• Very fuel efficient when driven sensibly
• Bog standard three-year warranty
• Annual service intervals

What are the running costs?

The good news for the cost-conscious is that Mazda MX-5 is almost certainly going to be cheaper to run than any rival – and quite a lot of other cars as well. It’s so light and the engines are so efficient that the 1.5-litre model returns 44.8mpg according to WLTP measures, and the 2.0-litre isn’t far behind at 40.9mpg.

Better yet, we’ve actually beaten these figures in regular driving. Take the engine to the redline with every gearshift and you’ll use a lot more fuel – but when simply pottering about the MX-5 is very economical.

Despite being a sports car, the MX-5 shouldn’t prove too costly to insure either. And smaller (than usual) wheels will equate to cheaper tyre replacement costs, too. Keep an eye on the rears especially, if you’re an enthusiastic driver.

View detailed mpg and CO2 figures on our Mazda MX-5 specs pages

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Servicing and warranty

As with every Mazda, the MX-5 is covered by a three-year / 60,000-mile warranty. Looks a bit stingy compared with the Toyota GR86, which offers up to 10 years of cover. An official Mazda Extended Warranty is available at extra cost for high-mileage drivers or those who plan to keep the car a long time.

Mazda MX-5 service intervals are 12,500 miles or 12 months, whichever comes first.

Reliability

• Owners love these popular roadsters
• Many tried and trusted components
• Mechanically simple but well-engineered

The MX-5 is a relatively simple car, and all the better for it, so there’s not as much to go wrong in this traditional sports car package. The roof has no electronics to fail (though seals are occasionally problematic) and the engines are proving generally robust.

This hasn’t been entirely the case with the manual gearbox, with reports of failures, warranty replacements and revisions from the factory.

As with any performance car, if buying used consider the owner as much as the vehicle. If it’s been driven hard regularly, you can expect more parts to be worn, including engine mounts, brakes and tyres. Listen for noisy suspension components and look out for sloppy-feeling steering and similar when you take a test drive; tired braking parts are reported to make similar noises.

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There have been only four official recalls since this 2015-onwards model was introduced, and one of these is related to the automatic, which is only fitted on the MX-5 RF. There have been no recalls for models built from 2019 onwards – very impressive.

One thing to consider if looking at a used Mazda MX-5, however, is rust. Mazda has a poor reputation for protecting its vehicles adequately from this, so it would be worth checking the underside carefully if possible.