Miata Is Always The Answer. I had other older convertibles, but the ND2 RF is still amazing after 5 years (with no issues - not even recalls - despite being driven hard, track-days included).
In college and a few years after, I had a 914 with the targa top. Loved that car and still think it was the most fun of any car I've ever owned. Kick myself for ever selling it. Have a friend with a Miata. It's great. That would be my choice of any on the list.
Yup, a convertible with 4 seats, although the legroom on the backseat is almost always...atrocious, and the seats in the back cannot be used by anyone but children when the top is up...but otherwise with the top is down on a sunny day its amazing fun
@@scottrupp5433 Yep, this is natural for Bring My Wallet. Go for the top Japanese cars, leaders of their segments in reliability and low TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), your life will be far better 😉
I had an Explorer Sport which was a 2 door. I bought her new. At 33,000 km the engine failed and had to be replaced. A couple weeks went by when I got a call to pick her up. Unfortunately while road testing the truck they got into an accident with it, This engine replacement was the last straw. I filed a claim with the lemon law department within our provincial government. I completed the paper work and a couple weeks later I received a call from the person handling my claim. Their first question was has the truck ever been involved in an accident which I replied yes while they were road testing it after their repair. Because I replied yes my claim was denied. I saw from that point in I would never buy another Ford. Anyway the beat goes on.
@@dollarade I also had a 2007 Peugeot 207CC, bought from the first owner after 6 years of use and only 31'000km, with about 5'000€. It has the 1.6L Prince engine from BMW, manual transmission and I sold it after 6 years of usage for almost the same price, after a very well executed revision (at 73'000km, fixing small plastics etc.) and with an aesthetic wrapping in two different types of silver wrap (one having the fish skin visual effect) 😇 The current owner (a friend) still has it and it's working very well (except some hickups with the hard top deployment), none of us having any major issues - I guess that was the last Peugeot with a decent reliability. It is quite fast for the engine it has and it has been to Greek holidays more than 10 times and it faced plenty of harsh winters. I replaced it with a 2019 amazing Miata ND2 RF G-184 Top Revolution (it has the fantastic Recaro seats, among others) with the Red Soul Crystal paint. 5 years without issues - not even recalls - the best cabrio I ever had, but driven mostly during summers (again, about 10 trips to the Greek islands for holidays), as I now live in the mountains (and then the Miata seats in a garage during winters, doing only half-hour drives each two weeks, for its own health). I had another cabrio when I was younger, a red Fiat Spider 650 from 1968, but that was a reliability nightmare, despite the nice feelings it was offering when functioning. The brief about its "reliability" is: it was working almost well for 30-40km, then I was again stranded and paying another 300-500€ for fixing it. After two years and no more than 20 such small trips I sold it with a few thousand less than I bought it - the worst deal of my life, but that experience opened my eyes to the Japanese reliability and the quest for super-deals, such as for my Suzuki Jimny LCV and a Lexus F Sport hybrid, bought with more than 20% below the market price, similar to my Miata deal (bought new, but at the end of the summer season, thus obtaining an amazingly discounted price, similar to the one others paid for 2-3 years old Miatas). Anyhow, the open top feeling is great, no matter what car you drive, but I do recommend the MX-5, definitely the best quality/price ratio, making you smile happy (all the time you are driving it). Of course, there are cabrios like Atom, Caterham, Porsche etc. but they are far, far too costly for what they offer (the same open top feelings, but with different HPs at different weights). Enjoy your cabrio!
@@codincoman9019 Nice. Idk about wrapping, thats probably what pushed the value up - but IT wasn't free I bet. That part about BMW engine, did not know either. Mine leaks oil, has 3 shades of black on it, couple errors. Fun fuct: the hood needs a support bar when opened and my other car didn't have that - so I tried to close the hood when buying and Ii bent the whole thing. Hood was sticking out by about 15cm on one side... Imagine that guys face. Hehe. Wasn't pleased. But he did sell me a shitty car after all. Messaged him after i saw oil leaks and returning errors... Knew nothing, saw nothing.. yea, sure. Told him to go sell flowers or something easier, nasty liar, hollow shell of a human being.
@@dollarade I am sorry to hear that. Now I have an entire list of things to do when buying used, the mechanical check being one of them, the most important. But the truth is that I never had issues with the last used cars I bought (unlike with the Fiat Spider, a huge lesson for me, as I bought it without checking it), as they were less than a year old, with only a few thousand kilometers on them, still covered by a few years of warranty (that I never used, buying only top Japanese cars, leaders of their segments in reliability and low TCO=Total Cost of Ownership) and for 25-35% below MRSP. Check for things to do when buying used (like buying only from the first responsible owner, having the maintenance covered in time - I am practicing a very aggressive one, like changing the oils at half the interval the manufacturer/dealer is recommending), they will be great when purchasing another car.
