Why can't I find a Miata?

A couple months back I decided that I needed a cheap second car to be my autocross and track day car. Obviously, this means I need to get a Miata. I did some research and decided that I wanted a NA (I like this bodystyle best) and that it should be a 1.8L car with the Torsen. Based on all of the "Miatas are cheap" chatter on the web and at autocross events I figured it should be easy to find a pretty nice, 100K mile car for under $4K (or preferably with a hardtop, under $5K). I've been scouring craigslist for a while, but every time a nice looking 94-97 car pops up and I message the owner it seems like it turns out to be the base model car (crank windows) without LSD. The cars on autotrader all seem to list for too much money...like $6-$7K without a top. So what's the deal? Am I just unlucky in my searching? Or is a 1.8L NA with LSD actually a rare-ish car that's worth a lot more than I think? It seems like I see a lot of non-LSD cars and a lot of the 1.6L NAs out there.

Just keep looking.

Not bad:

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/wan/3395383163.html

Clean but a lot of miles:

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/3414979365.html

Cheap but will need some work:

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/3395693781.html

Winner winner chicken dinner:

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/3323744957.html

I have a 1991 red mazda miata 1.6 liter with only 116,XXX miles on the dash mud flaps, new timing belt, water pump, brake pads, tires, aftermarket headers and full flying miata exhaust both adding up to around $800 mazda speed turbo wheels 17 inch soft top is in good condition clutch is good no warning lights passed emissions and inspections dont really want to sell but in need of the cash great for gas saver or AutoX call to set up an appointment.

Ricardo 703-509-7886 thanks

Paul B

CrashDummy wrote: ... decided that I wanted a NA (I like this bodystyle best) and that it should be a 1.8L car with the Torsen.

This is the one that does best in Spec Miata, most of them are snatched up for that purpose.

That plus forums specialize in telling people they paid too much for a car. Not every car is the deal of the century, the average price is average, not the lowball outliers.

Keep looking. Ask the local club. Someting will show up.

Donebrokeit wrote: Just keep looking. Not bad: http://baltimore.craigslist.org/wan/3395383163.html Clean but a lot of miles: http://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/3414979365.html Cheap but will need some work: http://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/3395693781.html Winner winner chicken dinner: http://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/3323744957.html Paul B

I appreciate the craigslist ads...maybe I should expand my area out to Baltimore if there are a lot of cars out there, but every one of those cars is a 1.6L.

I understand the feelings. back in august/sept I went looking for a Miata.. all I could find were NAs that had been rode hard and put away wet.. before being put on the market for 5000 dollars

mad_machine wrote: I understand the feelings. back in august/sept I went looking for a Miata.. all I could find were NAs that had been rode hard and put away wet.. before being put on the market for 5000 dollars

This is why i ended up with an NB. I wanted an NA, but refused to pay the utter crack pipe prices that one worth buying was going for.

I know most of the car I posted have the 1.6L engine but as posted above the 1.8L seem to be near "crack pipe" prices. For $5-6K I would start looking at other cars.

Paul B

I wanted the 1.8 with Torsen also but ended up with a 90 1.6 NA with an open diff.

Honestly, I am not bothered by that. The car is a ton of fun as is. I paid 2400 for the car and have about 3500 in it now with tax/title/registration/new tires/roll bar/fluid change/new front brakes

The reality right now is I don't think the open diff would make a big difference right now for autoX or track days until I spend a lot more on the car. IE 15" wheels with wider tires and suspension.

I bought my car because it had the short nose crank problem but it was fixed along with timing belt and everything else 15k miles before I bought it. Came with a binder about 3-4 inches thick of all the receipts for maintenance since the original owner.

I'm going to echo what everyone else usually says in these threads. A 1.8 with Torsen might be what you want but you will be best off simply buying the nicest one you can find in your budget

Donebrokeit wrote: I know most of the car I posted have the 1.6L engine but as posted above the 1.8L seem to be near "crack pipe" prices. For $5-6K I would start looking at other cars. Paul B

For $5-6k, i'd start looking at NBs or considering an MR2 Spyder. I'm starting to see a lot of NBs selling in the $5-6k range.

Mail order? I basically had to give my 94 away because the Texas market is so saturated.

It was an 85000 mile car with a hardtop and I sold it for $3700. Nothing seriously wrong with it and it already had konis and PCM mounts.

There's a hardtop na on a little used lot near me with $2800 written on the windshield. Haven't stopped to look at it, but I would bet its a 1.6. Has a recent $150 paintjob in brite azz yellow.

If I had a little more money I would have picked it up and sold the hardtop, then run it in the challenge. Just not in the budget right now though.

Where do you live? I have a 92 SE w/ about 68k on it and hard top. SE's have the torsen. I don't want to sell it but I'm moving......everything is for sale. I'm thinking I want to move on to 911's anyway.

His profile says Colchester CT

http://www.sccaforums.com/forums/forumid/63/threadid/437550/scope/posts

'96 Miata R. Under 100k miles. With hardtop. $5700. In Maryland/Delaware.

I know the car a bit as the owner runs in my region now and then. Her previous car was an ST prepped Nissan 240.

This time of year not too many Miatas pop up on CL in CT. I'd keep a search going through the winter, though - if someone is selling, there's likely to be desperate. You'll see a ton pop up in the spring...

Thanks for all the input! Would you guys consider the car below to be a fair price? It does appeal to me, although it's not especially local and it's a bit more than i want to spend.

Ian F wrote: http://www.sccaforums.com/forums/forumid/63/threadid/437550/scope/posts '96 Miata R. Under 100k miles. With hardtop. $5700. In Maryland/Delaware. I know the car a bit as the owner runs in my region now and then. Her previous car was an ST prepped Nissan 240.

http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/cto/3339987109.html#.UKrMkmds_Q8
'94 w/136k miles for $2.5k Ann Arbor Mi area (Saline, Mi) The lost storage comment in this listing implies that he keeps if off the road in the winter.
Someone here might go look at it for you. I would but it is 2+ hours away for me.

Others around the country:
http://burlington.craigslist.org/cto/3412148108.html#.UKrOiWds_Q8
http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/cto/3410439850.html#.UKrO0Gds_Q8
http://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/cto/3418869081.html#.UKrO7mds_Q8
http://danville.craigslist.org/cto/3406363943.html#.UKrPJWds_Q8
http://knoxville.craigslist.org/cto/3410106290.html#.UKrPTGds_Q8
http://winchester.craigslist.org/cto/3404876018.html#.UKrPcmds_Q8
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/3396129051.html#.UKrP2Gds_Q8
http://boston.craigslist.org/nwb/cto/3390733770.html#.UKrQOmds_Q8
http://huntington.craigslist.org/cto/3388676075.html#.UKrQZ2ds_Q8
http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/3388548336.html#.UKrQnmds_Q8
My point...there everywhere but of course, always not where you want them to be.

The R is an ok deal if you're looking for a car to seriously prep for ES autocross. As a Miata to generally hoon around in, probably not so much.

Of the cars listed above, I like the one in Philly. The price seems to match the condition. Many of the cheaper ones seem to have issues like rust.

I like this one:

http://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/cto/3365645862.html#.UKw78mewW5w

The same seller also has a Spec Miata for sale, so hopefully you'd be dealing with someone who knows about the Miata.

Here's one that sounds like what you're looking for.

http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/cto/3365489989.html

An NB - but this seems like a pretty decent deal: http://southbend.craigslist.org/cto/3414736696.html