Full Version: Start Here
This story starts off at IHOP 3 years before I ever even consider a Miata as my next chick magnet…yes I had pumpkin spice pancakes and yes they were delicious. My friends and I, to include Jamie, are talking about Miatas and different color options, each of us having our own opinion of what is the best color. One of us was in love with Laguna, while another lusted after Velocity Red…me you ask? I was not really in love with any color I had seen until Jamie mentions, “Well there is another color blue you may like but realistically you may never see one!”. Instantly I was hooked. My attention pans over to this little cell phone screen to see the most glamorous shot of an NB Miata in Laser blue. Even the name of the color intrigued me.
At this point it is worth mentioning that I was currently driving a 2013 Scion FRS and that I had never driven a Miata at it’s limits. So although the color was amazing to me…I am still not in the market for a Miata nor did I ever have any intention to be. The FRS was a great car! Out of the box it did all the right things. It looked great and had enough power to make the car fun without being too much. It had just enough power to power-oversteer but was also very much a momentum car. There was just one problem with the FRS…wait for it…it was 99% Subaru.
While many of the qualities of that car are very good there is one that did not live up to the hype and that was the FA20 engine. It sounded like my Husqvarna lawnmower when running and worse…it spun a rod bearing at 37k. This was of course takin care of by Toyota, whom installed a new short-block in the car but it’s reliability took a big hit for me. I no longer trusted the car and thus I slowly fell out of love with it. My attention now turned towards the engineering marvel that is the Honda S2000.
Abridged version: (but only slightly) Start Here
After looking for 7 months for an S2k and assessing the condition of some of these cars I was left feeling disappointed. It seemed the price per condition on the s2k market had risen beyond what I felt was reasonable until a friend found that diamond in the rough! The only drawback was that the car he found was a red s2k…not a Rio yellow. I was willing to concede the color for a nice s2k that had an attractive price. So I immediately call the poster and setup a time to come see the car the next day.
Things are looking up I thought. Until the next morning when we get ready to go and would you look at that….the FRS has a flat rear tire. Given that the car was 2.5 hrs away, mostly being interstate driving, I decided that we would just take the time to drop of the wheel and have it patched properly before we set sail. Of course this set our ETA back approx. 1.5 hrs which I communicated to the seller. We finally get the repaired wheel back just in time for the seller to text me that he sold the car AN HOUR AGO!!! He mentioned that somebody had texted him late in the evening, after he spoke with me, and said they would be there first thing in the morning to buy the car…it’s worth mentioning that this new player in the game is from 3 states over…yes I said 3 STATES OVER, effectively meaning that this gentleman had to drive all night long to be there to purchase the car that morning.
This only enraged me further. I was never even given the opportunity to be there before the allotted time set by the seller. In frustration I cursed the entirety of craigslist and the s2k market. In an attempt to boast my spirits my friend, scours craigslist for another car. He then stops and with a grin on his face asked “Have you given any further consideration to a Miata?”. Also worth mentioning is said friend is a Miata fanatic owning 3 or more himself while also owning an AP1 S2k. He asks knowing good and damn well what my response will be, and mimics my very response with his mouth…”Only if you find a Laser Blue Miata”. Still grinning he turns his phone towards me to reveal a completely stock and unmolested 2002 NB in Laser Blue which is listed as “dark blue” in the ad, and is only 2 hrs away.
Not only is it Laser Blue but it lacks Tupperware, still has factory top, and black interior. If there ever was a Laser Blue Miata that I would want it is this one. I think about it for about an hour all while my friend has takin the liberty of already asking when we could come see the car. I decide that I will at least look at the car and we schedule to go see it the very next day. The car was owned by an older wealthy man whom simply wanted a convertible that was a manual. He was selling it because he had a bad knee and his son didn’t like driving a manual.
Upon first inspection the car had some minor cosmetic flaws…nothing that was a deal breaker but far from perfect. Overall I would give it a 7 out of 10 for condition. Mechanically it seemed healthy and was otherwise a clean stock Miata. My friend and I drive it around for about an hour lol, all the while talking about what the car needs and what we think a good price for the car is. The seller was asking $6600 for the car…which as we all know would be a premium for even a Laser in excellent condition. We of course offer significantly less ($3400) and explain why by showing him the issues with the car. He of course immediately shakes his head and fires back with another offer which is still too high.
He does not seem to want to budge beyond this number so as a last ditch effort I throw more money at him. No Dice. My offer still was not enough. He mentions, in a very surprised voice, that he has a guy from Seattle who wants to fly in and see the car. I realize that he does not understand the rarity of the car he holds and I refuse to show my hand so I act equally surprised and let him draw his own conclusions about why someone would want to fly completely across the country to get this car. With my tail tucked between my legs we say our goodbyes and we go back home. I kept telling myself that the car just simply isn’t worth what he is asking but the idea of S2k hunting is equally daunting.
I think about it for the next 4 days before I come to the conclusion that I think a Laser Blue NB is much more interesting of a car than most of the S2ks I was looking at. Not to mention I would be saving a ton of money because even at the premium he was asking for the Laser…it was no where near the price of a beater S2k. So I pony up and call the seller back and tell him that I want the car and make my final offer which is only slightly lower than what he was asking for. He agrees and we went to pick up the car that weekend.
As a new Miata owner I felt it was important to drive the car as it was for a little while being bone stock. I wanted to decide what I thought the car would benefit from while also capturing my vision for the car. I had already decided that the car had to have a roll bar if I was going to be driving it so that was a given. Beyond that I was not sure what the car needed so I took it as it came. This is the build thread for Bulma aka 2002 NB Miata Laser Blue:
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Originally Posted by Agent☣Orange
