don't drive flat out through wet corners bro




























too soon?

 

Too sooooooooooooon!!!!!!

Grats and good luck man!

 

lol c'mon man with 100whp I can drive flat out anywhere I want!

Seriously though, I will probably leave it stock for a bit. Probably.

 

It's really pretty in photos...



But then you look closer. Scuff on back bumper:



Scuff on right rear quarter panel/bumper side:



Scuff on right front bumper/lip: (there's another scuff in the glare)



Scraped up front lip:



Finally, the worst part. This right rear quarter panel had been repainted -- POORLY. There were little specs of crud in it all over, like at least 15 of them, and I could see it from 5 feet away. Can't see it in this cruddy pic, but it was a poor, poor job of the repaint.



The hardtop is not original and doesn't match perfectly, and it's missing the gasket for the rear window.

I told the guy I'd think about it. He said he'd "consider" $8k as it sits. With that shoddy repaint, I don't think I'd be excited about anything over $7k. Maybe I'm being overly harsh on the car. But if you showed me the car and asked me to guess the miles, I would have definitely said over 100k.

It was my first time seeing a 10AE in person, and I loved the color about as much as I thought I would.

What do you all think? Did I overreact?

 

Also didn't mention, quite a few paint chips in the front end that had been poorly touched-up. It really doesn't look nearly as bad in the pictures as it did in person. Just lots of little scrapes and bumps and scratches.

Also, is there supposed to be another 10AE badge on the passenger side? There was only one on the driver side.

 

I don't think you overreacted.

And if the goal is to have a gorgeous car, there's no way i'd pay $8k for that. I'd struggle to want to pay $7k for it, honestly.

If i was mainly interested in a low miles chassis in mechanically awesome shape, i'd be more willing to pay $8k for it.

 

Thanks.

What good is a low mileage chassis with a punk'd body? I'm going to replace most of the goodies underneath anyway. The seller was apalled when I said that.

"Why would you do that?? Then it's not original!"

"Well, it's not really original anyway."

 

I'm on the same page as you. I would do low 7's as is. Not $8k and no way $8.5k

 

Dude, no way in hell i'd pay anywhere near that for the car. It looks like a 6-7k car for sure. Vlads car looks way cleaner for less.

 

Sigh of relief. Thanks guys.

Back to square one.

 

you will soon realize why I deliberately bought a car that needed paint just so I could repaint it lol

 

Didn't respond to this. I would definitely consider Vlad's car, but I can't afford to pay cash for it and I can't get decent financing on it because salvage title.



At this point I'm watching auctions and planning to buy something. Got my eye on a couple 10AE's at insurance auctions. Also beginning to reconsider fixing my car. I'm bidding on a heavily body-damaged car that appears to have clean running gear. I can harvest all the parts I need off that car to fix mine, plus it has a hardtop I can sell. Hope I win it.

 

terrible idea

anyone telling you its a good idea to fix that msm is crazy, or has absolutely no standards for car cleanness and condition.

just my .02

my brother does this all day every day and even he would NEVER attempt to repair damage like yours

 

seriously lol, if you want a damaged NB2 tub I can GIVE you one, that's how worthless they are

 

It's hard to say, man. I have checked and the damage is only on the skin of the quarter panel and it doesn't go through to the unibody underneath. You can fit your hand between the damaged skin and the unibody reaching in from the trunk. I've seen posts and photos of people replacing that panel, and after photos look very good.

I have a friend who buys wrecked cars and has a hookup for good repairs at a good price. He has super high standards for repaired cars and fully signs off on this shop's capabilities. I've seen some of the results of his work and he's GOOD. He says it's a few spot welds to be drilled, some glue to pull, then reverse the process, paint and go.

I'm not saying it's what I'm GOING to do. Just considering it. If I win this wrecked Miata, I'll probably at least throw the rear subframe under my car so I can at least drive it to move it around. Or maybe I won't. lol the indecisiveness continues!

As of now I have my eye on a fairly clean looking 10AE that needs a new rear bumper and taillights and is missing the lip off the front bumper, and supposedly it doesn't run. But should be able to pick it up super cheap, and IDGAF if it runs if it's super cheap and in decent shape.

Edit to add: I respect yours and your brother's opinion, I'm just not sure that you guys realize the unibody is not damaged, and am curious to know if that sways your opinion one way or another.

 

I'm not a body guy, or a frame guy, so I'm just going off what I see/hear. No one around here repairs damage to the quarter panel on a miata. No one considers it "worth it".

Anything is fix-able. I have absolutely no fear salvaged/repaired cars, but I still wouldn't do it.

But do what you think is best, I'm just posting an opinion.

 

That's legit. It's certainly not my first choice. It WOULD save me the work of transferring stuff over, but doing so would finally get me familiar with the highly-tuned machine I'm driving. It's nice to know the vehicle.

Swapping to a better shell is likely the path I will still follow. Thanks for the input.

 

I think passing on that one is the right thing to do unless he is willing to drop the price enough to reflect the flaws that need to be addressed. The purists would hate it but finding a bad paint NB2 and putting a fresh coat of Sapphire on it could be an option.

The badge was only supposed to be on the drivers side but I have seen one car with them on both sides (owned by Blackbandit's friend Jean). The AE badges were available as a special order from the dealer for a while and I suspect a former owner added it.

 

I like where this is going.

I'll bring my best hammer and sawzall to the fix-it party.

 

Part out the mazdaspeed already I want that front subframe!