There's an OTM (Other Than Miata) in the driveway. 99 Snot-a. 55K on the clock. New tires, new batteries, no evil-incidents. Never stranded me, comfortable, reliable, extremely practical, and paid for. It's perfect for the service I need of it.

Then there's the 91 Miata. 3rd owner. 75K on the clock; put 15K on the car since March. Coffee runs from Chicago-area through 5 states and endless twisties to find that Starbucks in DC added up to 4500 miles. There was the Colorado coffee run too, another 3000 miles. Gosh, I love to drive that car!

(I hear there's good coffee in The Bay Area, and in Oakland, and in Monterey, too. Got creamer?)

Finally, there's a 95 Miata. Stashed behind the 91 in a 1-car garage. Believe me when I say, "I love to drive the 95 even more than the 91!"

Sigh. Why didn't I buy an MX-5 back in 1990?

The Snot-a serves every need that the Miata can't satisfy. I've got no reason to complain that it's "Not enought fun to drive," 'cause that would seem "ungrateful", but the Snot'a's just not fun to drive.

But a 3's supposed to have all that, and fun.

Talk to me, 3 owners. Tell me about practical, reliable, inexpensive, and FUN!

Is it worth replacing the Snot-a?

 

Apples and oranges.
The Sonata will be a much better people carrier and have a more comfortable ride, for sure.
The 3 lack decent rear seat room for anyone over 5'10" and is not the easiest to ingress egress from if one is older.
Its ride is choppy and I find myself (these days) wishing for a better ride.
On the other hand, the 3 IS fun to drive on the twisties. The MS3 has power to spare but I would have to say the NA has adequate power only. I have driven small, 4cyl cars for years and this is the most powerful of them I have ever owned, one of the heaviest too, yet it leaves me feeling like I want MORE.
I also find myself wishing for a limited slip option, which while std on the MS3 (conical type) is completely unavailable on the NA models... and to retrofit would be prohibitively expensive, imo.
That's the short list and mostly the negative. If I had more time, I could also share more of the things I like about the car.

 

"and is not the easiest to ingress egress from if one is older."

This statement brought a smile too my face.
Hell, I'LL be 71 in a couple of months, and I have yet to have a problem getting in or out of my hatchback.
I am 5'9", i75 and I don't see a problem with the comfort of the car.
Like Vir stated, it is a fun car to drive.
My only complaint is the road noise from the tires.
My "fun toy" before the Mazda was a 59 Lincoln Continental convertible so, it was a big, big downsize for me in the size catagory still, the 3 , in my opinion is a very comfortable car for it's size.
I am happy I have it.
Bob.

 

Ditch that Korean piece.

 

Just look at my Signature Picture, it loves the Twisties

 

I thought about buying a Sonata a few years back, since they were cheap. Then I drove one. Not even half as good as my Malibu, which isn't exactly fun.

Ditch it, or maybe save it if you've got a teen driver coming up?

 

Geez, Bob!! You ARE OLD... well, that's what the young'uns always say to me at least.
Sorry, perhaps I wasn't clear... I was referring to passengers that would use the rear seat. My 87 yo mother has some trouble getting in and out of the back, and she's physically pretty good shape for her age.
I am just under 6', 145lbs. (skinny) and I have trouble getting my legs in past the front seats.
The front is fine though. I did have trouble at first finding the "ideal" driving position for me.
Don't mince words, Scott! Tell us how you REALLY feel.
Geez, youz guyz are tough!!!
Yeah, they do love the twisties. But also be aware that Mazda improved the original suspension for 2006, so they (supposedly) handle a little better from the factory than my '04 does/did.

 

I am 6'2" 145lbs, and have no problem with the driver seat. Since I am picky about who drives my baby, I do not sit in the back seat, except to clean it. It's not too bad if you have a short driver or passenger in front.

So yes it is a good choice, if you are the driver.

I also have no problem with the carseat in the backseat, two is the most, tried three and it don't work.

 

If you're spending that much time in a Miata and enjoying it-- you should LOVE a 3. It's a much more liveable car day-to-day. I had a 2007 3, when it went off lease I looked at at all the competition, could not find anything I liked better and got a 2010. I've never been that way about a car, and I've owned more than 25 different ones over the years. The Miata was fun on warm sunny days, but when I had to drive it every day for 3 months while I waited for the new 3 to come in, I ended up disliking it to the point that I ended up trading it on the new 3 which was not my intent.

