Have SPs gone down in value.

[rvlovell]

Are SPs becoming less desirable? For a while they were going up in value but they now seem to have dropped back to around $20k.

[93_Clubman]

Are SPs becoming less desirable?

Somewhat I think at the moment, but that could be for a variety of factors that may change with time.

For a while they were going up in value but they now seem to have dropped back to around $20k.

Value is often hard to pin down - usually we only see the the asking price - in the last five years or so I've seen SPs sell for $14k to $20k odd.

[Nevyn72]

There are currently 2 SP & 3 SE version MX5's on carsales at the moment......

They are all asking ~$20K mark.

Asking prices at least for SE's have certainly gone up!

[bruce]

Cannot see the value in that - old car, not well known or desirable, both go slow. Please don't say 'let's whack a big turbo on it'. My lawnmower would also go faster with a snail (not the one it runs over regularly).

[rvlovell]

Yes SEs have really taken off which I find odd but I guess they're getting rare. I was quite surprised to see a low klm SP for $19500.

[ManiacLachy]

Shannon's tells me each year that my SE's value has gone down

Reminds me, I need to give them a call about renewing the policy.

[The Zork]

The value of an SE is that it is turbo from factory. Changing the turbo for more power and to upgraded turbo technology is much more simple than adding a turbo to an non turbo MX5. A non built engine with a new technology turbo at about 235 rwhp makes a simple and potent machine. Same for an SP.

Upgrading brakes, suspension, drivetrain, engine, adding turbo, exhaust etc to a non turbo MX5 makes that less desirable than upgrading an SE or SP.

That so many do upgrade to turbo despite the cost speaks highly of MX5's as desirable cars. In my view, this will accelerate in comming years as seen by extraudinary price increases in NA's in the last 3 years. Even high milage ones. Just look at the high numbers of WANTED adds.

[bear2230]

No way, mine has gone up in value heaps. Well it has in my eyes anyway.

[Lokiel]

The value of an SE is that it is turbo from factory. Changing the turbo for more power and to upgraded turbo technology is much more simple than adding a turbo to an non turbo MX5. A non built engine with a new technology turbo at about 235 rwhp makes a simple and potent machine. Same for an SP.

Upgrading brakes, suspension, drivetrain, engine, adding turbo, exhaust etc to a non turbo MX5 makes that less desirable than upgrading an SE or SP.

That so many do upgrade to turbo despite the cost speaks highly of MX5's as desirable cars. In my view, this will accelerate in comming years as seen by extraudinary price increases in NA's in the last 3 years. Even high milage ones. Just look at the high numbers of WANTED adds.

The value of an SP is its rarity, only 100 (or 101) were ever produced so un-modded will become valuable as collectables.

Modded cars are NOT collectables and rarely will anyone pay a reasonable amount for the car with its aftermarket "modz", which is why its always more profitable to part-out highly modified cars, return the car to OEM and sell it separately.

You should NOT mod an SP these days to preserve its value, the price will go up!

Mildly upgrading an SE, also rare but not as rare as an SP, to ~135rwkw with an AEM CAI is cheap.
After that, SE upgrades get expensive because the OEM ECU cannot handle more power. You can bandaid some of the issues but the car will never run well without an aftermarket ECU, larger injectors and you'll want to upgrade the intercooler too.
Beyond ~135rwkw, there's little point buying an SE over a non-turbo NA/NB if you want to get a larger turbo because every SE turbo component needs to be replaced (unless your state makes it easier to register when the OEM car came with a turbo).
The AEM CAI is something every SE owner should do and can be easily reverted to OEM when selling the car to preserve its value.
There can't be too many un-modded SEs these days so maybe un-modded ones will become collectable as the pinnacle OEM NB model (be sure to clean out the intercooler plumbing pipes though, they will be badly rusted on the inside by now).

[bootz]

Lokiel, technically you are spot on (as usual) but some degree of caution is necessary. As much as we love them, they are old cars now, and old cars are not worth much. So mod away if you that floats your boat.

SP is generally NB value plus $10k

SE is generally NB value plus $5k

Last SP sold in WA, AFAIK, was $18 which equates to the above.

If you want collectible value, go for the cars with a successful racing history.

Note. The Mx-5 can maybe be equated to an MGB for the purposes of collectibility. Though the MG is now more than twenty years older than MX-5 values have remained largely unexciting, with some variance for inflation.
There are variances for rarity. The SP may be equated to MGV8 ?? The SE to MGC??? Rough correalation on desirabiliy, probably.
Not sure if the rarity factor for these has moved too much to reflect in prices. Not so many sales to follow.

The BIG problem is that there is not much in the way of racing history for the MX-5 to boost the desirability factory.

[bruce]

Yes, Brocky never planted his backside into a 5, nor did one win Bathurst.

[93_Clubman]

Yes SEs have really taken off which I find odd but I guess they're getting rare.

Again, asking prices - in Australia there were 492 2004-2005 MX5 SEs, almost five times the number of SPs: http://www.mx5cartalk.com/SP_SE_Comparison/

[Mr Morlock]

you can buy a pretty good MGB roadster for around $15K and one that has been refurbed about $25K. Thats a pointer to MX-5 - not likely to be investments although still very drivable cars. I would reckon the SP is definitely the vehicle to hold up better in value. As others have said- modding is not likely to add any real value.

[Dan]

What the NA really has going for it over an SE/SP is an appeal beyond MX5 enthusiasts as it's simply an iconic car. That will support the appreciation of good examples in the long term despite their high production numbers, similar to the MGB but I think with an even broader appeal.

While the SE/SP is seen as a unique car to MX5 enthusiasts I don't think it has a broad enough appeal to support it being a proper collectable car for the masses.

On the other hand the NB coupe will appreciate as it has low production numbers and is different to any other MX5 model produced.

[bruce]

On the other hand the NB coupe will appreciate as it has low production numbers and is different to any other MX5 model produced.

The NB coupe in Japan? Honestly, that is such a rare totally unknown beast (I forgot about it until you mentioned it) not many people would want it as they don't know of its existence.
People are missing the point here; it takes Supply and Demand to move prices. NB coupe would have virtually zero Demand and the same low Supply (thus stable prices). An SP would have little Supply and little Demand - thus stability, but it will never rocket in value.
Take for example the so-called Rod Millen MX5 - alledgedly little Supply but absolutely no Demand. Bit like fossilized dinosaur turds, it may be rare but no one really wants them (actually.....there could be value in that!)
I did do an Economics degree many moons ago.