Where each one leads
Fiat 124 Spider
- Against cars of the same year, the Fiat 124 Spider comes out better in New York safety inspections (fails 73% less often than average) than the Mazda MX-5 (fails 51% less often than average).
Mazda MX-5
- Fewer Mazda MX-5 cars in the Netherlands carry an illogical odometer record (9.6% against 12.2%).
- New Mazda MX-5 cars registered in Europe in 2022 average 150 g/km of CO₂ on the WLTP test, against 154 for the Fiat 124 Spider in 2020.
Too close to call: official combined fuel use, Canada (l/100 km).
Only measures that do not depend on how many cars were sold: pass and failure rates against cars of the same age, ratings, fuel use and CO₂. How we compare
At a glance
| Fiat 124 Spider | Mazda MX-5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Model years in the US safety record | 2017–2020 | 2006–2026 |
| New cars registered in Europe | 16,264 (2010–2020) | 112,227 (2010–2022) |
| Licensed in the United Kingdom | — | 79,525 |
| On the road in the Netherlands | 793 | 12,970 |
| In traffic in Finland | — | 645 |
EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).
Reliability and problems
| Fiat 124 Spider | Mazda MX-5 | |
|---|---|---|
| UK MOT first-time pass rate | — | 74% |
| … against cars of the same age | — | +14% |
| New York safety inspections failed | 0.4% | 0.8% |
| … against cars of the same year | −73% | −51% |
| Illogical odometer records (NL) | 12.2% | 9.6% |
| US owner complaints | 66 | 155 |
| Most complaints about | Air bags | Power train |
| Model year with most complaints | 2017 (33) | 2016 (34) |
| US recall campaigns | 3 | 6 |
| Manufacturer service bulletins | 231 | 3,927 |
Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).
Fuel, emissions and price
| Fiat 124 Spider | Mazda MX-5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Official combined fuel use, Canada | 7.9 l/100 km (2020) | 8.0 l/100 km (2026) |
| Real-world use in Europe, petrol | — | 6.8 l/100 km |
| Official CO₂ of new cars in Europe | 154 g/km | 150 g/km |
| Average power of new cars in Europe | 103 kW (138 hp) | 121 kW (162 hp) |
| Average mass in running order | 1,125 kg | 1,106 kg |
| Dutch list price when new (median) | €41,033 | €34,590 |
| Average odometer in Finland | — | 137,000 km |
Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).