Opinions needed: Miata for BMW 2002tii

Just curious at this point, but would a very nice NA Miata be a fair trade for a nice BMW 2002tii?

Discuss...

Which one do you currently own and which one would you be getting?

If you now own the Miata and would be getting the Deuce, I would say go for it. You can easily replicate pretty much any Miata at a later date, but the tii is going to be a much harder ownership experience to get your hands on. I would take the trade, play with the tii for a while, then decide to keep it or pass it on as you see fit.

In general I'd say a nice Tii is more valuable than a nice NA Miata. A lot depends on the 2 actual cars, but if your nice is the same as my nice, I'd make the trade every time to get the 2002. The Miata can be replaced easier and cheaper than the Tii.

If they are in comprable condition, no brainer. DO the trade. The Miata will depreciate, the tii is a solid investment. Even if the tii needs some work, I'd still do the trade. Miatas are a dime a dozen; a tii in good condition is getting harder and harder to find. And, as mentioned, is only going to go up in value. Do it.

exactly.. you can easily replicate the Miata... in this case, Miata is NOT the answer

I've seen driver tii s sell in the 5-8k range. Nicer ones are getting way up there. I'd just make sure it's actually a tii and the injection parts are present and accounted for - quite a few tii s running around with carbs on them.

I'd have a very close look at the tii because IMHO it's only a fair swap for the guy with the Miata . A genuine tii in good condition is worth considerably more than an NA Miata in good condition.

Won't make much difference from a driving standpoint, but from a value standpoint you'll want to make sure it's a real tii, not a standard 02 with a tii engine. There's a VIN database somewhere, but a real tii will not have the snorkel on the right side of the radiator (there is some debate about this, as apparently a few tiis did leave the factory with non-tii noses, but anyway...), it will have boxed trailing arms (the standard cars are open on the side facing the subframe), and it should have a clock on the dashboard to the right of the cluster. There are other ways to tell, but those are some dead giveaways.

The funny thing is that Bill Cardell is currently driving an NA Miata because he's had to strip his 2002 down to a bare shell to fix it. And this is a 2002 that he bought for about the same price as an NA Miata...

Exactly. NA Miatas get disposed off/parted out while 2002's get repaired.

Miata's run while 2002's get repaired.

(Says the guy who's about to run out to pick up a MIG welder to ensure his 2002 is structurally sound.)

I have a miata and a 2002. My 2002 has been off the road since October mostly just sitting forlornly in my garage in various states of disassembly as my megasquirt conversion project drags on. The Miata I have been driving nearly everyday. I would consider my Miata nice, but my 2002 I would not consider nice. To me a nice Tii and a nice NA miata are not in the same league. Not knocking either car, I obviously like them both or wouldn't own one of each. For my particular cars there is no way I'd trade my Miata for my 2002, but the OP asked about nice examples of each.

T.J. wrote: Exactly. NA Miatas get disposed off/parted out while 2002's get repaired.

So, where do you think the parts to repair this 2002 are coming from? Not from parted-out NA Miatas....

They're going to be very different ownership experiences. An NA Miata might be 20 years old now, but it's still basically a modern car in a lot of ways. A 2002 is not. It's going to take more maintenance and it'll have more "character" (ie, foibles you will need to explain to someone who's going to borrow the car). As a guy who owns a bunch of old cars, this is not necessarily bad. But it does mean life is a bit more complex, and sometimes you just want a car that works. That's where the Miata has always been strong, it's a little roadster that works.

Agree with that Keith.