Was just offered a running Miata for $500

[berettafan]

Fellow car nut guy i know has a '90 w/ 300k miles on it and is buying a wagon for his business so the miata has to go. Leakdown when he bought it showed one cylinder at 40% but he drives it regularly. Has one rust hole at the rear rocker (outer) which, to me, is not a big deal considering price.

I'm not really ready to throw a couple g's at yet another project....but this is so darned cheap!

And it's blue which i like!

Not sure what i'd do with the car but most likely would be goofing off and autox's. Have a new baby coming in the next few weeks so i won't have the time or budget for door to door racing anytime soon.

Also not sure how it'd fit in the garage......might have to live outside for a while.

Hoy! I dunno how i could pitch this to the wife other than $500 is just hard to pass up!

[emcon5]

Does it come with a hard top?

[crustychief]

My wife is having a baby on Wednesday (induced), I am unemployed and I would jump on that car! Possibly to flip it, but it would be a heck of a fun car to autocross.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

For that kind of money I fail to see how you can really go wrong...

[Steve Carlton]

If you throw $2,000 at it, how does it compare to a $2,500 Miata?

[Tim Walsh]

take it have fun, part it out for your cash back if you can't sell it whole for a profit. The rocker rust is typical, clean out the roof drain holes. Mine had that same thing and I had it fixed for about $150 by a friend.

[berettafan]

steve that's a fine question. i dunno. i'd say right now i could find a car with 1/2 the miles and no obvious rust for around $2500. but i wouldn't buy it because i just don't have $2500 to be tossing around right now. not to mention i was specifically forbidden from buying more 'toys'.

but argh this is so effing cheap! my plan would be to do safety stuff like brake lines, fluid and pads and then start looking for ways to make it lighter. but no $1500 suspensions and $400 tire sets. yet.

i don't believe it comes with a hard top. that woulda been suhwheeeeeeet! after selling it i'd have a nearly free car!

[DonDavis]

Here's what I'd do...
Make them give you $1000 cash, take it and sell it ASAP before anyone sees you with it.

What? Oh, they want YOU to give THEM $500 for it? I thought they were offering you $500 to take it.

Nevermind.

[onewhippedpuppy]

You really can't go wrong with a running and driving $500 car.

[t951]

Use it as a basis for a Locost 7. (Also known as the caterham, or lotus 7).

A perfect donor car that will lead to incredible fun and performance.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I vote to gut the interior and sell the parts on Ebay. Use the proceeds to give the car a good tune up, then beat it to death on the track. You get a good running track car for next to nothing.

[m21sniper]

Buy it! Miatas are fun little cars.

[widebody911]

I imagine that the hardest part of Miata ownership is telling your parents you're gay.

[jhynesrockmtn]

Perfect for 24 hours of Lemons or Chumpcar. $500, sell off stuff to lower the "purchase" price add required safety equipment and you have a great racecar for one or both of these series.

www.chumpcar.com

http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/

[cmccuist]

Uh, the answer is pretty obvious.

Small block chevy swap!!!

V8 into miata

[sailchef]

Originally Posted by berettafan

Also not sure how it'd fit in the garage......might have to live outside for a while.

Dude, put it up on blocks next to your house, then tell the neighbors you're actually from Sussex county , not Baltimore.

[Crepitus]

Carefull Dude! Sounds like a sting to me man! Thats how Dude from Wham got busted! Like seriously Dude sounds totaly Bogus Man!

[berettafan]

to explain chef's comment: residents of more rural slower lower (aka sussex county delaware) tend to collect junk in their yards and measure success by the number of potentially drivable cars they own.

In cases where two men appear equally successful a 'title challenge' can be issued whereby both men bring actual good titles to these wrecks to the table (usually a discarded dryer in the front yard). the man with the most titles is awarded the higher status.

[sailchef]

That's too funny, true, but funny.

Let me know if you buy this beast. I've got a new leak down tester I haven't tried out yet. We can break it in on your new "race car". That motor has got to be more easily accessible than the Porsche.

[berettafan]

i've been given approval to make the deal!

having gotten my 'it's gotta be perfect' itch scratched many times by the 911 i look forward to just keeping this thing running and not stressing over the motor. looks like used motors with very reasonable mileage are in the $800 range or less. a suspension kit out there is about the same. this won't happen this fall but eventually it will and it will surely be neat to do the car up right.