Great videos, ive been watching these whilst looking to buy my first MX5. Ive just sold my Classic Mini Cooper 1275 and found a cracking 2.0L Sport Tech Roadster Mk3.5...so far so good, love it. Thanks again.

Always interesting to see how things compare. Here in the United States in the state of Maine the total cost of registering a 1994 Mazda NA is $130. For full insurance (fire, theft, collision) it costs $225 a year with the car valued at $12,000. That might seem high but it's a super clean car with only 29,000 miles. Gas prices are really high here in the US right now and I am paying $3.04 per gallon! They sometimes drop as low as $2.50 a gallon. Decent standard size 14" tires run about $320 for four. The problem facing Miata owners here in Maine is rust as we get a lot of ice and snow and they salt the roads. As a result the Miata is basically a summer only use car here.

Another great vid, the camera work and editing is on point 😁 I've found the trip computer on mine reads a little lower than what I'm actually getting. Best I've had is 41.1mpg and worst is 34.8mpg

At the age of 52 I took the plunge and bought a 2006 mk3 (nc) 1.8 with 124000 miles. Full service history - all the paperwork. It’s bright red - looks amazing and drives like a dream. Have owned an MG Midget and a BMW M3 convertible in the past. This is by far the most enjoyable. And guess what it cost me? £2000!!! Insurance for me and the wife works out at £220 per year, tax is £250. Can you have any more fun than that for less than £2500??? It’s amazing. Love your videos, and I’d recommend an MX-5 to anyone.

Great video, Tax is a Stinger on my 06 too,£300. Cheap parts make up for it. I'm also running Kumho tyres, previously pilot sport, too be honest not much in it unless you drive well on the edge. Eibach springs on the bilstein shocks are a good set-up too.

I have had to repair the engine in lots of this model and it is the most awkward engine to dismantle in the the bay, removing the engine is a very long awkward job. They use the terrible Ford duratec engine which does need the timing chain replaced but none of the cogs or the bottom pulley have keyways which means special equipment to replace it. I have seen one engine where the chain slipped and bent 14 of the 16 valves, and one cracked piston, the rear suspension is a maze of bars and rods and is a right pain to dismantle or replace parts. The mk 1 & 2 /2.5 's are a pleasure to work at, I could go on but......

If you haven't done so already? Replace the oil in the diff & gearbox. It often gets neglected & replacing it will definitely improve your MPG. I recently purchased an early NC that had never had those fluids replaced in 90k over 18yrs. It now no longer has the typicaly stiff/notchy MX-5 gear change for the first 5 miles or so from cold. It's now like a knife through butter straight out of the garage. And the mpg has improved from 35mpg when I purchased the car, to 42mpg after lots of fettling 😃

Enjoying your vids.I’m running the same kumho tyres on my NC 3.5 and find them to be fine. I had an older NC running on P zeros (sic?)a few years ago and the feel was very similar to the kumho. Just to add,I came back to an NC after a very expensive couple of years running a 987; the reliability of the MX and running costs is a no brainer as I use it as a daily.

Man I'm glad I'm in the US. No extra tax on the car and the insurance is DIRT cheap since almost no one dailys them. Insurance is about 15% cheaper than my previous Mazda 3. Miatas are super cheap to run here.

I just bought 4 Michelin Pilot sport tires for my 2012 mx5 Total was $1100 Canadian.Great improvement over the Bridgestone Potenzas it had on from new.The car only has 25000kms.Original tires are still 6\32 with no cracks or signs of wear

My insurance is only £240 a year not a month.bought the car fully serviced 5 months ago and haven't needed to open the hood as only done a thousand since then.Lovely car.

Great video, I just got one, and going to have to give it the full works. Not cheap but neither is any other car. Can't do it myself but maybe manage an oil change and filters in a year

Great video and informative. To give you a gauge Im currently running an 03 Boxster, tax is the same, servicing costs are double yours with a specialist, parts again you pay the porsche tax. Need set tyres and that looking at £600 set. It's all relative.

You do a fine job with these videos. Well executed technically (production value), nicely paced, you are good on camera, and your car looks great. The MX5 is an excellent choice for a second car; it checks all boxes (fun to drive, reliable, affordable, etc.). In your experience, how much inactivity can the car tolerate? How much inactivity can you tolerate your car having? Do you let it sit for more than 5-6 days without it being started and run? What is the longest span of time between starts for your car? I've just purchased a MX5 NC (2013 2.0 6MT GT PRHT) as a weekend car myself. I've not owned a weekend car before. I am not a stranger to the MX5, though. I owned an MX5 NB as a daily driver for 9 years, then sold it 11 years ago. My NC is quicker.

