2006 Mazda MX-5 Miata Pros and Cons at TrueDelta: Owner Pros and Cons by gtiger

Exterior styling

Current generation body. Beautiful, simple design. Larger than previous models. Purposeful stance. True to classic Roadster style. Reminds me of the old "rollerskate" MGA.

Handling

Pretty much everything. Supple, responsive, planted, predictable, accurate, solid, does not beat you up. Light, tossable. More fun than the 10 year old Boxster I was also considering.

Price or payments

Bought it used (2 years old) for $16,500 with 8000 miles on it. If you can find one you like for similar money, buy it. This model year has a 4 year bumper to bumper warranty, unlike subsequent years which are covered for 3 years.

Interior styling

I knew I wanted the tan leather interior seen first in initial Mazda ads at launch. It looks great, quasi-Italian sports car. Ergonomics excellent, everything falls to hand naturally. Top well designed and quick to deploy. Bose system good. No iDrive!

Reliability & durability

Mazda has closed the gap on Honda and Toyota. It hardly gets better than that. That plus the warranty and I have no worries.

Dealer practices

No Mazda dealership in my area has decent customer experience rating. I was hustled, misinformed, manipulated...all the things people hate about car dealerships. Little confidence that future service will be any more stellar.

Cargo capacity

Interior does not have map pockets in the doors. Trunk is apparently good for this category of car. I find it too small with the car cover taking up too much space. Store it someplace else if you can.