1999 Mazda MX5 1.6i 1.6 from UK and Ireland
Summary:
Top notch full thrills no frills roadster
Faults:
Very little:
1) a cable came disconnected from the heater switch behind the dash board.
2) the roof leaked from time to time which soaked the carpet - or my knee if I was in the car at the time.
General Comments:
The most affordable proper roadster on the market.
I loved this car and would still have it if I did not have a baby.
The engine was a bit gutless though still enough oomph to make the tail happy on the driest of days - and I got it to 135 mph on the motorway.
Mine was in racing bronze, which is a bit of a hairdressers colour, though it stood out with the best TVR or Porsche!
Do not buy the most basic spec as I did - invest in electric windows, leather, a decent stereo, get the 1.8 (plenty oomph!) - also get a hard top; my car was broken into 5 times over 3 years!!!
Be prepared for people to be nasty to your MX-5. If you have more expensive marque like porsche or lotus - there's a grudging respect. With Mazda, people just think you're a flash tw@t. I had beer cans, stones and mucus flung in my direction over 3 years.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 14th March, 2003
31st Jul 2006, 06:25
Don't let em put you off owning an MX5 mate, people who behave like that are jealous and would swap places with you in a second. MX5 is in the record books for the most numerous sports car produced I believe, can't be too bad a car can it? Well done mazda!
7th Jul 2008, 19:50
Sorry to hear you being treated that way. As a tourist I got nothing but warmth and helpful service all over England and the Isle of Man.
If it makes you feel any better, America is itself turning quite socialist with similar/predictable results.
That aside, the Miata (as Mazda calls it here) is every bit as much a gem as you say. If I had to choose only one car to own, I think I would have to get rid of the Maxima, the Mustang GT convertible, and the Jeep Wrangler. Thank God I don't have to make that choice.
At 6'2" I'm at, what I consider, the comfortable limit in the MX-5s cockpit. It is a bit anemic at 5000 feet elevation (about 1660 meters) even with the 1.8, but the aftermarket has more than enough to offer to fill the need for more power.
Some enterprising Yanks a few years back were putting 302 V-8s from the Mustang into the Miata. LOL, have to wonder how it's balance was effected, but with that exhaust note and available thrust, would any of us really care? Probably not.
Bottom line, you either have an MX-5 and love it, don't and wish you did, or are just ignorant of the facts and missing out.
27th Dec 2009, 14:05
I am just about to buy a second hand Mazda MX5 1.8i. I have always loved them, can't wait to get in it and drive.
17th Jan 2006, 01:47
Mucus and rocks, wow poeple sure don't tolerate much car wise in the UK.