Taylor's Miata FS Thread

[Goodspeed]

I guess 15 year old girls can be easily tricked. Not all surprising Goodspeed posted it

Hey, 16 and there's no getting them in the trunk, have you seen how much room the spare tire takes in a NA?

[Senor_Taylor]

I offered $1700. He started at $2000. I'll find a middle ground. I can talk him down since I'll need new tires, the hood is messed up, the battery is dead, etc. What would y'all offer? Since I'll be home, I can use my dad's trailer and bring it back up.

He said he got the thermostat stitched back up and will clean it and send pictures soon. I'm curious to see how well it looks when it's clean (considering the paint is only 2 years old.)

I might actually end up with a rust free Miata with good paint and decent mileage for under $2000. If I could find a white hood on the cheap, or get it repainted, it might look nice. I'm still very skeptical.

[ViPER1313]

As a seller, I dislike handholding people through a sale, Im not a dealer. A serious buyer sets up a time to look at a car, looks at it, knows what to look at on the car (and does it themselves), asks questions in person after looking at the car and negotiates after a test drive. Why are you trying to lowball people without ever having driven the cars in question? If the car really is a good deal, you shouldn't walk over $300.

If $1700 really is all you have, and you really want to snag the car, bring the cash, tell the dude the truth (that this really is all the money you have, there is no more). If he says no, try and work out $1700 + some grunt work around his house or a trade for something else.

[Senor_Taylor]

The car is 5 hours away. I can't risk showimg up and the price being way out of the park or the car being a pos that would have been obvious in pictures.

[Jake]

I mean, I did.

The seller of mine sent me ~8 photos and a crappy description of the car (he was old, I guess typing wasn't his thing). I got good vibes given he was a Miata.net'r and had owned it a while and promptly drove 4 hours to look at it.

If you're going to walk over $300 then you frankly don't have the money to buy it.

[SlimKlim]

On the other side of the coin the guy selling my M3 wanted 7500, I told him I was only gonna give him $7k before I drove to VA Beach to look at it. We negotiated a bit and he agreed, then I went down there and checked it out and put 7 large in his hand.

I think in this case, if I were you i'd just bring the maximum amount of cash you're willing to spend and do your negotiating in person. Cash speaks, it's a car that needs some stuff so your average "summer fuel saver" CL shopper won't be interested in it, if there's ever a good situation for on the spot negotiations I think it's this one. Worst case scenario you can't reach an agreement and you've wasted a day.

[JPolen01]

6 pages of blabbering and no car. This may be the longest WTB car add in history of MM.

[Senor_Taylor]

Yeah. I'm not going to haggle price any more until I get there, but I just needed to set a good base level. The difference between $2000 and $1700 is a set of tires, so it's kind of a big deal.

And there's a difference between not having the money and not being wasteful with my money. I've been working my ass off to pay my bills and make my way since highschool. If I want to buy a cheap car and still scrape by, that's my right. I'd appreciate it if y'all would just lay off that a little bit. I've done my budget and I'll be okay with a $2000, but if I can pay $1700 and get a set of tires or have the extra money, I will.

[Jake]

To be fair, you've kinda made it sound like $1700 was the maximum you actually had on-hand to spend, and that $2k would be a giant struggle.

Knowing that you're prepared to spend $2k but would rather spend less (wouldn't we all...) helps a lot. If you've got the guy down to $2k as it is, go look at it and then try to cut more off once you're there. Have the other $300 in a separate pants pocket so you can be like "here's what I've got" and show him $1700 but still have more if he balks.

[Evan]

I would not pay even $1700 for a 1.6 Miata I have to trailer home.
If this guy is "the DJ of miatas" why isn't all that shit fixed already? The benefit of buying from an enthusiast is supposed to be that its well cared for and properly maintained.

if im driving 5 hours for a car, I want a full gallery of pictures, a short story's worth of a description and history, and an agreed on price. but I value my time, so maybe that's just me.

[D_Eclipse9916]

if im driving 5 hours for a car, I want a full gallery of pictures, a short story's worth of a description and history, and an agreed on price. but I value my time, so maybe that's just me.

The difference is he is scraping the bottom of the barrel. When you do that, you have to be willing to put more legwork in on your end. If they had full gallery of pictures, and a short story, I doubt it will be in "screaming deal" territory.

Everything about this just screams bad idea.

[Senor_Taylor]

This is his girlfriend's daughter's miata. He's just selling it for her. We will see how things look when I get there.

[V1GiLaNtE]

This is his girlfriend's daughter's miata. He's just selling it for her

Something about THAT plus being in NC just screams "walk away" to me. I've come across to many craigslist deals where something was "just out back" or "selling for my bro" and it's sketchy and not in anyway shape or form what is potrayed on the web.

Gallamore can tell you about the time him and I drove to pull some S10 springs back in the day when I was building a bastard pack for my first XJ. Craigslist pictures showed truck parked, clear under some pine trees and in reasonable shape.

REALITY: Truck parked all up in the woods with mosquitos, poison ivy and had to be pulled out with the jeep and springs cut out with a sawzall. Only to pay "bubbas" dad the money since he was off doing fuck knows what..

Just my .02. Hold out for something closer to home. It's not the end of the world if you don't get your OTTER RIGHT MEOW.

[Senor_Taylor]

I'll definitely be cautious. Thanks for the advice. This guy approached me on Miata.net and has been a member there since 99, so I would hope he's somewhat trustworthy.

[CaptainHenreh]

REALITY: Truck parked all up in the woods with mosquitos, poison ivy and had to be pulled out with the jeep and springs cut out with a sawzall. Only to pay "bubbas" dad the money since he was off doing fuck knows what..

Have you men already forgotten Boo Radley and the Caterpillar'd AMC Six?

[Jake]

REALITY: Truck parked all up in the woods with mosquitos, poison ivy and had to be pulled out with the jeep and springs cut out with a sawzall. Only to pay "bubbas" dad the money since he was off doing fuck knows what..

Have you men already forgotten Boo Radley and the Caterpillar'd AMC Six?

Not a chance.

I think, Rex, that you need to write up a tale of Taylor's buying experience once he gets a car.

[Senor_Taylor]

Unfortunately I don't get these wheels and tires. Heading down next Friday.

[SlimKlim]

Fortunately I don't get these wheels and tires. Heading down next Friday.

There are few aftermarket wheels that won't ruin the feel of a miata, unless the car is also extensively modified. I put 15"s on mine with sticky 205 tires and completely ruined it. The chassis has all the rigidity of a wet playing card and it does not appreciate extra weight and width on all 4 corners. I assert the most fun tires you can put on a Miata are high-mileage, eco-friendly all seasons in the stock size.

[Senor_Taylor]

Well, TIL.

I asked him to see if he can throw a set of Daisies on.

[davej]

hey, while you're down there, see if he's got a set of Panasports he'd sell. 4x100 +25ish