I’ve lost count of how many forgetable, soulless rental cars I’ve driven over the years. While I don’t expect much from most rental agencies, I’d always prefer to be driving something fun if given the choice. The very nature of the car rental business means that’s usually impossible. Most people rent cars to get themselves (and sometimes others) from place to place with enough space to move their luggage. And tiny sports cars don’t fit the bill.
Yet, there are at least two big-name car rental agencies that offer the small and decidedly impractical Mazda MX-5 Miata to rent. This is news to me; I always thought rental agencies bought up Mustang convertibles to fill that niche, since they delivered the same convertible body style but with more seats and more trunk space. To get anything even remotely as cool as a Miata, I thought Turo was the only option. But no! You can get Miata RFs—the retractable hardtop model—from Enterprise Rent-a-Car and Alamo Rent-a-Car right now. I only learned this thanks to a post on Reddit, where someone posted to the /r/Miata page about getting an ND from Alamo.
Curious to see just how cheaply I could get a Miata for a day, I went to both companies’ websites, but no matter which dates I picked, I couldn’t get the Miata’s category, “Compact Convertible,” to appear as an option. After a bit of research and some phone calls, I discovered just how strangely inconvenient it is to actually book a Miata from either of these companies.
Alamo Isn’t That Bad, But It Feels Like The Company Is Hiding The Car
Alamo Rent-a-Car proudly displays the MX-5 Miata RF as an option on its website under the Compact Convertible segment, specifying just how unfitting it is as a rental car from a big-name agency (you can carry two people, but only one piece of luggage—good luck!).
Seeing as how that post from Reddit I linked above mentioned the San Diego Alamo as the car’s source, I threw in that data into Alamo’s website. Alas, no matter which arrangement of dates I picked, the Compact Convertible category wouldn’t appear as an option. I tried dates as close as this weekend, all the way to next summer, sorting through weekend rentals, to one-day rentals, to weekday-only bookings. I also tried different cities, from Los Angeles to San Francisco to Maui to Atlanta. But no dice.
I suspected it might be possible that the car was removed from the website for the winter season, though considering San Diego’s always-perfect weather, that didn’t make much sense. So I simply called the company directly and posed as a customer looking to book a very specific category. To my relative surprise, the agent was able to book me in a Miata with no problem, confirming to me that the Compact Convertible segment was available in San Diego.
Weird, right? Why not just have the car available to book online, too? The representative couldn’t explain the discrepancy, so I’ve reached out to Alamo’s parent company, Enterprise Mobility, for answers (this company also owns Enterprise Rent-a-Car). The firm has yet to get back to me.
As for pricing, the rep told me a weekend booking from December 6 to 7 would cost me $108 before any fees or add-ons, or about $30 more than a Mustang convertible from Alamo on the same dates. Personally, I’m taking the Miata every time.
Enterprise’s Situation Is More Confusing
Like Alamo, Enterprise Rent-a-Car displays a Compact Convertible category on its website, even giving a… passionate description that would make any prospective renter jump at the opportunity to get behind the wheel:
Premium interior, superior performance – that’s what a compact convertible car rental from Enterprise can offer. Grab a friend, drop the top and enjoy a smooth ride wherever the road takes you.
While those sentences kind of undersell what is arguably the greatest sports car of all time, the rest of the page does right by the Miata’s impracticality, pointing out the lack of luggage space and two seats—just like Alamo. What I’m trying to say is, Enterprise is advertising this vehicle as available to rent. Yet, it feels impossible.
Trying to book a Compact Convertible from Enterprise online proved as fruitless as it did with Alamo. While I was able to get the car to show up as an option in search results, it was only listed as “Unavailable,” no matter the time, duration, or location I used.
I expected to get somewhere over the phone, like I did with Alamo, but instead, I was met with a similar lack of availability. I spoke to two different Enterprise representatives over the phone, who told me that while the branch did have Miatas at the location, they were, for some reason, not available for booking, no matter which dates I supplied. When I asked how I could book one, if not over the phone, they simply directed me back to the website. Sigh.
The only other way I can see being able to book a Miata through Enterprise is in person. I don’t live anywhere near an Enterprise location, so I wasn’t immediately able to test this idea.
