. Pete checked the timing belt again with a camera and the tensioner had shifted already. I left the car with them and they gave me a courtesy car.

The replacement, replacement Gates water pump was again starting to fail - you can see the original failure in the pic.

Having arranged a call with Gates directly to discuss the double-failure, they were then sent a new kit but with a Skoda OEM water pump. Apparently, Gates had had 'a bad batch' of water pumps. Nice of Gates to tell people, or recall them. SPA have stopped fitting Gates kits, I'm told.

I've had the car back now for about 400 miles (SPA have checked it twice) and it's running beautifully. I just want to say Thank You to Steve and Pete for turning a minor disaster around for me as painlessly as possible. I always say, you tell how good a product or a company is when something goes wrong, and these guys passed with flying colours. Very highly recommended.

Matt P.

Couldn’t be happier, with these guys being a massive part of my mx5 being back on the road. Not only did they go above and beyond to get it done as soon as possible they also invited me to learn some things which I had missed. Absolute Sterling blokes and can’t thank them enough!!!

Dwight S.

Great service, did a fantastic job on my mx5 NC fitting a full stainless exhaust system, under sealing and changing transmission fluids. Car sounds and drives great.

Steve B.

1st visit to S.P.A. and its easy to see why they get mostly 5star reviews..MOT and maintenance work all carried out in a morning...No messing about,work done,good communications and at a reasonable price.Well worth a visit if you need work done on your MX5...

Mike S.

Brilliant couple of chaps, they were very helpful when I took my '90 NA to them for gear lash.

Had it in and out within the hour!

(They only accept cash on Saturdays. I learned this the hard way)

Phil J.

I can't praise Steve and Alex enough. They have just fitted a chromoly lightened flywheel and a BOFI racing clutch on my 1991 1.6 turbo.
Really friendly guys and inspected the car a few weeks beforehand (FOC) as I had bad clutch judder when the engine was hot. The work was all done in the time they anticipated and the judder is completely gone.
I would 100% recommend these guys to any MX5 owner within a 3 hour drive of their workshop (which also has a proper paint booth too!). Score: 10/10 without a doubt.