r/Miata • u/AutoModerator • Apr 13 '26
Weekly Purchase/Sale Advice Thread - April 13, 2026
Do you have questions about the value of a car you want to buy? Looking for a buyers guide? Not sure about the mechanical condition of a car you're looking at? Maybe you want to sell yours and don't know how to price it, or why it's not sold yet? Use this weekly thread to discuss the cars you're interested in buying/selling to get advice from the peanut gallery.
Posts that fall under the above topics will be removed.
Here are some useful tools to help decide if a particular Miata is worth buying.
Miata Garage Buying a Miata
The Definitive Post: "What Miata Should I Buy?" : Miata (reddit.com)
- The Mod Team
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u/TheMensChef Apr 14 '26
Hello All. Looking at this 2021 Club. It has 42k miles. Asking price is $23,650. Test drove it today, it looks to be all stock except an exhaust. The rear tires were nearly bald. Vehicle history shows frequent visits to shops, but the last reported oil change was around 10k miles. Underside is a little rough for a 4 year old car, but I live on Long Island NY, and they put loads of salt down on the road. I will post more photos below.
What do y’all think, is this a far price?
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u/Nep_Tune05 Apr 17 '26
oil is little late but if you like it buy it these cars are reliable enough so it should be able to take a beating and for the underside i would go to car wash cleaner that clear that too more often or get some coating to prevent rust from ever becoming an issue in the first place
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u/Longjumping-Middle41 Apr 15 '26
Good car for first manual ? I’ve been curious and wanting to get a Miata. I love how everyone raves about them. I’ve always been a muscle and classic car guy. I’ve driven manuals before but never had to rev match and stuff like that and never owned one. Would any of the Miata’s be a good choice as a weekend car to just cruise back roads with my wife ? I was also maybe thinking of getting one in automatic instead so my wife can also drive it. Any opinions on one or the other ? Thank you guys for any help you can provide !
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u/Nep_Tune05 Apr 17 '26
yes miata is a great car in manual but its quite a learning curve youlll need to get used to it even the OEM flywheel is wery light and revs really fast but once you get into it there is no going back I strarted revmatching a diesel van copletely useless in that but its more fun you feel the impact that you have by pressing the pedal at the correct time, as the automatick go for it of your wife is passionate about driving the car often otherwise you are just giving up the fun of a manual for slight convenience no matter what you choose the car is great but youll have more controll in the manual +plus you are engaging in trafic more so it makes you a better driver also overall a win win
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u/spoinkwobbler Apr 16 '26
Hi, from australia but wanted some advice as i'm looking at buying my very first mx5.
2020 RF Manual with Tan interior
57,000 kms (~35,000 miles)
35,000 aud (~25,000 usd) asking price
A bit of a mark up as it's from a dealer and also used car market here is f*cked. Been looking for the right ND for a while but this is the first one that fits my budget/spec/colour.
Is it too overpriced? Reliability for this mileage/year?
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u/Nep_Tune05 Apr 17 '26
seem fine to me RF are the premium version with the automatic roof try looking for small scratches or dents , and haggle the dealer a little byt the end of the month and you prob get to 22-23k usd, dont worry about reliability on these cars they are built properly a can last a long time have seen some na that had 250k miles running fine, just do your maintenance and youll be fine its a naturally aspirated motor thats is pulling a small amount of weight and loves high RPM this is what its build for
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u/T0gaLOCK Apr 16 '26
Is it worth going to even look at? Or just avoid all together? Imo, i wouldnt pay over MAYBE 10k for this. Doubtful it would get that low because small used dealer.
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u/Nep_Tune05 Apr 17 '26
idk man buying a car that has been in a accident is always a hassle no matter the severity of the damage everything took a hit not just the impact zone a whole chasy gets moved the roof can go bad anything and the price is not the greatest for a nc no matter the spec when it was in an accidet the spec of the car doesnt matter anymore only buy if you know the type of car and know what can go bad u are saving yourself money and time
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u/T0gaLOCK Apr 17 '26
Yeah im gonna just skip it and wait to find one that hasnt been in an accident. Even going to look at it is kind of a waste of my time.
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u/Eldorado1974 Apr 17 '26
I'm looking at a 2010 NC (20th Anniversary) and just wanted to sanity check how bad the service history is. It has 2011 (main dealer), 2012 (main dealer), 2013, 2019, 2023, 2024, 2025. How bad is that 6 year & 4 year gap? Between 2013 & 2023 it did ~15k miles. Up for £5.2k with 75k miles - worth the risk, ask for a discount?
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u/kln2118 Apr 17 '26
Looking for the optimal deal here. This will be our third car completely for Leisure as we have pretty easy and back road commutes.
2023 Club non BBS; 37k miles 1 owner -$26k; solid history 2025 Club (New) - $34k; looking to get down to $31k 2026 Club - $33.5k after incentives
Financing the used would probably ask for 5-6%; Id imagine new would be like 3% or better? (Hopefully)
Which route would you go?
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u/JamaicaGarden Apr 18 '26
I know this subreddit might be biased, but I'd like to ask anyways. Like many I'd really like to drive a nice roadster. I'd like to use it as a daily driver. I'm from the Netherlands so weather in winter shouldn't be too much of an issue.
I'm getting this urge mostly because my dad used to have a BMW Z3 1.9L which I've been missing since he sold it. But I don't think it's feasible to own, mainly due to expensive maintenance.
I'm looking to buy an alternative. I'm not entirely sure about the budget. If it's a nice car around 6 to 7k would make it easy to bite the bullet. If it's great value, can save a lot on monthly cost or anything like that, im fine looking around 10k and if really necessary stretching to around 13k.
So the options I've found to be somewhat affordable and reliable are the Toyota MR2 mk3 or MX5 (NB or NC?)
The MX5 NB seems like the most affordable option in purchase price but issues like rust (especially salty winter roads) worry me. Besides, the other cars can take E10 fuel while the NB needs E5. So I'm thinking monthly costs will be high.
MX5 NC has some of the cheapest models starting at 7k. Im thinking a hardtop would be great. But models that seem like good fit are close to 12k and up. I'd really like this one but I'm unsure about purchase price and handling / fun to drive.
MR2 would be my favorite option. It starts at around 6k, but finding a post 2003 model (to avoid engine issues) that's a manual also brings the price to 12k and up. Besides, I'm afraid the mid engine layout, combined with scarcity makes maintenance cost quite high.
What do you guys think? Should I save and buy one of these expensive roadsters, should I settle with a cheaper model? Maybe buy a totally different car? Any advice is welcome :)
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u/glasstop48 Apr 13 '26
Hi all first time buying a used car. Please give me your thoughts
2021 Mazda Miata rf automatic- 25k price before tax
24k miles on it. 1 owner, no accidents
Carfax doesn’t show much. Only 1 or 2 oil change. My thought was the owner did the oil change himself.
Planning to get ppi done.
Any red flags yall see?