Hi KidCreation. I would second what the others have said. Im not criticising your choice but there are some great TFs to be had for considerably less if you look around. Values are starting to rise at last but not that quickly that would warrant most forum users saying that £ 4 to £ 5k would be a reasonable figure to pay for the car you have described.
160s are top of the MG TF tree for performance and there were fewer of them made but they were still a standard part of the range rather than a low production special. They are therefor worth a bit more than an equivalent 115 or 135 but not by a massive margin. We aren't talking the value difference between a 1.1 base Mk1 Escort vs an RS Mexico here or a BMW 318 vs an M3, nothing like it..
There is a much wider gap in values for the earlier MGFs as the Trophy 160 which came along late in the MGFs product lifecycle, differed in so many respects from a standard MGF. When it came to the introduction of the TF though the 160 was a standard production model with a VVC engine and options such as spotlights as standard..
Id expect to pay around £ 1.8k to £ 2.5k for that car, from that seller, in that condition, with that provenance. To my mind £ 4k to £ 5k would be justified for an issue free, low mileage, single owner car offered with a full service history that had just had a service and a cam belt change, sold by a specialist dealer with a reputation.
Because values of good condition Fs and TFs fall within a lot of people's reach for a weekend car, it has made MOT failures and cars with any issues, blemishes or problems worth very little. Hence there are several of us here who have bought cars without an MOT or with various known problems for a few hundred and got them up to scratch as viable road going cars with a few weekends spannering, There are some very good threads here that will show what is involved, its worth investing your time to read through them to familiarise yourself with both common faults and how they are tackled by owners.
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It makes me chuckle though when I hear sellers mention in passing the front lower arms may just need replacing at some point as though it's a ten minute job. These wishbones are a simple hollow steel pressing which routinely fill with surface water during use that has no where to exit. They inevitably rust through from the inside over time and a pinhole in a wishbone one year will turn into a proper sized hole the next, a certain MOT failure. To replace it the front subframe has to be lowered to provide enough clearance with sheared subframe bolts being quite a common occurrence as they are smallish bolts that are unlikely to have been disturbed since the car left the factory. If in doubt, lean on the seller to change the wishbones in return for leaving them a decent sized cash deposit on the car.
Out of interest Len' on the forum is having to sell the TF he has been fastidiously restoring, you wont find any flaky pint or hidden faults on this one: https://www.the-t-bar.com/forum/9-mgf-tf-pitstop/99251-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-is-getting-brighter
What a great post! Very well thought out and like that you broadened the picture. Brilliant.
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