@@codincoman9019 Yeah. I guess it's money that makes them lie. If He fixed all problems that would mean no profit based on the market prices. Money games is life after all.. Anyway - miata sounds fun, I walked around one lately and its quite small - im near 190cm with shoes on. If i had to upgrade for something 2x or 3x the price I would go with slk.
@@dollaradeTrue, unfortunately. Many people forget being true to themselves and to God for money. For me the benefit when selling a car is that I sell it (mostly to friends that know me and my maniacally maintained cars) after having many years of fun transportation and for making someone happy for some more years/ decades. Still my advice is to go to the #1 cabrio in reliability and low TCO (Miata) and not to the highly unreliable and huge TCO cabrio (SLK). Mercedes was a legend of reliability last century, but since 2005 - due to the profit-making planned obsolescence - they went down far too low in reliability. For 2024 they are #29 in reliability, below VW (#27), Volvo (#25), Audi (#19) etc. Btw, Mazda is in the reliability top, below Lexus and Toyota (it was #1 in 2020). I forgot to mention that there are few people over 1,9m in my Miata ND2 RF club. One of them has precisely 1,99m - but he put some special brackets to fit in his Miata driving seat (not having Recaro seats - that according to him are better for him and no brackets would've been necessary).
Bring back a modern version of the 2008 Chrysler Sebring hardtop convertible. In 2008, Chrysler was owned by Mercedes Benz. A modern version could be an EV or a PHEV. I would not buy one if it were made by Stellantis. BTW , my 2008 Sebring hardtop convertible just had its 200,000 servicing and it continues runs great. I had a 1990 Plymouth Laser that had over 230,000 miles on it. I gave it to a friend after I bought the Sebring. The Laser was really a Mitsubishi with a Plymouth badge. Geely owns roughly 10% of Mercedes. Geely also owns other car brands. It owns Volvo which also used to make a hardtop convertible. Geely's luxury brand is Zeekr. Maybe someday Zeekr will come out with a hardtop EV or PHEV convertible. Geely also owns but has not built the Terrafugia which is a flying car. I'd really love to buy a Terrafugia.
The Mazda Miata is a great car, but it's not the only convertible in the 30k price range. The MINI Cooper convertible isn't much more expensive especially with the 3-Cylinder turbo engine. It has a backseat, and the MINI Coopers famous go-kart handling.
@@allanzylbert1306 true if you only need a two seat roadster convertible. People who are also tall will find they won't fit. The backseat in most convertibles is small, but at least it's there if you need it.
@@davcuts2897I drove for a few days a Mini convertible. As I now own a Miata ND2 RF (and I am 6'2", feeling very comfortable in the Recaro seats), I can testify that there is no real comparison between the two, except the open top feeling. But the classic feeling of Miata, the lightness, the fun and its reliability are far better than Mini's characteristics. And at a smaller price, with a lower TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) too. Btw, no normal person is buying a cabrio for some tiny additional seats in the back. I had for 6 years a Peugeot 207CC (with two tiny seats in the back, that I never considered and I used them only for additional luggage or for my dog to sleep alone sometimes, before learning to travel light). That car I bought only because of an amazingly low price for a cabrio, not at all for the tiny back seats 😉
Funny, my brother said the same thing but I bought a new one last year and 90 percent of the people I see driving them are men. Love the ride and ease in taking the top down. Soul red with black accents! I added chrome pedals. Simply a blast to drive, though I do miss my 2003 Benz SLK 320 in sunburst yellow that I drove for 14 years. Retracted hard tops are expensive to repair when they start to fail, which is another reason to love the MX-5.
This "macho" line is used only by those that have never driven a Miata or by those into big cars. Even people from my Miata ND2 RF Club that have a Porsche Cayman say they like Miata more.
Miata. Affordable, reliable,and economical.
But tiny and looks feminine af.
And funky 😉
Having owned a 2016 Mustang convertible in the past, i loved its storage, looks, handling nd reliability great value too
I LOVE convertibles.
My favorite one was my first, which was a Miata. My 2nd was a Mustang GT with the 5.0L V8.
Miata
Is
Always
The
Answer.
I had other older convertibles, but the ND2 RF is still amazing after 5 years (with no issues - not even recalls - despite being driven hard, track-days included).
In college and a few years after, I had a 914 with the targa top. Loved that car and still think it was the most fun of any car I've ever owned. Kick myself for ever selling it. Have a friend with a Miata. It's great. That would be my choice of any on the list.
MX5 is looking good
It would be a toss up between the Lexus and Miata 😅
Miata is always the answer !