I Have A Theory About This
This is purely speculative, so feel free to disagree. But I think Alamo and Enterprise don’t have the Miata available to book online because of its size and the car’s lack of storage space. It’s entirely possible people were booking this car while visiting on vacation, picking it up from the airport, and not realizing it wouldn’t be able to fit any of their luggage.
To stop people from constantly coming back to the counter and complaining about the Miata’s tiny trunk space, Enterprise marked the Compact Convertible category as always unavailable on their website, while Alamo removed it from the search results altogether. Again, this is just a theory. But it makes a bit of sense.
Going by some anecdotal evidence, it seems people only usually get rental Miatas by chance, whether because they’re offered it as an upgrade or because the car they booked wasn’t available. That original Reddit post I linked above, by the way it was worded, suggests the user didn’t know they were getting an ND until they got to the counter. This user on Reddit was expecting a mid-size car for their visit to Hawaii, but got a Miata instead. My colleague, The Bishop, told me he was offered a Miata on a recent business trip, driving from Charlotte to Atlanta, after the car he booked wasn’t available.
If I had to guess, these Miatas are likely just backup cars for when there isn’t much else for the rental companies to give out, and they’re rarely booked the traditional way because they’re not as easy to book as any other car (despite being the coolest cars on the lot). Maybe I’m wrong! I’d love to see what you think in the comments.
Either way, there’s a lesson here: Next time you book a car with Alamo or Enterprise, ask if they have a Miata on the lot. You might just get lucky.
Top graphic images: Mazda; Enterprise
I got one of the Enterprise Miata RFs while my car was getting collision repairs done. I had a 2001 BRG SE I bought on the day I graduated college. The automatic, I-85 interstate noise, and the tiny size really killed the fun factor for me. Maybe I’m getting old, too fancy, or both?
I tried renting a an S2000 off of Turo years ago when I was going to Gatlinburg. They had a mileage limit of 100 a day, this was in Nashville. Super lame, but I guess that guy didnt want people driving over to the Tail of the Dragon and potentially going off the side of the mountain. Which was my plan, not the going off the side of the mountain part.
Back when Ford was on a buying spree I rented a Volvo S90 from Hertz ( Gold Club member) through a double upgrade promotion between AMEX/JetBlue at DCA airport. When I went to pick it up, both stalls beside me had Jag XJs running trunks open ready for their party! Ford had purchased Hertz Jaguar and Volvo.
So I had the exact opposite experience. My wife and I were flying into Nashville a few weeks ago for an event, and knew we’d be there for 3 days. We booked a car through Budget, and listed that you get whatever they want, but it can include anything from a sports car, to a truck, SUV, etc. As it was just the two of us, I knew as long as it had 2 seats, we’d be fine, so we decided to go for it, as it was maybe $15 cheaper than their cheapest car, per day. Landing in Nashville, the app tells me my car is ready, and its a 15 passenger Ford van. Felt pretty silly driving around the city like I was the Partridge Family, but it was cheap…
Yep, my car was in the shop many years ago and I got a Miata rental for the week. Now I can say I have experienced Miata. It was small and fun to drive like everyone says…
I was in Pittsburgh yesterday for work and there was a Miata in the aisle at National. Unfortunately I was traveling with two coworkers, if I was alone that would’ve been a no-brainer.
Haven’t even thought about a convertible as a rental when I’ve visited the parents in Ohio from Guam, will have to check that out next time.
That said, in Dec 2003 I visited a friend for a long weekend and at the rental car counter, I was offered a Miata as an upgrade over the Mitsubishi Lancer sedan I had booked. Needless to say I chose the Miata. I got some strange looks as it was mid 60’s in the San Bernardino hills considered ‘cold’ by the locals, coming from 30 degrees Ohio I just put on a flannel shirt and drove with the top down everywhere. Turquoise color and automatic but was enjoyable for my one and only experience with a Miao.
I recently rented a car out of Newark for a day, I had the Emerald Aisle class. What shows up, but this beauty….
https://photos.app.goo.gl/b816BteWt8kGb9ES7
It was on the right side of the sign and everything!
I tried every way I could to get my suitcase in but since it was a longer work trip I had packed my larger one and it wouldn’t fit in the trunk or in the front passenger seat. I tried EVERYTHING to get it in. No dice.
