I’d appreciate some advice on whether this car is overpriced or not. Only 2k miles and seems in very good condition but its £24,737. I can get a normal 2019 rf with about 12k for around £19,500 so it’s a big jump in price. Do you think the 30th anniversary edition will hold it’s value better than a normal one as time goes on?
I’ve also seen some mention about prices being lower in winter. If i wait a month or so am i likely to get a normal 2019 rf for even lower?
It’s from a dealer (not a main dealer) so there is there premium over a private sale, you could see what you can negotiate.
The market used to soften a little over winter (£1,000 ish) though these are still not normal times for used cars as prices are holding higher than the average depreciation.
As a comparison (from your search) this has more miles and is a little cheaper though not by much, PVC has a good reputation though can’t speak from personal experience.
If the first one is the car for you and you can afford it then don’t bank on it still being there with a lower price in January, you may get lucky, you may not.
Observations:
There were fewer of the RFs so if you want the RF 30th they will be harder to find than the soft top.
As this is top money it should come with the 30th AE gift box.
Also has the car been serviced by Mazda for the first three years? The 4th year service may have been due or is due as well which will include brake fluid.
Low miles per annum is not always a good thing so service history is more important.
What ever you decide you will not be disappointed.
PS The Racaro seats are worth the money on their own.
Just my observation…
All of the above, it’s top money so make sure it’s tops in every way.
Niggle, come on Mr valeter get those wheels clean, should do better.
^^^ I notice these things^^^
Cheers for the replies.
I’ll speak to them again today and try and find out why it’s only partial service history and what’s missing from the history.
I’ll ask about the gift box as well and maybe use that to get the price down a little.
It’s a bit awkward as I’m working on a ship just now so can’t go to view the car.
My plan if I go for it is to say I’ll start the process of buying it dependent on the results of an AA car inspection being done so I have some confidence that everything is sound on the car. I assume a dealer wouldn’t object to that but I’ll find out.
They have a 21 day return period if you do less than 500 miles. So I’m thinking I could collect it. Drive it back to Glasgow and any big issues should be obvious after driving on a motorway for a few hours and some back roads. I’d probably need to return it on a trailer tho to keep under 500 miles if there was an issue.
I can afford it but Its definitely more than I was planning on spending.
Those wheel arch liners are not up to spec. either!!!
How sad are we???
Do you any specialists near them? Prob worth the money to pay for a specialist to look and do the deal for you. Ive done that on a m140i. it was to far in miles for me to risk vs the £200 for a hour of his time. It saved me £920 for the money off and his findings from a Bmw dealer
Google image search the original registration in case it was a press car and you find it going sideways on a track. It might not bother you, but I’d want to know how it spent those 2k miles.
I’d personally avoid buying a car with such low mileage that’s four years old because a) you pay a premium, b) when the mileage is so low some problems that might have otherwise occurred and been fixed under warranty haven’t, and c) even a new car that’s been sat for long periods may at the very least have a wrecked battery.
If you’re going to actually drive the car you’ll quickly erode the price premium baked in for the exceptionally low mileage. On the other hand, if you’re going to drive a car but be below average mileage then the 25k mile one that @IanH found starts to look lower mileage for its age as time passes.
If the 25k miles, full service history one is a good car, I’d take it over the lower mileage one and pocket the difference if it was my money.
Whether the car will hold its value is crystal ball gazing. I suspect it’ll always command a premium over a similar age top spec non-30AE, but will still depreciate a fair bit. The result is you just have more equity tied up in the car.
Buy the best 30AE you can afford if that’s the car that you want and it’s a keeper. Best won’t always equal lowest mileage. Don’t worry about the future value of it and enjoy the car.
FYI, when I bought my 30RF there was absolutely no chance whatsoever of a discount, whereas I could have had a fully-loaded 2.0RF in soul red crystal for around £5k less; or even £10k less for a six-month old model.
This would presumably reflect in prices 4years on. The 30ths were late and most were ordered some months earlier so Mazda tried not to undercut those who’d made early commitments, at least until early 2020 when I think they had to get the remainder registered to beat some deadline.
AE30RF is easily the most spectacular looking, and the Recaros are superb. But try before you buy as it may be a tight fit for some!
PS mine’s now done 30k and still turns heads. It was meant to be daily driver but post-plague I don’t need to drive every day but it’s still used a lot and I love driving it. I can’t be worrying about future value, who knows if a 10 year old car will have any value by then if you need a prescription to get petrol from the chemist again, just like the good old days. 
The dealers could not sell all the 30th AEs and gave some serious discounts to shift the remaining cars. They then had to pre register the remaining cars that were still in stock to avoid a ‘penalty’. The pre registered cars were even cheaper and some still hung around a little.
Then strangely when there were none left they started to increase in price back up to nearly list price.
The last cars were discounted by between £4k and £5k. I know because I purchased a new car at a discount and my friend purchased a pre reg at an even better price. We could have sold our cars back to the dealer for more than we paid for a number of months in 2020.
As you have said, predicting future values is virtually impossible and I concur with your advice to buy the car you want and enjoy it for ‘the now’ and stop worrying about what might be.
I spoke to them again. It was traded in for a Porsche so seems like it was probably a weekend car.
He said it’s up on the ramps getting checked just now so he’ll send me a video when that’s done and there’s no problem with getting an AA car inspection or possibly an mx5 specialist to check it before I finalize the purchase.
Couple of stone chips(which is normal with mx5) but no other obvious issues.
I think I’m gonna go for it. I was going to buy an mx5 in 2020 and was looking at 30AE then but COVID screwed me since I’d been working on cruise ships at the time and then had exams and stuff after COVID to get promotion so I’m just now back in a good place financially.
I might regret it as it will be my daily but I’m away half the time with work so milage shouldn’t be too high and I plan on keeping it long term.
Only downside is I was thinking I’d do the occasional track day with it but I’ll probably be too scared given the price and milage.
And it had a Mazda service in August this year.
Before you commit to buy go for that test drive. Not just motorway but undulating roads. The ad does not mention which suspension and could be the sports nav .This gives a firm ride especially with the bilstein shockers. I’ve had a 2016 softop and changed it for a 2019 RF and sold both finding the sport’s nav too harsh.So ended up with a 2010 NB which I’m quite happy with. Go for the one that gives you the most pleasure.
The standard suspension on the 30AE is ‘Sports suspension featuring Bilstein dampers’ (yellow) and ‘Strut brace’.
I don’t think we had the automatic gearbox as an option but those countries that did would lose both of the above.
Did you buy it, OP?
yeh, couldn’t resist it in the end.
Made the deposit today and getting the rest of the money sorted out.
They agreed to keep the car till I get off the ship on the 16th so ill be able to check it over before I leave the dealer and back out if I find a problem.
Mixture of excitement and a little bit of “why did I just buy an orange sports car!!” but I’m looking forwards to driving it back to Glasgow. I’ll need to find some back roads to use on the way instead of just sitting on the motorway for hours.
Thanks for the replies everyone.
From Gretna, take the B7076 > B7078 > A72. 
The orange 30th edition is the only ND I’d personally buy. Congrats….
I’d not seen one up close until yesterday. The seats and wheels alone look fantastic. Congrats on the purchase!
Cheers. I’ll give that a try.
I think I already know the answer but should I get the gardx treatment they offer or avoid it?
