The Smart Roadster has a bit of a reputation for water ingress and the older ones eat their own engines. Ours died by the bores going oval in 45k miles and apparently a lot of them are like that.
We have a 51 plate MX5 Mk2.5 with the first of the SVT engines from new. Ok only 35,000 on it but one new battery and a piece of roof / window seal that wasn’t leaking and we hadn’t noticed (it might be causing wind noise and it isn’t going to get better by itself, let us warranty it sir – no really) isn’t bad in twelve years.
You can’t have it, but a similar one would be in budget.
I’m personally a BMW fanboi, so would say Z4 before Z3 but please go for the straight six engine, sounds great and plenty of shove, the little 1.9 z3 is about as exciting as sticking cocktail sticks in rabbit poo.
I’ve driven all in your list bar the Suzuki(tried a rarer but similar Honda Beat).
MX5, lovely, practical, fun to drive, reliable.
MR2, impractical, just no space for shopping or luggage, good fun though
Smart Roadster, not really open enough for proper roadster feel, more like a t-top in feel. Not much space.
Z3/Z4 looked at a few, mostly ragged, every soft top seemed to be deteriorating badly, nice drive though, when you can open it up, not as nippy/manoeuvrable as MX5/MR2
Suzuki Cap/Honda Beat/Daihatsu COpen, absolute hoot, but just a toy and I don’t fit in properly
Nissan Figaro, rust and MK1 Micra mechanicals, not cute enough to really want those drawbacks
MK1 SLK 230, nice, smooth, posh but dull to drive
S2000 dull unless driven at illegal speeds after VTEC comes to life, nice though, but I’m not going to rag it or take it to a track
I went over your budget and paid £5900 for an MX5 Roadster Coupe, with the electric folding hardtop.
Oh, if you’re wondering how practical it is, this was last week’s supermarket shop, all in the boot with the lid down, the bread wasn’t squished either.
Z4 was far more fun, mainly due to the extra power. The MX5 was fun on clear roads, but rather under powered for overtaking.
The MX5 was bloody small inside for a 6 footer, and the Z4 sounded way better. The Z4 had a very harsh ride though, not ideal for the crap Sheffield roads.
I’m 6’2″, it’s a MK3 and there’s more room than MK2.5. Top down the very top of my head gets a bit of wind if I sit up straight. I normally have my seat forward a notch and a bit of recline, top-up and tons of room.
Folding hard tops came in as an option in late 06, you can still buy either version, the hardtop version is called the Roadster Coupe. It folds into it’s own slot and doesn’t affect the boot, takes about 12s,
Thanks guys….I am a Toyota fan but looks like more votes for MX5… I had a Suzuki Cappucino but crashed it and wrote it off in the ice about 2 years ago. I really miss it!
I have a small space on my drive so length is a consideration.
I was looking at Figaros more for other half who only drives automatics and has a Nissan Micra already.
I am a little anti BMWs and guess they would be a higher insurance group. Also maybe more cash?
I’ll be selling my mk1 mx5 shortly if you’re interested. Just writing up the 2500mile trip to Italy we did in July, didn’t skip a beat. Brilliant cars.
My friend used to own an S2000. Loads of fun!! As someone mentioned above perhaps you need to be driving a little faster for it to really be doing anything special………but isn’t that much the same with any car?
You can have lots of fun with the acceleration, don’t need to be doing 60 round town to be enjoying it. And when you do actually drop the hammer,…**** ME IT’S QUICK!
Thanks guys….I am a Toyota fan but looks like more votes for MX5… I had a Suzuki Cappucino but crashed it and wrote it off in the ice about 2 years ago. I really miss it!
I know someone who has a Cappu, but needs a bit of work doing at the back end. A van drove into it at a pedestrian crossing and pushed it in, and the insurance co wrote it off. Dan, the owner, recently got a scissor jack and a piece of wood, and pushed most of the dent out, so it just needs some tidying up. Perfectly drivable, if you want a little project, I’m sure he’d be interested in letting it go, and he has another one as a donor for spares. I believe he’s done some tweaking to the engine, too…
If you’re interested, PM me, and I’ll pass on his email.
Recently I said a STW’ers wife had good taste. I really really want to scratch this itch. With steel wheels its beautiful. Only a small handful of cars carry off steel wheels as classless.
I’ve just bought a 15-year-old MR2 Mk2 GT for £1100 and it’s an absolute HOOT!
Reasonable sized boot too, although big silly spoiler ( 😀 ) precludes bike rack fitment. But that’s what my V70’s for in any case so not really an issue.
Mr2 doesn’t really have a boot but the old mk2 turbo was a fab car
Sorry to hijack your thread (would have messaged you but no address in profile) but, if you are looking for an MX5 I know a great car for sale here that you may be interested in. Belongs to my Dad.
If you are interested just email me (address in profile) and I can put you in contact with him.
haha, i did have some concerns the first time i drove it with bikes on top but it’s been used like that pretty much every weekend for over 2 years now with no issues.
toyota make a specific rack for the MR2 MK2 and it’s approved for use on the T-Bar models.
Have I missed it, or did the Audi TT not make the list? I did read bad things about service costs and failing dashboards which put me off, but I never really looked at them properly. I’m happy with my choice but I didn’t have a go in a TT.