Porsche and miata all day 😎
MX-5
Porsche Boxster and Mazda MX-5 Miata.
That’s it. That’s the entire list.
I own a 718 Spyder which is an excellent. If the 718 Boxster GTS was available I would have ordered it. Cheers mate🍻
mx5
Yup, a convertible with 4 seats, although the legroom on the backseat is almost always...atrocious, and the seats in the back cannot be used by anyone but children when the top is up...but otherwise with the top is down on a sunny day its amazing fun
I can't afford an Evora GT, so that only leaves a Miata.
I had 2009 Z4, loved the car untl the hard top mechanism started to have issues and would cost me 5K to fix. Sold it before it got worse.
@@scottrupp5433 Yep, this is natural for Bring My Wallet.
Go for the top Japanese cars, leaders of their segments in reliability and low TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), your life will be far better 😉
Mazda miatas are always answer
I had an Explorer Sport which was a 2 door. I bought her new. At 33,000 km the engine failed and had to be replaced. A couple weeks went by when I got a call to pick her up. Unfortunately while road testing the truck they got into an accident with it, This engine replacement was the last straw. I filed a claim with the lemon law department within our provincial government. I completed the paper work and a couple weeks later I received a call from the person handling my claim. Their first question was has the truck ever been involved in an accident which I replied yes while they were road testing it after their repair. Because I replied yes my claim was denied. I saw from that point in I would never buy another Ford. Anyway the beat goes on.
Fair comparison mate.
Christopher from south Africa
Can you do a video on the worst sports car/ convertible to ever buy to avoid at all cost?
Bought used 207cc. Not too fast, not too checkengine light free. But IT does drive without the roof. Not too bad for summer.
@@dollarade I also had a 2007 Peugeot 207CC, bought from the first owner after 6 years of use and only 31'000km, with about 5'000€. It has the 1.6L Prince engine from BMW, manual transmission and I sold it after 6 years of usage for almost the same price, after a very well executed revision (at 73'000km, fixing small plastics etc.) and with an aesthetic wrapping in two different types of silver wrap (one having the fish skin visual effect) 😇 The current owner (a friend) still has it and it's working very well (except some hickups with the hard top deployment), none of us having any major issues - I guess that was the last Peugeot with a decent reliability.
It is quite fast for the engine it has and it has been to Greek holidays more than 10 times and it faced plenty of harsh winters.
I replaced it with a 2019 amazing Miata ND2 RF G-184 Top Revolution (it has the fantastic Recaro seats, among others) with the Red Soul Crystal paint.
5 years without issues - not even recalls - the best cabrio I ever had, but driven mostly during summers (again, about 10 trips to the Greek islands for holidays), as I now live in the mountains (and then the Miata seats in a garage during winters, doing only half-hour drives each two weeks, for its own health).
I had another cabrio when I was younger, a red Fiat Spider 650 from 1968, but that was a reliability nightmare, despite the nice feelings it was offering when functioning. The brief about its "reliability" is: it was working almost well for 30-40km, then I was again stranded and paying another 300-500€ for fixing it. After two years and no more than 20 such small trips I sold it with a few thousand less than I bought it - the worst deal of my life, but that experience opened my eyes to the Japanese reliability and the quest for super-deals, such as for my Suzuki Jimny LCV and a Lexus F Sport hybrid, bought with more than 20% below the market price, similar to my Miata deal (bought new, but at the end of the summer season, thus obtaining an amazingly discounted price, similar to the one others paid for 2-3 years old Miatas).
Anyhow, the open top feeling is great, no matter what car you drive, but I do recommend the MX-5, definitely the best quality/price ratio, making you smile happy (all the time you are driving it).
Of course, there are cabrios like Atom, Caterham, Porsche etc. but they are far, far too costly for what they offer (the same open top feelings, but with different HPs at different weights).
Enjoy your cabrio!
@@codincoman9019 Nice. Idk about wrapping, thats probably what pushed the value up - but IT wasn't free I bet. That part about BMW engine, did not know either. Mine leaks oil, has 3 shades of black on it, couple errors. Fun fuct: the hood needs a support bar when opened and my other car didn't have that - so I tried to close the hood when buying and Ii bent the whole thing. Hood was sticking out by about 15cm on one side... Imagine that guys face. Hehe. Wasn't pleased. But he did sell me a shitty car after all. Messaged him after i saw oil leaks and returning errors... Knew nothing, saw nothing.. yea, sure. Told him to go sell flowers or something easier, nasty liar, hollow shell of a human being.
@@dollarade I am sorry to hear that.
Now I have an entire list of things to do when buying used, the mechanical check being one of them, the most important.
