CL Miata opinion???

I've been starting to seriously look for a cheap and sporty commuter/run around car. I stumbled across this this morning, what are your opinions? No a huge fan of the paint, but the price seems good.

What should I look for if I look at it after work? Also, does the price seem fair? I could probably knock it down some...

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/2377205446.html

I also, just saw this.

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/2375930563.html

How difficult are these to pass smog? and how hard are sunroofs to find?

I'd offer $2000 and see if he takes it. Rust shouldn't be an issue in Sacramento. 150k is not high mileage if the maintenance and suspension has been seen to as described. Looks like a nice little driver.

As always, give a good lookover for accident repairs, etc. and make sure it drives smoothly and straight.

You seem to be looking at exactly the same ads I'm looking at ...

A standard MR2 should pass smog without any problem so I've got a suspicion there's something slightly wrong with it that's too costly to fix for the current owner. Not to mention the "how do you lose a sunroof" part. The sunroof on them is glass but I think there's a guy advertising MR2 parts on Sacto CL regularly so you might get lucky.

Yeah, that was kinda my thought about the sunroof. Also, the photo he has attached, is labeled turbo mr2, so how much worse would that be to smog?

I was thinking $2k for the miata too. I think I will have do some shopping after work

In reply to carczar_84:

That looks like a decent price for an honest car. I'd make sure the roof was in good shape (although they aren't really that expensive). It will have a short-nose crank, but that issue is easily taken care of with some careful reading (I've had two Miatas with the short nose, and never had a problem).

Rob

Where would I read up on the short-nose crank? I have only heard about it in passing, and don't know much if anything about it.

carczar_84 wrote: Yeah, that was kinda my thought about the sunroof. Also, the photo he has attached, is labeled turbo mr2, so how much worse would that be to smog? I was thinking $2k for the miata too. I think I will have do some shopping after work

Doesn't look like a turbo MR2 to me, more like an N/A one. There seem to be a few MR2s with JDMyo engine swaps floating around CL and funnily enough they tend to require that the buyer smogs them. I wonder why...

Cranks? On miata.net of course.

Yeah, The car seems a little suspect???? I would love to find a nice n/a mr2, but they seem to go for more than that, kinda makes me wonder.

Has anyone seen a decent, mk2 n/a mr2 in norcal for a good price? There is another mr2 locally that is an automatic. How hard of a swap is a manual?... It seems like it would be less likely to be thrashed.

Let me know when you find one, I've been looking for a while. Even in my slightly higher price bracket there doesn't seem to be anything.

I've owned two Miatas. I'd buy the MR2.

woody, any reasons why?

That MR2 is almost exactly what people were talking about with the E-Stock MR2 thread.

Who cares of it's got a dead motor? It looks great. Go rob another camry for a motor if you need to, but i doubt you will. Those motors do not die at only 115k miles.

Honestly, they both seem way expensive to me, but in the last six months I've bought a $500 '91 Miata (needed fuel pump, clutch) and a $1 1990 Ford Probe v6 (needed coolant hoses, water pump)... and that's in the Bay Area.

To be fair, both were out of registration, so that adds to the cost! The Miata will cost over $600 to register (3 years out of date - still under $1500 with parts), but the Probe only cost $90 to register (less than an year out of date - so under $500 with parts). You're going to have to work on anything that old anyway, might as well do it up front. :D

Look for running cars that people that have irritating problems that people have let the registration lapse on... you can get some good deals now that Cash for Clunkers is over. :D

Of the two that you've shown, though, I'd go with the one that's already smogged and registered!

just found this ad in the bay area, looks like it is in better shape???

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/2378080216.html

any thoughts??

if you had to make a list of the top 5 items to check when looking at a miata, what would they be?

again, thank you all for the help.

In reply to dollraves:

For some reason, cars in the Sacto area seem to be more expensive than in the Bay Area, with less choice. Must be all the degenerates from Nevada like myself who can't find cars out here who bump up the prices in Sacto.

I like the red one better, with the newer suspension for less money. The extra 30 thousand miles won't make much difference. Looks like it has had a longer lifetime of care.

Red one is gone already, darn job getting in the way of my car search

Any more thoughts on the Blue one in the bay area. Talked to the seller, said timing belt was also done with the services listed. Sounds willing to negotiate on price. what do you all feel would be a fair price?

About $2200... but I live on the East Coast, so what do I know.

Okay, so after finding the above cars sold by the time i was done with work yesterday. I got a reply about the car below. He says that he is willing to sale, and I am currently working on a asking price. With the work done to it and the records it has, what do any of you think would be a fair price??

I am setting up viewing it tomorrow. any thoughts would be great.

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/2372277231.html

In reply to carczar_84:

prolly 3500-4500 with the hard top

That's a desireable model -- many argue that the 94 is the best of the NAs for a host of reasons. I've never been too hung up on the year of a Miata because everything can be swapped as needed. However, you would be starting with a 1.8, and a Torsen, two big pluses in my eyes.

The roll bar and the hardtop are also nice features. The hardtop really changes the feel of the car.

In Canada that would be a 5 to 6 thousand dollar car (although some may ask more than that). Miata prices are hugely variable here.

So, I looked at the miata. First off, driving a miata, on very, very summer performance tires in downpours and hail is interesting to say the least!

I think that the dream of owning a miata may be done. I am 6'4" and w/ a hardtop and corbeau forza race seat, my head was touching the top. the seat was on rails, but still not sure I could ever get it low enough to fit w/ a helmet.

Now what do I do??? need something to drive to work everyday, about 30miles each way, and take to the track occasionally. The miata has been something I have wanted for a long time, but now what???

I must say though, i can understand why everyone recommends it so much. Even in the rain it was so much fun.