Yes correct but you mean, rust easier here than in Japan 
Case in point, my previously owned Mk2 import has never failed an MOT in the UK, it’s been here 12 years and still I believe leads a pampered life. Before that 10 years in Japan so it got off to a good start in it’s life re less chance of it rusting.
I told a porky re never failing an MOT, it did in 2008 when imported and registered, no rear fog light.
Yes, that’s what I meant indeed. Thanks 
My NC, that I don’t own that long, had an engine transplant as the 1.8 bearings failed and I reconditioned one of the calipers. Calipers on Japanese cars is a thing I’ve heard and experienced, having owned 5 Japanese cars and all of them had caliper seizure problems.
I was very disappointed about the engine. I did my research and knew they could use oil but that they were this fundamentally flawed was something I found out after I did even more research when the engine failed. Very un-Japanese to use such a bad engine.
Probably a good percentage had poor oil maintenance, check levels weekly and it should be good.
Must admit they revised the engine for the NC2 if some failed anyway it seems in was the NC1’s so I reckon it was more fragile than the latter if not maintained correctly.
Sorry to hear about your engine problem Nippan but, particularly as you haven’t owned your car for long, this is likely to be due to neglect by a previous owner.
I believe the consensus of opinion on here is that some NCs use oil while others don’t? The key thing of course (as with all petrol / diesel powered vehicles) is to check the oil level regularly & keep it topped up to maximum.
My NC’s never used any oil at all during the 8 years / 37,000 miles for which I’ve owned it; the level never changes between services but even so I still check it regularly.
I certainly wouldn’t say that it’s a bad, fundamentally flawed engine.
I agree with you, my NC 1.8 is about the same age and mileage as yours, never uses any oil and is regularly serviced. I had a SEAT Leon FR 2.0 about 10 years ago and although had from new it began to drink oil at an alarming rate. When I raised it with the dealers they said it was quite common and nothing to worry about until it uses more than a litre every 1k miles!!!
So I thought the same. Untill it happened to me. I did more research, talked to experts. The cilinder walls are too thin making it deform when the engine gets older. I have a young 2.0 now and it uses no oil. But when the walls deform it will start using. A matter of time. Engine experts have also told me that the piston rings easily get clogged up, then breaking down. These 2 things cause the engine to start using oil. Up until it gets so bad that people have reported failing engines with oil level half way between min and max. On other places on the internet you read different things. But the rate at which the engines go is disappointing. The engine is also prone to oil starvation. Ask yourself why second hand engines, even the simple NA 1.8’s with a measly 125hp, are so damn expensive. They’re in demand and relatively scarce. A Honda K20 isn’t much more expensive while that’s a much more advanced and powerfull engine. Bullet proof too.
One of the many topics about it: https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=566738
Just do a search on “MX5 NC bearings” 
Planned on doing a nice BBR GTI upgrade but not anymore.
By the way, oil usage isn’t a big problem for me, as long as the engine keeps functioning. I’ve had a Honda with a D-series (1.6 125hp), known for oil consumption. Used 1 liter every 1500 miles or so. Didn’t really care and engine actually ran very wel. Even got 7,5 seconds 0-62 and 137mph (GPS) top speed out of it with some bolt ons 
My car’s history from new:-
Certainly, by a wide margin, the most reliable of the 7 cars I’ve owned during the last 36 years; I’m very satisfied.
You’re of course going to encounter a certain amount of bias on a forum dedicated to a specific vehicle… However, pretty much all of the items you’ve listed are the result of general normal wear and tear, lack of use, heavy handedness, and the rest I would attribute as being normal niggles of any car;
both front callipers seized
broken interior light switch
broken coil spring
drivers seat worn such that the foam is spilling out
seat belts don’t retract
exhaust sensor failed
electrical fault (either alternator or parasitic drain, still to be diagnosed)
Not familiar with this a common fault, lots of possible causes - I’ve known drains to be caused by something as simple as a bad battery connection or earth in the past.
blocked drain holes (I know this happens to everyone) - it has caused corrosion
widespread (but so far manageable) corrosion underneath
noisy water pump
paintwork easily scratched.
It sounds like you’ve definitely fallen out of love with the car. You might want to consider cutting your losses at this point and moving on.
If not, I’d still consider selling it, saving up and buying a younger/lower mileage model that has been better cared for… I’m not saying you’ve ended up with a lemon, but I think a lot of the maintenance has been skimped over its life and its all now surfacing at once.
My MX5 has never missed a beat and thankfully nothing has gone wrong with it.
I am “Quite OTT” with the engine oil and filters on my cars.
Mine never uses any oil either. 
It’s important to use the correct grade 5W-30 (or other W recommended) oil and ALWAYS use a Genuine Mazda filter.
Don’t get me wrong, but some garages will change the oil using 5W-30 (or other specified W factor), but not always the correct grade.
Likewise, independent garages probably will not use OEM filters.
Some will say oil is oil but in my opinion it isn’t.
I worked out that my engine oil gets changed around 4500 miles which works out every year.
The service schedule states every year or 9400 miles.
The oil colour is quite dark and dirty at that mileage so would never leave it for 9400 miles.
Am I being over cautious?
Probably.
PS, I did change the rear discs/pads at 15000 miles as they really were poor, rusted and grooved. I put Ferodo coated ones on. It was looking like they were not even being used and thought they were seized, (they weren’t). I also noticed the callipers bind on (when wet) when left for a short while even in the garage. I now run it after washing to dissipate the water from that area before putting it away and have never had a problem since.
