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cheap Miata for sale near here

I was out and about today and I went down into a wholesale lot looking for a vehicle for my mother, and what did I see but an M1! I couldn't believe they had one there, so I pulled in to see it. It's a '95, it looked green under the lights but the guy there said it was blue, it had a tan top with black interior, power windows, power antenna, newish rubber on nice alloys, automatic tranny. When I saw it was automatic I didn't look over it much longer, but I almost had her convinced when I got home that it was a viable buy for a winter car. The price on it was $3600, but they guy said they'd probably take $2500. It's not inspected, and the tag on the window said it was because of the directionals, and the drivetrain, whatever that means.

So my questions are these: First, what could be wrong in a Miata drivetrain that would negate a sticker? Second, I know that a lot of people here drive their Miatae in the snow, but my mother is the little old ganny in a minivan type. More of a point and steerer than a driver, what's the likelyhood that she'd get herself into more trouble with a Miata than a FWD minivan? With decent snowtires, of course, but she drives 50-60 miles a day round trip to work, and needs something she can count on to get through New England winters. What do you all think?

Tonyrama

Reply to
tonyrama
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I strongly suspect that the biggest plus feature of the Miata, the handling, would be lost on your mother, and that she would find it noisy, cramped, rough riding and uncomfortable. She' d probably object to the lack of trunk and storage space.

Have her take it for a test drive and see, but I bet she'd be happier with a nice FWD sedan.

Be sure to find out IN DETAIL what's wrong with the drivetrain before you part with any money.

Reply to
Natman

As much as I'd like to reccommend it, granny is better off with the minivan!

Although, I must say that a friend of mine's 60 yr old mom has a 95 that she only recently traded off for a PT cruiser.(yeah, yeah.. I know.... At least she got the TURBO PT !)

Besides everthing else, just the fact that the car sits on the ground she'd probably need a crane to follow her around to get out of the thing!

Let it go.!

Reply to
Chief_Wiggum

She indeed might. She's said in the past that she wants something that she can just slide into like her T&C, but when I brought it up, she was all over it. She liked that I told her she'd get really good gas milage. She rides in mine often enough so that she's not scared by high-G corners anymore and is used to the ride, and mine has over 100,000 miles on origninal shocks.

The hard part is she says she's not picky, but she kind of is, she just has no idea what she wants.

Absolutely, but I'm not aware of any common problem that might plague Miata drivetrains. I will definately drive the thing before I'd ever buy it.

Tonyrama

Reply to
tonyrama

But she won't. Miata's don't get really good gas milage.

You need new shocks.

Reply to
Grant Edwards

The way she drives, she will. She gets 25 MPG out of her 3.8 liter V6 hauling around 5000 lbs of metal. I average high 20s with occasional low 30s with my Miata. I figure if she's not going to rev it, she should get at least that.

I know I do. I'm working on that.

Reply to
tonyrama

Ah. You're definition of "really good" is quite a bit different than mine. :) If I were told a car got "really good" mileage, I would expect at least 40-45 mpg.

Does the Miata A/T lock up when cruising? If so, she should get pretty much the same mileage that a manual does.

Reply to
Grant Edwards

I have to go with the chief on this one. Unles your moms is trying to 'pick up guys' it's highly unlikely the miata will be a good choice for her. Something like a used Sentra or even 323 / Protege' makes allot more sense and will probably get quite a bit better mileage (Sentra at least).

Soft tops are impractical in serious winter situations too. If you are car / convertible crazy, that's one thing but otherwise, it's just too much of a handicap. Remember, if she (or anyone with her) goesto scrape the ice / snow off the rear window, you have instant minor disaster. Hardtop changes allot though.....

Chris

92BB&T

Reply to
Chris D'Agnolo

If the Lady wants to have fun let her. You guys are a bunch of kill joys. Maybe she's young at heart and would enjoy it. We have an 60+ year old lady that comes out to some of our AutoX events in her BMW and enjoys it immensely, what if you guys got a hold of whoever was encouraging her? If she wants a Miata let her have fun. Jeez!

Reply to
bgt

Well, really good is relative. She's getting 25 now, so 30 is good. Her other option is my father's V8 F-150, that gets...I don't even know, but it's bad.

No idea on that.

Reply to
tonyrama

I had told her a hardtop was a must. That and snowtires. Up till now, her criteria has been "No small cars, only a van or a small SUV". She didn't like my sister's Saturn, or my other sister's Prism, saying they were both smaller than she liked. I brought the Miata up as a joke, and to my surprise, she got all excited. I now find my self in the postion of talking her out of it. Well, not talking her out of it, just making sure she's seeing all the angles.

Tonyrama

Reply to
tonyrama

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