How many Miatas did you look at before you found one worthy?
How many Miatas did you look at before you found one worthy?
Looked at one in December 2010 which was a turbo '94 owned by a Lotus/Aston tech here in Orlando, then decided my finances weren't quite where I wanted them to be and put the Miata hunt on hold. That turbo '94 planted a seed in me though. Fast forward to February 2013 and I called about a 2nd Miata, which was an '04 Mazdaspeed, and it ended up having a rebuilt title so I walked away. Finally, 3rd time was the charm, I found my dream car '05 Lava Orange Mazdaspeed a couple days later, and had it in my possession by the end of the week.
Is there such thing as the "perfect miata" or "worthy enough"...I have not found it yet...have picked up many many many I thought would fill the void, however none has as of yet...not sure one ever will for me personally...currently on my 29th and already have been hunting for number 30...maybe one day will find and hold onto one, however my previous track record doesn't exactly look to good for doing so...
Took me a year. I knew the color, year range, options I wanted, just took me a while to find one close enough to me. Now a days, I would fly coast to coast for the right car.
I never found the one. I settled for a wrecked red one, because it was still in better condition that most that are/were available. I'll still get a BRG at some point and join the gentleman's club. I might even change mine to green when I get it repainted. Not that it is high on my list of things to do.
WASABI (09-23-2014)
I got really lucky, bought a 94 Laguna Blue R package car off ebay sight unseen (within a month of serious looking) and so far it's been great, I could not be happier with it. Wife and I flew out to west coast to pick it up and drove 2596 miles home with average fuel mileage of 31.55 mpg and I loved every minute of it, especially the twisties.
Knowing what years and options I wanted, and what colors I didn't want, I spent six months looking. I looked for six months in a 6-8 hour drive radius. Finally found one that seemed worth checking out, and it ended up being a very close to my exact search criteria in terms of options and condition, so I drove home with it.
Around 2 months of looking at every car on craigslist, autotrader, local ads, used car lots, etc., everyday. Drove 200+ miles to get the car I have now. The right car is easily worth the extra money in travel expenses.
Sounds "normal" that I've looked at six in the past week then. Hoping the stars align sooner rather than later. It will be a daily driver and I'm out a car at the moment.
I made the mistake of buying the first I seen when I got my 97 it ran great but over time it was clear I over paid on what was a rot box. I spent the better part of a month and a half looking for my 94 and only found it by luck on a forum.
Can you elaborate on some of the reasons you are finding a car you like? Price? Condition? Options/color?Originally Posted by Fiddlesticks
First was an auto, decided to look for 5 sp. Second one (96) some cosmetic issues and a few things I didn't want (wheels/roll bar) but mainly air bag light issues (panel replacement) so high price for changes if made. Third one (99) was at the high end of our range and I didn't love it. Fourth one (96 I think) some undisclosed body damage, after market trim and driving issues. Fifth one was sold an hour before our apt. Sixth one (99) liked but prepurchase inspection was a no go 5 mins in.
WASABI (09-24-2014)
The Miata I own now literally took about 10 minutes to find...An old friend of my wife had a 90 Miata in her family since new and then was trying to sell it. Gave my wife and I first dibs. She sent me photos of the car and I made an offer and she accepted. All it needed was some major cleaning and detail work. Every paycheck I try to buy a little something for it to keep it fresh. Sometimes its that easy. Knowing that the car is 25 years old really makes me enjoy it that much more.
Yes, there are better Miatas and other versions of Miatas I'd rather own (Mazdaspeed NB, Turbo NA, Supercharged NC, V8 etc) but this 1990 has been awesome. Its such a fun, easy project car. One day I will own several different Miatas.
WASABI (09-24-2014)
It took me about 2 months of hard searching to find my current one. I kept finding ones that I liked but either they were too expensive or they would sell before I was able to get out and take a look. Granted, I wasn't very fond of mine when I first bought it but I knew that I could change that all myself and now I absolutely love the car.
This is one of the many things that makes me love Miatas. No matter what one you pick, there are so many options, variations and renditions that you can do. All it takes is some vision, creativity and money.
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