Rich, if I was buying a 1.5 Sport, I would also look at the 1.5 R Sport special edition in Polymetal grey with the red leather and black Rays alloys.
There are a lot on Autotrader discounted to £24500 still with Mazda 0% finance.
It’s a better spec 1.5 for the money.
Likewise there are some 2.0 100 anniversary models for £26995, that have been slow sellers, again with 0%.
Here’s my 1.5 Sport Nav in Soul Red Crystal, bought a couple of years ago. Only done about 3500 miles and haven’t noticed any stone chips as yet. Colour choice is highly subjective, but what I like about mine is that it changes according to the light. I do like the new blue colour which to my eye runs the SRC a close second. White cars are not for me I’m afraid.
Consider a half cover. If it’s a high days and holidays car, you’ll hardly ever need to wash the hood, but without a cover it will accrue moss over winter and generally degrade more in the sun. A half cover will also keep crud out of the drains and preclude water ingress in driving rain. There have been a couple of threads on here on half covers in the last year or so. I like the Mazda one, it looks thin and flimsy but it’s durable and stays on. I’d avoid the elastic chin strap ones, mine was forever ballooning in the wind and the elastic lost its goodness quite quickly. Just make sure the four inches or so of paint around the cockpit is perfectly clean before you put the cover on. I always keep mine clean anyway but I had some waterless wash handy for specifically for this task which takes no more than a minute or two. (I keep the car in a garage now).
I’d also advise getting a couple of dessicant bags (link) to keep the inside dry if it’s living out. I’m not suggesting it will leak, but condensation can lead to damp if it’s standing for days or weeks at a time.
I think the blue will look great.
They all get stone chips but an option is to have a clear self healing film on the high impact areas.
Any local place that does car wraps will do it and should not be very expensive on a new car as there is little prep.
Thanks for everyone’s comments, I have today purchased the 1.5 Sport in Soul Red, feel better already not agonising over colour choice … they even managed to find me a reg plate with the letters MX in it ! I’ll give some first impressions and a longer introduction in a week or so.
Congratulations… I assume you’ll take delivery of this a lot quicker than your original choice of Deep Crystal Blue?! Look forward to reading your first impressions and some pics in a week or so!