Taylor's Miata FS Thread

[Senor_Taylor]

Naturally. That price just seems so low, and it's been on there for a month. I wonder what's up.

[Senor_Taylor]

E-mailed this guy. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://roanoke.craigslist.org/cto/4987478675.html">http://roanoke.craigslist.org/cto/4987478675.html</a><!-- m -->

I think I can talk him down to <$2000 and I can drop off the car in Lynchburg before I come back to school.

He sent these pictures. More on the way.

[Senor_Taylor]

This actually looks really really nice. Decent mileage too. If I can't talk him down past $2000, I might just bite the bullet and pull some from my savings. Too bad it isn't a 1.8.

[Jake]

That front right fender is a different shade of red, so make sure to check out that corner for poorly-repaired accident damage.

Otherwise it looks good, I'd be curious when the timing belt was last done as they are a 60k interval (I think?). Window on the top looks clear enough. I think he'd take $2k even for it, and it'd be a good car for you. The 1.6 is just as fun as the 1.8. Any word if it has a LSD? Tell us how it's optioned inside and we can make an educated guess about that.

[SlimKlim]

It'd definitely been whacked, the body line between that fender and the hood is all wonky. Not a big deal as long as any frame/suspension damage was repaired properly.

[Senor_Taylor]

Yup. Most of those questions I just asked in the reply to the email he sent with the pictures. I noticed the fender and as long as he can give a good reason and the title is clean, I'm not going to worry about it. I just need him to reply quicker so I can get a ride arranged if need be.

[Evan]

Any word if it has a LSD?

the jelly doughnut that came with a few of the 1.6s is worthless, so its best to just consider them all open diff.

IMO with that fender, that car would have to be lower than 2k for me to call it a good buy

[Senor_Taylor]

I was hoping I could talk them down to $1700, but that's a big drop.

[Senor_Taylor]

He sent me a picture of the title. Any way I can look up info using the vin? Offered him $1700 to pick up tomorrow.

[Senor_Taylor]

He said it was his mom's and a car backed into the fender. The way he is talking, he doesn't seem to know a lot about it.

[Senor_Taylor]

Looked up the history. Nothing out of the ordinary. Originally an NC car. Says nothing but oil changes, tire rotations, emissions inspections and "Recommended maintenance" Every year since 96. Then "Maintenance inspection completed
Engine/powertrain computer/module checked
Safety inspection completed" at a Nissan dealership in 2012.

[Jake]

Carfax and AutoCheck aren't going to give you a lot to go on for maintenance. Are they the original owners? It bodes well if so. I would ask them where it was serviced and give that shop a call to inquire about what's been done recently.

Although, honestly, a test-drive will reveal a lot more than Billy Bob's Repair Werkz telling you that brake pads were replaced last month. You'll end up doing wheels/tires/brakes on it eventually so who cares how they are for now, as long as your air circles hold air and stoppy blocks allow you to stop.

I would want to know when the timing belt and water pump were last done, and then use your eyes/ears/butt-dyno for the rest. See if it's leaking anything and from where, look for moisture around oil pan, diff, trans, cooling hoses, etc. The cam angle sensor has an o-ring that likes to leak, which allows oil to drip right onto the heater hoses going into the firewall... which means they burst and give your engine bay a surprise coolant bath. See how those heater hoses look and if the CAS is weeping/seeping at all. It's a cheap job if you need to do it yourself and I bet I can find specs for that stupid O-ring somewhere.

[Senor_Taylor]

I don't suspect they're the original owner. It looks like it's his mom's and she's sick now and he's selling it. The title was in the mom's name and has a date in 2013 on it.

[Senor_Taylor]

Turns out it's a girl I'm dealing with. Got her down to $2000. She literally knows nothing about this car. I'm thinking $2000 for this isn't too bad if the interior is nice and the engine in clean.

KBB for this in "Very good condition" is $2000 assuming power locks and windows. I still haven't gotten pictures of the interior yet, but this car seems to be a 2 owner car, the last being a rather old lady. The woman said her mom lost feeling in her legs and can't drive stick anymore, so she can't drive it. Wish the mileage was lower, as it's at 167,000.

[ViPER1313]

Trust me on this one, if you are gonna walk on a car over $300 it's not the car for you and you can't afford it in the first place. From the guy who bought the cheapest Talon he could find, I guarantee that by the time you are said and done with it, you are going to wish you had just spent double the money and bought a non pos example, like this one - <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/cto/4991141134.html">http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/ ... 41134.html</a><!-- m -->

[Senor_Taylor]

The thing is. I won't have $4500. Even if I do by the end of the summer, I don't want to spend that much over the summer when I have rent and bills, and books, and all of my other stuff to pay for. I don't really want to break the bank on a second car. I feel like a beater/autocross heap Miata can be found for the money I'm willing to spend.

[ViPER1313]

You are just proving my point that "you can't afford it in the first place." $1700 for car + taxes + registration fees + inspection fee + any fixes you need to pass inspection + 300 for timing belt service because who knows when it was done + 300 for suspension that is surely blown + 500 for decent wheels and tires because those look like dry rotted nightmares + who knows what else. Every 2g car I have ever bought has needed 2g worth of work to make it remotely reliable and street-able, and when you go to sell it it's still a 2g car. Spending the extra 1 or 2g up front will get you a car that is worth the extra 1 or 2g on the back end, save you countless hours fixing stuff and you normally come out ahead in the end :dunno:

[JPolen01]

You are just proving my point that "you can't afford it in the first place."

I was waiting for this post. As much as I love Joey's story about his miata (and it is true), not all good deals need 50 bucks and some massaging to be a solid driver. I wanted to get rid of my accord so bad throughout college, but I knew I couldn't afford to get something as reliable as what I had so I didn't. Luckily when I hit a deer in the accord my parents were able to buy my civic for me. Now that I am out of school I am so glad I didn't blow my money on a pile of shit. I just bought a townhouse and hopefully by the end of the year I can dump the civic for a new toy. It may not be fun right now, but your future self will thank you immensely. And you'll probably be able to afford something a whole lot nicer - I was looking at cheap miatas as well when I was in school. Now I'm browsing between a Cayman S, s2000, etc.

[Senor_Taylor]

Very good points. I'm still probably going to look at it. I'm not really worried at the moment because this isn't replacing my truck, it's a second car.

[Jake]

Go look at it, if nothing else you'll get some experience poking around and asking questions as I believe you've said this is your first time buying a used car solo.

FYI this red one has been repainted. The rocker panels below the doors are supposed to be black:



It could have had rust behind the doors (a LOT of them get rust there) and been fixed/resprayed, or the whole car could have been resprayed. Just noticed that and wanted to let you know.