After that I tried a Honda Civic, but it had the wrong key in it (Mercedes???) and then I tried a Jetta but it smelled like puke that had been poorly cleaned and smothered in febreze. Finally found a Civic that would work but it was joyless to drive.
The next week I was in New Orleans getting a rental car, saw an Miata but it was on the wrong side of the status sign. I was stuck with a Hyundai….
I used to work at Morrisons Cafeteria on occasion they would order steaks. They only ordered enough for the management team and never showed up on the menu. I once got one because a dick Manager got a phone call right before we opened so his was available. He was pissed. I bet these more exciting cars are purchased and upper management gets a company car out of company stock but surprisingly they have cars that aren’t rental cars.
If you’re upper management, are you really aspiring to drive a Miata?
Every so often every rental company advertises “premium elite sports cars” or some such come on. In my sad, bottom-feeder state these cars are always “not available in your area.”
I’m not sure I would trust “premium elite sports cars” to be any of those words. Case in point, 20 years ago a surveyor in our company reserved an SUV to carry equipment to distant unpaved places. He was issued a Toyota Matrix, and couldn’t convince the clerk it wasn’t an SUV.
A rental clerk once told me a Nissan Xterra was in the minivan class.
I’d call that a win
I went to LA in 2019 to renew my passport and booked a standard compact rental car. I got to the counter, and the guy said “we have a Miata if you’d like to rent that instead, I’ll give it to you for our cheapest rate. It’s been sitting here for weeks and nobody wants to rent it”. Of course I said yes, and had a great time (even though of course it was an automatic). No idea how to actually go about booking one.
That’s interesting because I also ended up getting a Miata RF from Enterprise in LA in 2019. Long story short, after a disastrous travel experience where me and my wife were supposed to be in Europe for a week, we instead ended up at LAX with none of our luggage. I booked the cheapest car Enterprise had right before getting on the plane to LA, and when we got to the counter to pick up the car, not a single piece of luggage to be had, the agent said “we have this Miata if you want it at the same rate”.
We said “why the hell not” and drove it for the rest of our impromptu, very much so not European, “vacation”. Funnily enough, to date that’s the only Miata I’ve ever driven, but I quite enjoyed it, despite it being auto.
If I understand the car rental business at all, this is a potentially frightening moment.
One of the ways rental companies increase their profits is buying fleets of cars that retail buyers aren’t really excited about.That’s why you see lots of Nissan and Mitsubishi models with barcode stickers. The last rental car I had was a base model 2025 VW Jetta, a car that isn’t exactly flying off retail sales lots.
If Mazda is selling Miatas to rental fleet buyers, there is at least some implication that they aren’t flying off retail lots. Miata sales are currently a fractional percentage of Mazda sales, and if they aren’t moving the metal at retail, that doesn’t bode well for the future of the model.
The handful of Miatas that end up on a rental lot probably ends up rounding down to less than 1% of the entire production run. It’s a niche product; most rental companies want something a little more ordinary for rental duty.
The biggest worry for the Miata is that Mazda can’t afford to spare the excess to keep it in production or justify investing in it. The Miata seems unlikely to recoup much profit, it probably racks up (acceptable) losses in production cost for benefit of the halo image.
If Mazda has to dump CX-(insert number here)s onto rental lots at cut-rate pricing, that would be a bigger sign that bodes poorly for the Miata.
The Altima was the canary in the coal mine for Nissan, not the few 370Zs that might have been rentals.
That’s somewhat true, but not NEARLY as true as in the olden days when the Detroit 3 owned the rental 3. Today, they just buy what they can get a good deal on, and “good deal” includes cars that hold their value REALLY well, which is why there are a billion RAV4s and Camrys on rental lots too. Also why you rarely find “rental spec” rental cars on rental lots like in the bad old days – they are resale poison.
Frankly, if they’re renting out automatic-transmission ones, that’s most of the fun gone for me. I’d rather just have the benefit of something more spacious at that point.
There’s likely an element of truth to preferring to keep something like a Miata as a counter upgrade rather than depending on the description to manage customer expectations.
But as well, something like a Miata is going to have a low fleet count. Part may be the tension between revenue management and operations, where there’s the desire to try and market everything available, but not being easily able to guarantee something you’ve only got one or two of per location. As well, with seasonality, it might be something that only gets run at specific months, everything on fleet might’ve been sold off, but there’s the expectation some will be coming for 2026 and don’t want to remove the product from the online listing until that’s confirmed.
