Should i buy this car?
 

Hey everyone, I've been around the miata scene off and on for over 10 years. I've had a 93,94,05,and 97 NA models before. One was turboed with a t3.
I just sold my G35 6MT sedan and want another miata i can take to track days and daily drive.

I found a 1990 (im aware of crank issues) that has a JRSC m45 (older one because it has no engraving on the blower) with a full koni yellow suspension, aftermarket front and rear sway bars, exhaust, american racing wheels with decent tires. It appears to be on old technology as far as ecu management goes.

It has 125k miles and is kind of rough on the exterior, both fenders are a little gross, top may need replaced sooner than later, and trunk lid has holes filled where someone put a rice wing on. Has slotted brake rotors on all four corners, a small scooped hood for s\c clearence.

At idle the S\C sounds pretty bad grinding almost, ive read that it is most likely the coupler which is relatively easy and cheap to fix. It looks like it has small rear main leak or transmission leak, most likely rear main.

I've managed to talk this guy down to $3350 Does this sound like a decent deal? I forgot to check if it has the long or short nose crank. Would it be a deal breaker if it only has 4 blades on the front pulley? What else should i check before i pull the trigger?

pictures.

Sounds a little high to me. I'd be looking at 2900-3100, depending on how clean (rust wise) it is.


Edit: if it floats your boat, a couple hundred is nothing in the grand scheme.

No rust, its in the south. I tried hard at 2800-3000 and he wasnt budging from 3500. his original asking price was 3800 and i have him down to 3350 if i pick it up tomorrow.

Nope not worth it at all. I wouldn't pay a penny over $2000 for that.

Many times, the answer to your question is simply "It depends. How bad do you want it?" If it's what you're looking for and you want it, then sure it's worth it. But by an overall standard it sounds like you're looking at a $1000-1500 car with $1000 worth (maybe less) of stupidcharger and aids on it.

Depends on your area. If you're willing to drive south to get something rust free there's NBs to be had for the same money as that 1.6 and they'll have a real diff and approximately the same horsepower as that car.

I live In texas. The car is only 45 minutes away. I guess what confuses me is it has about $2000 just in parts. I want a daily that I can autocross is the goal.
JRSC - $700
Koni adjustable yellows $520
front and rear sway bars $227
wheels $480
slotted rotors

plus hood, front and rear factory style spoilers, turn signal air intakes.

so basically if you were to buy these separately the car is being bought for roughly $1300

That was my frame of mind when pricing this out. Apparently im way off base though haha

pics

Yep way off base. Koni's are crap, slotted rotors are crap, jrsc is crap, 90 miatas are crap. Cost of parts do not add significant value to used cars. Especially not the parts on that one.

That hood is also hideous and probably heavier than stock, and you're going to have to track down some stock side marker lights to replace the TSIs.

Alright, I appreciate the input. I will heed the advice and stay away from this one. Thanks everyone!

Honestly I would not bother looking at an 90-93, Go straight to a 94+ and be happy.

QFT

I'm with you. Looking at a 99 possibly tomorrow. Id like to get away from the HLA's every car I've owned has ticked at some point in its life. I can always add FI later I suppose.

Shuiend is completely correct on this vehicle +1

Find a non molested vehicle & profit. You'll be able to put everything you want or need to achieve the end goal without having to talk someone down because of their stupid 'parts price' inflation.

QFT.

I think it depends. I think for that price you would be better off with a 1.8L car. I found a 1990 in my hometown for $500 and made a dedicated autocross car out of it. I am up to about $3500 in the car currently and a second 1.6L, the first one had a nasty keyway and was starting to pull timing pretty badly.

I like my 1990 for autocross, and most of my expense has come from wheels and tires (15X8 with Toyo R1Rs). I compete in a local class only, which only has a requirement of 140tw tires or higher. I am usually a top 5 contender and by the end of last season I was .051 seconds from first. This is the largest field at our local events (anywhere from 15-25 people), but very diverse group. So depending on your budget and goals it could be a decent car, but if I had to do it over again. I would try and buy a car already setup and a 1.8L. The throttle response with the AFM is pretty terrible, and the diff is a ticking timebomb.


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I told the guy i wasn't interested and he kind of got mad. This car has been for sale over a month and said that he had a buyer in the course of 12 hours of talking to him that he had to turn down. To me, another red flag. He was probably more angry that he cant get out from under this car, meaning potential problems.

I understand the power and rear ends of these cars fairly well. I've been lucky and had a torsen in 3\4 miatas ive owned. the 1.6L is what it is. The 1.8 isn't blinding fast by any means so its really peanuts to compare 20 hp difference on a 20 year+ car that was under powered from the get go. Miatas speed comes from cornering not straight lines.....No matter what engine you have.

