mazda miata

[wasssup]

For the record I just want to say I hate buying/selling cars.

When you want to sell a car...you get lowballed left and right. When you want to buy a car, they want double the car's worth.

I had a chance to buy a 240sx back in college for a great price, low mileage/stick/LSD/1 owner/etc. before the drift craze, but unfortunately I was broke back then.

I'm trying to get into AutoX now, but my Civic is anything but competitive. I figured i'd look for a 1st gen Miata. People are demanding $6k-$7k for an early 90's model worth $2k-$3k. When you email them and bring up the price, they state that "oh, I sold it for my asking price" or "the price is firm."

wtf? is this the new 240sx?

 

[Squisher]

I have to agree that I hate selling cars.

Have you thought about going outside your local area? If you think about it spending a weekend retrieving a a car from out of state is worth the investment.

 

[HybridSquirrel]

Squisher you have a cute grand daughter

 

[jlee]

If you don't have any luck finding an affordable Miata, there are a few first-gen MR2s still around...

 

[ballmode]

I always hear about people getting them for cheap. Not in my area. People charge book for the 1999+ and over book for the older ones.

Crazy people. It's just a mazda.

 

[AmdEmAll]

I see them for like 3 grand on autotrader all the time.

 

[thedarkwolf]

I very rarely see any for less then $4k unless the have a crazy amount of miles on them. Book value works a lot better for plain jane family type cars then sports cars.

 

[Shawn]

They usually go for a lot more than their blue book value. If you find one that is cheap there is likely something wrong with it or it has a lot of miles. Also avoid the 1990 model. It suffers from crank failure.

 

[RCN]

First where are you looking for cars. Second I would go for a 240z or 914.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: CadetLee
If you don't have any luck finding an affordable Miata, there are a few first-gen MR2s still around...

Yup, bought my '89 in great condition for $2k. I had a bunch of people on the mailing list email me, disappointed that I'd snagged it first

Probably a bit less aftermarket for autoX than the Miata, though, and a bit trickier to get the hang of.

 

[cwdegood]

Originally posted by: HybridSquirrel
Squisher you have a cute grand daughter

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

I looked into 1st gen Miatas awhile ago as well... pretty much any decently kept one under 150k miles won't go below $5-6k. You can push lower if you're willing to put in some wrench work on the car.

Edit: Oh yeah, and like a few other people have said, there are some great deals on MR2s floating around. They're equally reliable and good to drive for autocrossing.

 

[Googer]

Sorted By year the sell for around 2k.
http://motors.listings.ebay.com/_W0QQa3...itleZQQsbrsrtZlQQsocmdZListingItemList

The lowest priced Miata is 1,075 (currently)
http://motors.listings.ebay.com/_W0QQa3...itleZQQsbrsrtZlQQsocmdZListingItemList

And the Highest priced is around 12k (currently) with 14K buy it now. 2003.
http://motors.listings.ebay.com/_W0QQa3...itleZQQsbrsrtZlQQsocmdZListingItemList
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2003-MAZ...031QQcategoryZ6324QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2003-MAZ...014QQcategoryZ6324QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[thedarkwolf]

A second gen mr2 turbo is one of the cars I am thinking about myself and they start around $6k and up way WAY up but the non-turbos go pretty cheap. Only probablem I have with them is they look like a nightmare to do any engine work on.

 

[dandruff]

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
I very rarely see any for less then $4k unless the have a crazy amount of miles on them. Book value works a lot better for plain jane family type cars then sports cars.

what he said ... book values will always be lower for such cars than actual real world prices ...

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
A second gen mr2 turbo is one of the cars I am thinking about myself and they start around $6k and up way WAY up but the non-turbos go pretty cheap. Only probablem I have with them is they look like a nightmare to do any engine work on.

Get a mk1 (they're much cheaper), and do an engine swap. Much cheaper overall, and note that mk1s are SLIGHTLY faster around the twisties.

Engine work isn't fun...for anything major, you probably just want to drop the engine. That isn't as hard as you'd think, with a couple jacks and a couple jackstands. Once the engine's out, it's a piece of cake, obviously. Luckily, MR2s have very reliable engines, so you shouldn't need to work on it all that much...

 

[thedarkwolf]

The mk1s are fugly imo.

 

[ballmode]

you can swap an old lexus v6 into the mr2's