New to the mg club

Hi Everyone 

I have purchased my mums mg tf 135 2003 

she’s had it from new and has been kept in her garage every day , but not been used for a few years , she wanted me to keep it in the family and look after it , so I’ll be using all your guys helpful advice to keep it running 

Thats a nice thought, keeping it in the family.
Of course, she will be keeping a beady eye on you I am sure.
Let us know your rough location, that way someone on here may be able to offer advice ref local garages that can help too.

Hello and welcome to the Forum!

You will find lots of help here with almost every job on these cars covered and lots of info in the "How to" section.
I would suggest at first you do the minimum work to get an Mot then drive it and get a feel for the car and what may need doing.
As it was Mums you will probably want to get it in top condition but dont destroy a perfectly good car by taking it to bits with the idea of making it perfect!!
Get a feel for it first and you will soon know what is important and what can wait.
Enjoy your stay here.

Halesowen area, requires mot , cam belt , pump and oil change , always been kept in the garage and had regular servicing 

Not much needs doing to it , just cam belt , pump and oil change MOT , had head gasket upgrade and cam belt changed in 2011 , only 43k on the clock 

"dont destroy a perfectly good car by taking it to bits with the idea of making it perfect!!"
Seem to recall I had advice like that before Bodge and Scarper paid a visit!  

Well done for taking on your Mum's TF and also for finding the forum.
There is a brilliant amount of information here in the How To's, the Library section but also just by searching through they many years of threads and posts here. An absolutute goldmine. I arrived here knowing precisely nothing about these cars and now Im on my third, having improved and sold on the last 2 and have taken on all manner of mechanical jobs on them. I currently have a 2003 135 like yours.

Tell us about your car. And why not a picture.

VinceR wrote:

"dont destroy a perfectly good car by taking it to bits with the idea of making it perfect!!"

exactly, pefection is the enemy of good

We have the same saying in Spain and as an artisan I wholeheartledly agree with it

There is a point where cars of lesser value cannot be rendered as perfection, age precludes this, that & rust. To turn out a presentable vehicle is my intention & to retain those lesser battle scars, accrued over the best part of thirty years.
A short while ago I parked next to a couple of “blower” type Bentley; one looking like a showroom example, the other exhibiting the thousands of miles writ in every panel undulation & paint fade.
I would have happily brought that one home.
M

Welcome to the forum.
Some great advice here already, get the basics done and enjoy the car.
 

Smiffo wrote:

Hi Everyone 

I have purchased my mums mg tf 135 2003 

she’s had it from new and has been kept in her garage every day , but not been used for a few years , she wanted me to keep it in the family and look after it , so I’ll be using all your guys helpful advice to keep it running 

Welcome!

That's a very similar story to our TF. It was my mother-in-law car and she had owned it since new, but she gave up driving completely in 2023, and for a number of years prior to that had only been covering 100 to 150 miles each year. It had been garaged all it's life, and only had 23k on the clock, albeit we've somehow managed to add almost 2k to that in the past 2 months; we're not using it as a daily, so that is mostly just days out, or attending car shows, but what can I say, it's a fun car to drive!

It terms of getting it back on the road, it was really just the obvious stuff. I had to clean up the rear calipers as one was a bit sticky (unsurprising given it had been sat so long with the handbrake on). I drained the fuel tank and replaced with fresh fuel, replaced the timing and alternator belts, oil and filter change, plus a new air filter, fuel filter, and plugs, and a bottle of cataclean for good measure, and it sailed through the MOT. I've since replaced all the tyres too, because whilst they looked okay, they were very old, and followed that up with a 4 wheel alignment.

Good luck and most importantly enjoy!