Now I'm a Lifer....

[Ole gits rule]

This would be ideal, but by the time prices come down to be more affordable, the examples will have much higher mileage, (usually) meaning more chance of expensive maintenance work due. That could be overly pessimistic on my part, but I'm getting too old and cranky to be crawling around under cars (with the exception of an oil/filter change - that's usually do-able by the owner on most cars).

That is the issue - I think I would still stick and wait for an F-Type, not certain an MX5 would cut it for me, most go form MX5 to Z4

I actually popped into the Mazda dealer today and got 'schooled' on the models, apparently I need to hold out for a 2019 or newer as they have a more powerful engine (181HP up from 155) and other features like Android auto/Apple carplay, reverse camera etc...but are near impossible to find at the moment, so I'll just have to be patient and see what comes up.

Still not convinced its the way to go - feels like a backward step in every way to me, your car would be worth a fortune in the UK right now with a quite possibly a line of people looking to buy it