Interested in feeling a little better about the state of humanity in general? If so, put down those pills and booze and listen to this. Earlier this week, the very first, brand-new 2016 Mazda Miata met its end, by being rear-ended by an F-150 less than a mile from the dealer. Gutting, right? Well, incredibly, Mazda is going to make things right.


Things started on Monday, when the Miata’s buyer (who goes by SCSM on the MX-5 Miata Forum) and his wife went to pick up their new, unashamedly red (Soul Red, according to Mazda) Launch Edition Miata, which is one of a series of only 1000. Barely a mile or so away from the dealership, a Ford F-150, slammed into the rear of the Miata without even taking the courtesy to brake.

The force of the impact shoved the Miata into the car in front of it, basing in both ends and seemingly bending the unibody itself — which means the damage is likely much worse than it looks. Happily, neither the owner nor his wife were seriously injured. They weren’t entirely uninjured, as there was bruising and other sorts of injuries you’d expect from having an F-150 slam into your ass.


Everything seemed to be sliding into that grim miasma of insurance negotiations and all that other associated misery that comes after a car wreck, but this poor guy didn’t even get to enjoy the car beforehand. Well, it seemed that way until about two days ago, when the owner posted this on the forum:

What a whirlwind these last 3 days have been for my wife and me! Our new LE was finally here and ready for pick up on Saturday, the 18th! Was trying to beat Mark out west and the time zones were working our favor, but I believe he got his a bit earlier. But we were right up there as one of the early owners in starting our new adventure with the ND. Then, at around 4:00 PM or so, BAM. BAM, and our beautiful new LE was no more. We were shaken, Joanne took a ride with the EMT’s to the hospital and I was left dazed, amazed, stressed, and what ever emotion one could experience. I also quickly realized that we were both still alive and functioning, thank you up there!!! Sunday was depressing indeed, I went to the Care Spot facility to be checked out, and we were preparing for the worst of a long, contentious battle to get things right again, and minimize any additional hassles. Glad Sunday was over.... On Monday I spoke with my dealer, Tom Bush Mazda, and they were hopeful that things could be made right if a few things came together. By late yesterday, they had!!! ... Then, yesterday afternoon, I received 2 calls from MNAO informing me that my name was on a replacement LE 6MT that is in transit and will dock in Jacksonville around August 15. on to Tom Bush soon after that.

Yep, Mazda is stepping up and sending them a replacement, brand-new Miata. It’s worth noting that Mazda was really in no way obligated to do this — the whole mess was clearly the owner’s and insurance companies’ problem at this point — but that they did it anyway speaks volumes, and I suspect the good PR they get will easily be worth the value of the car.


It looks like they’re also taking the wrecked Miata back, as well — I wonder if there’s value to be had by inspecting the car, as it’s likely the first real-world example of crash damage to a production MX-5, and there’s likely something interesting to be learned there.

Either that or it’ll show up on CarMax or Craigslist in a couple weeks.

We love to point out when car makers do terrible things, so I suppose it’s only fair to make a big deal out of it when they do something good as well. So, great job, Mazda! Thanks for doing the decent and kind thing when you didn’t have to. That’s important, and people will remember.

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