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I've been keeping my eye on the market for several months to replace my NA to avoid doing some body and paint work that mine needs but I'm shocked at the current prices to be honest!

What would be a fair value for an unmodified series 1 NA with 200-250k km and decent paint these days??

You know better than us, you've done the research.

Advertised vs sold are two different things - so let me rephrase to ask what are people spending if anyone has recently bought?

Haven't looked closely in the last couple of months, but a good standard series 1 (1989-1992) NA6 with 200k kms, decent paint & no hardtop $7k. Series 2 (1993) NA6 might fetch a bit more, & a bit more again for a 1993 NA8. But supply & demand might have changed that, if indeed supply & demand have changed.

I'd like an na8 to come up for sale. I seem to hit dead ends or just miss out... Somebody sell me their na8

The number of NAs listed on carsales.com.au has been steadily declining at about 20% per year since 2010 when I started tracking the data. I bought my old 1992 NA6 eight years ago with 163,000km for $6900 and there were about 120-130 NAs listed for sale. Today there are only 22 NAs on carsales and 7 of them don't count as they're autos. Supply & demand dictates that prices are going up as availability falls. $10k for a tidy NA6 is not out of the question and I've seen Concours NAs sold for $13k-$15k over the last couple years. On the other hand, the high km roughies are still out there on Gumtree, ebay, etc and are picked up for a few grand or less.

Got my 93 clubman (NA8) earlier this year for $7.5k.

I think the prices for cars with average to higher km's will be remain fairly static but the prices for exceptional low km cars will continue too rise as they are now very scarce and even scarcer that they are actually advertised for sale

In the last month I have sold one very clean NA for in excess of $10k and another one just short of that mark and paid a lot more for one of my own with 38km earlier this year.

People are prepared to pay for quality cars of any description. One of the great benefits of MX5's is the amount of zeros in any asking price is a lot less than many other cars and if you pay 50% over the odds for a gem that is likely to be $5k and not $50k. I think the NA has a broader appeal than just the existing MX5 community. I have sold a neat NA to a guy with a truly amazing collection of Australian cars worth millions who recognised the NA as a significant car and worthy of his collection

My Dad just bought a '92 NA6 for $11,500 with hard top and $125,000 kms.

I bought my Dad's NA8 with the hard top from the NA6 thrown in for $10k. It has 84,000 kms. Obviously not completely indicative of current prices as it was a family purchase so I consider I got a pretty good deal/Dad was generous.

Both cars are in very good condition - probably two of the best NAs I've seen in person

Guran wrote:the high km roughies are still out there on Gumtree, ebay, etc and are picked up for a few grand or less.

Yeah, that segment of the market & more migrated to Gumtree - ebay gets a handful.

$10K is a lot of money for an NA unless it is truly immaculate and low KLM. Cars often get sold before they get to Carsales i.e. thru Clubs or word of mouth and its true you don't have to be one eyed MX-5 to buy one. Personally I dont see the point of an early NA at the same money as a the last of the Nbs and the CP system 25 years in Vic is going to see cars saved and dríven for fun not dailies. Chops comments were a good overview. Whatever happens with values I dont think the MX-5 will ever be investments to make money but fun is another thing- still the best value sports cars bar none....biased

It is simple economics supply and demand. If demand is high and supply low prices will increase.

If you want to pay less then you either have to wait for the market to change or an outlier comes on the market.

Supply and demand is only part of the equation. Some makes and models just attract high paying buyers e.g. - the mega rise of old 911s or the the value of Austin Healey compared to sports of the era that cost much the same then. In theory the population of MX-5s will stand up pretty well and will be affordable to those that know a great marque without lofty pretensions.

paid $3k for a mostly stock '90 NA6 with 250,000 kms. replaced head gasket & I could still see the honing scores in all cylinders !

and since spent WAY more than this in full suspension rebuild & turbo-ing.

Yeah, someone else recently mentioned they dismantled a relatively high km motor & found it with similarly limited wear.