Mazda MX-5 1.5 SE 2d Owner Review

Had a Mk1 (NA) back in the day, have had a shot of a Mk3 (NC), and then bought this Mk4 (ND). It is closest to the Mk1 but unfortunately we're not living in the 90s any more. Times have moved on, every other car has moved on, but Mazda have gone backwards and whilst it's a lovely wee drive on a nice day, it's just too compromised as daily transport unless you're a 5'2" petite female. I can see why motoring journalists love it, but 9 months on and I'm ready for something different. I'm not convinced by the build quality and despite the brush-offs by the dealer over the gearbox whining in 3rd and the crunch between 1st & 2nd, I could foresee bills in this area in the future. I don't think much of the convertible hood either, as mine is baggy in places already whereas I see hoods on 10 year old Minis and Audis that are still looking like new. Handling on slippery Scottish winter roads is questionable, like there's a couple of mis-matched part-worn remoulds on the back. It results in some large, but very entertaining slides when you turn the traction control off and hit a few roundabouts, but requires a bit of restraint when there's any other cars (/witnesses) around. I don't know if it's 'engineered' to be like this for fun or if it needs a suspension alignment, but if you've come from something like a Boxster or an SLK, be prepared to go canny for the first few miles in the Mazda as it'll break traction at the rear at about a third of the speeds needed to do it in the Boxster or SLK. Overall it's fun, probably not a long-term owner proposition for most people unless you keep it garaged and use it as a second 'weekend' car, quality is questionable, but DriveTheDeal are currently selling them brand-new for £15,266 for an SE model like mine (+ £££ for metallic paint) so many might consider that you can't really go wrong at that price. One final thing. What is it with the sudden huge increase in older men driving MX5s in the Edinburgh area? Seriously, at 50+ years old and tall, it looks like a cartoon character driving a toy car in Wacky Races! Is the MX5 the new 'mid-life crisis' car, or is it the car for the older man who's wife won't let him buy a motorbike? The Mazda salesman told me that the MX5 was the most fun car out there, and as close an experience to riding a motorcycle as you could get. Clearly he'd never ridden a bike!