Between the years 95-97 I had a brand new Citroen Xantia.
And was covering about 1000 miles per week.
The service interval was 9000 miles, so every 9 weeks it had to go in for a service.
Only the car broke down in one form or another in between just about every service (I kid you not)
The car was in the dealership about 10 times each year for two years.
Now that was a troublesome car.
It is difficult if you don’t feel the love for a car. You start to look critically at every bit of it 
Personally, speaking as a biased owner 
I’ve always been happy to sort issues and problems on my 5’s over the twenty years I’ve owned them. The mk1’s have been a mixture of modding and restoration and mk3’s significantly more modding!
I’ve enjoyed them all as I do like tinkering and in terms of reliability, I’ve never had to be recovered due to a breakdown. I have had problems such as an exhaust valve breaking up but managed to limp home on 3 cylinders in a mk1. The thing for me though, is stuff like wheels/tyres/brake pads/discs/callipers/drop links/fluid changes/filters etc, on the maintenance side with rust repairs/treatment and cosmetics also being attended to as a matter of course. This helps keep the car tip top
Had an electric roof problem last year which ended up with a main dealer repair but that’s all in the past and roof is now perfect! I love owning a 2 door, 2 seat convertible, they are a lot of fun! I don’t want an alternative car to the Mazda as I believe they will also have their own issues as well, I’ll stick with what I know 
As an ‘enthusiast’ owner though, it’s different to just owning and running a car. Maybe expectations are different? I accept issues that might be seen as a problem to an owner that just wants the car to start, run and stop with minimum input from themselves. I am not putting down OP, as everyone has their own way of dealing with stuff. I hope he gets his car sorted so he’s happy, or as suggested, move on to a newer and hopefully less problematic model.
Barrie
Barrie
Rusting sills is not due to owner negligence. Its due to design. On Mk1s/Mk2s, the seam between the outer rear wing lip and the inner wing fails, allowing corroding road muck to penetrate. Mazda included in the sill structure a pocket that doesn’t drain. For this pocket to be filled by water from a blocked drain, shoddy roof, the water in the sill needs to get to 5-6" depth. Cars that bad will be full of mould.
Its not a given that if a 20 year old car is a convertible, it must have rusty sills. viz BMW Z3. They don’t rust.
Going back to the 51 plate era I was attracted by the Renault Laguna, the car with the credit card sized ignition key, and found one just 6-months old. I had it less than two years and it had to go back to the main dealer 18 times during that period.
Plenty of little niggles from the start, with a gearbox failure at 4,500 miles the first major bind. Windscreen wipers that would not turn off after a rain shower, when 200 miles from home, meant having to remove the wipers for the rest of the journey. One morning I thought I had sat in the Captain’s chair on the Starship Enterprise, as every single dash light flashed on and off, whilst the speedo and tacho needles jumped from zero to maximum, and back again, every few seconds - it needed a completely new dashboard. Electric windows (both sides) that went up and down of their own free will, and then stayed down and would not come back up again. Rear brake failure at 20,000 needing replacement discs and calipers. Everything was under warranty, so cost was not an issue, but that is not the point.
It reached the stage where Renault UK stepped in and offered me a replacement model, with fewer miles and six months newer, except… upon entering a pay and display car park and taking a ticket from the machine, the window would not close - already been there, done that, and got the t-shirt. And then ironically rear brake failure at the same mileage a few weeks later. Enough was enough so I traded the replacement back into the Renault garage and bought something less French.
Three months later a knock on the door. There was a poor chap stood there with the first Laguna parked outside, the one with 18 visits in 18 months for repairs to be carried out. “Excuse me mate, sorry to bother you,” he said, “but did you ever have a problem with that car?” Now it is funny you should ask I said… and handed him over the file I had kept for two years. Apparently his next stop was the Renault garage with said file in his hands!
As Keat63 has said, now “that was a troublesome car”.
And this is why I will NEVER have a french car 
You do exactly what I do re oil changes, no matter what every year Mobil Super 3000 5w 30 FE, also around 4-5k miles.
The daily driver gets long life 5w 30 Castrol Edge Titanium, I suppose I could use the Mobil but the spec says the Castrol suits it better. That too gets changed every year, again I only do 4-5k miles.
I’ve got both lots of oils and filter to do it sometime this month.
I always smile now at when taking my Vauxhall in for a service a few years ago, it was one of these big nationwide car sales outfits… I bought the car off them secondhand and when due the next service was free in with the deal.
I asked the service manager what oil they will be using in my diesel engine, his reply, ho I don’t know that one, it just comes in a big drum. I never did find out what they used, I changed it pretty quickly myself as soon as I had the time.
I just had to post this - I had an MG Metro when I passed my test (thanks dad!!), it did not have a chance to break down as I had a bit of an accident in it - thankfully I was alone and had no injury - amazing…
As far as MX5 regular costs - I do not think there is such a thing - but I am looking forward to getting mine back on the road after a bit of welding and then settling down to just “servicing”, but I think quite a bit of members spend is discretionary…
Crikey that poor old MG Metro. I think it was those red seat belts that saved you😀
Most modern car paint is very soft, being water based for eco reasons. The paint on my Audi and Merc is probably softer than the mx-5. The other factor is the vast amount of loose stones on crap UK roads.