I’ve been through this song and dance a few times. If you can even find one it’s going to be automatic and even as someone who isn’t particularly manual passionate I don’t see the point of an automatic Miata. IMHO your best bet as an enthusiast who wants a fun vacation rental is to just go with the pony car.
Some places will even let you rent a V8. I got a Camaro SS for a week in Hawaii…although most rental places that have Camaros opt for the V6 because it’s less trouble than the turbo 4. And if you can’t have fun with a 330 horsepower rear wheel drive car with an amazing chassis I don’t know what to tell you.
That V6 even somehow sounds fantastic as well and has a power shift function that basically puts you in overdrive when you mash the go pedal to the floor and treats you to a 7,000 RPM song of its people. The GM 10 speed isn’t as fun as a manual but it’s good enough that it’s not going to get in the way of fun.
I’ve also had an Ecoboost Mustang as a rental and thought it was perfectly fun for a long weekend. That being said I do know some of the companies will give you a V6 Challenger and I can’t imagine one of those will be all that fun…
Unfortunately, the Mustang EcoBoost (and this includes both the prior S550 and current S650 generations) doesn’t give you paddle shifters on the automatic unless you order the Performance Package. And there isn’t a way to shift the transmission manually at all on the shifter. And the Performance Package is no longer an option, and neither is the 6MT on the EcoBoost…
…which means you cannot shift the gears yourself at all on an EcoBoost Mustang. I find this unforgivable for a so-called “sports car.”
This wouldn’t be so big of a crime if the transmission was actually any good. One of the most frustrating automatics I’ve ever used, and no option to “opt out” by choosing gears yourself.
The worst part is that it was codeveloped by Ford and GM, and somehow GM’s version isn’t irritating at all.
It did return 40+ mpg on a 55mph average trip over hills in Hawaii, so I guess it’s doing something right. Pretty impressive for a 315 “sports” car.
But if you have to make your sports car feel like a confused CVT to get there, surely you’re missing the “sports” bit.
I don’t know about the Mustang, but my F-150 has a rocker switch on the side of the shifter that will either lock out the upper gears or , when pulled back to “M”, will let you manually chose the gears. There’s another button further down that toggles between standard, sport or tow-haul mode. I’d guess the same button on a mustang would be sport or eco.
Damn! I’ve been wondering for some time now whether I’d be comfy in a Miata over the course of a few days. Here’s my chance!
I would love to be able to rent a Miata. My current abode can’t accommodate two cars and I need a wagon for the cargo space so I had to sell my two Miatas. But seeing as all of these rentals are likely automatics, I’ll pass.
I’ve been hearing reports of these showing up on the aisle for National Rental Car as well (also part of the Enterprise family) but haven’t seen one yet myself.
Also as far as the one bag goes:
you can fit two carry-on sized suitcases in the back of an ND soft top; not sure if the RF’s top mechanism changes that.
I actually rented a manual trans Miata RF in San Diego from Turo about a month ago. It was comparably priced to getting an appliance from one of the big name companies, so it felt like a no brainer. First time using Turo and first (overdue) time driving a Miata. No complaints on either
No issues with Turo damage claims after returning? I’ve heard some bad stories from people.
None at all, the host was very friendly and everything was pretty easy. I suspect claims like that may depend on who the host is. Since it’s basically AirBnB for cars, there’s probably a large variety of people renting. Maybe it’s better with enthusiast cars or maybe I just got lucky. In any case, I’d use it again based on my one experience.
I did the same thing with Turo this summer for a weekend cruise.
5-speed NA Miata, a gorgeous summer day, and some back country roads.
Glad I did it.
Careful, they will give you a Cascada.
Audible laugh here. Got stuck with one of those recently and it took about 1 full mile to decide to return it. Awful.
on Maui, i ran into 2 Enterprise Miatas, out on that crazy windy road on which I was so wishing I had my NA, instead of the Buick Enclave I was thrashing to near death. Both of the Miata renters were complaining they “got stuck with” the Miatas instead of the Mustang/Camaro convertibles they had asked for. One guy was actively negotiating with a hesitant Mustang renter to swap. I wanted to slap them all.
