Start with the Mazda MX-5 NB (1998–2005)
The thinking driver's first sports car — cheap to buy, cheaper to insure, and quietly appreciating. Here's how not to buy a rotten one.
Tool
True-cost & fair-price calculator
Enter any NB listing and get a risk-weighted cost of ownership, a fair price, and the figure above which you should walk away. Built on a quantity surveyor's cost model.
Open the calculator
Guide
The NB buyer's guide
Variants, the rust reality that scraps cars, the mechanical checks that matter, and exactly what to pay for each condition tier. No fluff.
Read the guide
Guide
What an NB really costs to run
Insurance, tax, fuel, and the "risk reserve" nobody budgets for — the true pence-per-mile of weekend ownership, with real 2026 UK numbers.
See the costsFree: the 40-point NB inspection checklist
Print it, take it to the viewing, and walk away from the wrong car with confidence. The exact checks our cost figures are based on.