MX-5 30th Anniversary @ 6 years old
Discussion
When I first saw the 30AE roadster, I thought it looked ace, not least because the Racing Orange was strikingly similar to the hue of the Fiat Barchetta that I ran in the late 90’s, so I dropped in at a local Mazda dealer in 2019 to see one up close. I said to myself, I could see myself in one of those - although didn’t give any serious thought to picking one up new.
From memory, Mazda took a while to shift them. I seem to recall a steady stream of pre-reg / low miles examples advertised at about £5k below the £28k list. List being £3k above the Sport Nav+ / £2k above GT Sport Nav+
How many left tells us that 368 were registered and that 30 are SORN.
A lot has changed since 2019, but apparently not the going rate for these… (in nominal £ terms).
Mazda approved used appears to be hovering at around £22k suggesting that the £2k premium was money well spent.
Will keep my eyes open over the winter months to see what gets listed…
From memory, Mazda took a while to shift them. I seem to recall a steady stream of pre-reg / low miles examples advertised at about £5k below the £28k list. List being £3k above the Sport Nav+ / £2k above GT Sport Nav+
How many left tells us that 368 were registered and that 30 are SORN.
A lot has changed since 2019, but apparently not the going rate for these… (in nominal £ terms).
Mazda approved used appears to be hovering at around £22k suggesting that the £2k premium was money well spent.
Will keep my eyes open over the winter months to see what gets listed…
I have a Soul Red 2019 RF and it is easily the best and classiest and most appropriate colour for a sports car IMHO. My second choice would have been the navy blue crystal metallic.
Even though the MX5 ND colour palette is lamentably dull, I still couldn't bring myself to own an orange car. MX5s don't exactly fly off the forecourt, for reasons of practicality, mainly and I am not convinced they often sell for the advertised price, especially as dealers like a £2k margin.
I certainly wouldn't pay a premium for orange, not while Soul Red exists
Even though the MX5 ND colour palette is lamentably dull, I still couldn't bring myself to own an orange car. MX5s don't exactly fly off the forecourt, for reasons of practicality, mainly and I am not convinced they often sell for the advertised price, especially as dealers like a £2k margin.
I certainly wouldn't pay a premium for orange, not while Soul Red exists
All good points.
As a potentially Marmite colour, I had assumed that the premium would have largely dissolved by now.
A Soul Red GT Sport Nav+ would do nicely, and there are probably at least as many 2019 examples to choose from.
I do like the orange and would pay something for it, even though I don’t think black wheels are always the right pairing, in this case it’s an exception that proves the rule.
I would also strongly favour Ceramic, but they appear to be quite rare.
They don’t photograph well - as auto settings on most cameras can’t cope, so hard to tell if a listed car is Ceramic, Artic, or Snowflake…
As a potentially Marmite colour, I had assumed that the premium would have largely dissolved by now.
A Soul Red GT Sport Nav+ would do nicely, and there are probably at least as many 2019 examples to choose from.
I do like the orange and would pay something for it, even though I don’t think black wheels are always the right pairing, in this case it’s an exception that proves the rule.
I would also strongly favour Ceramic, but they appear to be quite rare.
They don’t photograph well - as auto settings on most cameras can’t cope, so hard to tell if a listed car is Ceramic, Artic, or Snowflake…
LuS1fer said:
I have a Soul Red 2019 RF and it is easily the best and classiest and most appropriate colour for a sports car IMHO. My second choice would have been the navy blue crystal metallic.
Even though the MX5 ND colour palette is lamentably dull, I still couldn't bring myself to own an orange car. MX5s don't exactly fly off the forecourt, for reasons of practicality, mainly and I am not convinced they often sell for the advertised price, especially as dealers like a £2k margin.
I certainly wouldn't pay a premium for orange, not while Soul Red exists
I have a Soul Red too and it's the best colour they do. Went to look at a 30AE when launched but couldn't get passed the colour which was a real shame as everything else was spot on, toyed with the idea of getting one and wrapping it Soul Red, couldn't make the maths work at the time.Even though the MX5 ND colour palette is lamentably dull, I still couldn't bring myself to own an orange car. MX5s don't exactly fly off the forecourt, for reasons of practicality, mainly and I am not convinced they often sell for the advertised price, especially as dealers like a £2k margin.
