Back to the group and question about a 90 Miata

Welsome back. That seller is dreaming. There is a 1999 on miata.net for $7500.00 with only 68,000 miles on it. Your figure is much closer to what the seller will probably get. $4200 will get you something newer and with less miles, though it will still be an M1, not a bad thing imo.

You should be able to get a nice 1993 or 1994 model for that price and possibly less miles. A very nice-looking '90 with just 66,000 miles on it sold for $2500.00 in Austin the other day, but that was a great deal if there were no major problems with it and it sold immediately.

Good luck!

Pat

Try Kelly Blue Book

you plug in your zip code and it provides pricing for your neck of the woods.

Ken

Jeff> I subscribed to this group for about 1 1/2 years while I owned a 90 Blue

Check out the whole OP. I did check KBB. KBB states the car is worth somewhere around $2400 and private party is only $1800. But KBB doesnt always tell the whole story. There are cars that KBB posts a value on which are actually in higher demand and trade for more than KBB states. I asked my question to the group because there were some very knowledgable people on here who might know if this car is actually worth what he is asking based on a few factors like rarity of used Miata's, it seems like not many people want to sell thier Miatas, at least in my area.

I think KBB gives you ballpark figures on used car values, but those figures can be pretty rough. When I was scouting the used market back in January, I looked at autotrader.com, eBay Motors & the local classifieds to get a better idea of what cars were actually selling for.

$4200 does seem steep for a car of that vintage. Might be justifiable IF the car is in exceptional shape, but probably keep on looking if the seller won't budge. I just had a look on autotrader and there are quite a few Miatas just under $3K. Good luck.

Two years ago I paid $4000 for my 1992 with 140,000 miles on it but it had new tires, new brakes, new timing belt and new top. I looked at a bunch and felt $4,000 was a bargain compared to some I'd seen for much less. It also came with no dents or dings, perfect paint and interior and I've had very few problems with it since. I've no regrets.

Jeff:

I think that's way high for a 1990. Keep in mind, unless they can prove otherwise, you should assume it has a short nose crank and that may need to be replaced in the not-to-distant future. At a minimum you will want to be really careful about who works on it.

I think your instincts are right - somewhere around $3000.

Eric

I couldn't agree more, Jeff. I've been struggling to come up with an asking price for my '95 M-edition with 112k miles. I just don't trust the numbers that the online appraisers give me...for example, here's what they all say my car (including hardtop) is worth (private party, clean/good condition):

KBB: $4340 Edmunds.com: $3347 NADA ("low retail"): $4800

Considering that the Merlot Mica hardtop is worth almost $1k by itself, I'm not sure if I can believe *any* of those numbers. I've been watching eBay and they tend to be all over the place.

Anyone have any suggestions as to a proper asking price?

It really is what the market will bear. You're in a strong position if you can be patient. It is totally different if you're looking for a good Silverstone or another semi scarce colored miata. Fact is, there's Classic Red cars available everywhere. Now, the automatics are more rare but that's balanced out by the fact that the automatic is much less sought after so, I recommend you keep shopping. Of course I'd love to convince you that you'll have significantly more fun with a 5-Speed but I'll assume you have good reasons for your preference.

Good luck, Chris

99BBB

I should read more carefully. Here is a summary from eBay that is interesting:

Ok, so I am still pws. I wouldn't want to make people adjust their newsgroup filters after all this time. :-)

This one is a 5-speed, which, as has been mentioned is usually more sought after, but automatics are harder to find when that is what you are looking for.

Anyway, here is a black 1996 model with 67,000 miles that went for $800.00 more than that seller is asking for their red '90 with nearly double the miles. I can't look at both cars obviously, but this shows the general value that M1's are getting, though again, this one was sold within a day.

Pat

;-)

nearly

value

Hmmm, that one's been flagged and you can't get to it.

Iva & Belle.) '90B Classic Red.) #3 winkin' Miata

Yeah, they posted another ad that simply said sold rather than editing the original one, so it probably got yanked down for over-posting.

Craigslist requests that you simply take the ad down once the item has sold to keep the clutter down.

Interestingly, the original ad is still up, as of now anyway. It could go down anytime the poster deletes it, which I imagine will be soon since there is a phone number listed.

Pat