RodanAZ

Great buy. Miatas are a lot of fun, and punch way above their weight class! There's a reason it's the single most raced vehicle in the US...

Hairdresser traffic jam:



I sold my '92 Miata after buying our C6, but 6 months later bought it back because I missed it so much!

Truth is, at 170k miles it was far more reliable than our C6 ever was, and when I finally got fed up with working on the C6, I replaced it with a '13 Miata. No, it's not as fast, but just as much fun to drive, and far less wrenching.

My '92 has been steadily being prepped for a big power injection (turbo or V8 swap, haven't decided yet), and the chassis is pretty much done; it's a real go-kart. I've tracked and AutoX'd it, and one nice thing is the cost of consumables is far less than tracking a 'Vette. I can buy wheels and tires for it for less than a set of tires for a C6...




The '13 has been a great weekend getaway car, and with some suspension upgrades corners almost as well as the '92. I've even got my wife driving it on the track!




Truth is they're great cars. Probably not the car for someone who needs a 500hp ego fluffer, but if you like to drive, they're hard to beat.

JerriVette

Thanks for sharing those beautiful photos of your miata,,,,
And it's true...the miata is the most smiles per miles......

I dig my c6 as it's been utterly reliable and offers super car like performance...

Still the opportunity presented itself to pick up this mint condition 59k miata for so little money I couldn't say no ...and it's been a blast...( I swore off black sports cars and wanted to get red but the condition of this miata and low price was just too good to pass up so I caved but I really wanted to get away from black and get red...WOW both your miata s look eye popping cool! Slightly lowered new rims.....you NC really looks cool too...

Your beautiful red miatas are stunning...and for the most part your right .... I've noticed so many parts are available inexpensively or even used. Good to hear your wife's enjoying the miata...that's really cool too..

Somewhere near a million miata/ have sold since 1989 makes for quite few preowned parts..at very low pricing,,,,

I'm doing the flyin miata butterfly brace and frame support for rigidity, the exhaust for sound and then I'm done modding...( or so I'm telling myself)

This is a blast to drive without question"

Amicon

While i liked my C6s...I like the Miata more. More "useable" vehicle. Like a slimmed down Vette with uber reliability. Like driving a fast Go Cart.

RodanAZ

Nice!

Looks great with the Club wheels!

The PRHT really makes a difference if it's going to be driven daily. It's a great convenience.

Dethred

I am trying to sell my 1999 miata for $2000. They are fun little cars, but my s2000 makes it seem too slow for a cheap convertible.

Drive safely, and I suggest a proper roll bar! The window frame on the s2000 is a functional roll bar, but the miata has zero protection in the event of a rollover accident.

Amicon

Those wheels are stock on the 2012 Special Edition. I love the wheels on the car above, but I should keep mine stock. I LOVE the PRHT especially since I put the mod in where a one button push will raise or lower the top on the move. I backed off the ND edition for now until I see the PRHT version.

Funny you should mention the S2000. I was looking for one of those before the MX5 but the prices were ridiculous for low mileage ones and did not correlated with book prices which is needed when you go to sell to someone who needs to take out a loan. I decided the MX5 was 'good enough' coming from a C6.

Dethred

They're actually appreciating now. I can sell my 2005 with 14,800 miles for more than I paid for it almost two years ago. Lots of mint condition AP2 cars are selling for high 20's. I was going to trade it in when I bought my Viper last week but it's almost a novelty owning a car that isn't losing value.

Amicon

S2000 would definitely be a "better investment" than a new ND.

Never-Enough

Hmm, maybe I should sell my 97 for a newer Mazdaspeed Miata instead of another Corvette or just keep it when I buy another Vette. Damn you guys for making me rethink my plan! I might have to at least find a Mazdaspeed Miata to test drive locally now.

Dave68

I was looking at 04-05 Mazdaspeeds before I bought my 08 PRHT and while I like the body style, they aren't any faster than an NC unless the boost is raised. I, too have a Smartop module and can raise or lower the top at up to 38 MPH.

Amicon

Whoa You set it to 38MPH? How does that work out for the linkages?

Dave68

.....no problems so far! Actually, the average speed at which the PRHT is folding is about 5-10 MPH. I just wanted to set the limit high in case of an emergency (sudden hailstorm while being chased by gun toting rednecks....)

JerriVette

My 60k mile 1994 miata is a fun little go cart.

For what I paid I couldn't have bought wheels and tires. This near mint condition miata is my winter vehicle.

Keeps my vette nice and toasty in the garage for bad weather.

With the release of the ND coming in July...and all the talk of it recalling the driving characteristics of the NA I got nostalgic and happened to find a clean na to purchase pre owned.

Most smiles per miles at barelY the legal limit...

1993C4LT1

I'm looking to buy one of these as a daily, or a CRX Si. Tough choice!

Silver05GTO

I'm surprised there hasn't been a separate thread about the ND here on CF.....for the price it's a great fun sports car.

Congrats to the OP, these cars are a ton of fun to drive on the street, can really work over the car enjoying red line without looking out for cops constantly.

Compared to my former vettes, I really enjoy the MX5 on the street more for speed limit driving. The Z06 was fun 100+ but at lower speeds with a fixed top, it was less enjoyable to drive around town. On track it's a different story when the vettes can stretch their legs.
No regrets paying off the house and picking up an MX5 for fun driving.

RodanAZ

Easy choice... CRX is wrong wheel drive!

In all seriousness, it will probably be a lot harder to find a clean CRX than an equivalent Miata. Prices are going up on both!

Silver05GTO

Prices still dropping on NB and NC generation MX5's, but today in general it's getting hard to find clean sports cars under 10k. Beat up examples sure but deals such as the OP scored are getting rarer.

RodanAZ

I was thinking in terms of an NA being ~ equivalent to a CRX, and NA prices are climbing for clean, under 100k cars. Today, I'd probably buy a clean NB before I'd pay a premium for a low mile NA, though.

09_BSM_Z51

They are fantastic little cars, the engines don't even get broken in until 120,000 miles. My only knock on them was that they made the non-turbo RX7 obsolete. The 13B rotary n/a was a good engine just in need of a lighter chassis and better suspension. Miata would of been perfect. Anyways, it's one of the few cars you can have a blast in not going illegal speeds and it will help fine tune your driving skills. Great pick up!

Dave68

I've owned 4 rotary Mazdas and loved them but I wouldn't be the first to admit that the gas mileage and emissions-friendliness of these engines are their weakest features.