I certainly wouldn't pay a premium for orange, not while Soul Red exists
Chucking my 2p into the ring.
I picked up a 30AE last December, it's been truly excellent to run this year. Value wise if I was to try and buy the same car again i'd be paying 10% more; it seems the market values the stack up of features Mazda fitted to these and their limited numbers may also play into this. At the time I was looking a 35k mile car was £17k and a 10k car £23k.
I'd say the Recaro seats are the most important feature Mazda added to the car, but the brakes and lightweight wheels are also appreciated, even if not as immediately obvious in benefit of the driving experience. Mazda's soul red paint is some of the best out there, but the racing orange really is nice and a bit different. Living near to C&M I see MX5s all the time but haven't come across another 30AE yet.
Buy one, the best you can justify, you won't regret it
I picked up a 30AE last December, it's been truly excellent to run this year. Value wise if I was to try and buy the same car again i'd be paying 10% more; it seems the market values the stack up of features Mazda fitted to these and their limited numbers may also play into this. At the time I was looking a 35k mile car was £17k and a 10k car £23k.
I'd say the Recaro seats are the most important feature Mazda added to the car, but the brakes and lightweight wheels are also appreciated, even if not as immediately obvious in benefit of the driving experience. Mazda's soul red paint is some of the best out there, but the racing orange really is nice and a bit different. Living near to C&M I see MX5s all the time but haven't come across another 30AE yet.
Buy one, the best you can justify, you won't regret it
Those Recaro seats do look great - would be interested to know how hard wearing the side bolsters are? I’ve seen a surprising number of 124 Spiders with trashed drivers side bolsters which can be an eyesore. Not sure if the leather Mazda have used on the standard/Recaro seats is any more durable, or not?
Are the front brake disks on the Anniversary bigger/updated, or was it just the calipers that were upgraded to Brembo units?
Hard to believe that prices are up 10% on a like for like basis but maybe that’s the December factor.
Are the front brake disks on the Anniversary bigger/updated, or was it just the calipers that were upgraded to Brembo units?
Hard to believe that prices are up 10% on a like for like basis but maybe that’s the December factor.
Mogul said:
Those Recaro seats do look great - would be interested to know how hard wearing the side bolsters are? I ve seen a surprising number of 124 Spiders with trashed drivers side bolsters which can be an eyesore. Not sure if the leather Mazda have used on the standard/Recaro seats is any more durable, or not?
Are the front brake disks on the Anniversary bigger/updated, or was it just the calipers that were upgraded to Brembo units?
Hard to believe that prices are up 10% on a like for like basis but maybe that s the December factor.
The seat bolsters don’t seem to wear very well but it’s not hard to rectify if it bothers you.Are the front brake disks on the Anniversary bigger/updated, or was it just the calipers that were upgraded to Brembo units?
Hard to believe that prices are up 10% on a like for like basis but maybe that s the December factor.
I believe the disk are slightly bigger, they are certainly different, but it’s not a significant difference.
And I’m as surprised about prices as you are. I’d have been fine with 5-10% depreciation but as I type today they are up. Even at 20% annual depreciation I’d say it represents value such is the fun they deliver
Front brake discs do appear to be a different part number.. ND2-7033118
https://www.ilmotorsport.de/en/mx-5-brake-disc-bre...
… although when I threw a couple of registration nos. into AutoDoc, it came back with the same Brembo part no. for both AE and regular.
https://www.ilmotorsport.de/en/mx-5-brake-disc-bre...
… although when I threw a couple of registration nos. into AutoDoc, it came back with the same Brembo part no. for both AE and regular.
Edited by Mogul on Saturday 1st November 18:19
I finally got into MX5 ownership again after a 25 year break and really, really wanted a 30th AE having missed out on the 10th AE when I first had a mx5. Unfortunately I had one lined up and then the seller ghosted me.
In the end I got a Recaro edition.
You are right the seat bolsters don't wear well and sitting in the normal seats and recaros dont feel that different to me and I wonder if it's more the seat material that makes a difference.