With that said, the 3 is a good mix of ride and handling but does veer sharply more towards sporty and fun than say a Honda Civic (or a Sonata which is a nice car though). Back seat room is tight though. If you get a hatchback 3, you basically have a sports car that has the versatility of a small SUV but is a lot more fun. There are times I wish for a bit more power and a bit less engine noise, but that's more a trademark of the car's sporting nature and can be said for most 4 cyl. cars. If I didn't require an automatic so that the wife can drive it, I would definitely go for a MS 3 in a heartbeat........can't beat the performance for the $$$ but it will be hard to find a used one.

 

Turns out I've little need for people carrying; it's very unusual I'd have more than one passenger. Far more common for me to haul "stuff" -- moving from CA to WI with a back seat, trunk and roof rack with "stuff", carting garden "stuff" from hither-to-yon, and carting bike "stuff" to the most interesting-est biking locales in the area are vastly more common. The 5-door design of the '3 seemed more suited.
Seems unlikely to be an issue for persons, but getting cargo in/out of the rear seat and cargo area's a concern. Talk about that bit, if you would.
I find myself "wallowing" over the road, somewhat "floaty". Kind of the old-style Cadillac ride, an overstuffed-sofa-on-whitewall-wire-spoke-wheels, kind of thing. Quite the contrast to the '95, and even more to the '91'.
Well, Yeeeaahhhh!! That's kinda the point, ain'a hey?
When you say 'NA', I hear, "First gen MX-5 Miata with 1.6L or 1.8L inline 4 making about 116 HP." Is that your meaning for "NA"? I consider "merely adequate power" a "safety feature." 600 HP in a modern 'Vette will SO get me in trouble.
My first couple cars were big v-8 GM products. Since 1985, nothing's been bigger than a 4 cylinder, with an '88 Sentra the only thing that remotely approached the "FQ" (fun quotient) of the Miata. That Nissan was small, fun, economical, practical and reliable. The '3's about 25 years later, but we're here to discuss whether it's better. (There's a guy up the block with an '88 Sentra, 90K on the clock, second owner, and still going strong; no rust, even!) Does a '3 likely do so well by its owners?
That's pretty much the sentiment at Edmunds -- they say everything else in small hatch/5-doors is a "'3 Wanna-be" -- nothing's as good, so they say, and everybody knows it. But how's it hold up in day-to-day life? That's what I really wanna know.
There's a great deal of undeserved disrespect GM gets for things done years ago. They've got some decent product now. However, they stole over a thousand bucks from me for a failed head gasket on a nearly-new, under-warranty Pontiac product. Claimed, "head gaskets fail if you don't provide proper, dealer-supplied service." They got their money, and they'll never see another dime of mine. Not ever. Not for any product, not for service, not from any dealer, not from any division. I'd rather walk than give GM my money. (I choke every time I think about my tax dollars in their executive pockets.) When they die, and they will die, !!SOON!!, I will laugh at their funeral, whiz on their grave, and dance a jig at the wake. Hence, the Hyundai. But that's a different thread.

As the man said, "Ya wanna know how I really feel about GM?"
High praise, indeed! For a single person, the MX-5 is remarkably practical. There's lots of ways to carry "stuff", in the passenger's seat (or lap), the trunk (duh!), the package shelf and the trunk rack. (Every MG, Triumph and Austin-Healey has a trunk rack. So do I!)

Many persons install trailer hitches. Small trailers from HF weight only about 130 pounds, and make Costco runs seriously practical. Autocross racers even carry their gear to the track, using their race car. Weird. Don't ask about putting a snow plow on the front of your MX-5.

How a '3 in the snow?
The Miata's unbeatable on any day the top is down. Sunny or not, anything from 41 degrees F to about 95 F is "top-down" weather. (There's good reasons that a drop-top needs A/C, and it's NOT just so the defroster works.) The MX-5's still fun to drive with the top up, but it's just not the same. Cramped, noisy, lousy sight lines and ride, not quite the smile-age factor. But a Snot'a's just not the solution.