Correct about mileage
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And correct about buying a red one 
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It’s still relatively early days for the ND, but as far as I’m aware there aren’t any really big maintenance/wear and tear bills that come with miles and age as long as they’re well serviced. Whichever route you take it’d be money well spent to get it professionally undersealed if you’re keeping it long term. Gearbox failure is rather the luck of the draw, but is something I ‘self insure’ for just in case. Mine’s just about to hit 50k after nearly 10 years and it’s quite possible I’ll put another 100k plus on it before it goes unless I win the lottery.
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Hi there,
I feel your pain! I’d love a Griffith.
In November I bought the orange 30 AE. I bought it privately for £19,750 with a little over 9000 miles and it had a few subtle cosmetic upgrades. I could have bought ann older ND or a new one but once I’d seen the car in the flesh I was hooked. It looks amazing, gets loads of positive comments and my wife and teenage kids love it. Of course it drives very well and is surprisingly economical. I could do with a reversing camera at times but other than that it’s perfect. Warranty wise, I didn’t worry about that as you’re buying a very reliable car and in 8 months and 7k it’s been no problem. I had a full service at Roddisons yesterday which includes, diff oil, gear box oil, plugs, engine oil and the rest and that’s was £600 (Mazda Sheffield quoted £728). Looking at your figures I think I’d still buy a low mileage 30AE as I adore mine, it really is a special car. But as all the others have said whatever you get will be excellent.
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But if that were the case, we’d be living in really troubling times. I mean, if you can’t trust a car salesman, what’s the world come to.
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My car is Deep Crystal Blue, but if i could afford two…the other one would be red! 
After having 4 TVRs and now a 30AE the only thing I’d say is be prepared for every time you see a TVR to think “I wish I still had one” 
Even after you think of the heartache it’s caused you, the fact the Griff roof hardly fits in the boot, or getting 17MPG, getting scorched to death on hot days there’s still nothing quite like them 
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It took me 50 years to buy a new car after we sold both our 5s for health considerations.
For one word…depreciation. I detested the thought of all my hard earned going into the dealer’s pocket anf adding that to monthly payments was a big NO. The car we wanted was coming to end of its line production and is indeed no longer made by Suzuki. The one and only reason I did it was because it’s the last car we are ever likely to buy so value loss is of zero consequence, and we were able to put a thumping 40% deposit into the thing so frankly the PCP hit is about the same as our gas/electric bill, and a 7 year quibble( plus 100% reliability) free warranty did appeal…at our respective ages of 73 in a few days time. That was 2 years ago, and every time I drive it and feel the little turbo spool in, I like it more every day. There is no right or wrong answer really…but I know i did the right thing breaking my Golden Rule and going “Fresh off the Boat” one last time so to speak. Given it’s only done 3.400 miles, the dealer told me last week he has a short list of people ready to bite my hand off for it since it’s the top of range 1.4 turbo soft hybrid. They can try! My vote is hold out for a minted used 5, and let someone else take the hit. If you can nail an “as new” used example the trade in price will be that much better. People dont mind mileages with 5’s…as condition is all…every day.
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I agree with much of that. The thing is though, ‘nearly new’ car prices are taking the mick, too. A seller may have to suck up the depreciation, but that isn’t ‘passed on’ to the next owner, when a dealer wants a huge margin. Like Hormuras on Autotrader for ~ £31K with 5 or so thousand miles on them. Who in their right mind is going to pay £31k for a 5K miles used car when, getting 1-2K off a new one, said new one is only a couple of thousand more. Pre reg cars used to by dynamite- £5K or so of a ‘used’ car with 3 miles on it- but over many brands, thoses days are well gone.
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I’ve been thinking about it. I’m not sure an equivalent new car is only £1 - 2k more, I thought you’d be looking at high £30ks at best and I’ve seen used ones around £30k or even dip under, so almost a £10k saving. Happy to be corrected, though, because if a brand new well spec’d Homura can be had for sub-£35k it’s an interesting proposition. I was looking at RFs in blue, just for a change, and with Recaros.
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Yes, the RF is pricier again. I was considering the soft top version.
This, for eg £31,799 (priced before the April increase), when new it was sub £35 (pre increase). Say you got £1K off cash for a new one, then that’s a bit more than 2K more for a brand new one, compared to one pushing 4K miles, maybe used as the sandwich run car. And that’s considering cash v cash. As oposed to PCP, where the used one would probably have an even more stinging APR rate
I can’t see how anyone would consider this ‘deal’, v new
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202505282882141?sort=relevance&searchId=9f6c1dad-f1d4-46ea-a7b3-d832dbc44bb1&advertising-location=at_cars&make=Mazda&model=MX-5&postcode=bs11ad&year-from=2025&fromsra
With the point being, ‘letting someone else take the depreciation hit’ don’t seem to work all the time when you yourself are buying one!