I don't notice the engine differences between the mine and the AE, but I don't particularly drive fast.
I agree with others the soul red is beautiful, but given my anxiety about taking care of it and difficulty in colour marching I deliberately bought a ceramic grey/ white one.
If you are near NW London happy for youbto take a look .
In the end I got a Recaro edition.
You are right the seat bolsters don't wear well and sitting in the normal seats and recaros dont feel that different to me and I wonder if it's more the seat material that makes a difference.
I don't notice the engine differences between the mine and the AE, but I don't particularly drive fast.
I agree with others the soul red is beautiful, but given my anxiety about taking care of it and difficulty in colour marching I deliberately bought a ceramic grey/ white one.
If you are near NW London happy for youbto take a look .
Thanks for the offer, although I am miles away in the SW.
I have started looking at 2016 Sport Recaros and it’s clear that the AE is quite similar (with the later tune, Brembos, and the GT stuff, lights etc).
Almost twice as many sold so easier to find and I see 3x Soul Red (with lower miles) at around £15k and 7x Ceramic (with higher miles) at around £14k, both make the AE look expensive at around £22k on average..
I have started looking at 2016 Sport Recaros and it’s clear that the AE is quite similar (with the later tune, Brembos, and the GT stuff, lights etc).
Almost twice as many sold so easier to find and I see 3x Soul Red (with lower miles) at around £15k and 7x Ceramic (with higher miles) at around £14k, both make the AE look expensive at around £22k on average..
While the orange is a bit of a marmite colour, the spec of the 30th anniversary cars was unavailable elsewhere in the range - the Recaro seats in particular. When I bought my MX5 18 months ago I hung on to see if another interesting special edition would be produced for the 35th anniversary but instead the ND3 came out and Recaros were available at last. So that’s what I went for - the BBS forged alloys are similarly light to the 30AE wheels, it has the Brembo brakes which I assume are basically the same as the 30AE ones and I added alcantara dash and door cards to complete the effect - but in grey not orange.
Since a used set of the Recaro seats is rare and seems to go for £3k on their own it’s not surprising cars with them seem to be sought after. If only Mazda offered an interesting colour other than Soul Red though; the NC came in many interesting colours. I wrapped mine but I’d far rather be able to choose a special paint from the factory.
All MX5s seem to have a very gradual depreciation curve but I think the 30AE will always do well compared to a similar age Sport Nav due to the Recaros and unique paint.
Since a used set of the Recaro seats is rare and seems to go for £3k on their own it’s not surprising cars with them seem to be sought after. If only Mazda offered an interesting colour other than Soul Red though; the NC came in many interesting colours. I wrapped mine but I’d far rather be able to choose a special paint from the factory.
All MX5s seem to have a very gradual depreciation curve but I think the 30AE will always do well compared to a similar age Sport Nav due to the Recaros and unique paint.
I’ve had my 30AE since spring 2022. It was on 16k miles when I bought it and is now on 31k, so it’s higher mileage than many other 30AEs out there. It has the factory fitted Eibachs so sits a little lower and I really like the stance and difference it makes to the handling.
I was quite happy to pay the few grand premium, I had initially looked at spending more on a new one but I love the colour, wheels and the Recaros work really well for me as they are lower than the standard seats and I’m between 6’2” and 6’3”, so rationalised the premium over a standard car by saying I was saving money vs buying a new one.
The colour gets a lot of comments (mainly positive) and I like having a car that stands out a bit, it’s my fun/weekend/summer car at the end of the day.
My driver’s bolster is now showing the slightest of wear which I want to attend to over the winter - anyone have any recommendations for these Recaros in particular?
I was quite happy to pay the few grand premium, I had initially looked at spending more on a new one but I love the colour, wheels and the Recaros work really well for me as they are lower than the standard seats and I’m between 6’2” and 6’3”, so rationalised the premium over a standard car by saying I was saving money vs buying a new one.
The colour gets a lot of comments (mainly positive) and I like having a car that stands out a bit, it’s my fun/weekend/summer car at the end of the day.
My driver’s bolster is now showing the slightest of wear which I want to attend to over the winter - anyone have any recommendations for these Recaros in particular?
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