I looked at 8 cars before I bought mine, I had a wide budget, but wanted to pay less if possible. I also wanted one with an electric roof for security, but after seeing how rough most of the cars were I decided to buy what was best, regardless of whether it was a soft top or not. The cars I looked at ranged from 6K - 12K. The newer cars were not rusty but just had rubbish bodywork and one had an iffy gearbox. One had way more miles on it than the Honda dealer advertised, and I had to wait for it to be washed etc, even though I let them know a few hours prior to viewing it. The early cars had loads of surface rust underneath, and virtually all the thin/poor quality underseal was hanging off them. It was just by pure luck that I found my car, I was on my way to see a few year old one, for 14K at a Jaguar dealership with a really low mileage, I thought that a Jaguar dealer might make more of an effort, than I had witnessed so far off Honda, Mazda & independent dealers. I totally expected the car I decided to look at on the way, a 2006, 2.0 Sport, soft top to be a complete dog. It was in a Mazda dealership, and at the time priced sensibly at 5.5K with 35K on the clock and a FMSH, considering the so-called MX5 specialists that advertised on ebay, were advertising similar cars for 7K at the time. This was in January 2016.
I couldn’t believe how clean this car was, I got them to put it up on ramps, and was amazed that it didn’t have a single bit of rust underneath. The only fault I could see was a worn drivers seat bolster, on the leather seats. I bought it for 5.2K, it was head and shoulders above the rest. I don’t think it had ever seen rain, definitely not an British winter. I repaired the seat bolster with a £20 kit off ebay, watching a youtube video for guidance. In my haste buying the car I never noticed that one of the window quarter light bars was rusty. Check these also, they rot too. However these are a £30 part from Mazda. I intend replacing mine over the winter. My car never sees rain, and I have since rust-proofed it. Its a second car, I use a cheap car to commute, and for poor weather use.
Good cars exist, and reasonable priced ones too, you’ll have to view numerous dogs, and rough-average cars, but you will find one. I was fed up of it and nearly bought an 08 car, exactly the same as the one I’ve got, but it was nowhere near as good. luckily I thought better of it. I travelled all over Lancashire and the North East. The cars I viewed in the North East appeared to be better quality, probably coincidence.
Just keep looking. I could hardly tell any difference between driving the NC1 & MN2 by the way. NC2 seemed slightly more revvy, it was louder inside too, handling, it was really minimal difference to me, anyway.
I like Mazda’s, but I’d never buy one other than an MX5. I keep cars for ages, and I just think a Mazda would be full of holes, compared to others, for regular commuting/all weathers.
Good luck, I’m sure you’ll find a good one, you need one that’s been rust proofed, or one that’s been a second car/good weather car, more so if its an older one, that’s just in my very humble opinion though.