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Much wisdom. Well presented Sir. 
Well said ND12!!! The truth is the nearly new nice 2021 cars (4 years old so with no manufacturer warranty are pushing £23-£24k, and then the interest rates on them are 11% APR as opposed to 3% on a new one on PCP. So you really have to add in £4k of interest as well to the purchase price making them actually £27000 in reality…
I’ve got dealers offering me £2000 off list on a new one and a £1000 Mazda contribution too so that’s £3000 off list meaning a 2.0 litre Exclusive edition brand new with 3 years warranty is around £34k including interest charges. But for that you’re getting a brand new car, a three year warranty and a car that in 4 years time when I retire will be more valuable because it is three years newer and has 20 000 fewer miles…
I have never bought a new car either because I have always avoided the depreciation, but I was also buying cars for around £15k or less which were half or a third of the cost of their new price. The problem with MX5’s is that some of the nicest and newest ones are actually costing 80% of the new price, and I have a bit of a problem with that…
Somebody earlier in the thread did suggest calling dealers right at the end of the month and asking for their best deal which sounds like an appealing idea if they’re trying to hit a quota bonus. Does anybody know just how likely this is to succeed in the modern age??? I mean sure I would love to get a new one for £5-6000 off list if this has any hope of working at all. My fear is that they might just tell me to ■■■■■■ off if they can sell all they can get in the height of summer…
Interesting discussion!
Birdseed008
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Pre Corona, pre reg cars were more widely available. The prices were not as stupid either. I mentioned mine I got £5.5K off and it was pre reged 9-10 days earlier, with 5 miles on it (I think, may have been 4!). £17K for that. Obviously with pre reg cars buying with cash is king, as you don’t pay the brutal APRs, as pre reg is still a ‘used car’ (even though it’ll have 10 miles on it or so. Those were the days eh. And to think we probably moaned even then. Now they seem to not blitz the production lines, churning out excess cars; they seem to make them to order with the odd ‘our demonstrator’/pastie run car, so pre reg and really good amounts of coin off are rare. I remember saying to someone that once the chip shortage is over, the car market won’t be the same again. That, with the brainwashing, sorry, advent of electrics, I don’t think I’ve ever called something with such accuracy.
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I’m not surprised!
It’s the art of negotiation, you start low and they start high. If a happy middle ground isn’t reached, each of you can just walk away.
There’s more than one dealership in the country and there’s always a deal to be done…maybe not quite as good they used to be (ND12 )
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I was in a similar situation as the op. Do I buy a new car that in 3 years time its only just out of warranty, and spend a fair amount achieving that goal, or save some money??
My option was: 2025 pre reg 1.5 for 24k, or used 1.5 2021 for 18.5K?
I ended up buying from Mazda a 2021 car, comes with 1 year roadside and 1 year warranty. At the end of the year Mazda will extend the warranty each year for £400-£500 approx. That is a lot cheaper and I get to keep more of my money in the bank. I can buy a lot of extended warranty over the years before I get close to the 4 year newer car price.
However, I can understand the appeal of a new car that no one has used and abused, done it myself and was torn with the idea. But because it was a car that only comes out for weekends, it seemed a lot of money to tie up in the garage
BTW had 2 GT86 myself, and I think the MX5 is the only similar alternative 
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Using my man maths to justify buying anything, if I was planning on putting aside £500 a year over 4 years for a warranty, I would knock that off the new car price in my head as it isn’t needed and say I’ve bought a new car for only £3.5k more than a 4 year old one - absolute bargain.
I know everyone is different and it is still costing you more money but you can’t argue against man maths - at least that’s what I always tell myself.
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The extended warrenty is usually a bit more if it hasn’t been directly continued after the manufacture one expired. Even a tiny gap then jacks it up. £500 seems a lot. I wonder if it had a gap from end of manufacturer’s warrenty to the dealership lobbing on the 1 year warranty when selling as a used car (the Mazda dealers warrenty is the same as the extended warrenty any one can buy). Once that gap happens, the increased price never goes back .
Also, for what it’s worth, the ‘Mazda’ extended warrenty isn’t a manufacturer one; it’s under written by a 3rd party. It’s actually the same outfit who do ‘Mini’s’ extended warrenty.
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Yes allianz or similar
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