Six hundred and twelve of them are on the index right now, and half are under £8,000. That is the short answer. The longer answer is about which of those six hundred you should actually want, because the spread between a tired 1.6 and a sorted 2.0 Sport is the price of a decent used hatchback.
The third generation is the value sweet spot on the index today: the fold of metal that carries the £6k–£9k median has the deepest choice and the fastest turnover, at a median of 34 days from listing to sold. Rust in the rear arches, not the engine, is what ends them — check it in the flesh, because photos flatter every arch on the internet.
Whichever generation you pick, the running maths is where the MX-5 quietly wins. Insurance groups stay low, parts are everywhere, and the index shows owners listing them again within two years for within a few hundred pounds of what they paid. The depreciation already happened to somebody else.
