Looking for opinions about whether to buy a '04-'05 MSM w/95K?
 

Don't currently own a miata, but am researching buying one to use for track days mainly and maybe to do some minor tinkering with...anyone have any pos/neg feedback about the factory turbo'd '04-'05 models with about 95K...any problem areas to look out for?

By the way, I'm a noob...thanks for your time!

MSM is slow.
Get a regular sport package NA/NB and turbo it yourself. In the end youre probably not saving any money but your will end up with a faster car.

I'll take the other side of that argument.

The MSM's are nicely appointed cars that have been engineered by guys smarter and better informed than most folks here to reliably deliver reasonably entertaining power while requiring little more owner involvement than a standard Miata. Furthermore, they offer a number of simple upgrade paths for those who either by ability or disposition don't want to get involved in a full blown turbo conversion, with all of it's required ancillary upgrades. An obvious first upgrade would be a simple PNP Megasquirt, which would improve power considerably for the investment, while providing an opportunity for a neophyte to learn how to tune, and would support any future upgrades to the hotside and intercooler.

Clearly, as someone who swapped an '04 MSM drivetrain into my '99, I come at it with a bit of a bias, but I still think that it's valuable to gauge the OP's level of mechanical ability and goals for the car in the environment it spends 95% of it's time in, which based on the thin data we have so far might make the MSM a nice introduction to the world of Turbo Miatas. There is a Middle Path Grasshopper, and the MSM isn't a car to just reject out of hand.

Welcome to the site kheishjr, thanks for joining up!

You do pay a premium for a MSM though. For a track rat, I'd personally go with a more common Miata and plan to tinker away.

Problem areas:

1) The ECU sucks dick
2) The gearing sucks dick with stock ECU, sucks marginally less dick with a standalone
3) The turbo sucks dick. The spool of a GT2871 with the power of a 2554.
4) Shitty power


Solution: Don't buy an MSM, or 2) buy someone's MSM that has already addressed all the problem areas. (Mine. Buy it buy it buy it)


But to answer what i think was your original question: There's nothing about them that make 95k miles a problem.