Faults:

Cracked centre console, caused by heat. They are quite thin, cheap plastic and a common problem I'm told. $130 to replace, so not a big deal.

After having the pop up headlights on for no matter how long, when turning them off, the driver's one pops up and down at least twice, and has carried on 9 times once, and I'm worried one day it won't stop. I think it could be the relay, and it's on my to do list.

General Comments:

Fantastic wee car; bought one after a friend convinced me to drive one after his liking of them for a few years, and have not regretted it one bit. I have the original 1.6 and I can see why most people comment on its short amount of powe, but it pulls along really well and has no trouble keeping up with traffic or passing them on the open road, and still does 0-100 in around 8.6 seconds, so not as slow as people make it out to be, but yes it would be nicer with a bit more.

The throaty little twin cam is a blast to rev up, and the snappy wee 5 speed box a joy to flick through. Really economical; I'm doing around 40 MPG town and highway, and it's around $75 to fill up from just over empty.

Handling is fantastic, go kart like, and I can throw it around corners with no fuss, and it just rewards you with huge grins every time. It's the type of car that will put you in a good mood every time you get in, no matter how bad a day you've had. I only use mine to go to work on Fridays and on sunny weekends, but always look forward to driving it. The power steering is well weighted, and not too heavy or too light thankfully, and very direct.

Not as noisy on the open road with the hood up or down as I thought it would be, and you don't have to have your music up loud to enjoy it. The headrest fitted speakers are a nice touch, but will be upgrading the whole system as the factory speakers don't quite cut the mustard sound quality wise. My car unfortunately has a couple of wee rattles present, but it is 24 years young, and with the stiffer suspension I'm not too surprised. I would recommend a hard top if it is going to be used everyday; it's bit quieter overall, and the heated rear window would be handy on wet days, except if you have an import MX5 with working A/C like mine.

I work for a 4 franchise car dealership (Mazda isn't one of them) and get to drive lots of cars of various ages, prices and mileages, and this would have to be in my top 10 or even my top 5 best cars to drive, despite its age and the little money you can pick them up for. It definitely is worth the bit extra to pick one up that's been well maintained, unless you want a bit of a project. Parts are a plenty and well priced. Overall I have not one regret, and my little 5 was worth every cent.

Faults:

Transmission has started to slip in drive.

General Comments:

For an automatic, this car handles excellent. I'm 72 years old and 5'10"; I have no problem in the cockpit.

The AC was converted to R134, and even with a rag top, it keeps you quite comfortable in the extremely hot weather we have in the New Orleans area.

Faults:

The windows are incredibly slow, but all that needs is a new motor.

The soft top is in terrible condition, but a 20 year old plastic window that somebody tried to break into will obviously have damage.

General Comments:

Great car. Incredible mpg and looks sexy too. Handles like no other, I can take corners at 30-40 mph.