Nice video covering some good points. My 2012 3.5 model 2 litre is £260 a year to tax so not sure why its less. I also do a far less technical job with mpg. I just look at the mpg reading on the dash computer! Lol. Its also a weekend car averaging 30 miles per trip A and B roads and i am on about 39mpg so assuming its accurate i am happy with it.

About the insurance through Aviva the mx5 and other two seater cars were actually cheaper than an aygo / yaris / polo for some reason, but like you said it depends on many factors so maybe it was just me. But I couldn't find a cheaper car to insure than an mx5

I average 26mpg doing mixed highway city driving and using high octane 91 fuel with a bit of spirited driving

Here in Greece you would pay a 300€ tax for the 1.8. for the 2.0 it would be 690€.. So 300 seems fine 😅😅

Dom every boy needs a toy. An MX 5 is a great toy for weekends.

yeah i've looked for insurance as an 18 year old for one of these and the quote i was given multiple times was 6-7k which is literally double the cost of the car, real shame as i really love these cars

Nice video. I have an 06 plate NC 1.8. It’s done 128,000 miles but still feels solid and reliable. It’s great fun to drive (in the summer at least). Fuel economy seems pretty bad and it has a few issues like rusting around wheel arches and leaking boot / water in footwell but as it’s only worth around £1k I don’t really care that much. I owned a MK 2.5 from new many years ago, but prefer the MK 3 by far.

Another great and useful video, keep 'em coming! ;) I just bought an MX-5 NC Sport, i'm going to have to change my tyres soon, which brand would you recommend? I know you've been using Kumho tyres recently, i'm looking for 4season tyres definetely, as rain is keep blessing us lately... :D cheers!

My insurance for my mx5 as I first time driver is 2500, but that is a similar quote to the 1.4 audi a1 I was also looking at. (Both were without a blackbox)

Hey mate, nice video. You mention you service your car. How do you dispose your oil? I would generally keep away from Crossland filters myself and use Mann filters. I used to work at Euro and we always had Crossland filters returned to us. Never any Mann or Bosche filters.

You could always buy a restored 40+year old MGB (or any other classic car) and pay zero road tax! Plus the insurance is as cheap as chips. Oh, and they will probably increase in value, not depreciate.

How is the mx5 as a daily doing 20-30 miles a day not too much but ya. Just wondering on reliability and yes I know it's a four cylinder Mazda so should be bulletproof. Agreed?

Ok comes to about 8ltrs/100km. So more economical than my 1995 1.8iS. I just filled up 35ltrs for 360km - which comes out at 9.7ltrs/100km (31 mpg). But then that's town and B road driving in the main because it's my daily runabout - I tend to have a rather heavy right foot at times 😳). I run on 50% E85 (which is around €0.60/ltr here) and 50% 95 unleaded (about €1.45/ltr). The E85 probably increases overall fuel consumption by about 1ltr/100km but it's still cheaper overall than using pure unleaded. I do nearly all my own servicing too. Full service costs me around €30 for 5ltrs 10w40 semi synthetic and filter. Plug change was around €20. Just bought some nearly new Firestone Multihawk 2's (185/60/14) for €16 each. My local garage is doing the tracking (alignment and camber) for me for €50 as I had uneven wear on the front offside tyre. Overall she costs me way less than my VW Transporter! Insurance doesn't cost me an awful lot as it's way cheaper than in the UK. No road tax here either, but tolls on the motorway - if you use them (which, in the mx5 I don't). Mine's on third party insurance too given the value of the car - I bought her in the UK for £900 in 2017 and would probably be better off repeating the operation if I ever have any serious issues with this one. So there you go, soft top pleasure on a shoestring for an ex.pat in France. A modern eurobox would cost me a load more to run (and buy) and wouldn't be half as much fun...

Are your Black Circle quotes including fitting/balancing etc?

Cheers for the vid. What’s a good price for one these in similar spec and year?

Cost of ownership? Wait until you start the modifications. A supercharger can drop your milage to 21 MPG or keep it about 10% less. All depends on your right foot.

Just about to get an 2 litre NC as my daily, moving from a 1 litre Fiat Panda, wish me luck!...

so hiw much do you pay for insurance?

You let quick fit service you car? Are you crazy?

About the insurance through Aviva the mx5 and other two seater cars were actually cheaper than an aygo / yaris / polo for some reason, but like you said it depends on many factors so maybe it was just me. But I couldn't find a cheaper car to insure than an mx5