Starting to look @ ND models ... May spring for one soon . Most likely will stay away from 2019 as pricing for 2016 to 2018 is more desirable with similar 'street' performance ...

Any Miata fans here ...

Waiting for the 'girl car' comments to follow ...

 

one of the sales men bought a porsche boxter in the late nineties and drove it to one of his customer's site while we were there consulting. one of the girls working with me thought it was a miata so we started calling it a piata. have'nt talked to him since.

 

I don’t blame you one bit. They’re amazing drivers cars and the new body style especially is a really nice looking car in my opinion. They’re not powerhouses but they are very well balanced and make the most of the power they have.

 

Tried one on once. It didn't fit.

 

That may be a problem for me. Haven't been in one yet . I'm not extra large on the bottom but 6' 2" tall. Sounds like I should be fine. That new updated motor is temping but in reality it sounds like for normal street driving the 151hp vs the 181hp is not that much different . Besides, the prices are dropping on the 16, 17 & 18 year models.

 

Owned a 2010 NC GT 6 speed with sport package. That car was SO much fun. Great DD and auto-x car. Not a Corvette but very fun in its own right. I miss it.

 

Im 6'2 and always felt like they were too small. I dealt with NA and NBs though.

Im not really into them. Theyre slow and for the same money you can get a lot better cars if youre open to buying used. These new skyactiv maxdas are totally crap too, and wont last. Not like mazda is known for reliability either.

Framkly, i would trust the fiat version more.

 

I know someone who has a 92 (NA) that he bought new ... Said he's never had one problem with it .. Tires, oil change and brakes, that's it ...

 

I’ve owned two Mazdas, a 2006 Mazda 6 and a 2013 mazdaspeed 3. Both were extremely reliable and never needed anything outside of tires and oil changes. The speed 3 especially was often driven hard and never gave any complaints!

Obviously an mx5 is not an apples to apples comparison to a Vette and they’re not meant to be. If you want a nice fun to drive car that “feels” a lot faster than it is for everyday driving I think you could do a lot worse than looking at an mx5.

 

I've got a lot of love for Mazda now too. If I had the space and the money a new-gen MX-5 would be at the top of my wishlist. (Well, no. ZR-1 first. But that pipe dream aside....)
When we were first dating, my wife traded in an loaded-but-ancient Volvo S70 for a 2010 3 sport. It's electric blue and I wasn't a big fan....right up until I drove it. It may not have a lot of "popcorn", as my grandpa used to say, but it's still a ton of fun to drive....I have to assume the Miata's even better.

We added a CX-5 to be our baby-hauler and I think she (the wife, not the toddler) likes the leather, higher seat, touchscreen, and safety/nanny features just a hair more than she likes the sportier ride. So through a long succession of cars I've wound up with a bright blue 3 as my daily when the weather isn't vette-friendly, and I can't say I'm unhappy about it.

Surprised there haven't already been a pile of girl-car bashing comments already....but I'm sure they'll be here soon.

EDIT: We also have had very little trouble with our Mazdas. The 3 devoured some pads and rotors at one point but I attribute that to cheap parts used by a local garage we probably shouldn't have trusted, and the CX-5 needed a battery swap way sooner than I would have liked. Other than that, just fluids and tires.

 

Last summer I went to the local road course (Waterford Hills) to see about doing a track day with the Vette.

I didn't run that day, but everyone had to attend the drivers meeting. The track guru running the meet told us that it didn't matter how good we could drive or how fast our cars were....we would be passed by a Miata. Repeatedly.

He was right. Miata's we're passing everything. Even other Miata's.

I'm shopping an MX5, too.

 

I've been quoted about $25.5K for a 2019 sport 6M with the fancy red paint so far .. Weather has been so bad to even test drive one .. I'm more a cruiser guy, so don't need fancy wheels and brakes ..

 

This is something I've kept in the back of mind for a while, but you know what I have to get it off my chest.

