Here at Jalopnik, Miata is always the answer. If cars were a religion, we would worship at the altar of the Mazda Miata. Mazda can tell us it’s called the MX-5 now all that it wants, but to us, it will always be the Miata. It’s ridiculously fun to drive, affordable, good on gas and basically has no flaws. Unless you ask actual Miata owners, that is. Apparently, even those who love their Miatas have one specific complaint — they hate getting in and out of their absolutely perfect sports cars.
This news comes to us from our friends over at Consumer Reports, who recently published the results of their annual owner satisfaction survey. Overall, Mazda came in 18th among automakers when owners were asked whether they would definitely buy their car again if given the chance. As Mazda fans, we would have liked to see the Zoom, Zoom brand perform better, but it’s really not a bad showing. Maybe some owners got pregnant with twins after buying a CX-5, so it’s not really the car’s fault that they wouldn’t buy it again.
Where things get interesting, though, is when Consumer Reports broke down ownership satisfaction based on specific attributes that owners prioritize. If we’re talking about comfort, the Miata has a red circle with two arrows down, which is the worst rating you can earn from Consumer Reports. In the breakout article, the editors specifically noted that “Miata owners repeatedly noted how hard it was to get in and out of.” Also, “Wrangler owners bemoaned a lack of ride comfort,” but that’s a different post for a different day.
As a huge fan of the Miata, that’s sad to see. What’s worse, though, is that I have to admit they’re probably right. A while back, I had a Miata as a press car for a week and had an absolute blast. The one and only downside, though, was getting into and out of the car. If I was taller or fatter, that would make more sense, but I’m almost exactly 5’10” and probably weighed between 175 and 180 at the time. I could have used to lose a few pounds, but I was still barely considered overweight. It’s just a very low car for something that a lot of people are going to use as a daily driver.
The next week, the Miata was replaced with a bright yellow Supra, and it really was shocking just how much easier it was to get in and out of. So the good news here is that I’m not too old to daily a coupe. I’m just old enough to be inconvenienced by the Miata with its top up in Detroit during the winter. Now that I live in Atlanta, I could probably just leave the top down as long as it’s not raining. Or just put up with the minor inconvenience.
And funny enough, while we don’t have any data on owners leaving the top down as much as possible, it appears that even the owners who complained to Consumer Reports about getting in and out of their Miata appear to still have no plans to get rid of their cars. If you check the Miata’s predicted owner satisfaction score, it gets a perfect five out of five. Which means that owning and driving a Miata is so enjoyable, even the people who hate how low it is would still happily buy it again.
As for that Supra that I found easier to get in and out of? It’s only rocking a four out of five for predicted owner satisfaction, the same as the Porsche 718 Boxster. So even if you have a hard time getting into your Miata, you’re still going to enjoy owning it more than if you’d bought something much more comfortable and expensive. Victory: Mazda.