Currently looking at a...:idea:...BMW Z3 too. Found one with the 225 HP motor 6 cylinder. I know the rear end suspension is lacking compared to the miata but the naturally aspirated power kind of makes up for it. I'll report back if i end up getting something soon. Still holding hope for a boosted miata though.

Goals are pretty basic. I want a good daily driver that can be auto crossed and possibly used for track events down the road.

Good for you,

Maybe the seller will realize nobody wants a tub of crap, filled with all his mistakes/problems/issues for that price.

My dad has a Z3, I forget which year and engine but it is a I6. I have driven it a good number of times and it is a great cruising car. If I wanted to pick up my boytoy and have a nice long comfortable drive to a vineyard it is a great car. When it comes to performance I would take my miata every day of the week. Once you get a turbo on and a decent suspension you will be far ahead of the Z3 except for comfort. Z3 also have rear suspension attachment points where the welds fail.

^what he said. I'm guessing you're looking at the 3.0is, probably a 2001-2002? That's a pretty great car, but definitely nowhere near as nimble as the Miata.

Lars, the earlier 2.8i Z3's were much much softer than the later 3.0is. I very nearly bought one of those, and would have if the dealer (who I worked for at the time!) wouldn't have jerked me around.

Thanks for the heads up. I have been trying to do my due diligence with research (glad i am because of the original reason for the post)

The Z3 has some admirable qualities but in whole i have to agree with the Miata being a better performer. Im finding some decent Z's for ABOUT the same cost as a NB miata. The fact that i can jump into a stock car with over 200HP and weighs just a little more than the Mx5 is appealing.

I've read about the rear subframe issues and weld breaking and also the rear differential will "rip" away. That sounds quite alarming considering it is a 14-15 year old car.

Personally i've never owned a z3 and i kind of like the looks. However if the miata broke something in a desert i'm confident i could fix it well enough to limp it somewhere if needed. That counts for a lot as well.

Which 200+ HP Z3's are you finding for Miata money? Certainly none worth purchasing I should think. The only Z3 that'd be at all satisfying for a performance-minded driver would be the '01+ 3.0is, or the M roadster. The earlier 2.8 was only 180 hp, so to get over 200 hp standard in the Z3 it'd have to be the '01-02 3.0 or the M roadster.

Any of those in decent shape with reasonable miles should still be going for $8k plus.

yes, you are correct. However the 97-2000's had the 2.8l all aluminum engine and with some simple bolt ons get you over 200hp relatively cheap and easy. Intake, cams, exhaust, etc...Those can be found from $3500-4500.

the 3.0's are still fetching some decent cash. From the enthusiast forums they seem to like the 2.8's with the bolt on's and think they are comparable to the 3.0 if done right. Even with the bolt on's its still cheaper than boosting a miata.

At this point i'm pretty decided on one of these two cars. It comes down to the better deal presenting it's self.

the 2.8l has 189/192hp depending on what you read.

I can't imagine that an intake, cams, and exhaust for a BMW could possibly be cheaper than an MKTurbo kit. I haven't researched that, but it seems like a decent NA8 + MKTurbo kit puts you in a really good spot for not a ton of money.

A <$4500 Z3 is gonna have a lot of miles and need money put into it in other areas.

But hey if that's what you want go for it! A sweet car for sure. I was drooling over $10-11k M Roadsters on CL this morning.

Just for the sake of conclusion...

I ended up buying a 97 Z3 2.8L. I looked around for a decent NB miata and happened to stumble upon this at a decent buy.

Thanks everyone for steering me away from the 90' mx5 i think this will be a fun new toy. Im sure ill be back in a miata before my days are over..They are like the ex girlfriend you wished you never got rid of....

Enjoy your pile of shit. The Z3 is awful in every single way (unless it's a M clownshoe, but even then it's still pretty bad for the money)

Except for comfort on long drives, and fitting more bottles of wine in the trunk then a NA/NB. It serves those purposes greatly.

Can confirm, I had a 97 2.8 (M52) Z3 with a DIY short ram intake, m50 manifold and a Magnaflow axleback that made 189whp on a dynojet.

It's surprisingly inexpensive to make power with those motors. M50 manifold is ~$150, eBay headers are good (supersprint replicas), intake is a DIY, and M3 (S52) cams are a cheap drop in as well. Order a off the shelve tune for these parts and it'll easily clear 200whp. With a set of coilovers and some poly bushings they are really nimble. Another great upgrade is the 3.73 E30 LSD which is a super cheap upgrade.

