i'm interested in picking up a relatively cheap, small, fun, and fuel-efficient convertible just because...something reliable with parts that are easy to find and which is generally easy to work on by someone with little know-how or mechanic experience but enough free time to read up on the internet

i feel like the miata fits the bill...i'm not looking for something to race, nor am i looking to spend a lot of money in upgrades...i want something that's fun near bone stock (or with cheap and easy upgrades)

i had a friend pick up a running 2002 with 85k miles for $750 from a guy who lost his license for drunk driving and couldn't afford to get it out of impound...it needed a paint job, a little mechanical work, and some interior work, but after a couple of thousand, it looks fantastic...i realize he was probably really lucky, but i'm patient and don't mind keeping an eye for a good deal over the next year or so...i also don't mind something that isn't pretty, as long as it's sound

so tell me about them...which generation and trim (if applicable) is the best bang for your buck? what kind of things should i look for and what can i expect to go wrong? i don't have a firm budget right now, as i'm just now thinking about it, but let's aim for $6k or less and go from there

i realize there are sites/forums dedicated to the miata, and i will undoubtedly delve into them soon, but i figured i'd get the opinion of you fine folks so i could narrow my search a bit

12/29/2014 2:39:18 PM

That's a great car for a hairdresser.

12/29/2014 9:52:53 PM

Wait, old miatas are fuel efficient?

12/29/2014 10:53:24 PM

21 city, 27 hwy according to: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/8580.shtml

wow, way shittier than I expected.

either way you should get one. they are awesome.

12/29/2014 11:13:29 PM

miatas are great. tons of fun, and you don't have to drive them a million miles an hour at the limit of adhesion to have fun, either. they are cheap to buy and run forever and ever, and if they don't, engines and transmissions and stuff are cheap, too. I had like 3 spare transmissions for my turbo miata, because why not at a couple hundred bucks apiece?

they kick ass at autocross. tons of people do track days in them, too, in near-stock trim.

they're fucking slow, the fuel economy is decent but not great for how small and low-powered they are, and you will want to nuke Japan again if you ever have to change the alternator on one. other than that, i'm a big fan. well, you'd probably be fucked in the butt if you ever got into a bad crash in one, but I never tested that theory, so I don't know.

All in all, go for it. They're great cars and a good value, I think. I think I'd probably go for a 2nd-gen (NB chassis) as far as bang-for-the-buck goes, if you plan on buying a decent car in good shape with reasonable mileage. I don't think you save much money by going with a first-gen (NA). Now, the price floor for NAs is likely quite a bit lower if you are looking at cheap, ratty examples that need some work (your buddy's car sounds like a great example of one of those).


The 3rd-gen (NC) cars, I've never shopped much for. I expect that they demand enough money that I'd probably be hard pressed not to go with an S2000 (also a really outstanding little Japanese sports car. I've owned 2.)

12/30/2014 2:09:49 AM

^^ haha, yea - I get better gas mileage in my s2000 than I ever did in my miata.

*You wouldn't be able to tell that from EPA ratings...and I don't beat on the s2000 like I should, but still.

[Edited on December 30, 2014 at 6:09 AM. Reason : ]

12/30/2014 6:09:08 AM

have any of you done a v8 swap into one? id specifically be interested in small block ford.

12/30/2014 6:41:36 AM

Quote :

"Wait, old miatas are fuel efficient?"

Quote :

"wow, way shittier than I expected."

huh, yeah...i figured a 1.6/1.8L would get better than that...but i suppose my point is that i wasn't looking for a V6/8 type of sports car, just something small...the mpg on the mx-5 is almost as bad as my mazda3's 2.5

^^^ thanks for detailed response! i did some quick googling after posting and decided i wanted to stick to the NB unless i find a steal on an NA...i don't mind putting some work into it (i'm borderline considering this a "project", but since i don't have much experience, i don't want to commit to something that needs too much work)

would this be a "stupid" buy? or just not that great of a deal? 93 with 220k miles for $750, supposedly only needs water pump: http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/4824656147.html

i realize it likely needs more than that and if it it doesn't right now, at 220k miles, it will need all kinds of things in the near future...but ballpark guesstimate on a worst-case scenario of what would need to be replaced? everything?



[Edited on December 30, 2014 at 7:55 AM. Reason : .]

12/30/2014 7:41:18 AM

I mean, for $750, fuck it...why not?

The thing can take a beating. I beat the ever living hell out of mine, didn't take care of it worth a damn, and it was still going at 180k when I basically gave it away to a friend. (should have sold the hard top, but whatever) Way more people here can comment on what you may need to do to it, but if you check it out and it doesn't feel like it's going to blow up tomorrow, meh. *shrug*

[Edited on December 30, 2014 at 8:27 AM. Reason : ]

12/30/2014 8:25:54 AM

miatas are very fun, my dad has had 3 NAs and now has NC , we used to autocross the older ones and they were very fun, like Duke said you dont need to go fast to have fun with them.
cheap and so many parts available
rwd

[Edited on December 30, 2014 at 9:25 AM. Reason : miatas not meats]

12/30/2014 9:25:08 AM

Get an NA '94 R-package (if you can find one). It comes with a Torsen LSD and Bilstein shocks from the factory and is decent setup for autox (with wheels and tires)

12/31/2014 1:45:24 AM

i checked out the car listed above...it was in pretty sad shape (barely ran, leak in the top left the interior wet, transmission slipped, etc) and even though i don't mind putting some time and money into it (especially for only $750 to start), it was more than i'm willing to do for now

the more i read, the more i'm interested in a 1.8 NA with the torsen LSD (as ^ mentioned)...which means 94-97, though from what i'm reading on the forums, there doesn't seem to be much consistency with which the cars were given the LSD and the only way to find out for sure (for someone without the know or ability to test drive it in such a way as feel it) is to call up mazda with the VIN

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=393084
http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=343756

although again, from what i've read, because everything is so interchangeable, i don't suppose it would be a dealbreaker by any means, just a perk if i were to find one

12/31/2014 9:08:59 AM