Daughter's First Car...

[koa]

is a 92 Miata!

Bought it off craigslist from a seller in Sacramento and had a shop there do the TB/WP service, new clutch, radiator, install a roll bar, and misc other things needed for preventative maintenance.

Flew over, picked the car up and drove it to SoCal where my daughter is and taught her how to drive a 5 speed. She learned quickly and is now glad I talked her out of an automatic, and LOVES the car.

I also think they are really cool cars, fun to drive, handles extremely well, not a lot of power, and used ones are reasonably priced if your patient. Parts are readily available and they are easy to work on. Also, http://www.miata.net/ is a great site devoted to the car with friendly helpful advise. A lot like here.

[the7comeback7kid]

Nice pickup. Looks real clean. She will love it

[rsa]

Congratulations. The Miata is a great car for a younger driver--you can only carry one passenger. :)

I'm a member of the Miata 20/20 club here (20+ year ownership/200,000+ miles). It's been to Hawaii twice on Navy cargo ships (Opportune Lift). Mine looks a little more tired than your daughter's. :( But then so do I. :)

It looks like you got her a great example of a "Black & Tan". Those BBS wheels are hugely sought after.

[bunnyma357]

I've got an NC Miata as my daily driver, and absolutely love it. They are great cars and last forever. For many the first generation NA is the model to have and it looks like you found a really clean one, I've always loved the tan interior.

You've got a lucky daughter.


Jim C

[koa]

Congratulations. The Miata is a great car for a younger driver--you can only carry one passenger. :)

I'm a member of the Miata 20/20 club here (20+ year ownership/200,000+ miles). It's been to Hawaii twice on Navy cargo ships (Opportune Lift). Mine looks a little more tired than your daughter's. :( But then so do I. :)

It looks like you got her a great example of a "Black & Tan". Those BBS wheels are hugely sought after.

That's the one. It also came with the factory hardtop which she is storing at her grandmother's house until winter. It had 90K miles...not too bad for 17 years.

One passenger, plus most kids don't seem to know how to drive a manual trans which also limits temptation. And with the added roll bar I think it was a decent choice.

I mainly help on detailing since I had no access to tools plus my time was limited. Since this is an audio forum I should mention I did change the aftermarket CD radio back to an OEM radio modified for aux in for her ipod, and a different CD player that matched the look of OEM. Also changed the headrest speakers.

[Sandbagger]

That is a heck of a score, for both you and her for a first car.... wow

That Hard Top is worth more than even GOLD today!!!!

[Mep]

That is a nice little car.

[dvenardos]

:thumbsup:

[koa]

It does have ABS and the heated rear window in the HT.

The Good: The price I paid initially for the car was $2700. to a lady who was the second owner. She owned it for 6 years and put 12K miles on it. I feel she was very honest about the car and even stored it for me after the purchase until I could have the repair shop pick it up and do the work.

The Not So Good: I was prepared to put some money into it for the TB/WP and roll bar but the clutch and airbag module were expensive surprises. But once I got into it I went ahead and pretty much went through the entire car trying to take care of everything at the beginning. The 5 page invoice of service was approx $4K, so it's not any great deal. Also, the worst thing for me is that the car had paint work done on it which the seller was not aware of. Much of it had been clear coated, but not all of it. When I had it apart for cleaning I could find no evidence of any body work and the vin numbers were still on all the panels and the shop found nothing when it was up on the rack. Carfax and Autochecker came back clean. Maybe someone keyed it, who knows?

As long as my daughter keeps it awhile (which I'm pretty sure she will) the service costs will balance out a bit. Not to mention my piece of mind with the condition of the car. So for buying a car on craigslist from 2500 miles away and having it worked on without checking it out in person I'm ok with how it all worked out.

[Skiman]

I had a '91 Miata, and kept it for 15 years. Still miss it.

[jvgillow]

Nice car!

I found miata.net very helpful and used it a lot for research before I bought my NC and for several months after when I was installing upgrades. I can tell you mine definitely won't be 17 years old when it hits 90k. :)

[Lefty]

It's such a thrill buying your kid their first car. Even their second if it's a surprise. It's one of the big moments that make it all worthwhile. She will love it.
Reminds me of how I would take each of my daughters to the mall parking lot at night and teach them how to drive the shift. Tons of fun and memories.

[neuronbob]

I'm a Honda S2000 owner and appreciate the Miata.....if there had been no Miata, there would have probably been no S2000. Love Miatas, especially those early models....the newer ones are sure porkers!

Roll bar FTW for a young kid in a convertible!