1998 Mazda MX5 review from Australia and New Zealand

For the past year I have been looking for a 2 seat convertible for under AU$30,000. Thus limiting my options to either a Smart Roadster or a Daihatsu Copen in the new car market. My problem was that I wanted sports car performance with strong reliability and both of these cars performed poorly in road tests in Wheels magazine earlier this year. After taking a Copen for a test drive I found wheel's review to be accurate. The doors and the roof rattled at every bump as well as bouncing around the road like a ping pong ball. The Daihatsu dealer offered me a demonstrator model copen on road for AU$30,000 and after much consideration I refused. I never did like lemon juice! Wheels did recommend in their review of the copen to try a one owner mx5, with about 30,000km for the same price. I started looking in all the car yards for anything that suited this description. My criteria for choosing the MX5 were then, Convertible, one owner, and as new as possible for less than $30,000. I also kept the Toyota MR2 in mind, but never found one with low km's.

I happened to find my Mazda MX5 in a car yard about a month ago, it had been previously owned by a collector who had it since 1998 new, and only drove it on weekend strolls. He was someone with just far too much money! Worth $40,000 brand new I snapped it up for just $28,000 with as many km's as the demonstrator Copen.

The Mazda is simply fantastic, no rattles good seats. However with two people in the car elbows can sometimes clash. The radio is excellent to the point where I am now selling over AU$1,500 worth of car audio equipment, because I just don't need it. Handling is firm, giving me the confidence to corner at full speed. Engine power is satisfactory given the low weight of the car, however the turbo model now available new would go better, but I think it may sacrifice reliability.

I work at a supermarket as well as run my own graphic design business, and the response by the staff at work as well as clients has been WOW. People at work wonder how I can afford a $40,000 car on my slender wage.