I hate the miata guys at track days. Dont ger me wrong, a lot of them are cool and run miatas due to low price, but a lot of them are grade a douchewaffles. They will bitxh and moan endlessly about being stuck behind another car in a turn, but never give you the point by on the straight. The will berate you endlessly for not running r compa and taking corners at full speed, and have the audacity to say YOU are unsafe because THEY cant slow down because they never bothered to upgrade their brakes. They will botch endlessly about how theyre driving "a momentum car and cant slow down", the literally expect a point by before EVERY corner, and then wont recognize that you're just cruising behind them on a straight while they refuse to point by so the faster car can actually build a lead. Then they all brag about the cars that gave them a point by.

This happened every event where multiple miatas were there. Not to me mind you, I point them by and slow down for a half lap to get myself plenty of room. But I did witness this quite a few times, and on a few occasions had to step in and clarify the situation. One time this guy bitched so much they were gonna throw the other guy out. I stepped in and mentioned that the guy DID give a safe point by, and that the miata drover didnt Gove a point by when the faster car was sitting behind him for entire laps. His response wasclassic, he had "got too much heat into his tires and brakes by then due to having to slow down when he came up on the guy at first", yeah, right.

I'm glad that's off my chest. The miata guy on r compa is legit the worst hpde guy out there.

25k buys you an awful nice c5, the best c5z in the world, a really nice mustang, and a lot of other cars. You could probably get into an elite or a ton of other really special cars. You could get an s2000, which is like a miata that's kinda quick. Or a solstice gxp which is what a miata wishes it was. And all those would cost a LOT less.

 

The only Miata worth anything is the ones with the LS1s in them

https://monstermiata.webs.com/

 

My Father in Law has owned a couple, both the manual transmission. I've taken them on a few trips and love them. Great driver cars for the money. My only stipulation is that if I'm in the car alone, I don't put the top down.

 

Just traded in my new 2017 Miata RF GT for something bigger. In the last two years I became less comfortable in it and not suitable for long distance drives. I'm 6' 2" 180 lbs. It is a beautiful looking car BTW.
The MX-5/Miata is a nice car to have if you live in an area with decently paved roads and lots of curves. Hiway driving can be loud (engine, wind and road noise) and suspension is somewhat harsh over rough choppy pavement and pot holes. The car is best as "canyon carver" and weekend autocross car.
From what I've heard and read the difference in the ND1 and ND2 engines are really not that different unless you're the type to always bring it to red line. There may be up to a half second in the 0-60 times between the ND1 and 2.
Suggestion: Take it for a long test drive. Top down and up. Different types of road. Check to see if it comes with summer only tires, especially if you plan on driving it year round in cold climates.
There are new 17 and 18s on the lots and you can probably get a good deal if you want to save thousands. Just released sales numbers are way down year over year so dealers want to move them. Plus many buyers have been waiting for the just released 2019 30th anniversary edition. There are also lots of low mileage used ones out there. Avoid the early '16-'17 manual trans ones unless they have been brought in for the upgraded version trannys. There were issues with them - google Miata ND transmission failures.
If you buy new expect to take a HUGE hit should you decide to sell or trade in the the first 3-4 years. Good luck!

 

Thanks for the info about the transmissions and comfort . May just stick to the original plan and update to a C6 ...

 

I honestly think that is a good move. My son has a C6 and loves it. You're in a completely different league with the C6 even though the ND is newer. Enjoy!

(PS - one thing I didn't mention above is I had several electrical "gremlins" from day one with the Miata show up from time to time. Although they were quickly fixed it was annoying to leave the car with the dealer to be sorted out. Didn't' expect that from a new Mazda.)

 

C6s are virtually bulletproof. Theres a few issues here and there (HB wobble is probably most common and none of my 3 had it). The issues are overall very rare.

 

I wouldn't mind springing for a 3000$ Miata to add to the fleet, But I really want a Triumph Spitfire,