I have elite status with National, and have rented Miata RF’s a handful of times: in Orlando, Miami, and Detroit. All had Florida plates.
They were there in the Emerald Club Executive Elite section.
I did the same back in 2018 at LAX with National. I was surpised the automatic RF wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.
I don’t have Elite status any more, but still enjoy picking whatever’s available on the Emerald Aisle with just regular Executive status. I’ve also rented Hemi Challengers from National, too. Those are fun, even if I end up driving like an a-hole when I have one.
This is exactly where I’d expect to find them. I love the National Emerald Aisle model as I can take my pick of cars from the lot, so I end up trying out lots of different makes and models and every business trip is a surprise.
Having a Miata in the Emerald Aisle solves the issue of reserving a car ahead of time that doesn’t end up fitting your luggage as you can just check it out right there and see. If it doesn’t work, just grab the CX-30 parked next to it and be on your way.
I’ve also found National rentals to be shockingly cheap. I’ve gotten pretty nicely equipped cars with unlimited mileage for $30/day.
Miata Isn’t Available To Assign
Availability Limited To Inescapable Meh Altima
In my around ten years of renting with Enterprise for work (not very often at all now, but 3 times a week at its peak) I got a Miata twice. Both by pure chance, and both at airport locations in the midwest. Once in Omaha, and once in Kansas City. Both were one-way rentals, too. And both times they were brought over from the National (another Enterprise division) lot because Enterprise had nothing on their lot. The perks of being a frequent renter with a corporate account!
I hate even making this comment, because I don’t like giving ammo to the mAnUaL oR nOtHiNg crowd, but I strongly suspect an automatic Miata would not be fun enough to drive to put up with all the other compromises a small 2 seat convertible brings.
The Mustang with more space for less money seems like the much better choice.
The Miata I got from Hertz at ATL about 15 years ago was a manual…
The graphic in the article says Auto, but obviously my opinion changes if they have some 6 speed cars.
I think it would be interesting to hear from those who rented one with an automatic how they felt about it. There’s way to many around here with autos and it’s disheartening.
Manuals are for enjoyable driving.
Automatics are for rental cars.
I actually own several of each. Driving an automatic does feel like something is missing.
My parents’ cars were manuals, so it’s ingrained in me to enjoy shifting the gears.
I drove an RF auto rented from National at LAX in 2018. The automatic was fine. No, it won’t light you hair on fire, but no Miata will do that.
Rentals these days are basically all automatic. I even tried to get a manual rental in Europe, and it wasn’t possible.
If given the choice between an automatic Miata or an automatic Hyundai Elantra on the rental lot, I’m taking the Miata…
I was just in Milan last month and had a manual Kia Stonic as a rental, thing was certainly a car….
6 years ago in Rome I had a Manual Fiat 500, that was surprisingly fun to drive.
I’ve just tried at 3 different European airports in the past couple of months, and they didn’t have any manuals, but could be luck of the draw.
That said, the A6 avant I had with the DCT did just fine on the Autobahn.
If it makes a difference, I selected Manual Transmission when I reserved the car ahead of time.
Yeah, so did I. I don’t think it makes a difference, at least not at German airports.
I’ll second that I have had no problem getting a manual when renting in Europe. I find it odd you had no luck finding one. The manual rentals are typically way cheaper than the exact same car with automatic so that might be the reason you have had no luck?
I just did a quick check on my usual rental site and I could find manual rentals in Paris (CDG) and Berlin (BER) airports no problem. Shoot I could even rent huge manual transmission passenger vans if I wanted to.
I feel like an auto would give me the idea of if I would like it enough to buy the car, with a 2 day test drive vs around the block at a dealer or private sale. Comfort, ergonomics, layout, handling, everything except rowing your own.
If everything else ticks the boxes, you know the manual will seal the deal.
I agree. If I had rented one for a couple of days, I might not have bought my Fiata. On a 20 minute test drive I thought it would be fine, by the time I got it three hours home I was already questioning my decision but in love with the car. I tried for a year and a half to put up with the pain, but ultimately it had to go due to just not being able to drive it for more than a half hour without literally being in pain. Replaced with a 128i convertible that is a whole lot more comfortable and only slightly less fun. But at least I can say I owned one.