I finally drove a Miata, and it was everything I had imagined. I am concerned about the security though and therefore want a retractable hardtop. I know Mazda started making them a few years ago. The sales guy told me they're pretty rare to find for sale, though. After doing some searching myself it seems he wasn't just blowing smoke. Are they available in your area? If so, where, and what do they premium for?
Posted Apr 3, 2013, 11:57 PM UTC
It depends, they're new enough that people don't get rid of them often if you're looking for a used one. In that sense, the guy is correct.
As for new, of my 2 local Mazda dealers the larger one has 3 new in stock with 2 of them being hardtop. The smaller one has 7 Miatas with 5 hardtops currently in stock.
Wow! That's a lot of Miatas to have in stock, hardtop or soft. I would prefer a used one for financial reasons. I don't feel the need to go for it unless the $$ make sense. I'm probably going to spend the next few months beating the tar out of my Jetta with Auto-x while I learn how to race. I'd like to get the learning period out of the way with the VW!
Annapolis MD and Pasadena MD.
That said, I've seen one hardtop Miata for sale used in the last 2 years. It was 2 years old with had 5k on it and the guy decided that he would rather have a wrangler after 2 summers. The dealer was asking $29k, but it was fully optioned out. I saw it for sale at a Jeep dealer when I was trying to replace my S2000 I totaled. I ended up finding the S2000 in my flair instead.
Have you thought of a soft top and then buying a fixed hard top? The reason I mention this is the convertible hard top ads a bit of weight and money and you say you're into auto-x and looking to save some money. It's a thought.
I have definitely thought about this. It would be cheaper, and that opens me up to quite a few more years. The reason I'm hesitant is that it takes away the ability to switch on the fly. You're right, though, the factory hardtop does add quite a bit of weight.
Yeah, it isn't perfect. Being able to use the top whenever is nice, but the weight and money of the hardtop is forever.
In the S2000 people community people usually do 1 of 2 things, since there was never any power hartop options
Nowadays we don't hear about cut tops too often. The car has been around long enough that criminals and punk teenagers aren't cutting tops to steal our seats for their Civics or Integras anymore.
In terms of the premium for a hardtop:
2013 MX-5 Grand Touring - Soft Top: $27,350
2013 MX-5 Grand Touring - Power Retractable Hard Top: $29,250
Same trims, with the roof as the only difference, so that should give you some idea. That's brand new msrp, and used values should be similar in terms of the gap.
I haven't been by recently, but I used to live by a Mazda dealer that had tons of hard top Miatas. I think they were like $1,500 extra, but I may just be an idiot. This was a dealer in Appleton, WI.
My impression of WI is that convertibles probably don't sell super well in that area, yes?
Eh, probably not. Certainly not as well as any year round warm area. But, it is the Midwest so people still love their 'vert American stuff. Not so much Miatas.