200whp with Curb weight 2,590–3,186lb? That's really not impressing me much, and I'm guessing 2600 is for the bare-bones models
I dunno

Lol that wing.

They can be porky, IIRC the early non-M 2.8's were in the 2700lb range. I threw a Corbeau seat in and dropped 50lbs. Pretty easy to lose some weight in those cars.

I still think that unless you're looking for a road-tripper/cruiser, you're far better off with an NA8 or NB1 and an inexpensive turbo kit.

Without a doubt.

update
 

So, i've had the car for a little bit now. I've taken the hideous stripes and wing off of it. This car has been pretty nightmarish so far. I've replaced the CCV, valve cover gasket, clutch slave and master, O2 sensor, oil and plugs, a ton of little vacuum lines. That had the car running good for about a week with no CEL light on. I let the car sit for two days, take it on a 30 minute trip and get a CEL for the cam sensor and the radiator had something hit it and was leaking.

Very much regretting this purchase so far, Miata Is Always The Answer.

Yup, sounds like a used bmw to me. Every time I look at BMWs I remind myself that they all should have 2-4k worth of maintenance before you even register it unless the PO provides you with receipts for the work.

At least you didnt buy an audi.

A used BMW with an aftermarket wing should've been the first clue the PO wasn't the master of maintenance. :giggle:

I don't know what you guys are smoking. My 200k+ mile '92 is a great long distance car. That's with my old tein flexes, and I'm sure newer suspension components are that much nicer.

I've never had a nicer long trip car than my Miatas.

I'm not entire sure what this says, just yet.

nevermind. Edited for relevance to current topic.

Ah, wow.

Yeah. The Miata is a horrible road trip (read: freeway) car compared to... almost everything else I've owned. GTO, Jetta TDI, Saab 900 all way way way way way way way better for road trips.

The op's car before the bmw was the best long drive car I've used. (g35 sedan sport 6spd) I love mine, but nothing beats my turbo NA8 at the track. My Miata is too track prepped to love on a long drive in s. texas summer heat. No a/c, no rear window, somewhat noisy exhaust, gutted doors. When I do drive to the track (3-6 hr drive) I get there hot and tired. lol

The G35 was a great, dependable car. Surprising amount of power out of the rev up engine (300 HP) it actually weighs a couple hundred pounds less than the coupe version too..For long distance i'd vote the G over anything else i've owned.

The miata is a great car, just not for long distances..I should be up and running again monday. Had to send the radiator to a shop to be repaired. I have a feeling this car will be for sale soon.

On a side note, i've discovered a cool app for android called Torque. I bought a cheap obd bluetooth adapter off amazon for $13 and have a nice little scanner\diagnostic program for less than $20. High recommend to check it out if you havent heard about it.

I <heart> my Audis. :)

--Ian

Sounds like you've had the joy of going through several weak points already.

Go ahead and plan on that coolant expansion tank (all BMWs of that vintage, really), the plastic thermostat housing cracks (no surprise), they made the switch from partial VANOS to dual somewhere in '97 didn't they? The seals like to leak, but it's not terrible to replace them from what I can recall. If the water pump is still a plastic impeller deal, take car of that proactively.

If it needs a top, plan on getting a new top sealing from along with it, and dealing with 20 feet of butyl tape. Miata tops have me spoiled. Robbins Tops are a good call, same as always. The only issues I had were the Robbins top tensioning cables kept coming in with manufacturing flaws. They sent me four different sets and they still kept breaking right where they were pressed into the springs. I eventually just ordered the factory cables.

I spoke with Dough at Robbins and he said they finally figured out what was happening, but by that point I'd already moved on, so I can't say if their cables are working again or not. He said they'd pulled all existing tops and replaced the old flawed cables with the fixed versions, but still FYI.

If the seats rock back and forth a little, there's rubber bushings that like to wear and fail. Probably what that is.

There's other stuff, but it's a start.

Hehe Yes, i think I've found most of the "weak spots" on these cars. Previous owner had a new top installed, he used old seals so they leak of course. Currently fighting a cam sensor issue. $115 lesson for this car is to buy only OEM cam sensors because aftermarkets still throw a code. Glory days!:crx:

I just replaced the cooling system and i think its finally a driveable daily car. Unfortunately i have lost my interest with it. I just put it up for sale. Pictures are in the ad if anyone cares to see what it looks like without a wing and stripes!




https://austin.craigslist.org/cto/4939518488.html

What's up with the steering wheel? Is that a cover? Why is it crooked?

Looks like a crooked cover. The smaller black part is supposed to be at the bottom.