Trouble finding a Miata
 

First of all, my account says I've been here since September but I've been looking on the forums before I made an account.
I'm having trouble finding a pretty decent Miata within a reasonable driving range of Florida. Car wise I'm looking for a '93 or newer model preferably(not a deal breaker), color isn't that important, a all ready turboed engine or turbo kit included with the car to install myself, preferably a 5 speed, and a pretty decent exterior/interior. My main issue is when I get the Miata it will have to be my DD for a bit so it has to have wipers, a/c, headlights, you get the gist. I'm also on about a 5000$ budget right now.
Is it just me or are my hopes just to high to get a Miata like this for around that price?

Looking into selling my '97 M edition for #4k ish. 130k miles and pretty much the suspension is done. Good all the way around but needs some body and interior love. Drivetrain is stellar. Flat black. Perfect for a DD/weekend toy. PM me

Do you have any upgrades on it besides the suspension? Pictures? Where are you located? I can't pm yet because I only have 8 posts. Email me at robotshadow@comcast.net

I bought my turbo'd BRG for $5500, so your budget isn't too bad. You just have to be patient.

It just seems that the majority of the ones I find are in California and that's just to far and shipping is like a 1000$

Just be careful not to get someone's hackjob. It seems in the past couple of years as the cars have gotten cheaper that dumbasses have been getting them, slapping on some DIY kit and reselling the car when they realize it's not a Honduh. Look for quality turbo componants. Generally the more someone has spent on the parts, the more care they took putting everything together. Also, look for clean exterior...it's another sign of someone who actually takes care of a car. Be willing to make a solid day trip of driving to get the car you are looking for too- don't limit yourself to a 50 mile radius and don't be afraid to look 300-400 miles away. I speak from personal experience from buying two moderately modified Miatas and both turned out to be killer deals. Lastly, you won't find what you are looking for right away. Get yourself hyped up and do tons of searching, which will turn up nothing and about the time you give in to the idea that nothing good is out there, the one you want will pop up.

Yep I'm pretty much willing to do any day trips. I would say the max I would be willing to drive is 8 hours. Any farther then that it would have to be one damn good deal. Thanks for the advice though.

Where are you located in FL?

It's definitely do-able to find a car in that price range but like Doppel said, you have to be really careful not to find someone's mess. Don't jump on the first turbo car you find just because it's turbo. Look it over and make sure you know what you're getting. Make sure it runs and drives strong through the powerband. Personally, I wouldn't even consider a car without a wideband in the car. I've seen too many morons running around on 10psi and "base tune", beating the crap out of the car that's running horribly, with no idea what's going on in the motor.

You're much better off finding a clean NA car rather than a hacked up turbo car, but if you're set on buying a car that's already turbo make sure you wait for the right one.

On another note, if you save up another 5k I'll deliver my car to you.

My friend picked up a 99 in FL last winter for $3600. You just need to spend a little more time searching on craigslist until one pops up.

I'm with Scott. I think you're way better off getting a clean stocker. Learn the car. Do the maintenance. Do well-researched upgrades as time and budget permit. You'll learn much more and end up with a much better ride. You'll be much prouder of it too. And, if you keep it for 10 years (easy to do, these are such great cars) and put the car payments into savings . . . well, there could be Bugatti's in your future . . . although by then you'll be even smarter and will continue enjoying your Miata.

0.02.

I've bought 15+ miatas in the last two years on craigslist and it is all about being patient and knowing when a deal is great. Recently, I picked up a Laguna Blue 94 B Package with 130k miles on it that just had the timing belt, water pump, all oil seals replaced. It came with receipts for everything and I picked it up for $1800. Exterior is in good to excellent shape. A/C is as good as a miatas will get. Basically a great daily.

Some people just go off of KBB or NADA values for these cars when they go to list them, which for some reason, is always very low.

My homepage is defaulted to a craigslist search for miatas priced under $3000. I see the good ones pop up and get sold in minutes. In fact, most every time that happens, it is one of the people I know who bought it. It's a small world on there.

I'm not sure if this helps you, but I looked through craigslist here (san francisco) and the selection is no where near as good as 5mo ago so perhaps this is some of what you're seeing over there. It is convertible season afterall...

I'm from jaksonville, Florida. I haven't seen anyone on the forums yet from here. I've seen a couple people in the southern part.
Ya most cars I've looked into recently have had engines rebuilt, etc. I'm trying to play it safe, I don't want to buy a car and it break on me in a month.
I was looking into this one. Any opinions on it? Do you guys think it would be reliable?
http://fortmyers.craigslist.org/lee/cto/2584639046.html
It says 5700 but he said he would sell it for 4700.

I'm in Jacksonville as well. Can't really help on a turbo, but Atlanta, really all of Georgia, almost all of Florida, Miami to Pensacola, Tampa are all in driving range. I would use http://crazedlist.org/ You can search every Craigslist from there. Like others have said, I would be very careful buying a modded car. Some are OK, most are not. Find a nice car and then add a turbo would be my advice.

It's always convertible season in Florida!

Not bad....seller has a good parts list, isn't a jackwagon and knows what needed to be upgraded (nice 1.8 rearend in there...a big plus when buying a 1.6 chassis). That car easily has twice in it what he is asking..well sorted parts. The only thing I'd do is swap the Link out for one of the newer/nicer aftermarket ECUs (Adaptronic, MS or Hydra) and some bigger injectors for extra headroom. I'm guessing those 440s are probably running near their limit.
I'd ask if he has receipts and where it was tuned.

Examples of the kinda of ads I would stay away from..

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/eat/cto/2583883885.html

http://bham.craigslist.org/cto/2542412676.html

http://bham.craigslist.org/cto/2536190870.html


This one is "meh" territory- unknown/cheap turbo setup...could last or it might not, interior is far from done (for someone who seems to care so much about looks), home-built engine, new clutch already slipping?, racelands. To me, this is a 'tear it apart, sell some shit and start over with a clean body' project...

http://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/cto/2559141919.html

I was actually going to post the link to that car. It had some 15x9 6ULs on it when he first posted that I tried to buy off of him but he didn't want to part it (I guess he changed his mind). From the ad the car sounds like it's nicely done.

If you're serious about buying it I could drive over and take a look at it for you since he's just right over the bridge from me. At least you'd get a 3rd party opinion before driving down, I know it's a pretty good trip down here from Jacksonville.

That would be amazing if you could Scott. I'd have to do the trip on a weekend and I really don't feel like getting there and being disappointed. Email me and we can talk about it?
It's robotshadow@comcast.net

I just signed you up for a bunch of erectile disfunction medications, some depression studies and free offers from LivingSocial.com......enjoy!

Oh ya can't wait for those emails. Highlight of my day.