Category: Convertibles 
Price Range: £15,000 to £19,695
Sweet engines, flick-switch gearchange, best-in-class handling, good value and cheap to run.
Slightly contrived styling, 1.6 a bit tardy.
Still one of the best, despite its age.
Fuel consumption averages out at a competitive 33mpg for the 1.8 and 35mpg for the 1.6. Servicing costs fall somewhere between those of an MGF and a Fiat Barchetta, while all three cost around the same to insure. No car has been so badly affected by the influx of Japanese grey imports as the MX-5. Previously it sold strongly all year round, but the large number of imports has turned it into a lower-value, seasonal used purchase. Nevertheless, the MX-5 still has a strong image, and many buyers will pay more for a well-looked-after UK model. They don't come all that well equipped, but 1.6 and 1.8 MX-5s offer reasonable value because of their competitive list prices. The 1.8 S, meanwhile, adds kit including ABS anti-lock brakes, alloy wheels, central locking and electric mirrors.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Mazda MX-5
wrote on 12 09 2007
wrote on 27 02 2007