OK, as my car is going tomorrow and while I do like AE30 its not essential i need to get a car within say a week.
This looks good with 8k and is GT Sport Nav the top standard spec?
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I paid £285 for the Performance Bushes kit which included the fitting kit. I liked the fact that they were spherical bushes. MX5 Parts sell a cheaper polybush kit. My local motor factors sold me a set of Apec discs and pads for £100. I believe the calipers, discs and pads are generic to several Japanese cars.
That looks a nice car Paul. I wish it had been on the market when I had to get rid of my BBR Super 220 ND2.
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Decided against the AE at Sytner. Ill get looking again.
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TL;DR: GT Sport Nav+ was the top standard specification.
However, I wouldn’t chose it over a 2019 Sport Nav+ due to interior colour (Sand).
I also believe the one you have linked is a Sport Nav+, not a GT Sport Nav+.
Back to other aspects discussed in this thread…
Bushes are a known issue, I am on my second set on my RF but it is also on ~114k so I can’t exactly complain, not sure exactly how long each set lasted.
Worn/pitted and scored or any other comments on brake discs is also normal unfortunately. The rear disks don’t seem to hold up well at all the the elements in general!
Tyres on MOTs I would not say is anything against the owner, I was infuriated when I dropped my car in for a new tyres and an MOT so they failed it first with a bad tyre then fitted it and passed it when I had explicitly told them a tyre was required before the MOT.
Owning both a 2.0 ND1 and a 2.0 ND2 the ND2 is a lot more sprightly for obvious reason so I would lean towards that if you want a 2.0 engine.
RF vs. soft top is purely preference, I got a RF first as it was my only car and lived outside but now I have both and still can’t decide…guess I am keeping them both 
I have only ever driven in the Recaro seats 
but have been told they are better than the standard seats in overall comfort as well as holding you in so would aim for these if possible but from 2019 onwards that limits you to a 30AE of a 2024 Homura.
Full story
There were 8 specifications in 2019 including 1.5 and 2.0 engines plus manual and automatic gearboxes so I am just going to focus on the the 3 specifications for manual 2.0 engines from lowest to highest:
- SE-L Nav+
- Sport Nav+
- GT Sport Nav+
The GT Sport Nav+ additional extras over the Sport Nav+ were:
- Sand leather seats
- Stainless steel scuff plates
- Blind Spot Monitoring System with Rear Cross Traffic Alert
- Adaptive LED headlights
- Reversing camera
- (Plus optional paint choices)
My understanding is that the ‘+’ was added to 2019 onwards cars to indicate the new engine before all specifications were given new names (I have discussed this elsewhere on the forum).
More details can be found here for anyone interested (it is the UK 2019 brochure):
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Great data!
You’re right I didn’t put the GT due to the sand leather. In guess jeans could stain the leather and harder to keep clean overall, but it does lift the cabin and looks reasonably classy. Thats another thing with the AE, if you could get you’d pay 2k or more perhaps for a set of Recaros so hey get the AE. I love the looks of the RF especially in SR, but i just want a soft top if poss. My wife wants the RF as she thinks it’s safer and quieter with top up but I doubt there’s much of a difference.
I feel it has to be 184ps so that’s what I’m getting.
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At one point the Recaros were ~£4k per seat from memory if you wanted to buy them! They are now part of thre top trim which is ~£2k more than the previous.
There is a massive difference with the top up! When I first sat in a soft top I went around checking all windows and doors were closed because it was so noisy compared to my RF (they were all closed).
Been following quite a few posts on this forum about the relative benefits of the 1.5 compared to the 2.0 ND and I’d seriously recommend driving both if at all possible, you might just find the 1.5 suits your particular driving requirements better as the consensus appears to be the 1.5 is a little more fun to drive.
Hope that does not confuse your situation any more than absolutely necessary.
No not at all, I drove on the M1/A1 twice a month and think maybe suits better. I’ve had to 1.6 NAs so I don’t know if that’s why I want 2.0 . I should drive both I guess.
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Personally I don’t think you can always take advisories literally. Even the dealers round here do the MOT first to see what needs fixing, then the service. I told mine the rear disks and hubs needed doing and guess what was on the MOT?
Yes I guess so, but the Sytner folk will say anything to try to shift it.
Hey does the AE30 have Bose?
I had a Sept 2019 GTSportNav+ in Snowflake white.
As you say, the sand leather lifts the interior.
White was not my preferred choice but this was a pre-reg with delivery miles so too good an opportunity to miss .
I drove it down from the Hull dealership to Surrey, in January and realised white hides the dirt when I got home.
Snowflake really pops in bright sunshine, surprised me how good it suits the 5.
If you’re in no rush to buy, keep an eye on Autotrader and track price history, to try and nab a bargain as dealers need to shift to make way for new stock.
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Yes it does have the Bose.
I assume it’s better than the base system but who knows in a noisy sports car? I can’t say it’s notably different to the Halfords Audioline system in my Spitfire that had been transferred from my three previous cars!
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You could hear the radio in a Spitfire!? I never could, and I could never get rid of the ignition system interference no matter how many capacitors and chokes etc. I fitted to try and filter out the noise 
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Looks great. Why’d you sell it?
Think it’s a bit of an unknown. Mines on 16.5K and, touch wood, fine. I’ve looked at MOT histories of a number on AutoTrader over the years, primarily out of boredom, to try and get a hint of an answer to your very question. I’ve seen 60K milers with nothing in their history, but advisories on 30Kers. Maybe it has a bit to do with how it’s driven/road ‘quality’/‘luck’/conditions its driven in etc. It may be just what factors cause a poorly designed part in the first place to fail even quicker.Just guessing. Mazda, via the TSB seem to think it’s sorted now (and I’ve not read of any '22 plate onwards ones having it, bot of course their mileage might still be quite low). So If one went the Mazda route if/when theirs need doing, at least it’s probably not a case of paying ££££ for another inherently defective part.
I’m also baffled as to why literally zero US owner report of the problem, despite those having tight corners/horrible roads in cities etc.
You never really win with cars. I was thinking if I got an ND3, the problematic bushes are probably sorted, as is the potential window regulator thing…but then hood rubbing still seems hit and miss and since about '22, gearbox issues have started to be reported again. Pick your poison.
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Silly prices post COVID, local Mazda dealer made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Bought a MK1 instead.
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Yeah, see what you mean. In the height of it I could have got about £300 MORE than I paid for my pre reg ND, when it was then over 2 years old with about 10K miles on it!
Don’t let the light coloured leather seats put you off. When i bought my 2021 GT last year it had the
white/ivory leather seats, and the first thing i did was buy an Auto Glym leather protection kit. After a swift wipe down with the cleaner (they didn’t really need it) i applied the leather balm to them, now if i get a mark fro jeans the cleaner and a bit of balm takes care of it perfectly.
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Odd question, but is it only really jean-type fabric which potentially gives a (removable) stain? What about say trackies?