"Least reliable cars by category
COUPES & CONVERTIBLES - Mazda MX-5 - 71.0% reliability rating" (Shows a picture of a ND)
Personally for an older car, I would get something 2.0 from Honda with a K20 of F20 engine.
The NC is probably the best value for money with reliability though.
Thankfully all being company cars decades ago, the only cars that either failed to start or finish a journey were British âengineeringâ.
I have had no problems at al with my MK3 2006. But it is still âyoungâ and not used as much as I like. Again a clean sheet on itâs MOT last week.
However It still has some way to go to match my 1999 V70 Volvo at 251k on the clock, and had itâs only break down on the fuel pump letting go a couple of years ago on about 200k. Sadly the MX5 does not have the rust proofing of my old Volvo which coming on 22 years old still is as clean underneath as when it rolled out of the factory
I take issue with the reliability for the Mk4 MX5, mine (2016 1.5 SE) has covered 10,000 miles under my ownership and has been bullet proof reliable, returning 52.3 mpg and has cost me very little on maintenance costs. I owned a 2011 Honda Civic 1.4S as my main car for 3 years and this was the only vehicle to match the reliability of the MX5.
â Of all the Japanese cars I owned, the best built & engineered by a country mile was my Celica GT twin cam liftback. Cornered & handled like a bowl of custard on oiled marbles though looking back.â
Iâm glad you said that about the Celica. I have always wanted one as someone had a green one when they were new who parked in the local car park when I was at school. But if it handled like a pudding maybe not and a bullet dodged.
We know that the MX-5 has always been regarded as the most reliable sports car in the world. Maybe the ND is a bit less so than the previous models.
But even if WhatCar are to be believed, on that page with the âLeast reliable cars by category, COUPES & CONVERTIBLES - Mazda MX-5 - 71.0% reliability ratingâ you can see that the other cars branded as least reliable in their respective category have much worse reliability ratings than 71%.
It shows that the category âcoupes and convertiblesâ is a pretty reliable one, if the car finishing last in it has a 71% rating.
I am sorry, but from my empirical experience the Mk4 is as good or if not even better on reliability than previous models!
If I had chosen my cars by reference to reliability Iâd have missed out on an awful lot of enjoyment and some unforgettable journeys . Iâm lucky to have a second car for fun and the fact that an MX5 is reliable is a bonus , but wasnât the key criterion in choosing it . And , having driven some shonky horrors in the 70s and 80s , everything seems reliable these days - no running on , angst- ridden cold starts, misfires or overheating.
I totally agree, I did love my old MGBâs, during the 1980s, but it was actually a real delight, when they fired up from cold, despite residing in a nice dry lock up garage. None of MX5âs have had that luxury and have presented me with the bonus of no ignition issues!
I also own a Mk2 Icon and despite she is nearly 21 years old, still purrs away like an old cat!
I had a Triumph Dolomite Sprint, now we are talking unreliable. 
I had an MGB GT LE as an everyday car for 17 years, sat on the drive and started no matter what the weather. Ice on the inside of the windscreen when cold, condensation dripping on the dash when damp, ah what memories. 
The MGBâs were heaven in comparison to the TR7 for reliability. I Couldnât wait to get rid of mine, the TR7 similar to the MG TF 2002 onwards could have been a decent car, but was ruined by poor build quality, No a very sad day when Abingdon closed I owned an X reg B roadster might have been One of the last!
My favourite was a Damask Red 77 roadster we were together for Five years, I really loved that car! Still after a gap of 9 years I started on MX5âs!
I ran MGBâs for years as well - I had a Blaze (orange!) roadster for nine years - it was twenty years old when I bought it, and it was amazingly reliable - whatever the weather - all year round!
Then I moved over to MX5âs about sixteen years ago, and have had four different ones - all second hand - and all brilliantly reliable too!
Thatâs good to hear, I surely donât doubt the NDâs reliability.
And I donât care what the motoring press says about it.
The steering was recirculating ball from memory as opposed to rack & pinion.
Not a lot I could do about it, there was always a tad play before the wheels woke up.
However, I did do something with the springs & shocks ( Koni) and front discs (Tarox)
Again from memory, Iâm sure it was a disc / drum affair like my 2.8i Capris.
What was most memorable was the over all build, and the tough mica paint.
When I was written off by a girlie in Daddyâs Volvic, I removed some bits prior to scrappage egâŚthe Konis, and all the inner arch liners which revealed as-factory thick waxes & unblermished metals. Had I been in SWMBOâs old school Reggie Campus 5âŚIâd not be here.
PityâŚlovely car. Never took photos of it oddly for me.
Google photo of similar & the colour.
If there was some fancieful car competition, and the prize was one of your past cars, itâd be the Celica all day longâŚexcept this time, Iâd know how to make it stop, steer, and go like it should.
I imagined youâd not get a Celica lift back now. Iâd imagined there wouldnât be that many and they would all be rusted. But there is one on classic cars fair sale. A 79 for 6500âŚ
Spot on Andrew.
Unobtainable really.
Not wishing to put a damper on things, but ⌠Mechanically, my NC has so far given very few problems in 11 years and 100k miles of ownership (its 14 years old now).
THE BUT - if you wanted to design a car that would rot away from underneath the uninitiated/unwary you couldnât do a better job! Why?
Facts are difficult but statistics are pliable? 
Planned Obsolescence.
Over the years Iâve observed a few other manufacturers âomittingâ relevant protection in strategic hidden areas too. Some switch it around from one version of the model to the next, but there is usually something too expensive or awkward to fix that times out after around ten years on UK roads.
The general idea is that the car looks immaculate (ie good make) to the casual eye until suddenly it quietly vanishes off to the breakers for no apparent reason.