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Amazes me how the prices of hardtops has risen while the price of Mx's has gone down. When a any good NA was worth $15000 plus you could buy a hardtop(and I did on more than one occasion) for $800-1000.

Now about $1250 seems the go while the same MX may be $6000-8000. I guess the hardtops don't wear out like the cars but it is till an amazing reversal.

Peter

Especially since the numbers are hardly going down as various people bring in more of them from Japan.

I guess I wonder about the 'lifespan' of a HT given the effect of heat and UV on the material of which they are composed.
Mine has led a charmed life since I bought it in 2004 - but of course I don't know the conditions under which it existed previous to my acquisition.
They sit on the car, constantly flexing, and in most case subjected to the aforementioned heat & UV - which has got to be a fiberglass killer.
I would imagine that many must eventually become brittle and crack around the mounting points.
They are often (I imagine) purchased by people who want to leave the car out in the elements.

Had a hardtop with my MGTF - PIA to store and put on and off - esp not being a daily driver back then. Nice to have but not a vital accessory - NC power top whilst convenient looks weirdo-rama when up I reckon.

I have to agree, i want to buy a hardtop, but the prices are too high at the moment for no real reason, other than people are willing to pay that amount.
Its not like the number of hardtops available are going down, there are always a few on ebay or this forum.
I can understand a perfect condition one going for ~$1200, but some people are trying to sell faded and/or damaged ones for over 1k.

Here's a theory - The older the MX5 model becomes the percentage of owners who are enthusiasts or that brought it as a dedicated track car increases (because they are now cheaper to buy, run etc..).

Since those people are more likely to buy hardtops than casual buyers the demand for hardtops per MX5 has increased faster than the supply of hardtops.

The price of an NC hardtop is so ridiculous I'm waiting till I'm not in a competition class that needs an OEM hardtop so I can buy a carbon one or I find a bargain on an OEM one.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

Are you sure it's not just inflation that's driving the price of them up, and just about everything else? When your NA was worth that much it was a while ago.

Back on the days nobody overly wanted them probably, you were almost shunned if you showed up on a club run with it on. We paid $600 for Slammer's red one used for racing purposes only. Maybe the racers are to blame??? ;)

Back in 2005 when I bought my second-hand one from MX5 Mania it cost $1450. plus freight.
For that money it was in only average condition and I subsequently found the bolts in the rear latches were stripped and had to be replaced.
It cost another $600. to paint so the whole exercise was anything but cheap.
I recall they were not that easy to find in 2005. New ones were available for around $3500.

I also paid $800 for a secondhand HT a while back. Can't remember exactly how long ago, easily 3-4 years ago. But the paint is fading and it was the first gen HT without head liner or defroster. Which is ok for me cos I understand it is the lightest version OEM HT.
Got is resprayed for $800 to match my car with new rubbers. At that point I was thinking I will not be selling the HT unless it is close to what I have to spend in total.

Paid $2k in early 2004 in Sydney for my near new white 2000 NB8A HT (with demister, headliner & all parts to fit straight to car). They were very scarce at the time & decent ones were $1.5-$2k.