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A 1999 Mazda MX-5 Miata with a five-speed manual, a Sports Package and 159,900 miles on the clock is up for auction on Cars & Bids, and it is being offered with no reserve. Bidding sits at $2,500 after three bids, and the auction closes on Monday, October 5, at 2:45 p.m. EDT, so whoever is high at the bell takes it home.
The listing comes from a Staten Island, New York, dealer and carries a clean Indiana title. The car wears Highlight Silver Metallic over a black interior, with a black manual soft top, cloth seats and air conditioning. Under the hood is the 1.8-liter four-cylinder, rated at 140 horsepower and 119 lb-ft of torque, sending power to the rear wheels through that five-speed.
The Right Box Ticked
The Sports Package is the reason a shopper might look twice. On a second-generation Miata it adds a Torsen limited-slip differential and Bilstein shocks, which is the pairing most NB owners go hunting for. The dealer also lists a Racing Beat muffler, a strut tower brace, fog lights, an aftermarket air filter, a Sony head unit and a rear wind deflector. Nothing on that list is wild, and most of it can be unbolted if a buyer prefers a stock car.
Service-wise, the Carfax shows a heater hose replacement and an oil change in April 2024, and a valve cover gasket, brake fluid flush and oil change in October 2023. The dealer says spark plugs, ignition wires, a valve cover gasket and a clutch master cylinder were handled in 2026, but notes there is no documentation for that work.
The Fine Print
This is a $2,500 Miata, and the listing is upfront about why. The history report shows right-rear damage and a mileage discrepancy, both dated June 2026, and the seller says the mileage question is with Carfax. The dealer also reports rocker panel corrosion repairs, and the Known Flaws section adds some underbody corrosion, a torn shift boot, a worn driver's seat with a torn bottom cushion, a peeling steering wheel finish and curb rash on the wheels. The tires carry 2018 date codes, and because of the modifications the car may not pass emissions testing in some states, which the buyer is expected to check before bidding.
Rust in the rockers is the NB's best-known weak spot, and the comment section reflects it: bidders have been asking for close-ups of the repair work, and the seller has posted photos of the repaired area. The gallery runs to 133 photos, so there is plenty to study before the clock runs out.
What the Market Says
Hagerty's valuation tools put a 1999 Miata in #3 (Good) condition at $9,100 as of October 2026, within a range of $7,433 to $11,467. That figure is down 3.2 percent over the past year and 8.1 percent over three years. The 10th Anniversary Edition sits a little higher at $10,200 in Good condition, with a $8,300 to $13,300 range.
The wider NB picture is livelier than those trend lines suggest. Hagerty's data shows 120 1999-2005 Miatas sold at auction over the past 12 months, a 26 percent jump in volume, at an average price of $13,100. Cleaner cars are clearly bringing real money, including a 37,000-mile 10th Anniversary car that hit $22,628 on Bring a Trailer in August. A 160K-mile example with a history report full of footnotes belongs near the bottom of that spread, and that is exactly why the no-reserve format is interesting here.
Who This Miata Is For
Nobody is pretending this one is a collector piece. It is a driver for someone who wants a manual, rear-drive roadster with the good suspension parts already fitted, and who is willing to put it on a lift and look at the rockers and the right rear before trusting it. The bid will climb before Monday, but there is a long way between $2,500 and the $9,100 Hagerty assigns a Good-condition car, and the repairs and paperwork questions will decide where it lands in that gap.
Plenty of other Japanese sports cars from the same era are proving the point that five-speed cars find buyers. We recently covered an 8K-mile 1989 Nissan 300ZX GS 5-speed and a final-year 1996 300ZX that spent 27 years with one owner. If you like your auctions without a safety net, our look at a no-reserve 1984 300ZX 50th Anniversary Edition is worth a read too.
Where would you draw the line on a cheap Miata: rust repairs, a mileage flag, or neither?