But the truth is that I never had issues with the last used cars I bought (unlike with the Fiat Spider, a huge lesson for me, as I bought it without checking it), as they were less than a year old, with only a few thousand kilometers on them, still covered by a few years of warranty (that I never used, buying only top Japanese cars, leaders of their segments in reliability and low TCO=Total Cost of Ownership) and for 25-35% below MRSP.
Check for things to do when buying used (like buying only from the first responsible owner, having the maintenance covered in time - I am practicing a very aggressive one, like changing the oils at half the interval the manufacturer/dealer is recommending), they will be great when purchasing another car.
@@codincoman9019 Yeah. I guess it's money that makes them lie. If He fixed all problems that would mean no profit based on the market prices. Money games is life after all.. Anyway - miata sounds fun, I walked around one lately and its quite small - im near 190cm with shoes on. If i had to upgrade for something 2x or 3x the price I would go with slk.
@@dollaradeTrue, unfortunately. Many people forget being true to themselves and to God for money.
For me the benefit when selling a car is that I sell it (mostly to friends that know me and my maniacally maintained cars) after having many years of fun transportation and for making someone happy for some more years/ decades.
Still my advice is to go to the #1 cabrio in reliability and low TCO (Miata) and not to the highly unreliable and huge TCO cabrio (SLK).
Mercedes was a legend of reliability last century, but since 2005 - due to the profit-making planned obsolescence - they went down far too low in reliability. For 2024 they are #29 in reliability, below VW (#27), Volvo (#25), Audi (#19) etc. Btw, Mazda is in the reliability top, below Lexus and Toyota (it was #1 in 2020).
I forgot to mention that there are few people over 1,9m in my Miata ND2 RF club. One of them has precisely 1,99m - but he put some special brackets to fit in his Miata driving seat (not having Recaro seats - that according to him are better for him and no brackets would've been necessary).
BMW Z4, love my handling!
This is my gym teacher btw
Chevrolet corvette
No Ferrari 296 GTS?
Bring back a modern version of the 2008 Chrysler Sebring hardtop convertible. In 2008, Chrysler was owned by Mercedes Benz. A modern version could be an EV or a PHEV. I would not buy one if it were made by Stellantis. BTW , my 2008 Sebring hardtop convertible just had its 200,000 servicing and it continues runs great. I had a 1990 Plymouth Laser that had over 230,000 miles on it. I gave it to a friend after I bought the Sebring. The Laser was really a Mitsubishi with a Plymouth badge.
Geely owns roughly 10% of Mercedes. Geely also owns other car brands. It owns Volvo which also used to make a hardtop convertible. Geely's luxury brand is Zeekr. Maybe someday Zeekr will come out with a hardtop EV or PHEV convertible. Geely also owns but has not built the Terrafugia which is a flying car. I'd really love to buy a Terrafugia.
The Mazda Miata is a great car, but it's not the only convertible in the 30k price range. The MINI Cooper convertible isn't much more expensive especially with the 3-Cylinder turbo engine. It has a backseat, and the MINI Coopers famous go-kart handling.
Mazda Miata is the winner as most know
@@allanzylbert1306 true if you only need a two seat roadster convertible. People who are also tall will find they won't fit. The backseat in most convertibles is small, but at least it's there if you need it.
@@davcuts2897I drove for a few days a Mini convertible. As I now own a Miata ND2 RF (and I am 6'2", feeling very comfortable in the Recaro seats), I can testify that there is no real comparison between the two, except the open top feeling.
But the classic feeling of Miata, the lightness, the fun and its reliability are far better than Mini's characteristics. And at a smaller price, with a lower TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) too.
Btw, no normal person is buying a cabrio for some tiny additional seats in the back. I had for 6 years a Peugeot 207CC (with two tiny seats in the back, that I never considered and I used them only for additional luggage or for my dog to sleep alone sometimes, before learning to travel light). That car I bought only because of an amazingly low price for a cabrio, not at all for the tiny back seats 😉
Can you do a video about Kia Telluride & Pallisade long term report?
A5?
The only drawback to the miata it has the reputation as a "chic car". It was that way from its beginning.
Funny, my brother said the same thing but I bought a new one last year and 90 percent of the people I see driving them are men. Love the ride and ease in taking the top down. Soul red with black accents! I added chrome pedals. Simply a blast to drive, though I do miss my 2003 Benz SLK 320 in sunburst yellow that I drove for 14 years. Retracted hard tops are expensive to repair when they start to fail, which is another reason to love the MX-5.
This "macho" line is used only by those that have never driven a Miata or by those into big cars.
Even people from my Miata ND2 RF Club that have a Porsche Cayman say they like Miata more.